Tag: the war on (some) drugs

Minnesota Will Be the 23rd State To Legalize Recreational Marijuana

Minnesota’s Democratic governor, Tim Walz, today reiterated his promise to sign a marijuana legalization bill that arrived at his desk on Saturday. That will make Minnesota, which legalized medical marijuana in 2014, the 23rd state to allow recreational use.

The Minnesota House and Senate, both of which are controlled by Democrats, had previously approved slightly different legalization bills. H.F. 100, which both chambers passed last week, reconciles those differences.

Adults 21 or older will be allowed to possess two ounces or less of marijuana in public, share that amount with other adults, keep two pounds or less at home, and grow up to eight plants, four of which are mature. Those provisions take effect on August 1.

The bill also establishes an Office of Cannabis Management to license and regulate commercial production and distribution. Marijuana products will be subject to a 10 percent retail tax, in addition to standard state and local sales taxes (which total about 8 percent in Minneapolis, for example). Local governments will be allowed to regulate retailers and cap their number but will not be allowed to ban them entirely. Rep. Zack Stephenson (DFL–Coon Rapids), a co-author of the bill, said licensed sales should begin in 12 to 18 months.

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Where The Most Death Penalties Are Carried Out

At least 883 people are known to have been put to death last year, according to Amnesty International’s annual review of the death penalty. However, as Statista’s Anna Fleck reports, the true number is likely far higher, as several countries do not publish accurate figures – including North Korea, Vietnam and Belarus.

In China, where numbers remain a state secret, thousands of people are believed to be executed and sentenced to death each year.

As Statista’s chart shows, Iran comes second only after China with at least 576 people known to have been executed in 2022, up 55 percent from the year.

The crimes behind these executions are mostly related to drugs and murder, while 18 were for moharebeh (enmity against God), which can be connected to the protests surrounding the death of Mahsa Amini.

Amnesty International notes that Saudi Arabia also saw a significant increase in death sentences since 2020, rising from 27 to a record high of 196 deaths, 83 of whom were executed for terrorism-related crimes. In total, 55 countries still have the death penalty, 20 of which recorded executions in 2022.

In the U.S., 18 executions were recorded in 2022 across six jurisdictions. These were Alabama (2), Arizona (3), Mississippi (1), Missouri (2), Oklahoma (5), and Texas (5). Meanwhile, there were 21 new death sentences recorded across 12 states. These included: Alabama (3), Arizona (1), California (2), Florida (5), Georgia (1), Louisiana (1), Mississippi (1), Missouri (1), North Carolina (2), Oklahoma (1), Pennsylvania (1) and Texas (2).

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NEW RESEARCH REVEALS LSD’S MIND-ALTERING POWER TO ENHANCE LEARNING AND EXPLORATORY THINKING

Researchers report they have uncovered remarkable new effects of the potent psychedelic drug lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) on human cognition, according to findings detailed in a new study. 

Published in Psychological Medicine, the study sheds light on LSD’s ability to accelerate learning when coupled with feedback and promote exploratory behavior. 

Researchers say the findings may hold the key to unraveling the enigmatic cognitive mechanisms that underlie the potential therapeutic benefits of LSD. 

Many recent studies have shown LSD-assisted psychotherapy to offer promising results in treating mental health conditions, including anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder. 

Though LSD remains illegal in many countries when administered in a controlled setting under the guidance of a trained therapist, the psychedelic drug has shown the potential to enhance individuals’ capacity to explore and process challenging emotions and experiences. Studies have found that this process can often lead to profound insights and lasting breakthroughs in therapy.

Jonathan Kanen, the lead author of the study and a Gates Cambridge Scholar, postulates that the potential therapeutic effects of LSD may stem from the drug’s ability to foster new beneficial patterns of learning about the world by forming new mental associations. 

