This Week in Psychedelics - 1.15.21

Cannabis

• South Dakota: Republican Governor Officially Backing Litigation to Reject Voter-Approved Marijuana Legalization Initiative (NORML)

• Montana Lawmakers Reject Funding To Implement Voter-Approved Marijuana Legalization Program (Marijuana Moment)

• Mississippi: Medical Organizations Join Legal Fight to Overturn Election Result Legalizing Medical Cannabis Access (NORML)

• Amsterdam doubles down on plans to restrict tourist access to cannabis coffee shops (CNN)

• New Jersey Is ‘On The Verge’ Of Implementing Marijuana Legalization, Governor Says In State Of The State Speech (Marijuana Moment)

• Mexico releases long-awaited medical cannabis regulations (Marijuana Business Daily)

• Activists Give Out Free Marijuana To Encourage COVID Vaccination With ‘Joints For Jabs’ Campaign (Marijuana Moment)

• USDA Releases Final Rule For Hemp, Two Years After Crop Was Federally Legalized (Marijuana Moment)

• UK grants second only licence to grow medical marijuana (Financial Times)

• Virginia Governor Unveils Bill To Legalize Marijuana As Lawmakers Schedule First Hearing (Marijuana Moment)

• New Mexico Governor Says Marijuana Legalization Is A 2021 Priority (Marijuana Moment)

• Kansas Lawmakers Push To Legalize Medical Marijuana In 2021 (Marijuana Moment)

• Colorado authorities issue recall of contaminated cannabis (Marijuana Business Daily)

• USDA Approves Hemp Regulatory Plans From Rhode Island And Another Indian Tribe (Marijuana Moment)

• The Future of Fully Legal Cannabis (Playboy)

• Top Texas Lawmakers Say Medical Marijuana Expansion Is On The Table For 2021 (Marijuana Moment)

• Survey: Most Americans Say Marijuana Possesses Less Abuse Potential Than Alcohol (NORML)

• North Dakota Activists Submit 2022 Marijuana Legalization Ballot Initiative (Marijuana Moment)

• North Dakota Lawmakers File Bill To Significantly Expand Marijuana Decriminalization Law (Marijuana Moment)

• Legalizing marijuana boosts junk food sales (The Academic Times)

• Medical Marijuana Leads To Reduced Opioid Use, New Study Finds (Marijuana Moment)

• Cannabis dispensaries struggle to find financial support amid pandemic (KRON4)

• FDA Unveils Plan To Fill CBD Research Gaps With ‘Real-World Data’ In 2021 (Marijuana Moment)

• Introducing Mode: The world's first smart cannabis dosing device (KVVU-TV)

• Arizona Prepares To Accept Marijuana Applications Next Week As New Draft Legalization Rules Are Issued (Marijuana Moment)

LSD

• LSD Could Be the Key to Alleviating the Mental Health Crisis—if Government Allows It (Foundation for Economic Education)

• MindMed Expands Psychedelic Microdosing Division, Adds Groundbreaking Study Evaluating LSD Microdosing Through Next-Gen Digital Clinical Markers (Psilocybin Alpha)

Magic Mushrooms

• Psychedelic Mushrooms Grew in a Man's Veins After He Injected Them (Gizmodo)

• NeonMind Engages Dr. C. Laird Birmingham to Develop Protocols for Phase 2 Clinical Trial Using Psilocybin to Treat Obesity (Psilocybin Alpha)

• Psilocybin is Being Studied to Help Treat Autism Spectrum Disorder (Baystreet)

• Psilocybin produces an immunology-related genetic response in the prefrontal cortex of pig brains (PsyPost)

• CBDV Begins Research on Psilocybin with Section 56 Exemption from Health Canada (Psilocybin Alpha)

• Core One Labs Announces Breakthrough in Solving Psilocybin Dosing Problems by Introducing Biosynthetic Psilocybin to its Patented Thinstrip Delivery Method (AccessWire)

• Silo Pharma Provides Details of Patent License Agreement for Psilocybin and Cancer Applications (GlobeNewswire)

