New research suggests that psilocybin use can promote an anti-authoritarian attitude.
The medical marijuana movement loses a founding father, and the only other action this past week was a pair of CBD bills.
It's been a pretty quiet week on the corrupt front, but we've got another prison guard breaking bad and a police dispatcher who picked the wrong husband.
California looks set to make big bucks from legalizing weed, Mexico's tourism minister suggests legalizing it at some of the countrys' biggest tourist beach resorts, the new Honduran national police chief has some explaining to do, and more.
A pioneer of the medical marijuana movement has died, the conservative group ALEC calls for reform of drug-free zone laws, the Trump administration is turning to private prisons, and more.
Republican legislators are gumming things up in Maine and Virginia, a big coalition calls for preserving the drug czar's office, Amnesty International warns the Philippines, and more.
California's treasurer wants to create a public bank for pot businesses, a New Jersey poll on legalization has mixed results, the Indiana House passes a CBD bill, Israel takes another step toward marijuana decrim, and more.
This article was produced in collaboration with AlterNet and first appeared here.
Psychedelic drugs have been associated with anti-authoritarian counter-cultures since the 1960s, but a new study suggests using psilocybin, the psychedelic compound in magic mushrooms, actually makes people less likely to embrace authoritarian views, PsyPost reports. The study conducted by the Psychedelic Research Group at Imperial College London was published in the journal Psychopharmacology.
psilocybin mushrooms (Greenoid/Flickr)
While other studies have linked the use of psychedelics to a
greater sense of oneness with nature, openness to new experiences and
political and social liberalism, this is the first to provide experimental evidence their use can leading to lasting changes in these attitudes.
In the study, researchers gave two oral doses of psilocybin to seven participants suffering from treatment-resistant major depression while a control group of seven healthy subjects did not receive psilocybin. Researchers surveyed participants about their political views and relationship to nature before the sessions, one week after the sessions, and 7-12 months later.
Subjects who received the psilocybin treatment showed a significant decrease in authoritarian attitudes after treatment, and that reduction was sustained over time. They also reported a significant increase in a sense of relatedness to nature.
"Before I enjoyed nature, now I feel part of it. Before I was looking at it as a thing, like TV or a painting… But now I see there's no separation or distinction -- you are it," one participant told researchers.
Subjects who had not received psilocybin did not exhibit significant changes in attitudes.
"Our findings tentatively raise the possibility that given in this way, psilocybin may produce sustained changes in outlook and political perspective, here in the direction of increased nature relatedness and decreased authoritarianism," wrote study authors Taylor Lyons and Robin L. Carhart-Harris.
That is a significant advance in the research on the links between psychedelics and anti-authoritarianism. That's because this is the first study to suggest that psychedelic use promoted such attitudes and not the other way around.
But while this study's design allows the drawing of some inferences about cause and effect, its small sample size limits the strength of its findings. As Lyon and Carhart-Harris noted in their study, "It would be hasty, therefore, to attempt any strong claims about a causal influence due specifically to psilocybin at this stage."
Still, one can't help but wonder what might happen if, say, Jeff Sessions or Donald Trump or Rodrigo Duterte were to go tripping on 'shrooms. The world might be a better place.
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The medical marijuana movement loses a founding father, and the only other action this past week was a pair of CBD bills.
CaliforniaLast Saturday, Dennis Peron, "the Father of Medical Marijuana," died at age 72. A key player in California's groundbreaking embrace of medical marijuana has died. Dennis Peron, an AIDS activist whose partner, Jonathan West, died of the disease in 1990, argued for the benefits of medical marijuana for AIDS patients, opened the nation's first dispensary in San Francisco, and was a driving force behind the city's 1992 ordinance allowing medical marijuana. That was the first step toward the state's historic passage of Prop 215 four years later. Peron was 72. He died of lung cancer at a San Francisco hospital.
Idaho
Last Thursday, a CBD bill was filed in the House. Conservative Republican state Rep. Dorothy Moon has filed a bill that would allow the CBD cannabis oil for medicinal purposes. House Bill 410 would limit cannabis oils to less than 0.3% THC. It is now before the House Health and Welfare Committee.
Indiana
On Tuesday, the House approved a CBD bill. The House voted 93-0 Tuesday to approve House Bill 1214, which would allow anyone to buy and use CBD cannabis oil, provided it contains less than 0.3% THC. The bill also gets around federal controlled substance prohibitions by designating CBD oil as an exempt hemp product. The bill now goes to the Senate.
[For extensive information about the medical marijuana debate, presented in a neutral format, visit MedicalMarijuana.ProCon.org.]