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Pot Legalization Is a ‘Big Mistake’ Only If You Ignore the Value of Freedom and the Injustice of Prohibition

New York Times columnist Ross Douthat thinks “legalizing marijuana is a big mistake.” His argument, which draws heavily on a longer Substack essay by the Manhattan Institute’s Charles Fain Lehman, is unabashedly consequentialist, purporting to weigh the collective benefits of repealing prohibition against the costs. It therefore will not persuade anyone who believes, as a matter of principle, that people should be free to decide for themselves what goes into their bodies.

Douthat recognizes that his case against legalization “will not convince readers who come in with stringently libertarian presuppositions.” Lehman, a self-described “teenage libertarian” who has thought better of that position now that he is in his 20s, likewise makes no attempt to argue that the government is morally justified in arresting and punishing people for peaceful conduct that violates no one’s rights. They nevertheless make some valid points about the challenges of legalization while demonstrating the pitfalls of a utilitarian analysis that ignores the value of individual freedom and the injustice of restricting it to protect people from themselves.

Douthat and Lehman are right that legalization advocates, who at this point include roughly two-thirds of American adults, sometimes exaggerate its impact on criminal justice. All drug offenders combined “account for just 16.7 percent” of people in state and federal prisons, Lehman notes, and perhaps one-tenth of those drug war prisoners (based on an estimate by Fordham law professor John Pfaff) were convicted of marijuana offenses. People arrested for violating pot prohibition usually are not charged with production or distribution and typically do not spend much, if any, time behind bars.

Still, those arrests are not without consequences. In addition to the indignity, embarrassment, inconvenience, legal costs, and penalties they impose, the long-term consequences of a misdemeanor record include barriers to employment, housing, and education. Those burdens are bigger and more extensive than Douthat and Lehman are willing to acknowledge.

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Cops Raid LEGAL Cannabis Farm and Execute Man’s Leashed Dog

In an infuriating and utterly horrifying incident that lays bare the problematic reality of America’s drug war, law enforcement authorities with a search warrant on a state-licensed cannabis farm in rural Trinity County near Hayfork, fatally shot the cultivator’s dog on May 2. 

This glaring display of militarized policing in response to what is essentially a civil code violation is a chilling reminder of the inhumane costs of enforcing an immoral law about a plant that is legal in most parts of the country. Despite the victim having a valid state license, the county permit was a bone of contention that led to this brutal incident. The video of this appalling act has gone viral, leading to widespread outrage and backlash — especially since the dog was chained up.

The raid was part of several (between six to nine, depending on who you ask) conducted over the first two days of May in remote areas of western Trinity County, notorious for cannabis cultivation. According to the Trinity County Sheriff’s Department, these raids resulted in the seizure of over 16,000 marijuana plants, 7,500 pounds of processed marijuana, 25 firearms, and $64,566 in cash. The horror.

Police argue that their actions were justified when they executed the dog because it was allegedly trained to attack and lunged at an officer. They failed to mention the part where the dog was on a chain.

What’s more, this account ignores the fact that five of the raided farms were state-licensed — including this one. The grower, Nhia Yang, a 64-year-old Hmong man, had taken necessary steps to legitimize his operations and was waiting on the county license due to administrative lag. Furthermore, Yang had received a CDFW Qualified Cultivator grant and passed an inspection just a week prior to the raid, which affirmed his compliance with state regulations.

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Cops say they’re being poisoned by fentanyl. Experts say the risk is ‘extremely low’

Last December, Officer Courtney Bannick was on the job for the Tavares, Fla., police department when she came into contact with a powder she believed was street fentanyl.

The footage from another officer’s body camera shows Bannick appearing to lose consciousness before being lowered to the ground by other cops.

“I was light-headed a little bit,” Bannick later told WKMG, a local television station. “I was choking, I couldn’t breathe.”

Other officers can be heard on the tape describing Bannick’s medical condition as an overdose. They administered Narcan, a medication that reverses opioid poisoning.

“She’s breathing,” a cop says. “Stay with me!”

The Tavares police department blamed the incident on fentanyl. Local officials declined NPR’s requests for an interview, as did Bannick. Speaking with WKMG, a television station in Orlando, she said she felt lucky to be alive.

