The Boston Globe Editorial Board endorses ‘no’ on Question 4
Ibogaine can cause cardiac irregularities and has been associated with sudden death. DMT, a chemical in ayahuasca, can cause serious psychological effects like hallucinations, even days after its use. Psychedelic drugs carry the risk of “bad trips.” As a report on the ballot question by the Center for State Policy Analysis at Tufts University notes, […]
The Berkshire Eagle endorses ‘no’ on Question 4
They say these substances offer a great leap forward for treating certain mental health maladies — a claim, it must be noted, that is not definitively borne out by the current research record and regulatory standards — and that Massachusetts needs to provide regulated avenues to receive these psychedelic treatments with appropriate assessment and safe […]
Boston Globe’s Jeff Jacoby: No on Question 4
But in reality, this badly drafted initiative would exacerbate every problem associated with hallucinogenics. It would increase the medical and mental side effects that such drugs often cause. It would likely boost the number of motorists driving while strung out on mind-altering substances. It would endanger children, pets, and unsuspecting adults who might ingest the […]
Legalize Magic Mushrooms? Massachusetts Should Just Vote No
There may be real promise in psychedelic therapies for depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and other hard-to-treat conditions. But commercialization of these substances should come through proper channels: scientific research leading to FDA approval and careful distribution. What advocates of state legalization want is a psychedelic free-for-all. That isn’t medicine, or science. It’s crazy. Link: Wall […]
Massachusetts Psychiatric Society Raises Concerns on Psychedelics Ballot Question
Massachusetts Psychiatric Society has many outstanding questions regarding the impacts this Initiative Petition would have on providers, including insurance coverage, and the impact to specific population subsets such as maternal or perinatal health. The doctors further explained their opposition by noting the broad nature of this Initiative Petition, the lack of concrete research or results […]
DUI Fatal Crashes Increase by over 50% in Massachusetts
· Unfortunately, several states had substantial jumps. Alaska saw a 100% increase, while the District of Columbia, Idaho, Massachusetts, and Delaware all recorded increases above 50%.· Link: https://www.safehome.org/resources/dui-statistics/#:~:text=Between%202020%20and%202021%2C%20there,all%20recorded%20increases%20above%2050%25.
Cartoon packaging and an ‘inconsolable’ high: when magic mushroom chocolate gets into the wrong hands
· As grey-market psilocybin sweets grow more popular in the US, doctors warn of risks to unsuspecting kids· Link: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/jun/12/mushrooms-chocolate-psilocybin-psychedelics-children
Oregon’s Legal Psilocybin Program Gets Taxpayer Funds Despite Promise to Pay Its Own Way
· “The promise was that taxpayers wouldn’t be on the hook for this,” says Dr. Mason Marks, a senior fellow at Harvard Law School’s Project on Psychedelics Law and Regulation. “That was the promise to voters.”…Marks knows the Oregon system because he served on the Oregon Psilocybin Advisory Board for a year, and he’s […]
Alarming reports of life-threatening complications and sudden death cases…associated with the administration of ibogaine, have been accumulating.
· Ibogaine certainly affects the heart and the cardiovascular system. Besides lowering the heart rate, therapeutic concentrations of the alkaloid interact with cardiac ion channels, and these effects most likely determine ibogaine’s potentially life-threatening cardiotoxicity. Due to the longevity of noribogaine—ibogaine’s active metabolite—in human plasma, cardiac adverse events may also occur several days, […]
How Psychedelic Research Got High on Its Own Supply
· Western medicine’s promotion of psychedelics…oversold hope to the most vulnerable among us while fueling an industry that was once projected to be worth over $7 billion by 2029…He described his organization’s focus on veterans as a calculated public relations move…The actual data on psychedelics for mental health tend to fall short of […]
