This Week in Psychedelics - 11.6.20

Cannabis

• Voters Approve All Seven Marijuana-Legalization Initiatives Across Five States (Filter)

• New Zealand Voters Narrowly Reject Nationwide Marijuana Referendum In Final Vote Tally (Marijuana Moment)

• Four More Ohio Cities Approve Marijuana Decriminalization Measures (Marijuana Moment)

• 2020 Ballot Initiative Effective Dates (NORML)

• Texas Sees Its First Hemp Harvest in 80 Years (The Austin Chronicle)

• Clinical Trial: Plant-Derived Cannabis Oil Effective for Patients with Fibromyalgia (NORML)

LSD

• MindMed Completes Phase 1 LSD Dosing Study (Psilocybin Alpha)

Magic Mushrooms

• Oregon Legalizes Psilocybin Therapy (DoubleBlind)

• Psychedelic Treatment with Psilocybin Relieves Major Depression, Study Shows (Johns Hopkins Medicine)

• Havn Life Sciences to Support the First Modern Psilocybin Depression Study in Germany with Mind Foundation (Psilocybin Alpha)

DMT

• Do Orgasms Cause the Release of DMT? (DoubleBlind)

Ayahuasca

• COVID and the Future of Ayahuasca in Brazil (Chacruna)

• The Colonization of the Ayahuasca Experience (JSTOR Daily)

Mescaline

• Heroines of Mescaline (Chacruna)

Peyote

• Why Matthew McConaughey Spent Hours In A Cage With A Mountain Lion (TheThings)

Ketamine

• People Are Using Ketamine at Home to Escape Their Pandemic Reality (VICE)

• Use of Acute and Maintenance Intravenous Ketamine in Outpatients With Depression (Psychiatry Advisor)

Miscellaneous

• Every Single Marijuana And Drug Policy Ballot Measure Passing On Election Day Bolsters Federal Reform Push (Marijuana Moment)

• Oregon becomes 1st state in the US to decriminalize drug possession (OPB)

• DC voters approve decriminalizing ‘magic mushrooms,’ other psychedelics (Fox 5)

• There's No Good Evidence that Psychedelics Can Change Your Politics or Religion (Scientific American)

• From Mining to Mushrooms (Psymposia)

• Improved colour blindness symptoms associated with recreational psychedelic use (Drug Science)

• Biden Says Anti-Drug Policies Harmed Black Communities, And It Was A ‘Mistake’ To Support Them (Marijuana Moment)

• Hate & Social Media in Psychedelic Spaces (Chacruna)

• Empowering Queer, LGBTQ, and Two-Spirit Voices in Psychedelics with Marca Cassity (Chacruna)

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Disclaimer: "This Week in Psychedelics" does not censor or analyze the news links presented here. The purpose of this column is solely to catalogue how psychedelics are presented by the mass media, which includes everything from the latest scientific research to misinformation.

Study Finds Psychedelic Treatment with Psilocybin Relieves Major Depression

Johns Hopkins Medicine:

In a small study of adults with major depression, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers report that two doses of the psychedelic substance psilocybin, given with supportive psychotherapy, produced rapid and large reductions in depressive symptoms, with most participants showing improvement and half of study participants achieving remission through the four-week follow-up.

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New Zealand Voters Narrowly Reject Nationwide Marijuana Referendum

Kyle Jaeger, writing for Marijuana Moment:

New Zealand voters have rejected a referendum to legalize marijuana, final results released by the government on Friday show.

While polls closed on October 17, New Zealand does not complete its count for ballot questions on Election Day. Preliminary results published last month showed the measure trailing by a notable margin, but so-called “special votes” still had to be counted before the outcome was finalized.

Those roughly 480,000 remaining votes did not move the needle far enough in favor of reform, however, the final data released by the government on Friday afternoon local time showed.

The referendum ended up falling short by a 48.4 percent in favor to 50.7 percent against margin.

Although drug policy reform in America is really on a roll at the moment, apparently voters in New Zealand aren’t quite ready to legalize cannabis at a national level yet.

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Every Single Drug Policy Ballot Measure Passed On Election Day

Kyle Jaeger, writing for Marijuana Moment:

Marijuana and drug policy reform swept across the board in Tuesday’s elections, giving advocates a major boost as they push to end federal prohibition.

Five more states legalized cannabis in some form and Oregon became the first state to legalize psilocybin mushrooms for therapy and also more broadly decriminalize drug possession. Meanwhile, voters in Washington, D.C. also approved a measure to decriminalize psychedelics in the nation’s capital.

While the presidential and many congressional races are still being tallied, the reforms passed decisively, further demonstrating that Americans of all political ideologies are ready to abandon the country’s prohibitionist approach to drugs. With the addition of Arizona, Montana, New Jersey and South Dakota as adult-use marijuana states, one-third of the country’s population will live in a state where cannabis is legal after the laws take effect.

Although we’re still waiting to find out the full results from this year’s election, drug policy reform advocates already have a lot to celebrate:

• Oregon decriminalized all drugs and legalized psilocybin therapy

• Washington D.C. decriminalized natural psychedelics

• Arizona, Montana, New Jersey, and South Dakota legalized cannabis

• South Dakota and Mississippi legalized medical marijuana

• Four Ohio cities decriminalized cannabis

In fact, every single drug policy ballot measure passed on Tuesday. I knew there was considerable support for drug reform going into this election but didn’t anticipate such a sweeping victory, so I have to admit that I’m pleasantly surprised by this news! It just goes to show that public opinion on drug policy is evolving in a positive direction and the momentum seems to be picking up some steam. I’m excited to see what happens in this space over the next few years, and beyond.

