Tag: the war on (some) drugs

DEA Calls For Even More THC, Psilocybin And DMT To Be Produced For Research In 2024

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is now calling for the production of even more THC, psilocybin and DMT for research purposes than it initially proposed for 2024—raising its quotas for those drugs while maintaining already high production goals for marijuana and other psychedelics.

In a notice set to be published in the Federal Register on Wednesday, DEA said it received comments from registered manufacturers requesting increases to previously proposed 2024 quotas for the Schedule I substances in order to “meet medical and scientific needs,” and it agreed to do so in the new final order.

Accordingly, the agency nearly doubled the quotas for delta-9 THC and all other tetrahydrocannabinol, increasing them to 1,523,040 grams and 1,166,130 grams, respectively.

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Could KETAMINE be secret weapon in war on cancer? Scientists find illegal party drug can destroy tumours

Ketamine could offer hope in the fight against cancer, scientists believe.

Promising laboratory tests showed the horse tranquiliser-cum-party drug could kill tumour cells.

Experts think it might block a receptor which encourages tumours to grow. 

Although not proven to work on humans, the Imperial College London team hope similar results could be seen in further lab studies and among patients.

In-depth studies involving thousands of cancer patients would be needed before ketamine is ever rolled out as a treatment, however, meaning any development is still years away at best.

Ketamine is only licensed in the UK as an anaesthetic but can also be prescribed off-license as a pain killer.

These versions are medical-grade and proven to be safe.  

However, they can still trigger hallucinations, just like the version sold on the streets for as little as £3 a pop. 

Anyone caught in possession of the class B drug faces a five-year prison term and an unlimited fine.

As it stands, surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy are the most commonly used cancer treatments.

But researchers around the world are searching for other treatments in a bid to boost care and survival rates, with up to half of people expected to get the disease in their lifetime.

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Why fears about Biden’s marijuana moves are overblown

President Joe Biden’s administration is poised to make the biggest shift in federal drug policy in decades by loosening marijuana restrictions, but the move is sparking blowback from an unlikely constituency: legalization advocates.

They argue that moving marijuana to a lower classification would do nothing to address the federal-state divide in marijuana laws, fail to address the impacts of criminalization, disrupt existing state-regulated cannabis markets, lead multi-billion-dollar pharmaceutical companies to dominate the medical cannabis industry and spur a potential federal crackdown.

Howard Sklamberg, an attorney and former top official at the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, argues those fears are alarmist and misguided. He doesn’t believe the cannabis industry needs to worry about a crackdown if the drug is moved from Schedule I to III under the Controlled Substances Act, as recommended by the Food and Drug Administration after a review of the scientific evidence.

“If you’re going to launch an enforcement initiative against cannabis, why would you start off with saying, ‘Oh, by the way, it’s less of a risk than we thought,’” Sklamberg said in an interview with POLITICO. “You would use your power under Schedule I and go after it.”

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These are the most controversial laws that went into effect across the U.S. today

A raft of new laws that have immediate — and possibly fundamental — impact on the lives of Americans went into effect Monday.

Among them was state legislation that dealt with guns, marijuana, voting rights, minimum wage and a controversial Texas law that bans diversity programming at public colleges.

The New York Times gave a rundown of the New Year’s Day changes across the country.

Gun Ownership

In California, a law that went into effect on January 1 bars the carrying of guns in most public places. It lists more than two dozen locations where the weapons can’t be carried, including libraries and sports venues.

In Minnesota, a new law gives officials the power to take firearms away from people deemed dangerous. A similar law will take effect in Michigan next month.

Washington State will require all gun buyers to have a 10-day waiting period and to have passed a safety training program, while in Illinois high-powered semiautomatic rifles have been banned.

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Federal Lawsuit Challenges Mississippi’s Ban On Marijuana Advertising, Citing Free-Speech Rights

Mississippi’s medical cannabis advertising ban is preventing a small dispensary from attracting customers, Tru Source owner Clarence Cocroft is arguing in a federal lawsuit that casts the law as a violation of his free-speech rights.

Though medical marijuana is now legal for Mississippians with qualifying conditions and a medical cannabis card, state law prohibits dispensary owners and cultivators from advertising cannabis products.

“It’s a daunting task to stay in the industry when you can’t advertise,” Cocroft told the Mississippi Free Press on December 8. “And it’s legal. If they allow you to get licensed, they should allow you to promote your business.”

