Legalise some drugs, outlaw others?

[sptrawler]

Well I guess there is a fine line, that can quite easily be crossed.

https://www.theage.com.au/national/...ed-over-drug-trafficking-20191024-p533z4.html

 

[DB008]

Some common sense from the NSW Coroner

NSW Government told to introduce pill testing, scrap sniffer dogs at festivals
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A coroner has recommended pill testing be conducted in NSW, along with the decriminalisation of personal drug use and the scrapping of sniffer dogs at music festivals.

An inquest investigated the drug-related deaths of six young people, aged 18 to 23, at NSW music festivals over two summers.

Delivering her findings on Friday, deputy state coroner Harriet Grahame said there was "compelling" evidence to support pill testing, which could "prompt behavioural change".

"Drug checking is simply an evidence-based harm reduction strategy that should be trialled as soon as possible in NSW," she said.

Ms Grahame said high-visibility and punitive policing operations at festivals had "inherent dangers and few if any benefits" and drug detection dogs should be scrapped.

The coroner's draft recommendations were leaked last month and the NSW Government reiterated its opposition to pill testing trials.

Today, Ms Grahame said the evidence showed a heavy police presence and drug detection dogs could be intimidating and precipitate "panic ingestion" and "dangerous preloading", which could increase the risk of illness or fatality.

Ms Grahame gave recommendations to NSW Police including that drug detection dogs be scrapped.

She said the use of strip searches should be limited to circumstances where there is a "reasonable suspicion".

"The evidence arising from this inquest clearly indicates there is much that can be done to prevent MDMA deaths," Ms Grahame said.

"There are practical solutions to some of the issues identified."

Ms Grahame recommended a drug summit be held with relevant stakeholders to develop an evidence-based drug policy.

She said the Government should give "full and genuine consideration" to "decriminalising personal use of drugs, as a mechanism to reduce the harm caused by drug use".

Premier Gladys Berejiklian has consistently argued the harm reduction measure sends the "wrong message" to young people, instead arguing they should "just say no" to drugs.​

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-11...to-introduce-pill-testing-by-coroner/11685312

 

[DB008]

MDMA for PTSD granted Expanded Access by FDA, patient treatments begin
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Marking an impressive milestone in the development of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the treatment for Expanded Access, allowing certain patients access to the therapy before full market approval is granted. Ten treatment clinics in the United States are reported as ready to commence administration of the therapy, while Phase 3 trials are ongoing and full approval is estimated for 2022.

It takes a long time for a new pharmaceutical treatment to move from initial discovery to market approval. The process of human clinical trials alone can take anywhere from five to seven years, and that is assuming everything goes perfectly. The non-profit Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) has been working for decades to establish MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD.

The FDA’s Expanded Access program is designed to allow patients with serious illnesses access to treatments still in the processes of clinical investigation. Often informally referred to as the compassionate use program, Expanded Access offers individuals conditional access to specific treatments.

MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD is currently deep in Phase 3 clinical trials. While complete market approval is still most likely two to three years away, Expanded Access to the treatment has now been granted by the FDA.

MAPS has announced 10 treatment sites in the United States will initially begin Expanded Access administration of the therapy. The FDA Expanded Access approval is slightly more limited than the broader application being tested for, so pre-approval administration will only apply to “treatment-resistant patients with moderate to severe treatment-resistant PTSD”.

Moving forward, MAPS suggests more than 120 clinics have already applied to commence MDMA therapy under Expanded Access conditions. Once the program is up and running patients will apply for treatment directly to the individual clinic, however, the FDA still has ultimate approval over patient applications. Historically, the FDA has approved the vast majority of Expanded Access patient requests.

Fifty patients have been initially approved for Expanded Access treatment and MAPS will present patient data to the FDA from a number of these first Expanded Access treatments. The plan is to subsequently expand the Expanded Access program once its real-world efficacy has been established.

“We commend FDA for recognizing the great unmet medical need of PTSD by allowing access to MDMA-assisted psychotherapy on a compassionate basis for people with treatment-resistant PTSD,” says Rick Doblin, founder of MAPS. “We are delighted to begin generating real-world evidence about this potential new treatment.”​

More on link below...

https://newatlas.com/health-wellbeing/mdma-psychotherapy-ptsd-expanded-access-fda-maps/​

 

[DB008]

The Canadian government is allowing 4 terminally ill patients to use psychedelic mushrooms to help ease their anxiety
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The Canadian government will allow four patients with incurable cancer to receive psilocybin therapy, which uses the drug found in the so-called "magic mushrooms" or "shrooms," to ease their end-of-life distress.

The landmark decision by Minister of Health Patty Hajdu, marks the first time since 1974 that a legal exemption has been given in Canada for patients to access psychedelic treatment, according to a news release on Tuesday by TheraPsil, a non-profit organization working to help Canadians gain access to psilocybin therapy.

Laurie Brooks, one of the four terminally ill patients, expressed her gratitude for the approval, which comes over 100 days after the four patients made their plea to the government.