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It's been a pretty quiet week on the corrupt front, but we've got another prison guard breaking bad and a police dispatcher who picked the wrong husband. Let's get to it:
In Columbus, Georgia,
a former state prison guard was sentenced Tuesday to nearly seven years in federal prison after being caught trying to bring a hundred grams of meth and more than a pound of pot into the Calhoun State Prison in Morgan. Joshua Washington, 30, said he had been promised $3,000 to bring the drugs into the prison. He copped to a single count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine.
In Claremont, North Carolina, a police dispatcher was fired Tuesday after Catawba County narcotics officers executing a search warrant found 65 pounds of marijuana in her home. The dispatcher was neither arrested nor named, but her husband, Blong Ly Vang, now faces marijuana and stolen firearms charges.
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California looks set to make big bucks from legalizing weed, Mexico's tourism minister suggests legalizing it at some of the country's biggest tourist beach resorts, the new Honduran national police chief has some explaining to do, and more.
Legal green will make the Golden State a bit more golden. (Wikimedia)
California Will Reap $643 Million in Pot Taxes Next Year, Governor Estimates. Gov. Jerry Brown (D) estimated Wednesday that the state will take in $643 million in marijuana taxes in Fiscal Year 2018-2019, more than 10 times the cost of issuing licenses and enforcing new rules. The estimate comes in the governor's budget proposal for the next fiscal year. This year, with only five months remaining in the fiscal year and with sales just getting underway, the budget estimates $175 million in pot taxes. The high tax proceeds estimates are leading to calls from some consumers and the California Growers Association to lower the taxes.
Virginia House Panel Kills Decriminalization Bill. A subcommittee of the House Committee on Courts and Justice voted 7-1 Wednesday to kill a decriminalization bill, House Bill 1063. A bill that would lessen penalties for a first marijuana offense remains alive.
Medical Marijuana
Idaho CBD Bill Filed. Conservative Republican state Rep. Dorothy Moon has filed a bill that would allow the CBD cannabis oil for medicinal purposes. House Bill 410 would limit cannabis oils to less than 0.3% THC. It is now before the House Health and Welfare Committee.
International
Mexico Tourism Minister Calls for Legal Marijuana at Major Beach Resorts. Tourism Minister Enrique de la Madrid said Thursday that Mexico should legalize marijuana at two of the country's major beach resorts, Cancun and Los Cabos, in a bid to reduce criminal violence. "It's absurd we're not taking this step as a country," he told reporters in Mexico City. "Even if there's work to be done in the whole of the country, I'd like to see that it might be done in Baja California and Quintana Roo," the states where Los Cabos and Cancun, respectively, are located.
Mexican Military on Patrol in Reynosa in Wake of Cartel Violence. The military is out in force, on the ground and in the air, in the Mexican border city of Reynosa after days of gun battles between rival factions of the Gulf Cartel left at least a dozen people dead. The military patrols will continue indefinitely, the governor of Tamaulipas state said.
Honduras National Police Chief Reportedly Helped Cartel Rescue Cocaine Load. The new chief of National Police, Jose David Aguilar Moran, promised to continue reforming an agency stained by corruption and complicity with drug cartels, but the Associated Press reports that he helped a cartel leader successfully retrieve and deliver nearly a ton of cocaine after lower-ranking police stopped the truck it which it was being transported. That report is based on confidential Honduran government security reports obtained by the AP.
Georgian Protesters Demand Drug Law Reforms. Hundreds of people gathered outside the parliament building in Tbilisi Thursday to reiterate their demand that the country liberalize its drug laws. The rally was sparked by the Monday sentencing of actor Giorgi Giorganashvili to eight years in prison on drug charges. The protestors representing 20 civil society groups said the sentence "once again legitimized the inhumane and repressive drug policy in Georgia." The action comes as the parliament is considering a bill that would decriminalize the use and possession of small amounts of drugs.
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A pioneer of the medical marijuana movement is dead, the conservative group ALEC calls for reform of drug-free zone laws, the Trump administration is turning to private prisons, and more.
Dennis Peron, RIP (Pinterest)
Florida Democratic Gubernatorial Candidate Calls for Marijuana Legalization. "Legalize it. Tax it. Use the revenue to fix Florida's public schools and move us up from 29th in the nation to #1." That's what Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum tweeted last week in response to an NBC/Wall Street Journal poll showing 60% of Americans favor legalization. No other candidate supports legalization, but at least two have called for decriminalization. Although at least five Democrats are running, Gillum is one of the leading contenders.
