CBD Producten: August 2022

Wednesday 31 August 2022

Dont Want It To End? Make Your Cannabis High Last Longer

Why does it have to end? When you’re experiencing a pleasurable cannabis high, sometimes it just can’t last long enough. There are many myths and stories of how you can extend this feeling – but what actually works? Does drinking alcohol help? Does taking bigger inhalations make any difference? What about using a vape vs smoking a joint? Well, in this article we’re going to be going through the most valid research into how to extend the endurance of a weed high. You may want to use cannabis for its recreational purposes, or perhaps you’re actually wanting your medical cannabis to last longer. Let’s debunk those myths and focus on the hard cold facts.

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A Good, Long High

A good high is one that’ll make you want it to last forever. In a recreational sense, this may be a high where your enjoyment levels are at all time zenith and you’re either having the time of your life with friends, or perhaps even on your own. Alternatively, if you’re using cannabis for its medicinal benefits, then this high may be one where the physical or mental pain you usually feel has subsided and you want it to remain that way.

Cannabis is known to make people feel certain ways, including: euphoric, chatty, giggly, calm, relaxed, peaceful and deep minded. That is why the substance has, for centuries, been used in religious and ceremonial practices. To this day, the Rastafarian religion still uses the ‘wisdom chalice’ during their practices to bring them closer together and closer to the natural world. It has been this way since ancient times – a cemetery that was dug up from 2500 years ago highlighted the ways in which cannabis was used all those centuries ago. ZME writes:

“A team led by archaeologist Yimin Yang of the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing found and analyzed chemical residues on 10 wooden burners (braziers) found in eight tombs at the site. When they analyzed these burners, they found an unusually high level of THC (the psychoactive substance inside cannabis) inside nine of them, as well as two stones that had been heated to burn plants — a clear indication that ancient people were using marijuana for burial rituals.”

American Adults Are Pretty Friggin Stoned, Says New Report

However cannabis can only last so long and eventually, like everything else in this world, it ends. But surely there are ways of maintaining that feeling for longer. The question is, did these ancient civilizations have any better knowledge of how to extend those high experiences than we do? Although, in the times before laws or regulations surrounding cannabis, you’d assume that these societies wouldn’t have had much trouble getting their hands on the substance. Instead, it would have been growing naturally for all of the world to enjoy. Imagine that. Therefore, they wouldn’t have needed a single amount to last longer as they could have simply gone and collected some more. In this capitalistic world we now find ourselves embedded in, cannabis was first completely outcast. However, as time has gone on, and more of those in the establishment have realized the amount of money they can gain from it, it has become a new legal industry. Common Wealth writes:

“The idea of certain drugs as bad, dangerous and requiring prohibition by law it is a relatively recent social phenomenon… only appearing at the start of the twentieth century… Decades of prohibition’s failure to reduce the drug trade – combined with the increasingly negative impacts of growing incarceration, violence and addiction – has led to many finally breaking with the War on Drugs consensus… and eventually implementing… different approaches… with major developments in countries such as Uruguay, Canada, Luxembourg, and some states in the US.”

Whilst this is ultimately very positive, it is still run by the same kinds of people who run every other part of society. Therefore cannabis can be expensive. In reality, weed is a medicinal necessity for millions of people around the world – with 3.6 million people in the US requiring it. Many of these people are poor and have not always got the finances to purchase as much as they may need. Therefore, for them, a way in which to extend their cannabis high would be greatly appreciated.

How Long Does Cannabis Last?

This is practically an impossible question to answer as there are many variables which dictate how long a high will last. These include: the amount consumed, type of cannabis consumed, tolerance, metabolism, other substances taken alongside and many others. Edibles are known to last longer than inhalants, with highs potentially lasting anywhere from 3-12 hours. However, edibles can take longer to begin triggering the effects, sometimes taking a few hours. Then, of course, you have vaping or smoking cannabis.

The effects can hit you within seconds and can last an hour or so. Another method of consuming weed is tinctures or oils. It is believed these sit somewhere in between the duration of smoking and digesting. Of course the most obvious way to enhance your cannabis high would be to change the way you consume it. For instance, perhaps start trying edibles instead of vaping or smoking. However, most people require the high to start quickly, rather than hours later. Also, as Medical News Today writes:

“Research shows that the effects from an edible take up to about 1 hour to kick in but can last for 6 or more hours. In contrast, the effects of smoking or vaping THC tend to last 1–4 hours… knowing what amount to take can be tricky, as each person will respond to a different dose. When trying out a new edible, it is important to start with a low dose to see how the body responds. With edibles, it is easier to take an excessively high dose and feel negative side effects than it is with smoking.”

Overall smoking or vaping cannabis will take about 10 minutes for the high to kick in and will be finished in around 3 hours. On the flip side, an edible probably takes around 30-80 minutes to kick in and up to 12 hours to subside. The question is: do you have the time to wait for the edible? Many medical cannabis products are tinctures or edibles for the ease of consumption, as well as the duration of the high. However, not everyone has that amount of time or enjoys taking cannabis that way.

Other Methods of Extending Highs

Are these myths or factual? Find out for yourself.

Fatty Foods

It is believed that fatty foods will help extend the endurance of your edible high. This is because they increase the absorption of the cannabinoids and slow down the whole process of the edible. In other words, the food forces the edible to release its high effects at a slower pace. This won’t work so well if you’ve inhaled the substance. Nonetheless, certain foods can not only extend your high, but also increase it. Marijuana Packaging writes:

“Carbohydrates and vitamin B improve serotonin production, generally helping to stabilize and uplift at the same time. Vitamin E deficiency is also known to lead to depression and a healthy boost improves mood and your overall state of mind, boosting the euphoria of a marijuana high.”

New Research Suggests CBD Absorption Is Increased With Fatty Foods

Combos

Another way to potentially extend your high is to combine it with another substance. Now this is where things can get a little dicey. The best way to do this is to have an edible and then when you’re feeling slightly less high, top it up by smoking or vaping some cannabis. This will maintain your experience. However, many believe that alcohol can also do the same. However, for me, this is not a method to rely on. Alcohol increases the effects of THC, making it much easier to reach unpleasantries. In other words, it does not extend it, but instead increases the feelings – to an easily unhandable level.

Abstinence

Sometimes the best way to extend your cannabis highs is to stop taking it for a period of time so your tolerance can lower. Our body gets used to consuming substances, and will therefore build up a tolerance defence. However, this tolerance can be reduced if you stop consuming the substance for a week or so. Cannigma writes:

“In 2013, the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) investigated the concept of THC tolerance development among healthy, experienced male cannabis smokers dosed with oral synthetic THC for six days. According to the results of this small study, participants reported feeling less high after four days and a total of 260 mg of THC.”