"The acknowledgment of the pain and anxiety that I have been suffering with means a lot to me, and I am feeling quite emotional today as a result," Brooks said in a statement. "I hope this is just the beginning and that soon all Canadians will be able to access psilocybin, for therapeutic use, to help with the pain they are experiencing, without having to petition the government for months to gain permission."​

More on link below...

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/08/06/world/canada-psychedelic-mushrooms-cancer-therapy-trnd/index.html​

 

[DB008]

Ann Arbor decriminalizes magic mushrooms, psychedelic plants

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — The city of Ann Arbor has decriminalized psychedelic plants and fungi, including magic mushrooms, and police officers will no longer make them an enforcement focus.​

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City Council voted unanimously Sept. 21 in favor of a resolution declaring it the city’s lowest law enforcement priority, MLive.com reported. It means that authorities won’t investigate and arrest anyone for planting, cultivating, buying, transporting, distributing, engaging in practices with or possessing “entheogenic plants” or plant compounds.​

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The resolution defines entheogenic plants as plants and fungi that contain indole amines, tryptamines and phenethylamines “that can benefit psychological and physical wellness, support and enhance religious and spiritual practices, and can reestablish human’s inalienable and direct relationship to nature.”​

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The move applies to ayahuasca, ibogaine, mescaline, peyote, psilocybin mushrooms and other substances with hallucinogenic properties considered illegal under state and federal law.​

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Additionally, the city council called upon the Washtenaw County prosecutor’s office to halt prosecution of people involved in the use of such plants and plant compounds.​

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A grassroots group called Decriminalize Nature Ann Arbor, or DNA2, has been lobbying city officials to take up the issue.​

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After some council members were apprehensive about sponsoring the group’s proposal earlier this year, some ultimately decided that they were persuaded by arguments centering medical and spiritual benefits of using psychedelics, particularly for mental health treatment.​

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Advocates contend that non-addictive psychedelics can provide a pathway out of opioid addiction.​

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Council members noted that any major violation of state or federal law or any use of entheogenic plants that poses a threat to public health, safety and welfare still could result in city law enforcement involvement.​

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Psychedelic substances can be used to help address substance abuse issues, addiction, recidivism, trauma, post-traumatic stress, depression, anxiety and other debilitating conditions, according to the resolution.​

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Last year, Denver became the first U.S. city to decriminalize psychedelic mushrooms. The city was then followed by Oakland and Santa Cruz in California, which decriminalized all entheogenic plants.​

https://apnews.com/article/plants-archive-fungi-ann-arbor-b0ce69ca0961c150e0f900e8ea4cf432

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[DB008]

Oregon Just Voted to Decriminalize Heroin, Cocaine, and Meth


The new punishment for petty possession of any illegal drug will be the legal equivalent of a traffic ticket.​

Whatever happens with the rest of the 2020 election, the state of Oregon made history on Tuesday by decriminalizing possession of all illegal drugs, including heroin, cocaine, and meth.​

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Oregon’s Measure 110 — the first state law of its kind in the United States — won with support from an emphatic 59% majority of voters. The measure does not technically legalize any drugs, but on February 1 the state will stop jailing people for petty possession. The new punishment will be the legal equivalent of a traffic ticket, with violators given the option of paying a $100 fine or being referred to options for addiction treatment​

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The outcome marks a historic shift in U.S. drug policy, with Oregon aiming to replicate the success of similar experiments in Portugal, Switzerland, and a handful of other countries where punitive drug laws have been rolled back in favor of a more public health-oriented approach.​

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"There's a lot of people who want to see punitive drug laws done away with, and really the entire drug war,” said Matt Sutton, a spokesperson for the Drug Policy Alliance, which organized the campaign for Measure 110. “This shows it's 100% possible that we can do that."​

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Federal authorities will still be able to aggressively enforce drug laws in Oregon, and anybody caught with dealer-sized quantities will still face arrest and criminal prosecution under existing state laws. But the state’s lowest-level drug offenders will soon encounter a completely overhauled system. Drugs alone will no longer be grounds for an arrest. And the long-term consequences for being caught with recreational quantities of drugs will all but vanish.​

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“It’s the kind of violation where even if you don't pay the fine or get the health assessment, you still won’t go to jail,” Sutton said.​

The decriminalization measure will use an estimated $100 million in tax revenue from legal marijuana sales in Oregon to dramatically expand social services for drug users, including more housing, medication-assisted treatment, and harm reduction services.​

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Haven Wheelock, who provides harm reduction services to drug users through Outside In, a Portland non-profit, expects the new law to have an immediate impact, especially for people who have been cycling in and out of jail for low-level drug cases.​

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“It’s going to be huge,” Wheelock said. “It’s going to allow people to get the services they need without fear of arrest. It’s going to change how people who don’t use drugs think about drug use. It’s going to allow us to move into a health-based system and hopefully be a model for other places. We have an opportunity to show the rest of the country this is how it should be.”​

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Opponents of Measure 110 — mainly law enforcement groups — fear the lack of criminal penalties will just encourage more people to use hard drugs. Portland, like other major cities on the West Coast, has experienced a dramatic rise in homelessness in recent years, and there’s been a nationwide surge in fatal overdoses fueled by the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl.​