Cocroft owns Tru Source, the state’s first Black-owned medical cannabis dispensary, located in the southeast industrial zoning area of Olive Branch, Mississippi. Cocroft and his dispensary filed a lawsuit on November 14 against the officials in charge of the regulations at the Mississippi State Department of Health, the Mississippi Department of Revenue and the Mississippi Alcohol Beverage Control Bureau.

To open a medical cannabis shop in the state, a person must apply for a dispensary license, register for a sales tax permit and pay thousands of dollars in fees. A person must have a medical cannabis card and be over the age of 21 to enter a dispensary.

“The fight was, ‘OK, we’re paying you all a lot of taxes. We’re abiding by all your rules that you have set forth. All we’re asking is simple: Allow us to advertise. It’s going to increase your tax rate as a state,’” Cocroft said.

Tru Source relies on its website, word of mouth and signs posted on the building for advertising. But Cocroft cannot advertise his dispensary or its website in any other advertising medium. The owner said many customers would not have known about the store if they had not driven by the area.

“It’s not just me in my location that cannot advertise,” he said. “It’s every location in Olive Branch; it’s every dispensary in DeSoto County and all 82 counties,” Cocroft said.

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Nevada Marijuana Possession Limit More Than Doubles Under New Law Taking Effect Monday

Effective Monday, the marijuana possession limit for adults in Nevada will more than double to 2.5 ounces. Recreational retailers will also become authorized to serve medical cannabis patients as well, without having to get a separate license.

The policy changes are coming into effect under a large-scale marijuana reform bill that Gov. Joe Lombardo (R) signed into law in June. The legislation also broadens eligibility for participation in the market by people with prior felony convictions.

One of the key provisions of the law increases the possession and purchase limit for cannabis from one ounce to 2.5 ounces. The amount of cannabis concentrates that adults can possess is also being doubled from one-eighth of an ounce to one-quarter of an ounce.

Also, it makes it so adult-use marijuana retailers will no longer need to have a separate medical cannabis license to serve patients. Recreational retailers will automatically serve as dual licensees, and existing medical cannabis licensees can apply to dually serve adult consumers.

Regulators will no longer be able to issue or renew medical marijuana licenses after Monday—unless the applicant is located in a jurisdiction that has opted out of permitting adult-use facilities. Medical cannabis patients would be exempt from the state excise tax at recreational retailers.

Fees for licensing applications and renewals will also be reduced under the new law.

Another major change will give regulators discretion when considering the issuance of marijuana business licenses to people with prior felony convictions.

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Most Military Service Members, Veterans And Their Families Support Allowing VA Doctors To Recommend Marijuana And Psychedelics

Active duty military personnel, veterans and their family members support allowing U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) doctors to recommend medical marijuana and psychedelics to patients if they believe it would provide a benefit, according to results of a survey from Ohio State University (OSU).

Researchers polled service members, veterans, their family members and non-military respondents over a few weeks in late August and early September, the report says. All told, 1,168 individuals participated, including 315 active and veteran military members, 426 members of military families and 427 non-military individuals. The goal was to assess the differing likelihoods across the categories of respondents to support various statements about medical marijuana and psychedelics as available treatment options.

“Given the prevalence of health issues within the veteran community and the need for a wide range of treatment options, some researchers have started to explore whether and how veteran populations should have access to alternative treatment options such as marijuana and psychedelics,” authors wrote in the preprint paper, which was published this month by OSU law school’s Drug Enforcement and Policy Center and has not been peer-reviewed. “Studies of veteran views on these issues, however, have not closely explored how veteran perspectives on certain drug issues compare directly to those in their immediate and broader community.”

The survey participants, drawn from the volunteer American Population Panel, were asked whether they agreed or disagreed with four statements about marijuana and psychedelics:

  1. Marijuana/psychedelics can be an effective treatment for various medical conditions.
  2. A doctor should be legally allowed to recommend marijuana/psychedelics if the doctor believes the patient could benefit from medical marijuana/psychedelics, even without FDA approval.
  3. A doctor should be legally allowed to recommend marijuana/psychedelics, but only after it has received an approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
  4. Because of the unique hardships and health conditions experienced by veterans, U.S. Veterans Administration doctors should be legally allowed to recommend marijuana/psychedelics to veterans if the doctor believes the patient could benefit from marijuana/psychedelics.

Strong majorities of all three surveyed groups agreed the substances can be effective treatments, with even more sizable proportions saying that Veterans Administration (VA) doctors should be able to legally recommend the substances to patients if they believe they would provide some benefit.