Therefore, once you’ve reached your peak duration of feeling high, it is unlikely you’ll be able to surpass it without reducing your intake for a while.

Experiment

Another great way to extend the length of your cannabis high is to experiment. As we’ve discussed, each person is different. Try things out and see what works. Some people swear by herbal teas, some people believe sex can be the trick, whilst others put all of the emphasis on the surroundings and the people they are with. Try these methods out and see which one may extend the experience of your high. Sometimes it’s all in the mind, and if your surroundings are allowing you to remain and enjoy your high then you will, but if your surroundings are forcing you to sober up then this may naturally happen quicker. But let us know, what works for you?

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American Adults Are Pretty Friggin Stoned Says New Report

There’s a study about almost everything these days, and not every study is a good study. But some, even if not completely accurate, do tell us a lot about trends in our country. Like one recently published report that says young American adults are the most stoned they’ve ever been. Read on to find out more.

Are young American adults getting stoned more than in the past? And how does this compare to other drug usage? If you like your news source to be independent and comprehensive, this is the place for you. Plus, we provide the Cannadelics Weekly Newsletter for readers to access regular updates. Sign up, and you can also get yourself some sweet deals on an array of awesome products from vapes, edibles, and smoking devices, to cannabinoid compounds like the uber-popular Delta 8 & HHC. Check out our ‘best of’ lists to get to deals, and purchase the products you are most comfortable using.

The Report

Called the Monitoring The Future Panel Study Annual Report: National data on substance use among adults ages 19 to 60, 1976-2021, the report was sponsored by the government agency, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, at the National Institutes of Health. What is the purpose of this research?

“Monitoring the Future (MTF) is an ongoing research program conducted at the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research under a series of investigator-initiated, competing research grants from the National Institute on Drug Abuse beginning in 1975. The integrated MTF study includes annual surveys of nationally representative samples of 8th, 10th, and 12th grade students, as well as a subset of 12th grade students followed into adulthood from each graduating class. Repeating these annual cross-sectional surveys over time provides data to examine behavior change across history in consistent age segments of the adult population, as well as among key subgroups.”

The young adult population looked at for this investigation included those aged 19-30. How does it work? The data for this particular investigation was collected from April 2021 to October 2021. And went like this:

Gallup Poll: Negative Opinions on Weed, Come from Those Who Never Tried It

“In 2021, young adults (N=4,909) were from the 12th grade classes of 2009 to 2020 and provided data at modal ages 19 to 30. Each individual participates in a young adult follow up survey every two years. However, because each cohort’s follow up sample is split into two random subsamples that are surveyed in alternate years (at ages 19/20, 21/22, 23/24, 25/26, 27/28, 29/30), a representative sample of people from each 12th grade class is obtained every year.”

Young American adults are pretty friggin stoned

According to the results of this report, one of the main things to be gained, is that American adults are totally stoned, and not just on weed. It found that young adults are using more cannabis and psychedelics than ever before; or at least, for as long as these statistics have been investigated, which is actually just back to 1988. Considering much drug use took place during the 60’s and 70’s, some of which didn’t carry into the 80’s as strongly due to banning measures, (particularly hallucinogens), this report is definitely somewhat lacking when comparing numbers to earlier decades.

So, what are these numbers espousing that American young adults are so stoned? In terms of cannabis use, all numbers recorded were the highest yet, with 43% claiming past year use, 29% using monthly, and 11% saying they used cannabis daily. In terms of the parameters for these metrics, daily use is considered using 20 or more times within a 30 day period, and this number was recorded at 8% in 2016.

What about vapes specifically? 12% were using vapes in 2021, which is doubled from the 6% that vaped in 2017. 2020 had lower numbers, likely due to corona and access, but the numbers quite obviously rebounded as things settled, leading to that much higher number in 2021.

American adults are stoned AND tripping out

The results of this investigation covered more than just cannabis use, and took a look at psychedelics (hallucinogens) as well. Psychedelics are newer to the general stage, and their rising popularity only goes back the past few years. This is mirrored in this research, which saw steady rates of hallucinogen usage for several decades, up until 2020. Then rates went up pretty fast.

In 2021, 8% of young adults said they had used a hallucinogen in the past year, which was also the highest number since 1988. But which doesn’t – of course – account for those wild 60’s and 70’s when these drugs were new and legal, or only just becoming illegal. The drugs asked about in this category were: LSD, mescaline, peyote, magic mushrooms, PCP, and MDMA. The study showed a decrease in just MDMA use between 2020 to 2021, going from 5% to 3%.

How Popular Are Psychedelics In America? Survey Says ~30% Have Tried

This goes in line with another recent survey study into psychedelics use in America. British internet-based data analytics and market research company, YouGov, questioned 1,000 respondents to gauge psychedelics use in America. Participants came from the 2018 American Community Survey, conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau; and data was collected between July 22-25 of 2022 for the survey. Respondents were supposed to be representative of the entire US, though especially with a sample so small, this is understandably debatable. However, the results are still interesting.

What did it find? That 28% of respondents has tried one of the following hallucinogens at least once in life: LSD, magic mushrooms/psilocybin, MDMA/ecstasy, DMT, mescaline/peyote, ketamine, and salvia. In terms of which of these came through as most popular, LSD had the highest use rate with 14%, and magic mushrooms came in second with 13% of respondents. 9% had tried MDMA, 6% were familiar with ketamine, another 6% had at least tried DMT, and 5% had experienced salvia.

What else are young adults up to in America?

While we sit here talking about marijuana and psychedelics use, the study made clear some other facts, which probably deserve way more attention. For one, the most popular drug wasn’t cannabis or any hallucinogen, but alcohol. Even with it being the most popular drug, the past ten years has seen a decrease in use in this age group. Possibly because weed is on the rise?

However, this doesn’t mean one of the worst drugs to overall health and society is making an exit, and in fact, other statistics are more worrisome. While overall drinking in this age group might have decreased a bit, binge drinking is climbing back up after a brief downturn in 2020, likely because of lockdown measures and inability to get it. Binge drinking is officially defined as five or more drinks in a row within the past two weeks.

Then there’s ‘high intensity drinking’. If you’re never heard of that one, this term refers to drinking 10 or more drinks in a row in the past two weeks, and has also been rising quickly in the last decade, with 2021 numbers the highest since 2005.