But to the people who pushed for decriminalization, punitive drug laws have only made matters worse by stigmatizing users and perpetuating racial disparities in the criminal justice system. A pre-election report by the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission estimated that the state’s new measure could reduce “the significant overrepresentation of Black Oregonians” arrested for low-level drug offenses by nearly 95%.​

At least 25 countries have introduced some form of drug decriminalization, but Portugal is perhaps the best known example. The country enacted sweeping decriminalization in 2001 and saw new HIV infections and overdose deaths plummet in the following years. Overall rates of drug use in the country fell in the first 15 years, and now track roughly with the rest of Europe.​

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Oregon has been flirting with the Portugal model for years, starting with a change in 2017 that made drug possession a misdemeanor instead of a felony. But it took a well-organized and deep-pocketed campaign — with TV ads bankrolled by $500,000 from a foundation run by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife — to convince state voters to go all in. Oregon also approved a second drug-related ballot initiative Tuesday, with nearly 56% of voters backing an initiative that legalizes psilocybin mushrooms, another first for a U.S. state.​

More on link below...

https://www.vice.com/en/article/dy88qy/oregon-just-voted-to-decriminalize-heroin-cocaine-and-meth


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[DB008]

Election Day was a major rejection of the war on drugs​

In every state where marijuana legalization or another drug policy reform was on the ballot, it won.​

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We still don’t know with certainty who will be the next president of the United States. But this year’s election results have given us a lot more clarity on one thing: American voters, even conservative ones, are ready to reel back the US’s war on drugs.​

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In every state where a ballot measure asked Americans to reconsider the drug war, voters sided with reformers. In Arizona, Montana, New Jersey, and South Dakota, voters legalized marijuana for recreational purposes. In Mississippi and South Dakota (separate from the full legalization measure), voters legalized medical marijuana.​

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In Oregon, voters decriminalized — but not legalized — all drugs, including cocaine and heroin. Also in Oregon, voters legalized the use of psilocybin, a psychedelic drug found in magic mushrooms, for supervised therapeutic uses.​

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In Washington, DC, voters in effect decriminalized psychedelic plants, following the lead of several other cities.​

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With its vote, Oregon became the first state in the US in modern times to decriminalize all drugs. And marijuana is now legalized in 15 states and DC, although DC still doesn’t allow sales.​

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This is a big rejection of the war on drugs​

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Collectively, the year’s ballot measures amount to a major shift in US drug policy.​

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In the four states that legalized marijuana on Election Day, the policy will generally work as it has in other states that have legalized marijuana so far. Adults 21 and older will be able to possess and, eventually, legally buy the drug. State agencies will regulate production and sales, and local jurisdictions may be able to ban marijuana retailers within their borders. There will be taxes on marijuana. Depending on the state, home-growing marijuana might be allowed.​

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That’s a big shift from where marijuana was before in these states, where possession and sales could still be punished with up to jail or prison time. It’s a particularly radical change for South Dakota, which, unlike many other states that legalize recreational use, had not yet legalized medical marijuana before Tuesday.​

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In Oregon, possession of small amounts of all drugs, including cocaine and heroin, will no longer be punished with jail or prison time. Instead, those caught with the drugs will get a choice to pay a $100 fine or do a “completed health assessment” in an addiction recovery center.​

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Unlike legalization, decriminalization does not mean sales will be allowed. In general, decriminalization means the removal of criminal penalties — particularly prison time — for the possession and use of a drug, but not the legalization of sales. So people wouldn’t get arrested for having small amounts of heroin or cocaine on them, but don’t expect stores legally selling either substance to pop up.​

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Oregon had already legalized marijuana for recreational and medical uses, so the initiative mostly won’t change anything there, with one exception: On top of directing the savings from the initiative (due to, say, less incarceration) to more addiction treatment, the measure will also redirect some marijuana tax revenues to treatment. The measure’s proponents say that will all add up to at least $100 million more funding for addiction treatment a year — which would effectively quadruple how much the state spends on treatment outside of Medicaid and the criminal justice system.​

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Separately, Oregon approved a measure that will allow the use of a psychedelic drug under the supervision of trained facilitators at “psilocybin service centers.” This approach actually has growing evidence behind it — to the point that psychedelic drugs are currently working through clinical trials approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Based on the studies, the guided hallucinogenic trips may help people overcome serious mental health issues like addiction, end-of-life anxiety, and PTSD, although experts say we still need more evidence.​

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More on link below...

https://www.vox.com/2020-presidenti...inalization-new-jersey-arizona-oregon-montana



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[Sean K]

The fine for having meth in the ACT is about $100.

Drive over the speed limit $300+.

I guess speed is more dangerous than meth.

 

[Dona Ferentes]

who's using what, according to wastewater testing

Which Australian city consumes the most cocaine? A new report exposes the country's drug habits

The Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission's latest wastewater drug use report sheds light on how the illicit drug market varies across the country.

www.abc.net.au