Tag: the war on (some) drugs

Why Does Alabama Only Let You Consume Peach-Flavored Edibles?

Alabama, which legalized medical weed back in 2021, is just now getting around to licensing cultivators, testing labs, processors, transporters, and dispensaries so qualifying patients can begin to have access. The catch? You can’t smoke it, and all the edibles you consume must be peach-flavored.

You see, if the edibles are cube-shaped (also stipulated by law) and peach-flavored, they’re somehow less likely to interest kids—at least that’s the state Senate’s logic after a heated floor debate, according to Alabama Reflector‘s Brian Lyman (and the new regulations).

“At one point the bill said it would have no taste, but (state Sen. Tim) Melson said that would cause people to gag. So the compromise was a single flavor,” Lyman told AL.com. “Maybe peach isn’t as attractive to people?”

This isn’t the first time lawmakers have used “for the children” justifications to attempt to regulate which products adults may legally buy. For over two decades, Reason‘s Jacob Sullum has documented the assaults on malt liquor, clove cigarettes, and any other vice that might possibly excite the taste buds of minors. In 2020, the Food and Drug Administration banned flavored e-cigarette cartridges to “combat the troubling epidemic of youth e-cigarette use,” ignoring the many surveys in which ex-smokers report that flavored vape cartridges actually helped them quit smoking tobacco cigarettes. And the Alabama case isn’t the first time the kid safety justification has been used to justify the regulation of edibles.

Maryland regulators, who took forever to get their medical cannabis scheme off the ground, were further delayed back in 2019 because they needed to develop rules governing the appearance of edibles “to ensure the safety of minors.” (“I don’t want to deprive anyone of their medication, but let’s treat this like medicine, not make little gummy bears out of it,” said Republican state Sen. Robert Cassilly at the time.) New York has banned the marketing and advertising of cannabis products “designed in any way to appeal to children or other minors.”

In 2014, Colorado regulators deliberated over whether to ban practically all edibles before ultimately allowing a broader variety, but disallowing those shaped like animals, people, or fruit (which are also banned in California). In 2018, Washington state regulators mulled rules that would have banned certain shapes of edibles—along with the use of icing and sprinkles—before ultimately just banning the use of bright colors; per the authorities, product colors must fall within a “standard pantone color book that sets the list of colors and specified ranges within those colors.”

“If you go through a [New York] cannabis dispensary right now,” Columbia University epidemiologist Katherine Keyes told the Associated Press, “it’s almost absurd how youth-oriented a lot of the packaging and the products are.”

Lawmakers, regulators, and public health worrywarts are aided and abetted by a willing media. “Consumption of Marijuana Edibles Surges Among Children, Study Finds,” reads a New York Times headline from earlier this year. “3,000+ young children accidentally ate weed edibles in 2021, study finds,” adds NPR. (Though any accidental ingestion that results in hospitalization is worrying, no children died in any of the thousands of cases analyzed in the study—a not-insignificant point that few journalists pointed out.)

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It’s the Summer of 2023, and Cannabis Remains Federally Illegal. What’s Happening?

It was big news last fall when President Joe Biden pardoned federal offenders who had been charged and convicted of federal cannabis possession.

For over 50 years, since President Richard Nixon signed the 1970 Controlled Substances Act, cannabis has been a Schedule I federally controlled illegal drug, classified just like heroin and LSD.  Yet, Biden’s pardon proclamation did not make cannabis federally legal. However, tucked into Biden’s 2022 executive order was something no president to date has done: Biden directed the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Attorney General to “review” the legal classification of cannabis.

No formal announcement on the status of that review has been made since then.

Just two months after issuing the 2022 pardon proclamation, Biden also ramped up cannabis research expansion by signing into law the 2022 Medical Marijuana and Cannabidiol Research Expansion Act. This legislation opened up even more federal research by finally streamlining the approval process for the federal scientific studies. For the first time in American history, there now exists a cannabis medical study law that requires the U.S. attorney general to review medical study proposals within a 60-day period or request that applicants provide additional information. As of yet, though, there’s no real sense of the impact this legislation has had on actual medical cannabis research.

Before these presidential moves, the medical research of cannabis’s health benefits was almost solely the province of the states. In fact, Pennsylvania, which legislatively legalized in 2016, was the first state to require medical cannabis research as part of its medical legalization regime. Since then, other states like California and Colorado have established state-sponsored research programs, but Pennsylvania remains the nation’s first to select and pair state universities with cannabis producers to collect data and study cannabis’s efficacy. 

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S.F. Mayor Breed defends controversial move to arrest drug users: ‘You’ve never lived in it’

Mayor London Breed fiercely defended her controversial policy to arrest and detain drug users to get them into treatment against criticism from Supervisor Dean Preston on Tuesday, calling him a “white man who’s talking about Black and brown people as if you’re the savior.” 