The report went on to point out that nicotine vapes are gaining popularity as well, with nearly tripled numbers from 2016 to 2021 (6% to 16%). The last line of the NPR write-up that covered this report, made this comment, “The use of nicotine cigarettes and opioids has been on the decline in the past decade.”

Record High Opioid Deaths For a Record Low in America

Let’s examine the first part of the statement. This first part is a reason for joy and celebration, and is likely true, due to the much healthier habit of vaping which has grown in popularity. According to the report, “Cigarette smoking in the past 30 days decreased by more than half in the past decade, from 21.2% in 2011 to 9.0% in 2021.”

The second half of that statement about opioids is a bit more confounding, as everything else tells us that opioid use is on the rise, and has been for the past decade. And they certainly don’t mean opioid use is high everywhere but that age group. According to the site Injury Facts, the 25-34-year age range sees the most opioid overdose deaths, which overlaps enough with the age group from the current investigation, to greatly bring the accuracy of this part of the statement into question.

If you look at the wording in the original report, it specifically says, “Narcotics other than heroin, Vicodin, and OxyContin were all at record low levels among young adults in 2021.” While Vicodin and heroin certainly cause many problems – and should be counted, Oxycontin is one of the main reasons for the opioid epidemic, and its exclusion really hurts the relevancy of that section. The report never mentioned the word ‘fentanyl’ once, and its hard to know if fentanyl was considered (at all), or if the ability to make that statement was because removing Oxycontin brought down use levels enough to say they decreased overall. Either way, this is an example of very bad reporting.

That last part is so far off from everything else we know about the opioid epidemic, it brings up the question of why it was framed in this way? Why make it look like use of these drugs is down in this age group? It certainly makes me wonder what statement the writers were trying to make by downplaying the opioid issue, while talking about how young American adults are so totally stoned.

Conclusion

I never expect reports like this to be right on, but they certainly do show a lot of useful information. Sure, American adults are more stoned and tripping out more frequently, and they’re smoking less; which is great. But its also become more popular to drink large and dangerous amounts of alcohol, and well, we all know what’s really going on with opioids. In fact, given the alcohol and opioid issues, perhaps America would benefit more, if even more adults were getting stoned and tripping out.

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Tuesday 30 August 2022

Lack of Research Integrity In Cannabis and Beyond 2 Examples

Sure, cannabis is a controversial topic, as it’s a federally illegal drug which is legal in certain locations. Plus, there’s the uncomfortable fact that many large industries don’t want competition from cannabis as a medicine, or hemp as an industrial product, and these industries have financial ties to government and regulators. Together, these factors lead to major deficits in research integrity when it comes to the cannabis field, and in research in general. Here I go into two examples that come up frequently for me as a drugs writer.

Issues of research integrity abound in the field of cannabis, and well beyond, and are oftentimes not understood by the masses. If you like your news to be comprehensive and independent, you’re in the right place! We put out the Cannadelics Weekly Newsletter so you can access daily updates on important topics, as well as obtain deals on tons of cannabis products from vapes and edibles, to cannabinoid compounds like the growing-in-popularity Delta 8 & HHC. You can find deals in our ‘best of’ lists, but always remember to choose the products you’re most comfortable using.

What does research integrity mean?

Research integrity is defined by how research is done. According to the US Department of Health and Human Services, on grants and funding, research integrity has three different components:

For proposing, performing, and evaluating research in an honest and verifiable way
For adherence to rules, regulations, and guidelines when reporting research results
For following commonly accepted codes and norms

Technically, these are non-specific guidelines, meaning they can easily be argued by someone who wants their research considered integrity-worthy, even if its not. The most important one in my mind, is the first, because it stipulates that research should be done honestly, and with verifiable results, which is where the biggest problems lie.

In fact, even standard fields of research fall pray to this first bullet point, even as most people never realize it at all. The ideas of ‘honest’ and ‘verifiable’ are so massively important, and yet entire fields of research, for which studies are published every day, regularly ignore these principals.

One of the biggest places of violation, is when a study, or campaign, is specifically put out to affect the opinions of the general population. Think Reefer Madness, a now understood smear campaign, that goes so boldly against understood knowledge of cannabis (both at the time of release, as well as now), that its frightening this was pushed by the government, and that no formal apology has been made for using it.

Of course, Reefer Madness antics abound still, with constant baseless research attempting to sway opinion, and headlines used to misrepresent studies, or the information they do provide. Reefer Madness is an incredible example of the danger that results when research integrity in a field like cannabis study is ignored for marketing reasons. And if anyone is skeptical that so much is put into swaying their opinion, perhaps go ahead and re-watch that horror of government propaganda.

Why is research integrity important?

When looking at all kinds of policy, whether drug policy, medical policy, or legal policy, a lot of what laws are based on, comes from research meant to elucidate information on different topics. This research is often then pointed to as the backing for these policies, and to create standards for industries, which means we rely a lot on scientific studies, that – let’s be honest – most standard residents are never going to read. To be even more honest, most will never get past a headline, without ever considering all the work put into headlines to sell an idea, without expecting a person to read further.

So, it matters how this research is done. Right? We don’t want shoddy research as the basis for our laws and regulation, or to be what restricts us from something, or pushes us toward something else (or worse, which requires us to do something). Yet, for how important it is to get it right – for the general health and well being of an entire population – tons of bias exists in research, and very little of the population at large understands how this research is carried out, what goes on in particular studies, who funds them, or what limitations or conflicts of interest they carry.

Reefer Madness 2.0 – Is New Govt. Study Linking Cannabis To Suicide?

For how important it is to get it right – or the general health and well being of an entire population – it becomes sad and downright scary how little research integrity exists in the field of cannabis, as well as other parts of the research world. Even if the third bullet point above stipulates adherence to norms, should those norms conflict with the ability to be honest, or verify information, the only thing those norms become, is dangerous.

Why is this an issue at all, you might ask? Why would anyone want to mess with research results, or try to persuade people to think a certain way using such results? Especially if these results are fabricated, purposefully misinterpreted, or paid-for by some other entity? Because of that whole thing where policy is set using research, and products are sold. If the idea is to set a certain policy, or sell one product over another, can we expect to see legitimate research saying the opposite from what lawmakers or major product producers want, or should we automatically expect that this is no longer possible?

