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Drug War Chronicle, Issue #1008 -- 2/1/18
Phillip S. Smith, Editor,psmith@drcnet.org https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/1008

A Publication of StoptheDrugWar.org
David Borden, Executive Director,borden@drcnet.org
"Raising Awareness of the Consequences of Drug Prohibition"

Table of Contents:

1. CAN MAGIC MUSHROOMS FIGHT AUTHORITARIANISM?
New research suggests that psilocybin use can promote an anti-authoritarian attitude.
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2018/jan/31/can_magic_mushrooms_fight

2. MEDICAL MARIJUANA UPDATE
The medical marijuana movement loses a founding father*, and the only other action this past week was a pair of CBD bills.
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2018/jan/31/medical_marijuana_update *Dennis Peron the father of the Medical Marijuana movement in California died last week.
If they don't say enough about him in the article do a search on San Francisco and his name.


 3. THIS WEEK'S CORRUPT COPS STORIES
It's been a pretty quiet week on the corrupt front, but we've got another prison guard breaking bad and a police dispatcher who picked the wrong husband.
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2018/jan/31/weeks_corrupt_cops_stories

4. CHRONICLE AM: CA MJ TAX BONANZA, MEXICO LEGAL MJ FOR TOURISTS, CORRUPTION AND VIOLENCE IN CENTRAL AMERICAN DRUG TRADE, MORE... (1/26/18)
California looks set to make big bucks from legalizing weed, Mexico's tourism minister suggests legalizing it at some of the countrys' biggest tourist beach resorts, the new Honduran national police chief has some explaining to do, and more.
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2018/jan/26/chronicle_am_ca_mj_tax_bonanza

5. CHRONICLE AM: MEDMJ ICON DENNIS PERON DIES, ALEC SPURNS DRUG-FREE ZONE LAWS, MORE... (1/29/18)
A pioneer of the medical marijuana movement has died, the conservative group ALEC calls for reform of drug-free zone laws, the Trump administration is turning to private prisons, and more.
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2018/jan/29/chronicle_am_medmj_icon_dennis

6. CHRONICLE AM: AMNESTY WARNS ON PHILIPPINES DRUG WAR, NY SAFE INJECTION SITE PUSH, MORE... (1/30/18)
Republican legislators are gumming things up in Maine and Virginia, a big coalition calls for preserving the drug czar's office, Amnesty International warns the Philippines, and more.
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2018/jan/30/chronicle_am_amnesty_warns

7. CHRONICLE AM: CA MJ BANK PLAN, ISRAEL DECRIM DRAFT, NO DRUG TESTING SD LAWMAKERS, MORE... (1/31/18)
California's treasurer wants to create a public bank for pot businesses, a New Jersey poll on legalization has mixed results, the Indiana House passes a CBD bill, Israel takes another step toward marijuana decrim, and more.
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2018/jan/31/chronicle_am_ca_mj_bank_plan

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================

1. CAN MAGIC MUSHROOMS FIGHT AUTHORITARIANISM? https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2018/jan/31/can_magic_mushrooms_fight

This article was produced in collaboration with AlterNet and first appeared here (https://www.alternet.org/drugs/magic-mushrooms-fight-authoritarianism-psilocybin-psychedelics).

Psychedelic drugs have been associated with anti-authoritarian counter-cultures since the 1960s, but a new study (https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0269881117748902) suggests using psilocybin, the psychedelic compound in magic mushrooms,
actually makes people less likely to embrace authoritarian views, PsyPost reports (https://www.psypost.org/2018/01/psychedelic-mushrooms-reduce-authoritarianism-boost-nature-relatedness-experimental-study-suggests-50638). The study conducted by the
Psychedelic Research Group at Imperial College London was published in the journal Psychopharmacology.

While other studies have linked the use of psychedelics to a greater sense of oneness with nature (https://www.psypost.org/2017/09/study-suggests-psychedelics-promote-eco-friendly-behaviors-altering-relationship-nature-49592), openness to new experiences
and political and social liberalism (https://www.psypost.org/2017/05/study-finds-people-use-psychedelic-drugs-tend-liberal-48966), this is the first to provide experimental evidence their use can leading to lasting changes in these attitudes.

In the study, researchers gave two oral doses of psilocybin to seven participants suffering from treatment-resistant major depression while a control group of seven healthy subjects did not receive psilocybin. Researchers surveyed participants about
their political views and relationship to nature before the sessions, one week after the sessions, and 7-12 months later.

Subjects who received the psilocybin treatment showed a significant decrease in authoritarian attitudes after treatment, and that reduction was sustained over time. They also reported a significant increase in a sense of relatedness to nature.

"Before I enjoyed nature, now I feel part of it. Before I was looking at it as a thing, like TV or a painting… But now I see there's no separation or distinction -- you are it," one participant told researchers.

Subjects who had not received psilocybin did not exhibit significant changes in attitudes.

"Our findings tentatively raise the possibility that given in this way, psilocybin may produce sustained changes in outlook and political perspective, here in the direction of increased nature relatedness and decreased authoritarianism," wrote study
authors Taylor Lyons and Robin L. Carhart-Harris.

That is a significant advance in the research on the links between psychedelics and anti-authoritarianism. That's because this is the first study to suggest that psychedelic use promoted such attitudes and not the other way around.

But while this study's design allows the drawing of some inferences about cause and effect, its small sample size limits the strength of its findings. As Lyon and Carhart-Harris noted in their study, "It would be hasty, therefore, to attempt any strong
claims about a causal influence due specifically to psilocybin at this stage."

Still, one can't help but wonder what might happen if, say, Jeff Sessions or Donald Trump or Rodrigo Duterte were to go tripping on 'shrooms. The world might be a better place.



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                                      Cops say legalize drugs--find out
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                                       Stoners are people too:
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      It is by theobromine alone I set my mind in motion."
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