• Revive Therapeutics Announces Research Collaboration with North Carolina State University for Natural Biosynthesis Enzymatic Platform To Develop Psilocybin (Psilocybin Alpha)

MDMA

• Should You Say “I Love You” While on MDMA? (DoubleBlind)

• Awakn Life Sciences Appoints CRO to Conduct Phase II Study of MDMA as a Treatment for Alcohol Use Disorder (Psilocybin Alpha)

Peyote

• Inside a Massive, Illicit Peyote Ceremony During Mexico's COVID Lockdown (VICE)

Iboga

• Ibogaine vs. Iboga Alkaloids for Treating Addiction (Psychedelic Science Review)

Nitrous Oxide

• Police investigation launched after cargo of nitrous oxide canisters discovered in Ribble Valley (Burnley Express)

Ketamine

• A Deadly ‘Ketamine Cocktail’ Is Causing Overdoses on the Streets of Bangkok (VICE)

• Novamind Expands Psychedelic Medicine Access in Utah (Psilocybin Alpha)

Miscellaneous

• Somerville, Massachusetts Decriminalizes Naturally Occurring Psychedelics (DoubleBlind)

• COMPASS Pathways establishes Centre of Excellence with Sheppard Pratt to accelerate research and improve patient experience in mental health care (COMPASS Pathways)

• New York, Virginia And Other States Consider New Drug Decriminalization Bills (Marijuana Moment)

• The World's ‘Largest Illegal Darknet Marketplace’ has Been Shut Down (VICE)

• UFC looks into Johns Hopkins study on psychedelic drugs as potential therapy for fighters (ESPN)

• Michigan Prosecutor Won’t Pursue Most Marijuana Or Psychedelics Cases, ‘Regardless Of The Amount’ (Marijuana Moment)

• DEA Agents Report Agency’s Lack of Basic COVID-19 Safety Measures (Filter)

• When Getting High Is a Hobby, Not a Habit (New York Times)

• How This Black-Led Psychedelic Collective Is Combining Anti-Racism With ‘Sacred Plant Medicine’ (Vogue)

• Eleusis Accelerates Psychedelic Drug Discovery and Development Team with Appointment of David Nichols, Ph.D., as Director of Molecular Pharmacology (Psilocybin Alpha)

• Coping with Antidepressants and Psychedelics (Spirit Pharmacist)

• Psychedelic Illusions are Not Pathological, and May Even Help You See Better (Chacruna)

• Engineering Psychoplastogens: Toward a Safer Alternative for Treating Depression (Psychedelic Science Review)

• Silo Pharma Enters into Sponsored Research Agreement for Potential Multiple Sclerosis Treatment Approach with University of Maryland, Baltimore (Psilocybin Alpha)

• Revealing Trends in Russia’s Dark-Web Drug Markets (TalkingDrugs)

• Numinus Wellness Forges Forward into Psychedelic Discovery Research with the Orbitrap Exploris 120 Mass Spectometer (Cision)

• Having A Bad Trip On Psychedelics: Is There Some Value? (Healing Maps)

• The Emerging Revival of Psychedelics in Neuroscience (Psychology Today)

• Mental Health Demand For Development Of Psychedelic Drug Therapies Is Increasing (PR Newswire)

Think Wilder is reader-supported. If you enjoyed this week’s update, please consider helping out by becoming a patron, making a one-time donation, or sharing this post with a friend. Thank you for your support.

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

Somerville, Massachusetts Decriminalizes Naturally Occurring Psychedelics

Madison Margolin, writing for DoubleBlind:

Joining the national momentum to decriminalize naturally occurring psychedelics is a coalition from Massachusetts, including Bay Staters for Natural Medicine and Decriminalize Nature Massachusetts. On Thursday, they successfully brought a bill to Somerville City Council—with a vote of 9-0—to decriminalize the possession of entheogenic plants, including psilocybin mushrooms and ibogaine.