Example 1 – lack of research integrity with cannabis – psychiatric diseases

There are tons of places to point out deficits in research integrity, but I chose a couple that come up the most for me. One of my favorite examples is no doubt a controversial one, but its controversial nature – much like many of these instances, is built around the idea that a concept has been proliferated to the point that its internalized without question. One of the often-used lines in cannabis research, by those seeking to keep it illegal, is that there’s a tie to increased levels of schizophrenia. In fact, this line comes out all the time.

What’s the problem with it? Schizophrenia has no medical definition – aka no medical diagnosis, meaning by definition, it can’t be verified. Ever. Like, never ever. Not that cannabis can increase incidences of it, and not that it exists at all. Any psychiatric disorder that relies on a specific therapist to use their opinion on a set of symptoms, is by nature unverifiable, and that breaks the first rule of research integrity. Every single diagnosis is no more than one person’s opinion, and regardless of how much we’re told this has value, what it actually means, is that 10 different professionals, can give 10 different diagnoses, and this happens all the time.

Not only that, it means when you see a review that’s based off multiple studies, you must consider that every single diagnosis of every patient used, was merely one doctor’s opinion. Now, if you’re thinking that this doesn’t sound right, and that something like schizophrenia can actually be medically diagnosed, you’ll want to think again. While I’m saying psychiatric conditions can exist, I’m saying there’s no finite way to define them.

A medical definition is the ability to define a problem with hard evidence. A cancer test looks for cancer cells, or a reaction to them. A diabetes test looks at insulin production, a flu test tells you if a virus exists in your body. These are all medically provable. They have medical definitions. But no matter how many people are called schizophrenic, not one has ever been verified in any medical way. Therefore, there is no way to say what increases or decreases the incidence of something that can’t be medically proven.

This goes well beyond research integrity of cannabis, into other topics, like how pharmaceutical companies operate; who makes up the DSM, which sets diagnostic standards for psychiatric disorders and medication prescribing (over 95% are tied to pharma companies); and why people are being medicated for something that can’t be defined (a much bigger question that can take it’s own article). To step this argument up a notch, entire studies are done on how to improve the reliability of psychiatric diagnoses, which just by their existence, should tell you this is a major problem, and something to consider when those diagnoses are all we have to go on.

In the world of cannabis, if a study is telling you that cannabis has any effect on schizophrenia numbers, or on any other psychiatric condition, the first question you should ask, is if the study, or the studies it pulls from, are based only on non-verifiable diagnoses. If they’re about something like schizophrenia, this unfortunately goes without saying. Yet even with this inability to actually diagnose people, headlines constantly abound, proving the massive deficit in research integrity in the cannabis field and beyond.

Cannabis and Schizophrenia – Not a Testable Hypothesis

I want to take a second to say that this is not my opinion. Whether something has a medical definition or not is not up to me, and I don’t get to say what counts as a medical definition, or what conditions come with one. So regardless of what another person’s opinion is on the diagnosis of psychiatric disorders, the fact that they fundamentally have no means of definitive medical diagnosis, is not up for debate.

Lack of research integrity with cannabis – fake studies

Another place where research integrity is sadly missing, is in instances where researchers pull a study together quickly by taking unrelated information from other pieces of research, and work it through a computer to find any correlation; even if that correlation is baseless, or only applies to that one occurrence. A great example is this study, Open Access Recent cannabis use and myocardial infarction in young adults: a cross-sectional study, for which investigators used data from the 2017-2018 American Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey.

In that study, researchers could control for nothing, as they didn’t design a study. They couldn’t ask respondents questions, or modify methodology, because there wasn’t any. A study is supposed to start with a hypothesis, and then have an experiment designed around it to test that hypothesis. These fake studies do none of that, meaning they aren’t actually testing anything. The study above very erroneously tried to draw a link between recent cannabis use and heart attacks in adults aged 18-44. And in fact, their conclusion was that a correlation does exist.

So, what’s the problem? They only looked at those who smoke cannabis, and not once accounted for smoking in the study, the one thing we already know leads to a higher risk of heart attacks. Whereas there is literally nothing linking cannabis itself to heart attacks in the thousands of years its been used, this study tried to draw a link, by ignoring the actual risk factor, which was applicable to every person used in the study.

It’s such a glaring oversight, that one could ask what kind of training the researchers had in order to make such a massive mistake. In fact, the study left out all kinds of useful confounding information, simply trying to focus on the one non-existing correlation that the writers wanted readers to come away with. One could also ask, was there another reason for professional researchers to put out such a bad study? While I can’t say for sure, it certainly doesn’t make me feel better that one of the main investigators accepted money from multiple pharma companies, some of which sell cannabis products.

This study highlights yet another issue with research integrity in cannabis, that your opinion is meant to be changed in order to push you toward one product or thought process, over another one. This idea of conflict of interest runs rampant in research, highlighted by one of the guys in the previous study mentioned, accepting pharmaceutical money, and then writing a study demonizing the plant. Of course pharma companies want you to be afraid if it. Because if you aren’t afraid and confused by the real thing, you probably won’t want to buy their super safe, and better-than-nature product.

Conclusion

The reality is that as long as people blindly follow what’s put in front of them, without asking questions or making connections, this will continue on. Right now, the US is weed illegal based on nothing but a smear campaign and corrupt research from nearly a hundred years ago. And while we all technically understand this, our understanding doesn’t force a legal change, and is sadly not generalized to other topics by the majority of the population. Hopefully in the future, better campaigns will come out to help the masses understand how to read their research, and what is really being sold to them.

If you want more ideas on how smear campaigns based in bad research are used to inform your opinion, check out this article on a study attempting to link cannabis to suicide, this article about how the FDA banned Juul products without banning cigarettes, this article on the disappearance of Quaaludes, this article attempting to link vaping to erectile dysfunction, and this article about how the US government continually tries to encourage the public to forego vaping in the face of massive cigarette deaths.

New Study: Does Cannabis Increase Risk of Heart Attacks, Or Is This Bad Research?

Should I have added a third example of breaks in research integrity, it would’ve been the buying and selling of research by large corporations (including conflicts of interest in funding), which many of these articles exemplify.

Hello and welcome! We appreciate you stopping by Cannadelics.com, a comprehensive news platform offering independent reporting on the cannabis and psychedelics fields of today. Join us frequently for regular updates, and subscribe to the Cannadelics Weekly Newsletter, so you’re never late on getting a story.

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Psilocybin To Quit SmokingFor Good

Of all the benefits psilocybin provides, one of the wide-ranging applications might be in helping people quit smoking. Studies now reveal psilocybin’s efficacy for aiding in smoking cessation, making it possibly the new and best method to cure a nicotine addiction.

