This Month in Psychedelics - November 2020

A lot of psychedelic news happened this month. The United States held a monumental election and several states and municipalities had progressive drug policy reforms on their ballots. Outside of the election there was a slew of drug policies all around the globe. And there were updates in the realms of psychedelic history, research, therapy, and industry as well. This month’s recap will cover all of the hottest news stories from November 2020.

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:

Drugs Won the 2020 Election

November was an incredibly exciting month for drug policy reform advocates in America; every single drug-related ballot measure passed in an unexpected unanimous show of support for relaxing the country’s approach to drugs.

Oregon legalized psilocybin therapy and decriminalized all drugs, Washington D.C. decriminalized natural psychedelics, and seven cannabis initiatives were approved in five states. Soon, residents in Arizona, Montana, New Jersey, and South Dakota will be able to consume cannabis recreationally and patients in Mississippi and South Dakota will have access to medical marijuana. And to top all of this off, four more cities in Ohio approved cannabis decriminalization measures.

However, before you rush out to take advantage of any of these progressive policies, remember that it will take some time before these initiatives go into effect.

And some of them are not quite a done deal yet—cannabis prohibitionists in Mississippi, Montana, and South Dakota are trying to overturn the voter-approved initiatives. Hopefully the will of the voters will prevail. Either way, this widespread acceptance of drug policy reform is a really encouraging thing to see.

Even More Drug Policy Updates

This month there happened to be a lot of drug policy reform action going on in addition to the ballot measures in the United States. On the international level, the Mexican Senate voted to legalize marijuana nationwide, Vancouver voted to decriminalize all drugs, and Argentina altered its medical marijuana rules to allow home cultivation, while New Zealand voted against a cannabis legalization referendum, and Canadian officials declined to support a petition to decriminalize psychedelics.

Here in the United States, lawmakers in Wisconsin voted to allow public cannabis use and New Jersey is working on approving a unique marijuana decriminalization bill containing a special amendment that would also decriminalize psilocybin.

Looking to the future, the U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote on legalizing cannabis at the federal level this month (supposedly that might even take place this week!), California is considering decriminalizing psychedelics, Washington is working on decriminalizing all drugs and legalizing psilocybin mushrooms for wider therapeutic use, five states are thinking about legalizing weed next year, and Israel and North Macedonia are talking about legalizing cannabis.

Archaeologists Find Evidence of Ceremonial Datura Use in Californian Caves

Drug policy reform wasn’t the only thing going on this month—archaeologists uncovered new evidence of ceremonial datura use in Californian caves.

The site of the discovery is Pinwheel Cave in the southern part of the state, about 80 kilometers northeast of Santa Barbara. The cave gets its name for a large pinwheel-shaped red image made of plant material located on the cave’s ceiling that was once thought to represent a psychedelic trip, but new chemical analyses and electron microscopy positively identified the remnants of the chewed plant materials to be datura.

So this new evidence means that Californians have been tripping for even longer than we previously thought.

Study Finds Psilocybin-Assisted Psychotherapy Relieves Major Depression

A small study of adults with major depression found that psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy resulted in large reductions in depressive symptoms.

This effect was about four times larger than what clinical trials have shown for traditional antidepressants, indicating that psilocybin may be better at treating depression than the medicines currently on the market.

However, this was a preliminary study and more research in this area will need to be conducted before we can definitively say that psilocybin or other psychedelics are better at treating depression than existing pharmaceutical drugs.

First Non-Palliative Canadian Granted Access To Psilocybin Therapy

You might remember back in August that four dying Canadians were granted a legal exemption to receive psilocybin therapy. That exemption originally only applied to people suffering from end-of-life stress and anxiety due to terminal cancer, but this month Canada loosened up a little bit more by granting the first non-palliative Canadian access to psilocybin therapy.

This is a pretty big deal and it follows the rest of this month’s predominant theme—the relaxing of drug policies worldwide. 