Medical Marijuana
Dennis Peron, "The Father of Medical Marijuana," Dead at 72. A key player in California's groundbreaking embrace of medical marijuana has died. Dennis Peron, an AIDS activist whose partner, Jonathan West, died of the disease in 1990, argued for the benefits of medical marijuana for AIDS patients, opened the nation's first dispensary in San Francisco, and was a driving force behind the city's 1992 ordinance allowing medical marijuana. That was the first step toward the state's historic passage of Prop 215 four years later. Peron was 72. He died of lung cancer at a San Francisco hospital.
Asset Forfeiture
Kansas Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Bill Filed. The House Judiciary Committee has filed House Bill 2459, which would not eliminate civil asset forfeiture, but would create a process for people to file a claim on seized property and assets. The bill was the result of an effort by the Kansas Judicial Commission to draft reform recommendations after eight different reforms bills were offered last year. In a hearing last week, the bill won the support of the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, although no vote was taken.
Drug Testing
South Dakota Bill to Allow Drug Testing of Infants Advances. The Senate Health and Human Services Committee voted 6-1 last week to approve Senate Bill 105, which would allow doctors to drug test newborns for up to 28 days for evidence of prenatal drug exposure. The measure would absolve health care workers from any civil or criminal liability related to the test. Doctors would be required to report positive test results to the state. The bill now heads to a Senate floor vote.
Sentencing Reform
ALEC Calls on States to Reform "Drug-Free Zone" Laws. The conservative, pro-business American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), which drafts model bills for state legislatures, passed a resolution last Friday calling on states to reform drug-free zone laws. Such laws impose stiffer penalties for drug offenses committed within such areas, typically around schools, churches, and parks. They have been criticized as unduly harsh and having a disproportionate racial impact. "Most Drug-Free Zone laws were established decades ago," the resolution says, "but have not been reformed despite evidence that Drug-Free Zones are arbitrary and often unnecessarily broad, are ineffective at deterring drug- related crime, and create significant unintended consequences, including unwarranted disparate impacts on minority defendants."
Trump Administration Seeks to Boost Use of Private Prisons.The Bureau of Prisons now has the goal of "increasing population levels in private contract facilities," a memo sent last week by the agency's Assistant Director for Correctional Programs Division Frank Lara said. The memo follows guidance from Attorney General Jeff Sessions to reverse an Obama-era policy to reduce reliance on private prisons. DOJ is also seeking to cut federal prison guard positions.
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Republican legislators are gumming things up in Maine and Virginia, a big coalition calls for preserving the drug czar's office, Amnesty International warns the Philippines, and more.
Duterte's bloody drug war is drawing heat from Amnesty International, but not so much from the State Department. (Wikimedia)
Maine Republicans Set to Delay Adult Use Sales. With a moratorium on legal marijuana sales set to expire Thursday, the state GOP is moving to push back the date legal sales can begin. The Senate Tuesday approved Republican Sen. Roger Katz's bill to delay sales until the spring, but Republican House Leader Ken Fredette is calling for a delay in recreational sales until next year. Gov. Paul LePage (R) has also been an obstacle to implementing the will of the voters, who approved legalization in November 2016, some 14 months ago now.
Virginia Senate Republicans Kill Decriminalization Bill. Nine Republicans on the Senate Courts of Justice Committee voted Monday to kill Senate Bill 111, which would have decriminalized the possession of small amounts of marijuana. The Senate action followed action in the House, where Republicans already killed a similar bill.
Asset Forfeiture
Idaho Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Bill Filed. The House Judiciary and Rules Committee is taking up a bill that would reform, but not eliminate, civil asset forfeiture in the state. The bill would prevent forfeiture in cases of simple drug possession and would prevent forfeiture of large quantities of cash unless there is evidence of criminal activity. The measure is RS25826, which is not yet available on the legislative website. A similar bill passed the legislature last year, only to be vetoed by Gov. Butch Otter (R).
Drug Policy
Coalition Calls for Trump Not to Gut Drug Czar's Office. More than 150 groups have signed onto a letter sent Monday to the White House opposing the Trump administration's proposed plans to radically cut funding the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP -- the drug czar's office) and move its grant programs to other agencies. The move would "create an unnecessary distraction from efforts to save our lives," the groups said. Signatories include groups from the prevention, treatment, recovery and criminal justice communities, and more. "Not only would such a move drastically weaken these vitally important programs, and force them to compete for priority, direction, and funding in larger agencies with competing and higher priorities, but it would significantly impact ONDCP's ability to effectively carry out its mission," the groups, led by the Addiction Policy Forum, wrote.
