Oregon Voters Could See Measure to Decriminalize All Drugs on 2020 Ballot

Kyle Jaeger, writing for Marijuana Moment:

The measure, titled the “Drug Addiction Treatment and Recovery Act,” places an emphasis on the need to treat drug addiction as a public health issue, rather than a criminal justice matter. Possession of small amounts of illegal substances, including heroin and cocaine, would be considered a class E violation, punishable by a maximum $100 fine and no jail time.

There would be an option to avoid the fine by completing a health assessment through an addiction recovery center. That process would involve a substance use disorder screening from a licensed health professional.

It’s great to see wide-sweeping drug decriminalization measures happening at the state level. These changes would only impact users, though—manufacture and distribution would still be felony offenses. And it’s not a done deal yet:

Advocates are still in the early phases of determining whether they will be able to mount a well-funded effort to qualify the measure for next year’s ballot.

Stay tuned.

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More People Try Drugs for the First Time in the Summer

Arman Azad, writing for CNN:

Summer brings heat waves, trips to the beach and sometimes painful sunburns. But according to a new study, the season may also usher in the use of cocaine, ecstasy and molly.

People are more likely to try those three party drugs and marijuana during the summer, researchers found, with over a third of LSD use and around 30% of ecstasy and marijuana use starting in the season. Around 28% of cocaine use also began in the summer.

The findings, published Tuesday in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, suggest a slight but consistent increase in people's willingness to try drugs as the weather warms and young people take a break from school.

Be safe out there this summer.

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First MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy Trial Successful in Combatting Alcoholism

Karlie Powell, writing for Your EDM:

MDMA in conjunction with psychotherapy appears to be successful in treating alcoholism, according to a new clinical study.

The first-of-its-kind trial was conducted over eight weeks and saw four patients from different walks of life: “a 54-year-old mother-of-three, a 34-year-old man with two children, a retired man who had been drinking for 30 years and a former heroin user.” Each were treated with weekly psychotherapy sessions and monthly doses of 99.9 percent pure MDMA.

Two of the adults “slipped up” and had a single drink each over the eight weeks. However, the other two subjects remained completely sober for the entirety of the treatment. Although this was a small, four-person study, the results proved to be quite remarkable.

Three of the four people taking part in the trial attempted to quit drinking before the MDMA treatment. None of them succeeded. This time around, they all managed to stay sober for at least nine months.

This is a preliminary study with impressive results, and according to what I’ve heard from one little birdy this is just the start—there is more where this came from.

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New Law Allows NC Drug Dealers to Be Charged With Murder

Steve Daniels, writing for WTVD:

Prosecutors have a new tool to help reduce the number of people dying in North Carolina from opioid overdoses.

On Monday, Governor Roy Cooper signed into law the "death by distribution" act.

It allows prosecutors to charge drug dealers with second-degree murder.

Fuck this spin. “New tool” my ass. This is a horribly misguided and frustratingly ignorant legislation that will cause more harms than the drugs do themselves, the type of thing that frankly makes me straight-up ashamed to hail from the Tar Heel State. Allow me to briefly explain why:

1. Many “drug dealers” are actually just drug users that are selling small amounts of drugs to support their own habit. These people need help to address real problems like addiction and other mental health issues and do not deserve to be criminalized.

2. This will undoubtedly cause preventable deaths by discouraging 911 calls. Why would a drug user (or provider) call for emergency assistance when they might run the risk of being charged with murder for trying to help their friend stay alive?

3. People who are trying to be charitable by gifting drugs to their friends, or acquiring drugs for a group who would otherwise not have access to them, are often charged under this type of law. They too should not be charged with murder for trying to help people they know access the drugs that they want (or need, in the case of true dependence).

And when it comes to coverage like this, I have to say that I’m not at all surprised that a local news outlet in the South isn’t educated about drugs, but I am disappointed.

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Berlin Park Designates ‘Pink Zone’ Areas for Drug Dealers

Kate Connolly, writing for The Guardian:

Drug dealers in Berlin are to be given designated spaces in a city centre park to carry out transactions, leading to criticism that authorities have capitulated to criminal gangs.

For years there has been a heated debate about Görlitzer Park, a popular meeting point in the trendy southern Berlin district of Kreuzberg, which has been attracting an ever increasing number of drug dealers. Local people said they were reluctant to let children and pets roam free there.

After repeated attempts by police to clear the dealers failed, the park manager declared areas where they should be allowed to operate, identified by spray-painted pink boxes.

Cengiz Demirci said the pink zones would mean that visitors to the park – known locally as Görli – were no longer intimidated by groups of dealers, typically men operating in gangs, who crowd the entrance.

What a peculiar approach.

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