Smoking is one of the hardest habits to quit, and many people fail. Could psilocybin be the new answer to get people to effectively quit smoking? This independent news publication covers stories in the expanding cannabis and psychedelics fields, for which we put out the Cannadelics Weekly Newsletter to provide readers with daily updates. Subscribe, and get yourself access to a ton of deals on lots of cannabis and psychedelic products, from vapes and edibles, to smoking devices and cannabinoid compounds like Delta 8 & HHC. Head to our ‘best of’ lists for product offers, and make sure you only purchase the products you’re most comfortable using.

The smoking issue

I want to say this first – smoking anything is bad, and it doesn’t matter what it is. Smoking is smoke inhalation, and it deals with breathing in smoke from anything lit on fire. No, it’s not any safer or healthier to smoke cannabis over tobacco; however cannabis is not addictive like nicotine, and a cannabis smoker will rarely fill their lungs with smoke as frequently as a cigarette smoker will.

When it comes to the issue of smoking cigarettes, the main problem is that tobacco has nicotine, and nicotine is addictive. That, and the US government is continually trying to remove safer ways for smokers to get their nicotine fix via vaping. If a person has an addiction that’s difficult to break, and if they’re not provided a way to help them with it, they’re less likely to stop.

That’s why the US banning Juul products is a horrifying move, as the products are uniformly safer than smoking (despite possibly coming with some detractions). More shocking is that this was done instead of banning cigarettes, bringing up an even more important question of how the US government is misinterpreting the dangers of smoking, for which it puts out the damning evidence of deaths. The only thing such a ban does, is push people who have gotten off of cigarettes, back onto them. The ridiculous line of demonizing vaping has even been called out by the UK, which recently released a report about plans to phase out cigarettes, in which vaping would be promoted.

How bad are cigarettes? Way worse than opioids, that’s for sure, and most think of that as the prevailing drug issue in America. No, cigarettes are technically a much bigger problem. While opioids caused the overdose deaths of close to 100 thousand people in the US in 2021, cigarettes are responsible for the deaths of 480,000 yearly in the US. Not only that, cigarettes come with that compounding ability to hurt those who aren’t smoking, via secondhand smoke; which itself kills as many as 41,000 a year.

In terms of the break down of illness that smoking causes, approximately 163,700 die a year from cancer; 160,000 die from cardiovascular diseases, including heart disease, diabetes, and vascular disease; and 113,100 die from respiratory illnesses like pneumonia, influenza, and COPD. What about those 41,000 yearly secondhand smoking deaths? What are they dying of? Approximately 7,333 from lung cancer, and 33,951 from heart disease.

Can psilocybin help people quit smoking?

Psilocybin is one of the hallucinogenic components found in magic mushrooms, though its counterpart psilocin, is really the compound of interest. Psilocybin occurs in greater amounts, but is biologically inactive until it breaks down into psilocin, making psilocin the actual part we care about. That detail is perhaps less important to the general public, than what the compounds – once in the body – are able to do.

Biden Wants to Reduce Nicotine in Cigarettes – Will This Help?

One of the big indications of how psilocybin can help people quit smoking, came from a 2017 study entitled Long-term follow-up of psilocybin-facilitated smoking cessation. In this study, investigators were concerned with long-term follow-up of one year or more, after psilocybin treatment from a previous pilot study. The study consisted of only 15 adults, which means it used a very small sample size; and though all 15 made it to a 12-month review, only 12 returned for a 16-month follow-up.

At the 12-month mark, 10 of the 15 participants were not smoking. At the 16-month point, nine were still not smoking. When asked at the 12-month mark about their experience with the psilocybin, 13 out of 15 said it stayed in their minds as being in their top five most spiritual and memorable experiences.

This research is spoken about in an interview with Dr. Albert Garcia-Romeu of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, who was a apart of the aforementioned study, along with Dr. Matt Johnson. The interview was conducted by Psychology Today. Of the results they’ve come across, explained Garcia-Romeu, “Our most effective treatments typically have long-term success in around one-third of people who use them, which leaves lots of room for improvement. Our early pilot study published in 2014 found that for 15 smokers who got 2-3 high doses of psilocybin with CBT, 80% quit smoking and remained abstinent 6 months later.”

Subsequent to this srudy, Dr. Johnson (also of Johns Hopkins), along with researchers from the University of Alabama at Birmingham and New York University, received $4 million in study grants from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, to test if psilocybin can indeed help people quit smoking. As the National Institute on Drug Abuse is a federal agency, this is now the first time in 50 years that a federal agency has funded research on a classic psychedelic for therapeutic uses.

Other research does exist on this topic. In a review from 2022 called Associations between classic psychedelics and nicotine dependence in a nationally representative sample, investigators “tested whether lifetime use of classic psychedelics (tryptamine, lysergamide, and phenethylamine) is associated with lower odds of current nicotine dependence.” For the study, the data of 214,505 adults was used from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (2015–2019). No actual study was performed by investigators, as all information was taken from these other investigations.

Researchers found that psilocybin lifetime use was associated with “reduced odds of current nicotine dependence”, which was also the case with mescaline. However, the opposite was seen with LSD. This is a little odd, as LSD was the first psychedelic investigated for helping with addictions, and was the main point of interest in the mid-1900’s when doctors like Humphrey Osmond conducted the Saskatchewan trials, showing the efficacy of the compound in getting alcoholics to stop drinking. Perhaps this is an indication that the model used by researchers in the more recent study, is flawed, or it could indicate that LSD is not good at helping quit nicotine addictions. Either way, the takeaway of the authors? “These results make the case for further research into the efficacy of both tryptamine and phenethylamine psychedelics in promoting smoking cessation.”

Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy, and How It Works

How psilocybin (and hallucinogens in general) help people quit smoking

Psychedelics (or, rather, hallucinogens) have been eyed in recent years for their ability to help with psychological disorders. How exactly do they do this? While research into this topic continues, and answers are hardly concrete at this point, it seems psychedelics like psilocybin can help the brain essentially reformulate. The term ‘neuroplasticity’ “refers to the brain’s ability to modify, change, and adapt both structure and function throughout life and in response to experience.” Getting the brain to change doesn’t seem easy, though investigations into different hallucinogens have turned up positive results.