Harm Reduction
New York Activists Press Lawmakers to Approve Safe Injection Sites. Drug policy reform advocates gathered in Albany Monday to urge lawmakers to act on a bill that would allow for the creation of safe injection sites in the state. Legislation was filed last year by Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal (D-Manhattan), but never acted on. If state Sen. Fred Akshar (R-Binghamton), head of the Senate Heroin Task Force, has his way, it won't be acted on either. "Our state dollars should not be going to a facility that is allowing people to continuously inject drugs," he told the New York Daily News.
International
Amnesty International Demands Philippines Hold Police to Account for Unlawful Drug War Killings. Responding to news that the Philippine National Police have resumed their role in waging President Duterte's bloody war on drugs, Amnesty International warned that police killers must be held to account. "The Philippines neither can nor should try to solve its drug problems at gunpoint," said James Gomez, the group's director for Southeast Asia and the Pacific. "Since President Duterte came to power, police have unlawfully killed thousands of people, the vast majority of them from poor and marginalized communities, in attacks so extensive and brutal they may well amount to crimes against humanity. Now that police are once more returning to the forefront of anti-drug operations, the government must make sure that there is no repeat of the bloodshed seen during the past 18 months."
State Department Drug Agency Vows to Support Duterte's War on Drugs. The State Department's Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs ("drugs and thugs"), says it will continue to support the Philippines drug war. "We are aware that the police are continuing the resumption of their operations. Many folks have been tracking the EJKs (extrajudicial killings) and the Philippines. There are some [encouraging things] that were seen, some of our human rights training [is] working and so I would describe [the] United States being cautiously optimistic... when it comes to a good, appropriate way of [carrying out the anti-]drug campaign," Deputy Assistant James Walsh said in a Tuesday press briefing. "And so we'll just monitor that and we'll continue supporting the government of the Philippines with our rule of law, our demand reduction programs and our maritime assistance," Walsh added.
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California's treasurer wants to create a public bank for pot businesses, a New Jersey poll on legalization has mixed results, the Indiana House passes a CBD bill, Israel takes another step toward marijuana decriminalization, and more.
Marijuana decriminalization is coming to Israel.
California Treasurers Lay Out Plan to Create Public Marijuana Bank. State Treasurer John Chiang on Tuesday laid out a plan to create a public bank for marijuana businesses, a defiant move in the face of the Trump administration's opposition to legal marijuana. "We are contending with the emergence of a multibillion-dollar cannabis industry that needs banking services, and a private banking industry that is stymied by federal law in meeting the needs of the new industry," said Chiang, who is seeking the Democratic gubernatorial nomination. "The current administration is out of step with the will of the people, not only those in California, but the 29 states that have legalized either or both medicinal and recreational-use cannabis."
New Jersey Pot Poll Has Mixed Results. A new poll from Fairleigh Dickinson University has strong support for further marijuana law reforms in the state, but only a minority in favor of outright legalization. The poll found 42% said legalize it, 26% said only decriminalize it, and 27% said it should be legal only for medical purposes. The poll comes as Gov. Phil Murphy (D) champions the cause of legalization and with one legalization bill already filed in the Senate and another set to be filed in the House.
Medical Marijuana
Indiana House Approves CBD Bill. The House voted 93-0 Tuesday to approve House Bill 1214, which would allow anyone to buy and use CBD cannabis oil, provided it contains less than 0.3% THC. The bill also gets around federal controlled substance prohibitions by designating CBD oil as an exempt hemp product. The bill now goes to the Senate.
Drug Testing
Maine Employers Must Ignore Off-Work Marijuana Use, Cease Testing Applicants. As of Thursday, Maine becomes the first state to protect workers from adverse employer action because of their use of marijuana. The state Department of Labor has removed marijuana from the list of drugs for which employers can test in its model drug policy. The legalization initiative passed by voters bars employers from refusing to employ or otherwise penalizing any person age 21 or older based on that person"s "consuming marijuana outside the … employer's property. Employers can still discipline workers who are high on the job, but a positive drug test will not be deemed sufficient to conclude that a worker was under the influence at work.
South Dakota Lawmakers Reject Drug Testing Themselves. The House State Affairs Committee voted Wednesday to kill House Bill 1133, which would have required lawmakers to be drug tested within two weeks of taking office. The committee "deferred the bill to the 41st day," of the legislature's 40-day legislative session.
International
Israeli Ministry Releases Marijuana Decriminalization Draft Legislation. The Public Security Ministry on Tuesday published draft legislation to decriminalize the use and possession of small amounts of marijuana. Under the proposal, being caught with pot would lead to a $265 fine on a first offense, a $530 fine on a second offense, and possible prosecution for a third offense. The draft language doesn't specify the amount of marijuana being decriminalized, but it will likely be up to 15 grams. The draft legislation will be submitted to the Ministerial Committee for Legislation on February 18.
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