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UFC Formally Removes Marijuana From Banned Substances List For Professional Fighters

The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) announced on Thursday that it is formally removing marijuana from its newly modified banned substances list for athletes, building on an earlier reform.

While UFC says it is modeling its list of prohibited drugs after the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)—which has controversially maintained cannabis as a banned substance—it is making amendments “based on historical findings (i.e. marijuana removed from the prohibited list).”

Professional fighters have already been largely protected from being penalized over testing positive for THC under a policy change that UFC adopted in 2021, but now it is removing cannabis as a banned drug altogether.

“UFC’s goal for the Anti-Doping Policy is to be the best, most effective, and most progressive anti-doping program in all of professional sports,” UFC Chief Business Officer Hunter Campbell said in a press release on Thursday.

“UFC is proud of the advancements we have made with our anti-doping program over the past eight years, and we will continue to maintain an independently administered drug-testing program that ensures all UFC athletes are competing under fair and equal circumstances,” he said. “With this new iteration of the program, UFC has once again raised the bar for health and safety in combat sports.”

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Industry group calls for FDA regulation of Kratom

Kratom, the tropical tree native to Southeast Asia, isn’t lawfully marketed in the U.S.— not as a drug product, a dietary supplement, or a food additive in conventional food. However, products prepared from kratom leaves are available in the U.S. through sales on the Internet and at brick-and-mortar stores. 

Kratom is often used to self-treat conditions such as pain, coughing, diarrhea, anxiety and depression, opioid use disorder, and opioid withdrawal.

According to the American Kratom Association, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is putting consumers at risk because it refuses to regulate kratom properly.  

Mac Haddow, the association’s senior fellow on public policy, says: “Since the FDA  treats all kratom products as the same, consumers have to navigate an increasingly complex marketplace alone.”

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Bipartisan Wisconsin Lawmakers Officially Introduce Marijuana Decriminalization Bill

A bipartisan group of Wisconsin lawmakers have formally introduced a measure to decriminalize marijuana possession after previewing the proposal earlier this month. Sponsors hope the limited, noncommercial reform will win enough support to clear the state’s GOP-controlled legislature and become law in parallel with a separate limited medical cannabis bill that Republican leaders say will be filed in January.

Assembly Bill 861, introduced by Reps. Shae Sortwell (R), Sylvia Ortiz-Velez (D) and Dave Considine (D), along with Sen. Lena Taylor (D), would remove the threat of jail time for simple possession of up to 14 grams of cannabis, replacing criminal charges with a $100 civil penalty.

Under current law, the offense is subject to a maximum $1,000 fine and up to six months in jail.

People caught using or possessing marijuana would also not need to appear in court under change proposed in the bill. Instead, they could simply pay the $100 fine, which would be considered by the court as a plea of no contest.

The measure would also stop courts from “counting” possession convictions involving up to 28 grams of marijuana, meaning people would not be charged as repeat offenders for possession small amounts of cannabis. For larger amounts, the bill would reduce the imprisonment time for repeat convictions from three and a half years down to 90 days.

Possession of drug paraphernalia, meanwhile, would be punishable by a $10 civil forfeiture under the proposal—down from as much as $500 and 30 days in jail.

“For small, simple possessions of marijuana, Wisconsin should not be throwing people in prison,” sponsors said in a cosponsorship memo about a month ago, noting that the state makes an average of 15,485 arrests per year over the minor offense, which is currently punishable by a maximum $1,000 fine and up to six months in jail.

In addition to decriminalizing possession, the bill would also make it so law enforcement would have additional flexibility in how they choose to handle individual cannabis cases. Police would have the choice of whether or not to book and process a person for possession, though they would still be required to collect certain personal information about them.

Another change in AB 861 would limit the liability of employers who choose not to test workers for THC, although that provision wouldn’t apply to positions overseen by the federal Department of Transportation or jobs involving safety and security.

The measure has been referred to the Assembly Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety ahead of the start of the state’s legislative session next month.

“Employers across the country have been discontinuing the long-standing practice of drug testing their employees and prospective employees because it is costly,” the lawmakers said in the sponsorship memo. “Employers in Wisconsin should be given the tools to decide for themselves whether or not they wish to continue drug testing for employment purposes by limiting their liability.”

The sponsors also pointed to more than half a dozen other states that have enacted similar reforms.

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