This is seen in a 1998 ketamine study on people with anorexia. After the ketamine administration, nine out of 15 treatment resistant cases were able to lower their number of compulsive thoughts, something relevant to drug addiction as well. According to the study authors of that investigation, they believe, “memory is a neocortical neuronal network, excitation of which involves the hippocampus, with recall occurring by re-excitement of the same specific network. Excitement of the hippocampus by glutamate-NMDA receptors, leading to long-term potentiation (LTP), can be blocked by ketamine.”

The point being? Researchers believe ketamine allowed these patients with very deep and reinforced neural pathways, to interrupt their regular thought cycle, and create new neural pathways. The same idea is once again relevant when going through drug withdrawal, as the ability to create new neural connections could be the difference between successfully quitting something like smoking, and failing.

It was also shown in an MDMA study run by the organization MAPS: Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies. MAPS is currently in Phase III of trials to get its drug approved for treatment resistant PTSD, and already has results from its previous Phase II trials. In these trials, two months after the MDMA treatment was given, 61% of participants – all of whom had treatment resistant symptoms, no longer self-identified as having PTSD. A full year after treatment, and 68% no longer qualified as PTSD.

And what of those original alcohol studies in the 1900’s conducted by Osmond using LSD? That a single dose of LSD along with psychotherapy, consistently showed a rate of 40-45% of test subjects not relapsing within a year. All of the subjects were hard-core alcoholics. Over 2,000 patients were used in this research between the start point in 1951, and the end of the research in the late 1960’s, which became impossible to continue when LSD was made illegal. Before starting with the Saskatchewan trials, Osmond did a more limited study on just two individuals, one who quit immediately after one dose of LSD, and one who quit within six months of administration.

Conclusion

There are about a million products out there advertised to help people quit smoking, but the reality is that they don’t work. If they did, there would probably be a lot less smoking. Psilocybin is currently studied for several different applications, and one of the big ones is related to helping people quit smoking. Psilocybin might have some competition in this domain, as it seems several other hallucinogens, including ketamine and MDMA, look to be useful for this purpose as well. Perhaps in the future, those who want to quit smoking, will have a range of mind-altering drugs to aid them in their battle.

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My 5 Ideal Psychedelic Holiday Hotspots

The summer is only so long and, before you know it, it’s over and you’re back to long and arduous work. The hot days become cold ones, and the long days become short ones and then you’re back, sitting behind your laptop, begging for the summer to return. Well, focusing on the positives, the seasons come and they go and there’s always next year.

After travelling around various places over the last few years I’ve started to collate my ideal 5 psychedelic hotspots. The places that truly welcome those who are searching for recreational experiences and offer something incredible too. Some of these destinations I’ve visited and loved, and others I’ve wanted to travel to for a very long time. Maybe after reading this, you can add them to your list too.

Psychedelic Holidays

Travelling around the world to experience a psychedelic experience is, in my opinion, as good a reason as any. Some travel to try food, some travel to climb mountains and some travel to enjoy some recreational highs. It’s a totally legitimate purpose. Amsterdam, for example, makes around 400 million euros a year from cannabis-related sales. In addition, in the USA, it is believed that by 2025 cannabis sales will reach a value of around 39.1 billion. There is a huge amount of money in it and it is making many nations reevaluate their drug laws. Thailand, once a place with viciously strict drug laws, are also now trying to replicate the likes of California and Amsterdam. The Guardian wrote recently:

“Anyone familiar with Thailand’s notoriously hardline attitude towards recreational drug use might watch this and wonder if they’ve had too much to smoke. A country where narcotics offences have attracted the death sentence, and being caught with a joint at a full moon party has landed tourists in the infamous Bangkok Hilton, now appears to have done an about-face. In an apparent bid to attract tourists in the post-Covid slump, the Thai government decriminalised cannabis last month. Koh Samui’s streets are already dotted with dispensaries”

Thailand didn’t make it on my list, but it was definitely a hard decision. Instead I had to stick with some old favourites, as well as some much desired destinations.

Psychedelics

The psychedelic drug family encompasses many substances, so it’s probably important we define them before we go on. There are four main drug categories: opioids, hallucinogens, stimulants and depressants. Psychedelics is often used as another word for hallucinogens. However, some substances can sit in multiple categories. Let’s take a look at what these include: Psychedelics are drugs that alter perception, mood and the cognitive process.

Celebrate Psychedelics With These Unique Holidays

Sometimes these may lead to hallucinations, making the user see and hear things that aren’t really there. However, psychedelic drugs also include less intense substances within their ranks – such as cannabis and hash. At these 5 hotspots, we’ll be exploring weed, magic mushrooms, ayahuasca and more. In more recent times, psychedelic drugs have been earning respect for their therapeutic benefits. Therapy using these substances is becoming more common and further researched in many major western nations. Healthline writes:

“In psychedelic therapy, the use of psychedelics is typically combined with talk therapy. A range of consciousness-altering psychedelic drugs are currently being used or researched for therapeutic purposes in both clinical and nonclinical settings…While Indigenous communities have used psychedelics in therapeutic and religious settings for centuries, psychedelic therapy is relatively new in Western clinical settings.”

So, with that in mind, let’s take a look at my 5 psychedelic hotspots. Whether you’re wanting to travel for recreational fun or actually some sort of therapy and self-reflection, these destinations can work for either.

My 5 Psychedelic Hotspots

California, USA

Drug: Cannabis

North America has certainly finished what the Netherlands started. With 19 states in the US having fully legalized cannabis, the country is certainly leading the charge globally for cannabis acceptance. There are now estimated to be around 7,500 dispensaries dotted around America, with almost a thousand of these located in California. The market is certainly booming. Not only do you have LA, Venice Beach and Hollywood to explore in the beaming sun – but you also have a wide range of Class A cannabis. I have sadly never been to Cali – or, in fact, America in general – but this would be top of my list. One of the main reasons for this is the quality of the cannabis there. Embarc writes:

“California produces some of the best Cali medical weed and weed for recreational use. This is because it is grown in the Emerald Triangle, where it is sunny and moist. The Emerald Triangle is located in Northern California, about 85 miles north of San Francisco. The area’s rich soil and Mediterranean climate allow marijuana plants to thrive. The Emerald Triangle is home to several farmers who dedicate much of their time and effort to growing sun-grown, organic cannabis.”

Kathmandu, Nepal

Drug: Hashish

Next up we have Kathmandu, the capital city of mountainous Nepal. Whilst cannabis is illegal here, it is supposedly one of the most weed-friendly countries in the world. The laid back lifestyle and view of the enclosing himalayas, has led to Nepal being one of the greatest producers of hash. It grows freely and has done so for centuries. The city of Pokhara is known for its clean air and streets, but also for its easily accessed cannabis. I will be travelling to Nepal this year for the first time, and one of the main reasons for this is its widely spoken about hashish. The long treks you can go on, and small huts you stay in, make it perfect for a relaxing joint or bong hit after a long day.