Canada is one of the countries leading the charge and it’s great to see that patients who suffer from psychological conditions like depression and anxiety, instead of an incurable disease like cancer, are going to be able to start receiving legal psychedelic therapy as well.

Additional Top Stories

• Peter Thiel led a $125 million funding round for a Berlin-based psychedelic startup.

• Usona Institute is offering psilocybin to psychedelic researchers for free.

• Psymposia published an epic series about the history of mining companies within the psychedelic industry called “From Mining to Mushrooms”.

• A first-of-its-kind trial found that psilocybin is effective at treating migraines.

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

Think Wilder is reader-supported. If you enjoyed this month’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.

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.

Think Wilder is reader-supported. If you enjoyed this month’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.

This Month in Psychedelics - September 2020

There’s no getting around it—this was yet another monumental month for psychedelic news. With progress in a variety of areas—including a few big drug policy reform wins and losses, updates on the psychedelic industry, innovative approaches in psychedelic research, and a newly-identified molecule in cannabis—there is a lot to cover. I’ve sifted through the onslaught of psychedelic news and picked out the juiciest stories for your reading pleasure. So grab a cup of your favorite beverage or pack a bowl of your favorite herb and sit down to take it all in.

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:

Ann Arbor Decriminalizes Psychedelics

Following a growing trend of psychedelic reform victories sweeping across the country, this month Ann Arbor became the third city in the United States to decriminalize natural psychedelics, making them the lowest priority for local law enforcement.

While these plant medicines have not been made legal per se, people in the city of Ann Arbor are now at lower risk for cultivating, purchasing, and using plants and fungi like psilocybin mushrooms, mescaline-containing cacti, iboga, and the plants used to brew ayahuasca. However, the approach that local police will take toward sales and the commercial manufacture of natural psychedelics will remain unchanged, and state and federal law enforcement will not follow the city’s new guidelines.

House Postpones Vote on Federal Cannabis Legalization Bill Until Election

While the U.S. House of Representatives was originally slated to vote on a federal cannabis legalization bill this month, the vote was postponed at the last minute and won’t occur until at least after the upcoming election in November.

Although there was considerable support for the bill it seems that the moderate Democrats in the House were concerned that voting on a cannabis legalization bill while coronavirus relief legislation remains unresolved might have negatively impacted their chances of reelection. This is as good a time as any to remind you to verify that you are registered to vote and to get out and make your voice heard by voting in this year’s election.

Usona Institute Submits New Psilocybin Synthesis Method to Public Domain

Amidst a growing legion of for-profit psychedelic companies that operate with the goal of maximizing profits, the non-profit organization Usona Institute flipped the script when it put its new psilocybin synthesis method in the public domain, where it cannot be patented.

Usona’s new approach to manufacturing high-purity psilocybin is more efficient, less expensive, and will generate more consistent yields than previous synthesis methods were capable of producing. And rather than keep their innovation to themselves, now anyone who chooses to will be able to use this method to synthesize psilocybin. This is a win for open science and alternatives to cutthroat capitalism and Usona should be celebrated for its achievement and good-hearted contributions to the field.

COMPASS Pathways Becomes First Psychedelic Company to IPO on the Nasdaq

COMPASS Pathways made history by becoming the first psychedelic company to go public on the the U.S. stock market. While many psychedelic companies have joined the Canadian stock exchange, this is the first time that one has made its way to the NASDAQ.

And now that the floodgates are open, it won’t be long before other companies become tradeable in America too—in fact, MindMed has already applied to list on the NASDAQ so they might be next.

Nebraska’s Medical Marijuana Measure was Removed from November Ballot

This month yet another drug policy reform effort bit the dust as Nebraska’s medical marijuana measure was removed from the November ballot by the state’s supreme court.

Although activists turned in enough signatures back in July to qualify the measure, Lancaster County Sheriff Terry Wagner filed a lawsuit to keep the proposal off the November ballot, arguing that it violated the state’s single-subject rule for ballot initiatives and would confuse voters.