Breed has directed the Police Department to use public intoxication laws to arrest people who are high on drugs, detain them to sober up in jail and then offer them services. So far, officers have cited or arrested 38 people under the so-called “Intoxication Detention Program,” 12 of whom already had arrest warrants issued against them, she said during the Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday. Breed said none accepted drug treatment upon release. 

Preston pushed back on the approach Tuesday. He pointed out that Breed approved her health department’s overdose prevention plan in September that said Black, brown and Indigenous people continue to be impacted by “the racism and criminalization that have been the hallmark of federal U.S. drug policy for the past several decades.” 

The plan says “punitive policies have not been shown to be effective at reducing overdose deaths, while incarceration is known to significantly increase risk of dying of drug overdose” and cites a study demonstrating an increased risk of fatal overdose after incarceration. 

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Ohio Cops Raided Afroman’s House Looking for a Dungeon Because of a Bizarre Confidential Informant Tip

When sheriff’s deputies in Adams County, Ohio, raided Afroman’s house last year, they were looking for more than just marijuana, which the rapper is famously fond of. The deputies were searching for evidence of outlandish claims from a confidential informant that the house contained a basement dungeon.

The Adams County Sheriff’s Office (ACSO) executed a search warrant on Afroman’s house last August on suspicion of drug possession, drug trafficking, and kidnapping. Afroman was not charged with a crime, and the kidnapping angle was never explained. But now, public records obtained by Arthur West, a public records advocate, and provided to Reason shed more light on the raid, which has since led to a bitter legal battle between Afroman and the ACSO deputies.

According to the search warrant affidavit, the Adams County Sheriff’s Office received a tip from a confidential informant that Joseph Foreman, better known as Afroman, was not only trafficking large amounts of marijuana, but he also “has a basement, referred to as ‘the dungeon’ in which he…keeps women locked in, forcing them to urinate and defecate in a bucket as punishment for upsetting or disobeying him.”

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Cops Bust Psilocybin Grow Operation in Northeast Portland Mansion

On June 8, court documents show, police busted a psilocybin grow house and major interstate mushroom and weed distribution operation in a 5,000-square-foot mansion bordering a Northeast Portland country club.

Oregon voters legalized psilocybin mushrooms in 2020 by passing Measure 109. But the measure only sanctions use of the hallucinogen in tightly regulated therapeutic settings. Such niceties have done little to discourage the expansion of a “mushroom underground,” with state-licensed therapists offering guided trips in private homes and Airbnbs. Psilocybin mushrooms are easily obtained across Portland, even after the shuttering of a retail operation, Shroom House, on West Burnside Street.

A probable cause affidavit filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court on Friday offers some insight into where that supply might be coming from—and alleges that interstate psilocybin traffickers have set up shop in Portland.

It’s not clear from the affidavit what led police to the $1.3 million home bordering Columbia Edgewater Country Club, which features panoramic views of the golf course, a “unique triple barrel-vaulted ceiling,” and parking for 16 cars, according to a real estate listing online.

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Rhode Island Lawmakers Approve Psilocybin Legalization Bill

A Rhode Island legislative committee this week approved a bill to legalize the possession and cultivation of psilocybin mushrooms, making the state the latest of several to propose or advance legislation to ease the prohibitions on magic mushrooms and other psychedelic drugs. The measure, House Bill 5923, was approved by the House Judiciary Committee by a 12-2 vote on Tuesday, according to a report from Marijuana Moment. A companion bill is pending in the Rhode Island Senate, where the chamber’s Judiciary Committee is holding the bill for further study.

If passed, the legislation would eliminate criminal penalties for adults who possess or cultivate up to one ounce of psilocybin mushrooms for personal use. Up to one ounce of mushrooms could also be shared by one adult with another. The bill is slated to go into effect on July 1, and an amendment approved by the Judiciary Committee sets a July 1, 2025, sunset for the legislation.

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Healing brain trauma with psychedelics

Ian McCall is a former professional Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighter who suffered from symptoms of traumatic brain injuries. After retirement, McCall experienced confusion, anger issues, depression, addiction and suicidal ideation. He tried brain stimulation therapy, but that did not work. So, he turned to a less traditional form of therapy: psilocybin mushrooms.

“I am a very loving, happy person, and I wasn’t for a large portion of my life. Because I was just tortured. I was tortured, and then I was confused, and I was addicted, and I was just crazy for a long time,” McCall said.

Psilocybin mushrooms, also known as magic mushrooms or shrooms, are naturally occurring psychedelics that can affect all senses. They can alter a person’s way of thinking and can cause hallucinations.

“The most important thing to know is that if you take psilocybin or LSD, they’re incredibly safe from a physiological standpoint. You can’t really overdose on them,” Dr. Daniel F. Kelly, a practicing neurosurgeon in Santa Monica said. “They don’t create an addictive behavior like say opiates or alcohol do or nicotine. And in fact, as you probably know, they’re used to break addiction.”

