Anthropology

Colonization laid the groundwork for the drug war

October 13, 2019By

…centuries of biased propaganda and policy associating currently-illicit, plant-based substances with chaos, violence, and malice. As a society beginning to seriously discuss creative alternatives to the punishment- and abstinence-based status quo, we must acknowledge that maintaining drug prohibition requires both a misappropriation and control of substances that are… [naturally-occurring] to certain lands and cultures. Decolonizing drug use on…

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Anthropology

The war on drugs is a war on the climate

October 8, 2019By

“Communal and indigenous land rights are the most effective strategy to combat the negative impacts of drug trafficking and climate change simultaneously,” she wrote. “The war on drugs approach to fighting drug traffickers has to end. Rather than engaging in military-based approaches, governments and donors should invest in community and indigenous land rights and governance…

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Anthropology

Kratom… available in Colorado

September 15, 2019By

Thailand… does… allow domestic consumption of kratom. The FDA [claims it]has linked fifteen deaths between 2014 and 2016 to kratom, [however] fourteen of the victims had other substances in their system, making the actual cause difficult to determine. [Additionally, the “kratom” reported in the 15th case apparently did not distinguish between whole botanical kratom and…

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Anthropology

Let the buyer beware: Advertised “Ayahuasca Healing Retreats” are not legal in the United States

August 16, 2019By

It appears their mistaken beliefs with regard to the laws of the United States are based upon a misunderstanding of an exemption for the religious use of peyote (another controlled substance) by a legitimate religious organization called the Native American Church, established in 1918. Organization’s misunderstandings seem to be rooted in the belief that because…

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Anthropology

Hemp poised to become major crop

June 29, 2019By

Although hemp’s popularity is nothing new, its potential as an agricultural commodity has blossomed since the 2018 Farm Bill, which classified industrial hemp as a commodity and removed it from the list of controlled substances. Even when Oregon had a hemp program, which was established in 2015 after the 2014 Farm Bill passed, the industry…

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Anthropology

OSU launches global hemp research center

June 21, 2019By

Jay Noeller, an OSU professor of crop and soil science who is to head the new center also noted a sense of an historical cycle coming around. “By bringing the center to Oregon, you can also think of it as we’re returning it home, because this was the site of national research on hemp from…

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Anthropology

A new age dawns for legal cannabis

June 21, 2019By

During the past few months, so many of you have spoken with legislators, or with the media, or with each other. Today that work has paid off. But this is just the beginning. On the afternoon of June 20th, 2019 Oregon Governor Kate Brown signed Senate Bill 582, the so-called “cannabis export” bill. In doing…

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