Author: HP McLovincraft

Seeker of rabbit holes. Pessimist. Libertine. Contrarian. Your huckleberry. Possibly true tales of sanity-blasting horror also known as abject reality. Prepare yourself. Veteran of a thousand psychic wars. I have seen the fnords. Deplatformed on Tumblr and Twitter.

Ease restrictions on medical psychedelics to aid research, experts say

Potential treatments for severe depression, addiction and other mental health disorders are being held up by excessive restrictions on psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms, scientists and politicians have said.

Clinical trials suggest that psilocybin may be a safe and effective medicine for patients with certain psychiatric illnesses who do not respond to talking therapies, antidepressants and other drugs. But researchers say their work is being stymied by the government placing the strictest possible controls on the chemical compound.

In a report published on Monday, the Adam Smith Institute, a free market thinktank, and the Conservative drug policy reform group, urge ministers to order a review of psilocybin and remove the obstacles faced by researchers.

Under Home Office regulations, psilocybin is classified as a schedule 1 drug, along with raw opium, LSD, ecstasy and cannabis, and is not considered a medicinal compound. While clinical trials are allowed under licence, obtaining one takes more time and money than many researchers can afford, the authors say.

Robin Carhart-Harris Read more

The report calls on government to make psilocybin a schedule 2 drug, a move that would dramatically cut the cost and time taken to obtain a licence and remove the stigma surrounding research into the drug.

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CHICAGO POLICE COMPILING DOSSIERS ON PEOPLE WHO SPEAK AT POLICE BOARD MEETINGS

Why would the Chicago Police Department be running background checks on people who sign up to speak at public meetings of the city’s police disciplinary panel?

That is what many people want to know after a public records request conducted by the Chicago Tribune revealed that since January 2018, CPD has collected information on at least 60 people in advance of their speaking at the weekly meetings—a practice that police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi confirmed has been going on since at least 2013.

From the Tribune:

“The checks appear to be extensive, with police searching at least one internal department database to determine if speakers have arrest or prison records, warrants outstanding for their arrest, investigative alerts issued for them by the department and even if they’re registered sex offenders or missing persons. Police also searched comments that speakers had previously made on YouTube or on their Facebook and Twitter accounts, among other internet sites, the documents show.

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DC Mayor Exempts John Lewis Funeral Attendees From City’s Quarantine Restrictions

Regarding why attendees at Lewis’ funeral escaped the strictures of self-quarantine, Bowser Press Secretary Susana Castillo characterized the ceremony as an essential government activity, telling Just the News on Friday, “Government activity is essential, and the Capitol of the United States is exempt from the Mayor’s Order.”

The mayor’s office still deems the funerals of regular people non-essential activity, however. When asked whether attendees of non-government funerals in high-risk areas are still required to self-quarantine under the mayor’s order, Castillo responded simply, “Yes.”

Members of Congress are also exempt from Bowser’s recent edict mandating D.C. residents wear masks both in public indoor spaces and even outside if they “are likely to come into contact with another person, such as being within six feet of another person for more than a fleeting time[.]” Those who neglect to cover up expose themselves to the possibility of fines up to $1,000 per violation.

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