Author: News Room

A California campaign has officially filed a proposed initiative for the state’s 2024 ballot that would create a $5 billion state agency tasked with funding and promoting psychedelics research that it hopes will accelerate federal legalization of substances like psilocybin and ibogaine. As a separate campaign collects signatures for a psilocybin legalization ballot measure, proponents of the new “TREAT California Act” are seeking funding for their novel measure, which would not directly legalize or decriminalize psychedelics in the state. Instead, the campaign—which is led by a team of seasoned strategists who previously championed successful ballot initiatives related to stem cell…

Florida’s attorney general is asking the state Supreme Court for another extension to file briefs in a case that will decide whether voters get the chance to consider a marijuana legalization initiative on the 2024 ballot. Attorney General Ashley Moody (R), whose office is seeking to invalidate the cannabis measure, is currently due to reply to recent briefs from the campaign and supporters on Wednesday. Now she and outside groups that want to maintain marijuana prohibition are requesting a one-week extension from the court. The attorney general—as well as the Florida Chamber of Commerce and the Drug Free America Foundation—have…

Republican 2024 presidential candidate Francis Suarez says federal cannabis policy needs to “catch up” with states that have enacted legalization, citing safety concerns related to the ongoing barriers to banking services in the industry. As Miami’s mayor, however, the GOP contender enters the national stage with a mixed record on cannabis issues locally. “Federal policy on cannabis needs to catch up with the will of the American people and the 40 states which have legalized medical and/or adult use,” Suarez wrote in a Twitter post on Saturday. “If congressional leaders can’t find a responsible path to ending prohibition, deferring to…

Another study has linked medical marijuana use to lower pain levels and reduced dependence on opioids and other prescription medications. Researchers at the University of Florida carried out a three-month pilot study to assess the efficacy of cannabis among middle-aged and older chronic pain patients. One month after the participants initiated medical marijuana use, they completed surveys detailing the benefits and side effects of the alternative treatment option. The study, published this month in the journal Cannabis, found that “most participants perceived medical cannabis to be overall effective for chronic pain management.” The benefits that they reported include reduced pain…

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and Department of Defense (DOD) are strongly against the use of marijuana for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)—but they’re taking a neutral position on psychedelics like psilocybin and LSD, simply saying that more research should be done. In an update to their joint clinical practice guidelines, the departments provided recommendations on a variety of therapeutics used to treat PTSD and acute stress disorder that commonly afflict military veterans. And while many veterans use marijuana, often to treat symptoms of the conditions, the VA/DOD Management of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Acute Stress…

Screamin’ Jay Hawkins stayed drunk through most of the psychedelic ’60s. When I encountered him, in the early spring of 1973, he had put his Black & White scotch aside and was on the wagon. He drank coffee, a great deal of it, and orange juice. He smoked cigarettes, a great many of them. Sometimes he rolled his own Buglers, but on this day he smoked Lucky Strikes. He was living at the Hotel Bryant, in a shabby room nine floors above Broadway in Times Square. With him were his wife, Jinny, and an obnoxious four-month-old Siamese cat named Cookie.…

There are a ton of brands in the modern cannabis landscape, but few of these players truly understand what being a brand really means. There’s a lot more to it than just coming up with a catchy name and logo. Even worse, it seems like in today’s market even fewer make their consumers the actual focal point of what they’re doing. Maybe that’s why it’s not working out for so many of them. While we’ve seen countless companies try and fail to make a name for themselves in this burgeoning industry, Alien Labs lives in rarified air. It hasn’t just…

A Democratic senator is opposing a bill that he says would perpetuate the discriminatory consequences of the war on drugs by forcing social media and other technology companies to broadly surveil people in an effort to combat illicit drug sales and lead to “meritless” referrals to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) vowed that he will raise an objection to any future unanimous consent motion to advance the Cooper Davis Act on the floor on Thursday, about a week after an amended version of the legislation was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee. The bill would amend…

The mayor of Minneapolis has issued an executive order making the criminalization of possession, use and cultivation of psychedelics the city’s lowest law enforcement priority and generally preventing local resources from being used to aid federal and state actions against the substances. The chief of police says he stands with the mayor and will direct officers accordingly. Mayor Jacob Frey (D) signed the order on Friday, sending a strong message that the city does not consider substances like psilocybin to be deserving of criminalization. This comes about two months after Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) signed a bill that included…

New York regulators are now officially accepting applications for marijuana businesses interested in organizing cannabis farmers markets in the state. Just two days after the Cannabis Control Board voted to authorize what they’re calling Cannabis Growers Showcases (CGS), regulators opened the applications and posted guidance and templates for municipal approval for the events. “A CGS can take place in various locations, including standalone, temporary retail locations; licensed retail dispensary locations; licensed conditional cultivator or processor locations; or other approved event locations,” the Office of Cannabis Management (OCM). Under the current rules, the marijuana farmers markets will take place up until…