Author: News Room

Hemp-derived synthetic forms of THC, the psychoactive element in cannabis, do not meet the federal definition of hemp and are therefore controlled substances, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has asserted. The agency’s statement on delta-8 THC-O and delta-9 THC-O is the latest input into the ongoing debate in the USA sparked by the proliferation of delta-8 products, which are widely available in convenience stores and smoke shops in the absence of a clear understanding of their potential effects on consumers. Made in the lab Delta-8 and delta-9 THC naturally occur in hemp but only in trace amounts. Producers have…

Advocacy groups, researchers, academics and medical professionals have submitted a series of briefs in support of an effort to force the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to carry out a review into psilocybin as part of a rescheduling petition. Washington State-based palliative care doctor Sunil Aggarwal recently asked a federal appeals court to vacate DEA’s rescheduling petition denial. It’s the latest chapter in a long-running saga that’s pitted him against the agency as he’s sought to treat his terminally ill patients with psilocybin. Groups like NORML, Reason for Hope, Veteran Mental Health Leadership Coalition, End of Life Washington and Global Wellness Institute—in…

New Jersey’s attorney general has released revised drug testing policies for law enforcement agencies, generally barring screenings for marijuana in most circumstances following the state’s enactment of legalization. Under the new guidance issued last week, police officers can still be tested for THC if there’s reasonable suspicion that they used cannabis during work hours, or if there’s a federal requirement. But because New Jersey legalized adult-use marijuana, it became “necessary to revise this policy,” the new memo says. “Agencies must undertake drug testing when there is reasonable suspicion to believe a law enforcement officer is engaged in the illegal use…

“This bill is the quintessential ‘big government knows better than Montana voters’ bill.” By Blair Miller, Daily Montanan The governor’s office is behind a bill heard in a House committee Thursday that aims to reduce the amount of money going toward the Habitat Montana conservation program by eliminating an estimated $8 million to $9 million annually in marijuana revenue and putting it toward police, prosecutors and correctional officers. The sponsor of House Bill 462, Rep. Marta Bertoglio, R-Clancy, said she had not consulted any conservation groups about the diversion of funds, but had heard from many in opposition to the bill…

A Washington State Senate committee approved a massive overhaul to a psilocybin services bill on Thursday, gutting sections that would have legalized use of the psychedelic drug by adults—and reform advocates in the state are blaming the governor for being behind the move. As originally filed last month, SB 5263 would have put Washington on the road to regulating psilocybin services much like its neighbor Oregon. Adults 21 and older would have been able to legally use the drug with the support of a trained facilitator, and regulators would have begun accepting license applications for product manufacturers, service centers and…

Browsing through an antique bookstore in Quito, I stumbled on a book called Shabono: A Visit to a Remote and Magical World in the South American Rain Forest, written by an anthropologist named Florinda Donner. Published in 1982, I expected it to be like most academic texts: interesting but long-winded and dusty. Instead, I got a gripping adventure that puts even Indiana Jones to shame.  The book opens with Donner, a German immigrant studying anthropology in California, feeling hopeless. She’s spent weeks on the border between Venezuela and Brazil shadowing Indigenous healers who refuse to reveal the secrets of their…

Vincent “Vin Rock” Brown and Keir Lamont Gist—known professionally as DJ KayGee—are two of the most recognizable names in hip-hop. Along with founding Naughty By Nature group member Anthony Criss aka “Treach,” the rappers are thought of as legends in the hip-hop community—a role they hope to continue by both creating new music and paying it forward to the next generation of artists. Vin and KayGee have now formed another group called Illtown Sluggaz, one which will feature DJ and Producer Slugga—a bear and mascot in the vein of a deadmau5 character. The Sluggaz are part group, part record label…

Virginia’s Republican-controlled House of Delegates has consistently killed Senate-passed marijuana reform bills this session, and the latest legislation to be stopped in its tracks is a modest proposal to let medical cannabis businesses make certain state-level tax deductions. A House Finance subcommittee on Friday rejected the Senate-approved proposal to give the cannabis industry tax relief that they’re barred from receiving at the federal level under the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) code known as 280E. This comes days after the chamber separately killed a measure to start adult-use marijuana sales, as well as legislation to create a psilocybin advisory board while…

A regional court in Italy has upheld a lawsuit filed by four cannabis associations, overturning a decree issued one year ago that classified hemp as a narcotic in contravention of European law. The Regional Administrative Tribunal of Lazio annulled the decree and ordered authorities to adjust it to get Italian law in line with the EU. The groups filed the lawsuit shortly after the decree was issued in January 2022. ‘Definitive confirmation’ “Today, we have definitive confirmation that without valid scientific evidence, it is not possible to impose limits on this agricultural sector,” according to a statement from the groups:…

If we may say that the civilized man is clever but not wise, we may say, also, that the prairie is dry but not without water. Upon the prairie there are occasional rivers, streams, lakes, ponds and flooded buffalo wallows. Like the American System itself, most of the prairie ponds and lakes are fly-by-night operations. Although they may thrive temporarily, supporting a teeming food chain that can run from aquatic plants to muskrats to owls; from nymphal insects to sunfish to snapping turtles; or from salamanders to magpies to weasels, in time the ponds and lakes are invaded by vegetation…