While Nebraskans will no longer be looking forward to voting to legalize medical marijuana in the state later this year, they have already refocused their efforts on a 2022 ballot measure.

UC Berkeley Launches New Psychedelic Science and Education Center

UC Berkeley is not only opening a Center for the Science of Psychedelics that will conduct psychedelic research, but the center will also include a program for educating the public about the field, which is a unique aspect of this particular center.

The initial experimental studies will focus on psilocybin and the center hopes to eventually explore how psychedelics impact psychology, neuroscience, philosophy, religion, anthropology, art, and even computer science and artificial intelligence.

Australia Might Be the First Country to Legalize Psychedelic Medicine

The race for the first country to legalize psychedelic medicine is on. The non-profit organization Mind Medicine Australia surprised the world by submitting a proposal to reschedule psilocybin and MDMA from prohibited substances to controlled medicines.

People had until this Monday to send their support for the proposal to the Australian Therapeutic Goods Association (TGA). If the proposal is accepted, Australia will become the first country in the world to allow the use of these substances for therapeutic purposes. The TGA will announce an interim decision on the matter in February, and the final decision will be confirmed in April, after a second round of submissions is considered.

UK National Health Service Rejects Esketamine

The United Kingdom’s National Health Service (NHS) has rejected the nasal esketamine spray known as Spravato from being incorporated into the country’s healthcare system as a treatment for hard-to-treat depression.

This isn’t the first time the spray has been rejected—the first rejection occurred in January. Both refusals were due to concerns about Spravato’s cost effectiveness and how well it works at treating depression in the long run.

Canada Approves of Another Ayahuasca Church

Although many newer ayahuasca churches in America are finding it difficult to gain approval from the U.S. government to practice their religion involving the psychedelic tea, religious groups in Canada are having a much easier time. A church in Winnipeg became the sixth group to receive a government exemption to legally import and use ayahuasca.

The Centre for Universal Illumination Luz Divina is the latest church to obtain a federal exemption from Health Canada which will allow its members to freely use the Amazonian brew without facing any legal consequences. Now if only governments around the world were to follow Canada’s lead…

Get High Without Paranoia or Anxiety With Delta-8 THC

Cannabis is an amazing plant containing a ton of different psychoactive compounds with varying degrees of effects. A newly-identified form of THC found within marijuana is being sold as a way to get high without experiencing the paranoia or anxiety that can come with consuming Delta-9 THC.

The difference between the two compounds, which can both be found in cannabis, is the location of a bond between two of the atoms that form each THC molecule. Although the science is still in its infancy at this point, it does appear that this alternative to Delta-9 THC may be capable of delivering a pleasant high without negative side effects. Stoners in locations with legal cannabis markets can keep an eye out for this compound by looking for shops carrying products like vape cartridges, gummies, and tinctures that contain Delta-8 THC.

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

Think Wilder is reader-supported. If you enjoyed this month’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.

This Month in Psychedelics - August 2020

There was a good mix of psychedelic news categories this month. Since 2020 is an election year there were naturally quite a few updates on ongoing efforts to reform drug policies, but in addition to that there was some increased access to psychedelic therapy in Canada, the announcement of an upcoming clinical trial looking at candyflipping, a successful MAPS fundraising campaign, and much more.

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:

Four Dying Canadians Granted Exemption for Psilocybin Therapy

Starting things off this month, Canada granted a legal exemption to four terminal cancer patients that will allow them to access compassionate psilocybin therapy. This form of psychedelic-assisted therapy will be used to treat end-of-life stress and anxiety, making these four individuals the first-ever to receive a legal exemption from the Canadian Drugs and Substances Act.

The exemption only applies to these four people, at least for now. And since there isn’t a way for them to legally receive psilocybin therapy from the government or healthcare system, it the patients will be responsible for procuring their own supply of magic mushrooms and finding an underground therapist. Still, this is a progressive move by the Canadian government.

