Politics

Oregon Gov. Kotek signs bills aiming to bolster behavioral health, Measure 110

“That’s why today is so important. The bills I am signing mark progress towards building a behavioral health continuum of care that incorporates harm reduction, suicide prevention, stronger tools against substance abuse among youth and adults, and improvements to the implementation of Measure 110,” Governor Tina Kotek said.  …increases staffing and aims to speed up…

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Politics

…repeal… 110[?]

More Oregon voters believe that the root cause of homelessness is drug addiction and mental health problems than a lack of access to affordable housing… Jackson County commissioners call for a repeal of Oregon’s Measure 110… say it hasn’t worked… unanimously called for the repeal of Ballot Measure 110. Clackamas County sends referendum on Measure…

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Politics

California’s psilocybin legalization campaign OK’d to collect signatures

This year, organizers see an easier path to land on the ballot, citing a lower 546,651 signature threshold, and the absence of pandemic-era roadblocks that made signature gathering more difficult. Volunteers have until Jan. 10, 2024 to meet that goal. The initiative’s language would legalize the use of psilocybin mushrooms for medical, therapeutic, religious, spiritual, and recreational…

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Politics

Cannabis trade association files motion to halt [Oregon’s]… aspergillus testing

“We don’t have any research or data to cite that show people have fallen ill from inhaling Aspergillus through cannabis products,” [said] Oregon Health Authority spokesman Jonathan Modie. The Oregon Health Authority began requiring March 1, 2023 that cannabis farmers and producers test their products for aspergillus, a fungus that thrives around organic matter… if…

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Politics

Making money in the psychedelics industry will be harder than cannabis

As of now [July 2023], only Oregon has a regulated psychedelics industry (psilocybin [cubensis] only)… service centers will also need to be limited in scope due to people consuming psychedelics as part of a religious practice or sacrament. …there is a massive spike in religious use of psychedelics… it seems very clear that religious use of psychedelics far…

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Politics

Advocacy groups respond to [New Approach PAC] Massachusetts psychedelic ballot campaign

Three Massachusetts community groups are responding to the psychedelic ballot campaign formed this month by New Approach PAC, a Washington, DC-based political action committee. The organizations include Bay Staters for Natural Medicine, New England Veterans for Plant Medicine, and Parents for Plant Medicine… issued a press release… to express concerns… “It seems like this Super PAC wants to turn mushrooms…

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Politics

Minneapolis Mayor makes psychedelics “lowest enforcement priority”

Mayor Jacob Frey of Minneapolis issued an executive order [7/21/23]… making the possession and cultivation of psychedelics such as psilocybin the lowest law enforcement priority for city police and officials; instructing the city’s police officers to, in essence, look the other way when it comes to… certain… psychedelic[s]. Many users of psychedelics oppose efforts to…

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Politics

House… psychedelics for military trauma… Crenshaw-AOC partnership

 The US House Representatives… approve[d] mood-altering drugs to treat combat-related brain maladies, capping years of effort by an ex-Navy SEAL from Texas and a New York democratic socialist. The amendments… were added to the annual National Defense Authorization Act… The duo has fought to get Congress to direct Pentagon studies of psilocybin to treat traumatic…

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Politics

FDA issues first draft guidance on clinical trials with psychedelic drugs

The purpose of the draft guidance is to advise researchers on study design and other considerations as they develop medications that contain psychedelics. Within the draft guidance, the term psychedelics refers to “classic psychedelics,” typically understood to be drugs such as psilocybin and lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) that act on the brain’s serotonin system, as…

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Politics

Berkeley says ‘yes’ to psychedelics…

“Berkeley is joining a lot of municipalities and states that have decriminalized or… de-prioritized the enforcement of laws against certain plant-based psychedelics,” author Michael Pollan said. On de-prioritizing the enforcement of laws imposing criminal penalties for entheogenic/psychedelic plants and fungi and their bio-synthesized compounds for personal use… the council’s resolution, however, does not include psychedelics…

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