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Drug: Magic Truffles

Amsterdam has been and always will be in a league of its own when it comes to drug tourism. That isn’t because other places haven’t rivalled it, but it’s because they really did it first. Some call it the theme park of cannabis and magic truffles, but I actually disagree. Amsterdam is an incredibly beautiful city, with a large history and some quite remarkable people – however it is true that every year thousands of tourists come with the simple aim to try their first joint. Amsterdam is designed in rings, with these slowly going further and further away from the main station. The first two of these rings are full of loud tourists and the obvious smells of weed.

Has the First Legal Ecstasy Shop in the World Opened in Holland?

However, if you go past these rings and into what I would like to call ‘real Amsterdam’, you will be amazed by its beauty. It’s here where the less obvious coffeeshops exist, with higher quality cannabis. Plus, it’s also in these places that purchasing some magic truffles and walking the streets -or sitting in Vondelpark – is ideal. Magic truffles are a legal alternative to magic mushrooms, with much the same psilocybin level. They come in boxes and, once eaten, you will like you’re living within a Van Gogh painting. The buildings sway, the canals glisten and the laid back lifestyle of Amsterdam embraces you like a warm hug.

Iquitos, Peru

Drug: Ayahuasca

Another place that you cannot ignore on a psychedelic hotspot list is Iquitos, Peru. Peru is a country in South America that is home to some of the most amazing treks and wildlife in the world. But also, within the Peruvian Amazonian Jungle, are some incredible ayahuasca retreats. Ayahuasca is a hallucinogenic drink, made from the Banisteriopsis caapi and Psychotria viridis plants. The drug has been used for centuries in spiritual ceremonies and it’s one of the more potent hallucinogenic drugs, which is why retreats and shamans are offered. These are spiritual versions of trip sitters and they help you through your experience. Here’s an example of an ayahuasca retreat in Iquitos, and what they aim to help you with:

“Our intention at Kawsay Ayahuasca Retreat is to guide you to a higher level of awareness of yourself so you can heal on the deepest levels possible that we are capable of. At Kawsay Ayahuasca Retreat, we do powerful work within our Ayahuasca & San Pedro Cactus ceremonies. Our work opens for you an opportunity to heal on profound levels.”

What is Ayahuasca?

Goa, India

Drug: LSD

Finally, on this list, we have Goa. The south Indian party destination. In the 60s, this place was known as one of the final destinations of the hippie trail and one of most loved hotposts. But nowadays, it has become more touristy – but this does not mean you cannot still find the same essence that once was. After Nepal, I will also be travelling to Goa this year – as well as Kerala – to see what all the fuss is about. Drugs in Goa are not hard to come by, this is due to the laidback, beach lifestyle.

Whilst none of them are illegal – like many beach destinations – they go by the ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ system. Many hostel and bar owners will help you on your search, but one of the greatest substances on offer is LSD. Although in the 60s it seems like acid was easier to access than water in Goa, there’s still the culture of it. If you’re able to get some out there then follow these steps: stay at the Crazy Nook, take a tab, enjoy not only the white beaches and clear blue water, but also some of the best south Indian food in the world.

Final Thoughts

If you’re itching to travel, but you want something that suits your unique needs as a psychonaut and global explorer, one of the above destinations might be perfect for you. Have you ever been to any of these places, and if so, how was it? Drop us a line in the comment section below and let us know!

The THC Weekly Newsletter

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Monday 29 August 2022

Colorado First State to Legalize MDMA

If you’re thinking this headline doesn’t sound true, you’ll want to think again. Colorado is, indeed, the first US state to legalize MDMA, and it did it very, very quickly. But it comes with a major caveat – the US government must legalize it first. Read on to find out more.

Colorado became the first state to legalize the use of medical MDMA. But it’s not quite in effect yet…and might never be. Cannadelics.com is a comprehensive news site specializing in the cannabis and psychedelics fields, for which we put out the Cannadelics Weekly Newsletter to update readers on ongoing stories and breaking news. Sign up and you’ll also get access to a bunch of deals on cannabis and psychedelics-related products, like vapes, edibles, smoking paraphernalia, and cannabinoid compounds including the popular Delta 8 & HHC. Deal are in our ‘best of’ lists, and we ask that you only purchase products you are fully comfortable using.

Passing a bill

Passing legislation often takes a lot of time. Bills are introduced, amended, voted on, amended again, fought over, voted on again, and so on, for as long as it takes. It can take months for a bill to clear different committees in either the House of Representatives (General Assembly/House of Delegates) or the Senate, and sometimes bills time-out, because they aren’t changed to a universally liked-enough version for passage, before seasonal deadlines prevail.

When it comes to controversial topics, this can add extra time, or make it that much more likely that a bill tanks out. Think about cannabis legalization, a massive point of disagreement. Several bills already bit the dust on this one, and currently two are in contention now. One bill has been floating around for months, getting passed from one committee to another, and finally making it from the House to the Senate in April. And the other was shopped around extensively before formal introduction this past July by Chuck Schumer, just to give it a better chance. Neither of these bills died yet, but their time is limited, and its hard to say if one will pass.

The reason I say all this, is to create a comparison. Bills take forever to pass – or don’t pass at all – because of disagreement between legislators, whether on the same side or opposing sides. When a bill has a strong base of support, this is less of a problem because there’s less desire for mass edits, with greater voting numbers. Especially if a bill is bipartisan, meaning supported by both sides. When there’s enough support for a bill, the opposite to what I just mentioned happens, and it passes right through. In fact, for how long some take, it’s shocking how quickly others slide right in. Such is the case with Colorado, and its bill to legalize MDMA.

Colorado and HB 1344

Why does it matter how fast a bill is capable of passing? Because what should have been – or might have been – a very contentious bill, actually passed through all necessary hoops in an exceptionally short period of time. In Colorado, HB 1344 was introduced to the House on March 28^th of 2022, to legalize MDMA for medical use. Not only did it pass the House without amendments in the final vote (after only going through a couple committees), but it did so with a unanimous vote of 11-0 by April 8^th. That’s less than two weeks.