Study: Candyflipping to Avoid Bad Trips

Taking a page from the underground community, the psychedelic company known as MindMed is planning to put candyflipping to the test in a Phase 1 clinical trial later this year. That’s right—MindMed is planning to explore the subjective effects of combining MDMA with LSD, in an attempt to reduce the chance that patients will have a bad acid trip.

The rationale behind the study is that MDMA’s ability to induce feelings of well-being might reduce any potential negative effects that can occur after taking LSD, which would hopefully improve the overall outcomes for psychedelic therapy.

While it does stand to reason that candyflipping might have the potential of reducing anxiety in some people, I have seen firsthand that the unskillful combination of multiple drugs (including MDMA+LSD specifically) can result in the complete opposite experience. However, set, setting, and dosage play a large role in the outcome of mixing drugs and it’s same to assume that a clinical trial will pay close attention to these factors when designing the study and any future treatment protocols.

MAPS Raises $30 Million for MDMA Study

In yet another sign that big money has entered the world of psychedelics, the Capstone Challenge raised $30 million in non-profit donations to the Multidimensional Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) that will enable the organization to conduct a Phase 3 study looking at using MDMA-assisted psychotherapy to treat PTSD.

About 2500 individual donors helped MAPS meet its fundraising goal within six months, which included several notable business leaders from outside the drug policy space, such as David Bronner (CEO of Dr. Bronner’s), Bob Parsons (founder of GoDaddy), Blake Mycoskie (founder of TOMS Shoes) and Tim Ferriss (author and podcaster).

MAPS has spearheaded psychedelic research in this area for decades and is hoping to gain FDA approval for MDMA-assisted psychotherapy by 2022. If successful, this treatment protocol would be the first-ever psychedelic option to gain approval.

Plant Medicine Church in Oakland Gets Raided

Although the city council in Oakland, CA voted to decriminalize natural psychedelic plants and fungi last year, a local plant medicine church named Zide Door was raided by Oakland police this month. At first glance this doesn’t seem to make much sense—why would a local police raid happen if the church was operating in Oakland, where psychedelic plants and fungi were recently decriminalized?

Well, since Zide Door was using cannabis and psilocybin as its religious sacraments, and last year’s Decriminalize Nature resolution didn’t cover cannabis, which was already handled by a different set of state and local regulations, the entheogenic church was accused of operating a marijuana dispensary without a permit. This scenario, combined with an uptick of shootings in the area, prompted local police to force their way into Zide Door’s front door and shut the place down.

All that we’re left with now are questions. Will Zide Door be forced to permanently cancel its religious services or will the church be allowed to open back up in the future? Will there be additional raids on other entheogenic churches in Oakland? Only time will tell.

Prolific Ayahuasca Researcher Passes Away

Unfortunately there has been another death in the psychedelic community, as the world lost one of the most prolific ayahuasca researchers in the field this month.

Dr. Jordi Riba spent more than two decades of his life studying the jungle brew. He published almost 80 scientific articles and was an active speaker at conferences around the world. In fact, Dr. Riba conducted the world’s first clinical trial with ayahuasca as well as the first neuroimaging studies involving the brew. And he didn’t exclusively study ayahuasca—he also investigated other psychedelics, including 5-MeO-DMT, salvia divinorum, and cannabis.

Dr. Riba will be greatly missed, no doubt, but the work that he contributed to the psychedelic community will live on forever. Thank you for your service, and may you rest in peace.

Microdosing LSD for Pain Study Reports Remarkable Results

If you’re not familiar with the first wave of psychedelic research, then the idea of using psychedelics to treat pain may strike you as a bit fantastical, but a new clinical trial that took a look at treating pain with microdoses of LSD found the treatment to be “remarkably” effective.

The study picked up a previously retired line of research that first started—and later came to its untimely end—in the 1960s. Whereas the studies conducted more than 50 years ago focused on large doses of LSD, this recent double-blind placebo-controlled trial put sub-perceptual, low doses to the test instead.