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Hallucinogen use is on the rise among young adults

A significant upsurge in the usage of non-LSD hallucinogens among young adults in the United States is causing concern among researchers. An insightful study conducted by the University of Michigan and Columbia University reveals that in the period between 2018 and 2021, the use of these drugs by individuals aged 19 to 30 almost doubled.

Back in 2018, it was found that 3.4% of young adults reported having used non-LSD hallucinogens in the past year. This figure spiked to 6.6% in 2021. 

Sudden surge is surprising

While this prevalence remains relatively low compared to substance usage like alcohol and cannabis, this sudden surge over a mere three years presents potential public health worries.

“The increase in non-LSD hallucinogen use occurred while LSD use remained stable at around 4% in 2018 and 2021,” stated Megan Patrick, a research professor in the Survey Research Center at U-M’s Institute for Social Research. 

Patrick, who is a co-author of the study, emphasized that the leap in prevalence is substantial and raises critical health-related concerns.

How the study was conducted

This noteworthy information was uncovered as a part of the Monitoring the Future study, funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and the results were published in the journal Addiction. 

The study, involving a longitudinal follow-up of 12th-grade students transitioning into adulthood, focused primarily on substance use and health.

In addition to the overall increase in hallucinogen usage, the research team discovered that the consumption of these substances was notably higher among males compared to females. 

Additionally, white young adults reported higher usage rates than Black young adults, and those whose parents possessed a college education, indicating a higher socioeconomic status, were also found to use these substances more frequently.

While the reasons behind the usage of these drugs, whether recreational or therapeutic, were not identified in the study, previous research has shown a link between nonmedical hallucinogen use and an increased risk of substance use disorders, self-harm, injury, and anxiety.

“With increased visibility for medical and therapeutic use, potentially comes diversion and unregulated product availability, as well as a lack of understanding among the public of potential risks,” explained Katherine Keyes, a professor of epidemiology at Columbia Mailman School and the lead author of the study.

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These ‘Psychedelic Cryptography’ Videos Have Hidden Messages Designed to Be Seen While Tripping

A new competition focused on “Psychedelic Cryptography” has awarded cash prizes to artists who made videos encoded with hidden messages that can be most easily deciphered by a person who is tripping on psychedelic substances, such as LSD, ayahuasca, or psilocybin mushrooms.

Qualia Research Institute (QRI), a California-based nonprofit group that researches consciousness with backing from tech investors and experts, announced the winners of its Psychedelic Cryptography (PsyCrypto) contest last week. The goal of the exercise was “to create encodings of sensory information that are only meaningful when experienced on psychedelics in order to show the specific information-processing advantages of those states,” according to the original contest page, which was posted in March.

Artist Raimonds Jermaks clinched the first and second place prizes in the contest for videos entitled “Can You See Us?” and “ We Are Here. Let’s Talk.” The third prize went to Rūdolfs Balcers for the video “The Key.” The contest entries were judged by members of QRI’s international phenomenologist network, and evaluated based on their effectiveness, specificity, and aesthetic value.

The winning videos play on the common psychedelic experience of seeing radiant “tracers,” which are trails of colors and afterimages that linger in the visual field. The winning artists used this effect to write out tracer-based messages that are incomprehensible to a sober person, but that can be understood while tripping.  

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New Study Analyzes Efficacy of Psilocybin as Treatment for Alcohol Use Disorder

A recent study published in the journal Psychology of Addictive Behaviors by the American Psychological Association on June 5 has found that psilocybin can be an effective treatment for people with alcohol addiction.

Officially entitled “Reports of self-compassion and affect regulation in psilocybin-assisted therapy for alcohol use disorder: An interpretive phenomenological analysis,” the study was conducted by researchers from New York University and University of California, San Francisco, as well as a psychedelic integration and psychedelic-assisted therapy business called Fluence.

The study objective was to “delineate psychological mechanisms of change” for those who suffer from alcohol use disorders (referred to as AUDs). All participants were engaged in interviews about their experiences, and asked questions about their alcohol use before and after the study. They were also asked about their coping patterns when enduring “strong emotions, stress, and cravings for alcohol.”

According to the study results, researchers examined how psilocybin helped them overcome various stressors. “Participants reported that the psilocybin treatment helped them process emotions related to painful past events and helped promote states of self-compassion, self-awareness, and feelings of interconnectedness,” researchers stated. “The acute states during the psilocybin sessions were described as laying the foundation for developing more self-compassionate regulation of negative affect. Participants also described newfound feelings of belonging and an improved quality of relationships following the treatment.”

Through this evidence, they explained that psilocybin “increases the malleability of self-related processing, and diminishes shame-based and self-critical thought patterns while improving affect regulation and reducing alcohol cravings,” the authors concluded. “These findings suggest that psychosocial treatments that integrate self-compassion training with psychedelic therapy may serve as a useful tool for enhancing psychological outcomes in the treatment of AUD.”

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