The victory conveys a “clear, powerful message across our state that the War on Drugs has failed and that entheogenic plants have medicinal and spiritual value,” says James Davis, a lead organizer for both organizations. Not only does the legislation normalize the issue, making it easier to do outreach with lawmakers and other nonprofits, he says, but will also provide relief to those currently using psilocybin and the like within Somerville, who no longer will need to worry that they could face arrest for using these plants and fungi.

“In terms of the nuts and bolts of the policy the resolution asks the city’s legal department to work with community activists to finalize the resolution as an ordinance, urges police to deprioritize enforcement of use and possession charges, and requests that the local district attorney do the same,” Davis explains. “In the months to come, we are confident several other communities will also decriminalize entheogens or all controlled substances with our help, and we are filing a state bill this month that will create a legislative task force to study statewide decriminalization.”

Outstanding. As the article mentions, this is yet another big win in a string of victories for the drug policy reform movement:

This historic vote makes Somerville the next domino in a slew of jurisdictions to pass either Decriminalize Nature initiatives, or full-scale psilocybin and/or drug decriminalization initiatives, including Oakland, Ann Arbor, Santa Cruz, Vancouver, Washington D.C., Michigan’s Washtenaw County, Denver, and the state of Oregon, which decriminalized all drugs and legalized psilocybin therapy this past election.

If you hadn’t ever heard of Somerville before, you’ll surely recognize the name now.

---

Post Permalink

UFC to Explore Using Psychedelics as Therapy for Fighter’s Brains

Marc Raimondi, writing for ESPN:

The UFC is looking to get involved with research into psychedelic drugs as a therapy for fighters' brain health.

The promotion has been in contact with Johns Hopkins University about its psychedelics studies with an eye toward seeing if the drugs can be helpful for fighters dealing with brain issues, UFC president Dana White told MMA Junkie on Wednesday.

Here’s yet another interesting area for psychedelic research to explore. After listening to two recent Psychedelics Today podcast episodes (“PT223 – Daniel Carcillo – Life After Sports“ and “PT224 – Dr. Dan Engle – The Concussion Repair Manual“), I am more convinced than ever that it’s plausible to use psychedelics to heal the brain after it has experienced physical trauma. I highly suggest you check out both of those episodes if you want to learn more about this topic.

---

Post Permalink

NeonMind to Study Psilocybin for Obesity

Psilocybin Alpha:

NeonMind Biosciences Inc. (CSE: NEON) (“NeonMind“), a psychedelic drug development company, is pleased to announce that it has engaged Dr. C. Laird Birmingham to consult with NeonMind to develop protocols for its Phase 2 Clinical Trial administering psilocybin to treat obese patients. Dr. Birmingham is a Specialist in Internal Medicine, an Epidemiologist and Biostatistician, and a Professor of Psychiatry at the University of British Columbia where he was previously Professor of Internal Medicine, and he has extensive experience in the design of clinical trials for treatments for eating disorders. He has also been appointed to NeonMind’s Board of Advisors.

It may seem counterintuitive that psilocybin could help treat a condition like obesity, but I have found it (and other psychedelics) to be extremely helpful in overcoming my own issues with binge eating in the past. Going into a psychedelic experience with the intention to heal from an eating disorder is just as valid as healing from depression, anxiety, or PTSD, although it hasn’t been formally studied very much yet. I’m very interested what the body of research in this area will show in five years’ time and will be following it closely here on Think Wilder.

---

Post Permalink

DarkMarket Goes Dark

Gavin Butler, writing for VICE:

The primary operator behind DarkMarket, a website that prosecutors have described as "probably the largest illegal marketplace on the Darknet", has been arrested in Germany.

Authorities apprehended the 34-year-old Australian man during a raid in the south-western city of Koblenz over the weekend. The website was shut down and the server was turned off on Monday.

DarkMarket, which had nearly 500,000 users and more than 2,400 vendors, allowed anyone with a Tor browser and some cryptocurrency to buy and sell drugs, forged money, forged or stolen credit cards, anonymous SIM cards and malware. The site had processed more than 320,000 transactions, with some $170 million USD worth of Bitcoin and Monero cryptocurrencies having been exchanged.

Another one bites the dust.

---

Post Permalink