The authors of this month’s study found that microdoses of 20 micrograms significantly reduced the perception of pain when compared with lower doses or a placebo. But before you start microdosing for pain, bear in mind that this is a preliminary study and its sample size was small—only 24 people—and more research needs to be conducted before we can definitively say whether microdosing LSD can treat acute pain.

A Brief Update on 2020’s Policy Reform Efforts

There have been a few changes since last month’s roundup of psychedelic policy reform efforts, and in an attempt to get through all of them without boring you to ego death, I’m going to keep this section of news as brief as possible.

Kicking things off at the federal level, the United States House of Representatives will vote on a cannabis legalization bill next month and the President of Mexico plans to approve a marijuana legalization law that Congress is expected to pass when it reconvenes next month.

Meanwhile, Canada—as usual—is taking things one step further. After a petition to decriminalize psychedelics received nearly 15,000 signatures, it will be formally read in the House of Commons next month. The Canadian government will then have 45 days to issue a response.

At the state level, Arizona and Montana will vote on legalizing cannabis, Nebraska will weigh in on medical marijuana, and an initiative to decriminalize psychedelics in Washington D.C. officially qualified for the ballot.

Rounding things out at the local level, advocates in Oakland unveiled guidelines for a framework that would legalize psychedelic healing ceremonies and four more cities in Ohio will be voting on local measures to decriminalize cannabis this November.

Cybin Corp Is Putting Psilocybin on Dissolvable Sublingual Strips for Depression

The psychedelic industry has given birth to all sorts of innovative routes of administration for psychedelic drugs (some of which are questionable). Some of the recent ROA concepts have included nasal sprays and wearable microdosing technology.

Cybin Corporation is gunning to become the latest company to jump in the game with its new contribution: cherry-flavored dissolvable sublingual strips containing psilocybin. They will be similar to minty breath strips made by companies like Listerine and Equate.

The theory behind the dissolvable strips is that they will be capable of delivering the active ingredient directly into the bloodstream, bypassing the GI system and the liver, with the possibility of being stronger at a lower dose. We should know more about how well this ROA will work after Cybin Corp. conducts its initial clinical trial to find the optimal dose for psilocybin strips.

It’s great to see innovation like this coming out of the psychedelic industry, but the part of me that is an old school psychonaut wonders if it would be better for most people to just eat the actual mushrooms in their whole form (or make tea) instead.

Native American Tribes Take Cannabis Laws Into Their Own Hands

Rounding out this month’s recap are two stories about Native American tribes forging their own way when it comes to cannabis.

White Earth Nation, the largest reservation in Minnesota, became the second tribe in the state to legalize medical marijuana. They plan to grow their own cannabis for medicinal purposes. This is in opposition to Minnesota’s existing medical marijuana framework, which does not allow for cultivation.

A few states to the East, the Bay Mills Indian Community in Michigan is going to develop its own tribal cannabis market outside of the state’s regulated market. This will allow them to avoid paying taxes as well as state licensing, application, and renewal fees.

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

Think Wilder is reader-supported. If you enjoyed this month’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.

This Month in Psychedelics - July 2020

Just when I thought July was going to end up being a slow month for psychedelic news, something truly amazing happened toward the end. Sure, there were several minor wins for various drug reform efforts throughout the month, and a bunch of new psychedelic research studies. But nothing felt like it was huge news.

Part of that might be due to the fact that the entire world went through yet another insane month. Or maybe it just seemed that way to me because I also had an insane month. Either way, there wasn’t much Earth-shattering stuff going on in the world of psychedelics.

But then last week things got real interesting. In a good way. Along with that story, this month’s recap includes a thorough update on the psychedelic policy proposals that might pass later this year and a couple of the most intriguing psychedelic research studies from the month.

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:

Two of the World’s Most Prolific LSD Chemists Were Released From Prison

Last Friday the psychedelic community was treated to some completely unexpected (and uncharacteristic) good news when LSD chemist and longtime drug war prisoner, William Leonard Pickard, was granted a compassionate release from prison after being locked down since 2000.