“If I didn’t have backup there, I wouldn’t be here today,” she said soon after the incident.

Reports of police suffering severe medical symptoms after touching or inhaling powdered fentanyl are common, occurring “every few weeks” around the U.S. according to experts interviewed by NPR.

But many experts say these officers aren’t experiencing fentanyl or opioid overdoses.

“This has never happened,” said Dr. Ryan Marino, a toxicologist and emergency room physician who studies addiction at Case Western Reserve University. “There has never been an overdose through skin contact or accidentally inhaling fentanyl.”

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Salem Leaders Vote Unanimously To Ease Enforcement On Psilocybin

 It’s now a lot easier to use magic mushrooms in the witch city.

The Salem City Council voted unanimously last week to effectively decriminalize Psilocybin mushrooms in the city, which means that police will now deprioritize enforcing laws against the fungi and will not actively look for people that grow, possess, or consume them. City Councilor Jeff Cohen told WBZ’s Shari Small scaling back enforcement on the mushrooms will help certain residents.

“This is primarily about helping people who might have issues like depression or other challenges,” he said. “However, it’s enabling people who grow their own to be able to use it.”

Both Colorado and Oregon have decriminalized psilocybin and allow it to be used for medical reasons. Cities in several states have decriminalized the drugs, including Cambridge and Somerville. While this measure does not fully decriminalize the use of magic mushrooms, it allows people to use them without the fear of being prosecuted for it.

“They’ve done studies on psilocybin for many years, they have a lot of data about how it really does help people,” Councilor Cohen said. “We had scientists and also therapists who talked about their perceived need to have this in their toolbox to help some of the patients they have.”

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The origins of weed: How the plant spread across the world

Cannabis has grown and evolved with humans for thousands of years. Many separate cultures cultivated the plant, using its seeds for food, its fibers to make textiles, rope, and other materials, and its buds as a medicine and psychoactive substance in spiritual ceremonies. Cannabis proved to be a very useful plant for our ancestors and it continues to be today.

If there was one thing our ancestors knew, it was the healing properties of cannabis. While the wonders of cannabis medicine may feel like a new discovery in the West, cultures in the East have used and documented it for thousands of years. 

Check out the story of cannabis—where it originated, how it spread across the globe, and which cultures used it. Learn how important the plant was to ancient humans and how it continues to be important to humans today. 

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Republican councilman caught smoking crack and fentanyl in his car

A city councilman in Cranston, Rhode Island who chaired the local Republican Party was arrested on Monday for drug possession after police found him smoking a mix of crack cocaine and fentanyl in his car, reportedThe Providence Journal this week.

Matthew Reilly, 41, a first-term council member, a licensed attorney and a youth soccer coach, was found by cops sitting in his car Monday, the Journal reported.

“The police found Reilly around 11:30 a.m. in a parked SUV after a passerby told a patrolman that a man was possibly choking in a parking lot,” according to the report.

“‘He appeared to be sleeping or unconscious while having difficulty breathing/choking,’ patrolman Luis A. Collado wrote in a police report. ‘I opened the door and had to shake him in order for him to wake up. At that point I noticed that he had a glass pipe that’s typically used to smoke crack cocaine from in his hand and a lighter.'”

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Science recently uncovered these 5 fascinating facts about psychedelic substances

Scientists are interested in studying psychedelic substances because they have the potential to alter perception, cognition, and mood in ways that may be beneficial for treating a variety of mental health conditions. Some studies suggest that certain psychedelics may have therapeutic effects for conditions such as depression, anxiety, PTSD, addiction, and end-of-life anxiety.

The most commonly studied psychedelic drugs include psilocybin (the active compound found in “magic” mushrooms), lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD, also known simply as “acid”), dimethyltryptamine (or DMT, a naturally occurring psychedelic compound found in many plants and animals), and 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (known as MDMA or molly, a synthetic drug that produces both psychedelic and stimulant effects).

Below are five recent scientific discoveries related to psychedelic substances and their therapeutic potential.

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