House Passes Defense Bill with Psychedelic Research Amendments, FL Bans Tianetpine, More... (9/28/23)
A broad range of advocacy groups is calling on Congress to support a bill to allow temporary scheduling and testing of fentanyl analogs, Maine's largest city moves toward natural psychedelic decriminalization, and more.
[image:1 align:left caption:true]Opiates and Opioids
Rights Groups Call on Congress to Support Fentanyl Analog TEST Act. A long list of health policy, drug policy, criminal justice reform, civil and human rights, and advocacy organizations have sent an open letter to the Senate calling on members of that body to cosponsor and support the Temporary Emergency Scheduling and Testing of Fentanyl Analogues Act of 2023 (TEST Act). This bill would allow the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to place new fentanyl-related substances (FRS) in Schedule I for up to four years, during which time the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Health and Human Services (HHS) would have to conduct a scientific and medical evaluation of each substance and publicly report the findings.
"Congress has preemptively placed all FRS on Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) as a class – even those that do not exist," the signatories wrote. "Congress has considered circumventing the scientific research requirements under current law by passing bills such as the HALT Fentanyl Act (H.R. 467), which would automatically designate any FRS as dangerous without studying a substance at all. Temporary scheduling authority is intended to allow the DOJ the time to conduct the scientific and medical evaluations it is required to by law. By allowing DOJ to designate the entire class of FRS as Schedule I without conducting scientific and medical research, Congress may inadvertently leave undiscovered therapeutic medications similar to naloxone and other life-saving medications at a time when the U.S. is facing record numbers of overdose deaths.
"We believe Congress should pass the TEST Act, which would create a statutory period of up to four years for the DOJ to conduct the scientific and medical evaluation of a substance, facilitate the research of FRS, and ensure that substances are placed on the drug schedule according to their scientific profile and potential for abuse."
Signatories include the American Civil Liberties Union, the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP), the Drug Policy Alliance, Human Rights Watch, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, the National Council of Churches, the National Harm Reduction Coalition, the Prison Policy Initiative, StoptheDrugWar.org, the Sentencing Project, and the Washington Office on Latin America.
Psychedelics
House Approves Psychedelic Research Amendments as Part of Defense Spending Bill. The House voted Wednesday to approve the annual defense appropriation bill, which included two amendments opening the door to research on psychedelics.
The first, sponsored by Reps. Morgan Luttrell (R-TX) and Dan Crenshaw (R-TX), would provide $15 million in funding for DOD to carry out "Psychedelic Medical Clinical Trials."
The second amendment, from Crenshaw alone, lays the parameters for the trials, which would involve active duty service members with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or traumatic brain injuries (TBI). The Defense Health Agency would need to send a report to Congress with its findings.
Portland, Maine, Advances Proposal to Decriminalize Psychedelic Plants and Fungi. The city council's Health and Human Services and Public Safety Committee voted unanimously last week to advance a resolution that would decriminalize natural psychedelic plants and fungi. The full council is expected to vote on the resolution by mid-October.
In approving the resolution, the committee also amended it to allow for home cultivation for personal use and sharing without compensation. Selling or dispensing the substances would remain a criminal offense.
The plants and fungi covered by the measure, backed by organizers at Decriminalize Maine, include those containing psilocybin, psilocyn, ibogaine, mescaline (except peyote), and dimethyltryptamine (DMT). Peyote is excluded "in light of its vulnerable ecological status, combined with its religious and cultural significance to Indigenous peoples."
The resolution says "that City of Portland departments, agencies, boards, commissions, officers or employees of the city should avoid using city funds or resources to assist in the investigation, criminal prosecution or the imposition of criminal penalties" for the use, possession, cultivation, or sharing of small amounts of the substances "shall be among the lowest law enforcement priority of the City of Portland."
Drug Policy
Florida Bans Tianeptine. Attorney General Ashley Moody (R) has announced an emergency ban on tianeptine, which is regulated and used as a tricyclic antidepressant in over 60 countries but is unregulated in the US. Sold at gas stations and convenience stores under product names such as Zaza, the drug is known colloquially as "gas station heroin" because it causes opioid-like withdrawal symptoms in some users.
"We filed an emergency rule to outlaw tianeptine, an extremely dangerous chemical being sold at gas stations, convenience stores and smoke shops in our state. Tianeptine is linked to five deaths nationwide. And so far this year, Florida’s Poison Control Center has fielded 15 calls about exposure to this drug," Moody said.
Her action places tianeptine in Schedule I, meaning it becomes a felony to use, possess, manufacture, or distribute the drug.
Alabama, Tennessee, Minnesota, Georgia, Oklahoma, Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, and Mississippi have already banned tianeptine.
The ban is temporary, but Moody said she would work with the legislature to make the ban permanent in the next legislative session.
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