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This Month in Psychedelics - October 2020

It’s hard to believe that 2020 is coming to an end in just a couple months. We’re one week out from the 2020 election here in America and it seems to me like we are about to go through a huge transition as a nation, which will hopefully include a change in our drug policies. Since this is the last recap I am putting out before the election happens, I wanted to cover the various drug-related ballot measures that voters will have a chance to weigh in on next week.

In addition to the election coverage, this month’s recap includes the hottest psychedelic news stories from October 2020. The past couple days have been a bit crazy on my end due to power outages in my area caused by Hurricane Zeta, so I didn’t have as much time to work on this blog post as I would’ve liked. As a result, I ended up including a new section at the end which features some additional top stories without as many details. It’s just another iteration on this column, which will continue to evolve over time. Feel free to contact me with your feedback!

Here is a slimmed-down video recap version that is available for those who prefer an easier-to-digest option:

Without further ado, let’s jump into the news:

Psychedelic Policies on the Ballot This November

When it comes to psychedelic ballot measures that Americans will vote on next week, Oregonians will decide whether to move forward with an initiative to legalize psilocybin therapy and psychedelic-friendly voters in Washington, D.C. will vote on decriminalizing natural psychedelics.

Cannabis consumers also have a lot to look forward to in this year’s election. There are ballot measures to legalize marijuana in Arizona, Montana, New Jersey, and South Dakota. And just to keep things interesting, the Mount Rushmore state will also vote on legalizing medical marijuana, as will Mississippi.

Rounding out this election’s drug policy reform ballot measures is an initiative that would make Oregon the first state to decriminalize all drugs. Each measure that passes will bring the U.S. one step closer to becoming a country that finally has a sane approach to drug policy.

Supreme Court Refuses to Hear Challenge to Cannabis Rescheduling Case

Jumping back to this month’s news, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a case that challenged marijuana’s Schedule I status. This didn’t come as much of a surprise, but that doesn’t take away from how disappointing it was. It’s enough to make us drug policy reformers wonder if we’ll ever see legal weed in the U.S.

Along the same lines, you might also remember that back in September the House of Representatives delayed voting on a cannabis legalization bill until after the election.

For now, we’ll just have to continue waiting for some positive momentum to pick up at the federal level.

Numinus Becomes First Canadian Company to Legally Harvest Psilocybin Mushrooms

A Vancouver-based psychedelic company known as Numinus became Canada’s first company to harvest a flush of legally-grown psilocybin mushrooms since the first wave of psychedelic research ended in the 1970s.

Numinus is attempting to develop formulations and solutions that will be used in the emerging psychedelic therapy space and actually received a license earlier this year from Health Canada that allows them to grow and extract magic mushrooms, among other psychedelics.

This first step is just another in a cascade of developments happening in the burgeoning psychedelic industry right now. It means that psilocybin mushrooms and other psychedelics are a bit closer to becoming available for the people who would benefit from working with them.

New Evidence Suggests Early Christians Drank Psychedelic Wine

Evidence from a new book suggests that early Christians might have drunk hallucinogenic wine to commune with God.

This theory was introduced to the world this month via a new book titled The Immortality Key by Brian Muraresku, who is a religious scholar and archaeology sleuth. Muraresku spent more than ten years researching the use of drugs in Ancient Greece and the Mediterranean and how that practice is linked to the development of Christianity in first-century Israel.

If this theory is true, then it might mean that the communion wine that is served in religious rituals today has its roots in a more psychedelic version of the drink.

A New “Psychedelic Medicine Association” Is Bringing Psychedelics to the Medical Mainstream

A new organization focused on bringing psychedelics to the mainstream medical community launched this month. The Psychedelic Medicine Association was formed by Dr. Lynn Marie Morski, the host of the Plant Medicine Podcast. If her new association is successful then hopefully we will soon enter a future where doctors and therapists are more familiar and better educated about psychedelics than they are currently.

Initial Research Shows Psychedelics Can Help People With Eating Disorders

In recent years, scientific research has shown that psychedelics may be effective at treating a wide range of mental and physical health conditions. One new application that these medicines may help with is treating eating disorders, and a recent study found that psychedelics can improve depression and wellbeing scores in individuals who suffer from issues like anorexia and binge eating.

However, before we put the cart before the horse, we need to bear in mind that this is just a preliminary study and more research will need to be conducted in this area, but this is a good sign. And on a personal note, I have found that working with psychedelics has helped me heal from my own issues with binging on food, so I have faith that the research into this area will yield some positive results.

Additional Top Stories

• Vermont legalized marijuana sales.

• Scientists identified a powerful anti-inflammatory compound in psychedelics.

• New Zealand voted on legalizing cannabis nationwide but the initial results look grim.

• Two separate microdosing studies found:

  • People who microdose psychedelics report that the benefits greatly outweigh the drawbacks.

  • Microdosing psychedelics elevates mood and cognition.

• France announces a plan to distribute free medical cannabis next year.

• Spain has become a cannabis hub as criminals fill the tourism void.

That’s all for this month’s update. Remember to always test and weigh your drugs and until next time—keep thinking wilder.

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