He’ll still be under supervision for the next five years but at least he is finally no longer behind bars. And neither is his partner, Clyde Apperson, who was also compassionately released from prison this month—8 years before his 30 year sentence was complete.

Pickard was originally slated to serve two life sentences without any chance of parole but he was released early due to his old age (he’s 74), his deteriorating medical condition, the enhanced risks he faces with contracting the COVID-19 virus, and his role as the first American researcher to predict and write about the fentanyl epidemic more than two decades before it actually arrived in the U.S.

If this is the first time you’ve heard of Pickard, you should check out his psychedelic masterpiece, The Rose of Paracelsus: On Secrets and Sacraments. You can even listen along for free on the Psychedelic Salon podcast if you want to check it out.

Virginia’s Cannabis Decrim Law Took Effect

For some reason it feels like I’ve been talking about Virginia’s decriminalization measure forever, but I checked and it looks like the first time I mentioned it was just in April. But it feels like 100 years ago, which probably explains why I feel that way.

One month after Virginia Governor Ralph Northam signed the state’s cannabis decriminalization bill, and four months after lawmakers initially passed it, the law officially went into effect this month. That means possession of up to one ounce of cannabis in Virginia is now punishable by a $25 fine with no threat of jail time and no criminal record.

To sweeten the pot, just one day after the new law went live, Virginia lawmakers announced plans to legalize marijuana. The legalization measure isn’t set to be filed until next year, but it’s refreshing to see them fighting for a legal cannabis market so soon after decriminalizing.

A Few Psychedelic Reforms Qualified for the November Ballot

This month we found out that a bunch of potential psychedelic policy reforms might be approved later this year. Starting things off, Oregon officials announced that the state’s voters will vote in November on a first-of-its-kind measure to legalize psilocybin for therapeutic use.

Assuming voters approve measure IP 34, Oregon will become the first jurisdiction in the United States to implement a legal psychedelic therapy model, which would grant the Oregon Health Authority the responsibility of creating a licensing system that would allow Oregonians suffering from depression, anxiety, and other issues to work with licensed and trained facilitators to receive supervised psilocybin therapy.

Oregonians aren’t stopping there. Voters in the Beaver State will also be voting on a separate initiative to decriminalize low-level drug possession. This proposal isn’t specific to psychedelics but instead applies to all illegal substances.

If it passes, the state will begin using tax revenue from its legal cannabis industry to fund expanded substance misuse treatment services and drug addiction would be reframed as a health issue instead of a criminal matter. Low-level possession would become a civil infraction punishable by a maximum $100 fine and no jail time.

Activists in Washington D.C. announced that a psychedelic decriminalization measure will be on the ballot in November after watching officials count enough valid signatures. If the proposal passes, the laws against a variety of psychedelic substances such as psilocybin, ayahuasca, and iboga would be made among the city’s lowest law enforcement priorities.

But this didn’t happen without a fight. Earlier in the month Congressman Andy Harris attempted to block the decriminalization effort before eventually withdrawing his attempt.

And Oakland, CA, the same city that re-prioritized enforcement of laws against certain psychedelic plants and fungi last year, may enact an innovative ordinance to allow its residents to legally conduct plant medicine healing ceremonies.

Decriminalize Nature, the group behind the effort, is attempting to establish a pilot program that would provide legal protections for residents and facilitators to participate in psychedelic ceremonies. Facilitators would be screened by local leaders with experience providing services to vulnerable populations like people who have previously been incarcerated and victims of violence.

The ordinance would also call for the creation of a task force that would help guide the creation of the framework and study the impact of the pilot program, with the goal of reporting back on its findings within two years after the program is enacted. Decriminalize Nature is hoping that the ordinance will be approved by October 2020.

Cannabis Laws Are About to Relax, Man

There are a stunning amount of cannabis reform efforts that are still currently going strong even with the COVID-19 pandemic making things more difficult for signature collection.

