Tag: the war on (some) drugs

In a First, Texas Passes Law to Study Psychedelics to Treat PTSD in Veterans

For years, the Free Thought Project has been reporting on the beneficial effects of psylocybin mushrooms and other psychedelics ranging from treating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to addiction and depression. In the land of the free, however, in all places except for Oregon, Oakland and Denver, cops will kidnap and cage you for using them. Tens of millions of people are denied the potentially life saving effects of this medicine based solely on the fact that ignorant government enforcers threaten to use violence against you for having it.

All that is changing, however, and one of the most conservative states in the union is realizing it. While psychedelic research has expanded over the years, veterans with PTSD face a unique hurdle as these alternative therapies are not available for them. Instead, VA clinics dish out SSRIs like candy and hope for the best. But thanks to a new law in Texas, we could soon see that paradigm shift.

This month, Gov. Greg Abbott (R), approved a bill that will require the state to study the therapeutic potential of psychedelics on veterans with PTSD.

The state, in partnership with the Baylor College of Medicine and a military-focused medical center, will study the medical risks and benefits of psilocybin, MDMA and ketamine for military veterans.

The new law also mandates a clinical trial into psilocybin for veterans with PTSD, in addition to a broader review of the scientific literature on all three substances.

“It’s said that ‘as goes in Texas, so does then nation,’” said the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Alex Dominguez, in a press release. “While states across the country consider how best to address the mental health crisis facing our nation, I hope they once again look to Texas for leadership.”

As Dominguez stated, there is indeed a mental health crisis facing America as thousands of veterans commit suicide every year.

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Connecticut Legalizes Marijuana to Combat ‘Racial Disparities’

Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont (D) signed a bill into law Tuesday that legalizes possession of marijuana in the state and anticipates retail sales of the drug in 2022.

The new law allows people age 21 and older to possess or use marijuana up to the specified possession limit of 1.5 ounces on their person and five ounces in their home or car.

The law also establishes penalties for use by those under 21, or possession of an amount greater than permitted by the law. Additionally, it removes most cannabis sales offenses from the state’s list of serious juvenile offenses.

The bill was passed under the umbrella of “social justice,” to combat “racial disparities,” and will place with a Social Equity Council the task of how to regulate the new legal marijuana market so that it becomes “an instrument for addressing racial, social and economic injustice,” reported CT Mirror.

“Those communities were hardest hit by the war on drugs — making up for some lost time there,” Lamont said, adding he expects his state’s new law will be “viewed as a national model.”

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Happy Horseshit of the moment: Marijuana use may increase risk of suicide, NIH study finds

A new study from the National Institutes of Health found an increased risk of suicide was associated with marijuana use.

The study found higher rates of suicidal ideation, suicide planning, and suicide attempts among both men and women who used marijuana on both a daily and a nondaily (fewer than 300 days a year) basis.

Researchers from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, part of the NIH, examined data from over 281,000 participants aged 18-34 in the National Surveys of Drug Use and Health from 2008-2019. The results were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

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Editors note: If the above were true I’d be dead a thousand times over and my suicidal partner a thousand times more. Pot saved her and saved me. Get a grip.

Florida Supreme Court rejects ‘grow your own’ marijuana legalization initiative

The Florida Supreme Court has rejected a prospective citizen’s initiative to place a proposed constitutional amendment before voters in 2022 to legalize adult recreational marijuana and allow Floridians to “grow their own.”

In a 5-2 ruling Thursday, the court determined the prospective amendment’s ballot summary is “affirmatively misleading,” the second time since April the state’s highest court has issued that verdict to knock a marijuana legalization measure off the 2022 ballot.

Tampa-based Sensible Florida submitted its proposed amendment, Regulate Marijuana in a Manner Similar to Alcohol to Establish Age, Licensing, and Other Restrictions, to the Division of Elections on March 17, 2016.

The summary reads: “Regulates marijuana (hereinafter “cannabis”) for limited use and growing by persons 21 years of age or older. State shall adopt regulations to issue, renew, suspend, and revoke licenses for cannabis cultivation, product manufacturing, testing and retail facilities. Local governments may regulate facilities’ time, place and manner and, if state fails to timely act, may license facilities. Does not affect compassionate use of low-THC cannabis, nor immunize federal law violations.”

The proposed amendment would permit people to grow “six mature flowering cannabis plants per household member 21 years of age or older” and possess “the harvest therefrom, provided the growing takes place indoors or in a locked greenhouse and the cannabis grown is not made available for sale.”

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