First, it looks like Arizona’s legalization measure will likely make it onto the November ballot after activists turned in 420,000 signatures to qualify. Gotta love that number. That should be enough signatures, but the state still hasn’t announced whether it will accept them. So we’ll have to stay tuned on that one.

Similarly, Nebraskans might get a chance to vote on a medical marijuana measure in November if the 182,000 signatures that were submitted are verified by the state.

Activists in Montana have said that according to official county data, the state’s two legalization measures will qualify for the November ballot, although just like in Arizona and Nebraska, we are still waiting on state officials to verify.

Not only are voters in New Jersey definitely going to be able to cast ballots in favor of the state’s legalization measure in November, but polling data indicates that nearly seven in ten will do so.

Idaho’s medical marijuana measure is still up in the air. Cannabis activists threatened to sue after the state ignored their request to gather signatures electronically, which was prompted when the COVID-19 pandemic ruined in-person petitioning efforts. In response, the Idaho secretary of state dismissed the campaign’s request. But all hope is not lost yet; a federal judge argued in favor of electronic signature collection and the matter is still unsettled at this time.

There are two other states that already knew they would be voting on cannabis reform measures in November, but just to be thorough, let’s go ahead and breeze through them real quick.

South Dakota will be voting on both a medical marijuana measure and one for legalization. Mississippi has two separate medical marijuana measures on its ballot, which has frustrated advocates because they feel like the state’s lawmakers are intentionally trying to undermine the reform effort in the state.

At the federal level, it looks like the House of Representatives might vote on a cannabis legalization bill in September, although it’s far from a done deal at this point.

This is in strong contrast to the official stance of the Democratic Party, which rejected an attempt to add a legalization amendment to the party’s 2020 Policy Platform. Instead, the party will be fighting for decriminalizing cannabis possession, expungements of prior marijuana-related convictions, federal rescheduling, legalizing medical marijuana, and allowing states to decide on their own laws. But just like presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, the party has stopped short of endorsing adult-use legalization.

Meanwhile, on the international front, the Netherlands is considering the possibility of experimenting with cannabis legalization in 2021 and Argentina made changes to its existing medical marijuana law by allowing for home cultivation and sales in pharmacies. Going one step further, the measure will also guarantee access to medical marijuana to all patients free of charge, regardless of the health coverage, which is just completely mind-blowing to me here in America, the land of the broken healthcare system.

Americans Are Using More LSD—or Are They?

One of the pieces of psychedelic news I’ve seen making the rounds a lot lately involves a study that found that LSD use in the United States rose more than 50 percent from 2015 to 2018. The most common explanation for this phenomenon making the rounds right now says that Americans have an increased need for drug-induced escapism to deal with depression, anxiety, and stress from the general state of global affairs. But is the increase in use even true?

The study has been criticized for its small sample size—the results were based on a subgroup consisting of mere 592 people instead of the full sample (168,562). I agree with Drug Checking Day, who suggested that the Global Drug Survey would be a better data set to reference when looking at use trends because it collected information from a much larger amount of LSD users. In other words, I wouldn’t lend this study too much credence.

Using Psilocybin to Treat OCD?

Neuroethicist Eddie Jacobs (from King’s College London and the University of Oxford) penned a new scientific review putting forth the idea that psilocybin might be an effective treatment for obsessive compulsive disorder. The review highlights the fact that not much research has been conducted on this potential therapeutic application for psilocybin.

In fact, aside from anecdotal reports and case studies from the first era of psychedelic research, the only modern study that explored this area was conducted in 2006. But the situation is evolving as we speak: a few clinical trials are currently investigating the efficacy of psilocybin-assisted therapy for the treatment of OCD. This is a space that will likely prove important in the future to the players in the burgeoning psychedelic industry, scientific researchers and patients suffering from obsessive compulsive disorder, so be sure to keep your eyes open.

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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