From there, the bill was introduced to the Senate on April 13^th. It passed through one committee without amendments before going to a full vote on the Senate floor with no amendments. It got this pass on April 29^th, just a little over two weeks after entering the Senate. After that, it took about a month for both the Speaker of the House and the President of the Senate to sign, which happened on May 27^th and May 31^st respectively. And then it went to Governor Jared Polis’ desk. The governor signed it into law on June 8^th. The bill was introduced and passed in less than two and a half months, with much of the time spent in-between, waiting for signatures. Considering it was to legalize a psychedelic drug, its incredibly fast and non-argument-producing passage, is quite interesting.

So, what is this HB 1344? It’s a bill to legalize the possession and use of MDMA with a doctor’s prescription. Why can it not go into effect yet? Because it comes with a massive caveat that the US government must first legalize the compound before Colorado’s bill has validity. Once the US passes a bill for the legal medical use of MDMA, Colorado is automatically good to go.

Preemptive Bill? Colorado House Committee Passed 1344 to Legalize MDMA

HB 1344 is a bill “Concerning the lawful use of a prescription drug that contains 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) that is approved by the United States food and drug administration.”

More specifically, “The act states that if the United States food and drug administration approves a prescription medicine that contains 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), and if that medicine has been placed on a schedule of the federal “Controlled Substances Act”, other than schedule I, or has been exempted from one or more provisions of such act, then thereafter prescribing, dispensing, transporting, possessing, and using that prescription drug is legal in Colorado only if the medicine is possessed by a person authorized to legally possess such a controlled substance in Colorado.”

How did this bill pass?

Why did Colorado pass a bill so easily to legalize MDMA, when other drugs are ruled out? It could have to do with high rates of PTSD, especially among former military personnel. Current investigations by the organization MAPS into using MDMA to treat PTSD, have so far shown very productive. The bill’s sponsors, Representatives Patrick Neville and David Ortiz, are both army veterans, and PTSD played heavily in the work-up to at least one vote.

The vote in the House of Representatives came after several people spoke of their PTSD, and the use of MDMA to treat it, including military veterans. No doubt this was an instance of intense heartstrings-pulling, though the same tactic doesn’t always work. Similar pleading is often used for cannabis, and a lot of the time with sick kids. Even despite this, governments still turn a blind eye, which does make this particular situation stand out. Military veterans certainly command sympathy…but don’t sick kids command more? Is there another reason this might have happened?

The US currently legalized one psychedelic already for use with depression, and that’s esketamine – a form of ketamine that is one half of the compound. The other half – arketamine, will likely get a similar pass soon enough. While esketamine was legalized very quietly, probably in hopes of competing with the much bigger gray market ketamine industry that exists through the loophole of off-label prescribing, two others are getting way more publicity and public conversation.

Both psilocybin and MDMA are Schedule I Controlled Substances, but they’re also both compounds that the FDA is working to help legalize for medical use. Both compounds are in trials that were designed in concert with the FDA to help ensure that results meet regulation. And both compounds are under research by companies given a ‘Breakthrough Therapy’ status for their medications, which is a designation offered by the FDA to help products reach the market faster.

‘Breakthrough Therapy’: How the FDA is Pushing for Legal Psychedelics

The thing is, Colorado passed a bill to legalize the medical use of MDMA, not psilocybin. Now, sure, MDMA is currently more associated with PTSD, but psilocybin is coming in strong for treatment-resistant depression, making it odd – to me – that the state chose one over the other. Though I can’t give any formal explanation, and I don’t expect lawmakers to back up what I’m saying, it could be that the bigger differentiation is related to one being a purely synthetic – and therefore pharmaceutically-produced product, while the other is possible to grow at home, just like marijuana.

Whereas they both have medical uses, and seemingly in interchangeable ways, only one relies 100% on a pharmaceutical buyer’s market (MDMA), whereas one is possible to produce by individuals (magic mushrooms), making less need to purchase a formal medication. Is this the real reason Colorado was quick to pass a bill to legalize MDMA but not psilocybin? To help promote a pharmaceutical industry over personal cultivation? And can we expect more moves like this in other states as well?

Colorado and psychedelics

Colorado is already ahead when it comes to psychedelics. In 2019, Denver became the first state to decriminalize magic mushroom possession and use, making it difficult – or impossible – for law enforcement to fund arrests and prosecutions. Truth is, Denver law enforcement was already pretty lax, arresting less than 60 people per year, and only pursuing 11 cases in the three years prior.

Much like Oregon, which recently released some of the rules for its new magic mushroom industry, Colorado is going to give residents the ability to vote on whether they want to decriminalize the possession and use of some entheogenic plants (including magic mushrooms and DMT), and set up a regulated market for use. The measure – Article 170, is called the Colorado Decriminalization and Regulated Access Program for Certain Psychedelic Plants and Fungi Initiative (2022), and much like Oregon, it looks to be somewhere between a recreational and medical legalization.

Should it go through, Colorado will be the second state to do this, along with Oregon. Neither state has – or is looking to have – an actual recreational legalization complete with legal use allowed on one’s own. In Oregon, and Colorado if it passes, all legal use is relegated to specific areas, and requires a trip-sitter, though specifically one without medical training. There is obviously still a curb to climb here, as not one cannabis legalization ever came with the stipulation that it could only be used in supervised settings.

Incidentally, Colorado wants this enough that a second and similar ballot measure was also considered. This one, Measure 61, would have decriminalized possession and use of entheogenic plants, but without setting up a regulated use market. Apparently, Colorado wanted more, opting for the measure with the wider limits.

Denver Residents Vote to Decriminalize “Magic Mushrooms”

Conclusion

That Colorado wants MDMA for medical use is undeniable. Bills almost never pass fast, and infrequently with so few amendments or argument. Perhaps this is the new trend in legalizations, and we should expect more states to pass MDMA and psilocybin legislation, which is contingent on federal government approvals first. We’ll find out soon enough… Stay tuned.

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Sao Miguel: The Rise and Fall of Cocaine Island

What would happen if a small, island community – with roughly 140,000 inhabitants – found 290kg of grade-A cocaine that had washed up on their shores? This amount would roughly be worth around 35 million dollars. Well, this is exactly what happened in 2001 to the tiny Portuguese island of Sao Miguel, when a drug smuggler accidentally lost his millions worth of cocaine parcels.

The island people may not have known it then, but the positive and negative effects left after this event would last for decades. Although this drug brought with it a great deal of wealth, it also brought with it addiction and despair. But what really happened? Let’s hear the true story of how half a ton of cocaine changed a small island forever.

Sao Miguel

Sao Miguel is referred to as the ‘green island’, and rightfully so. This gem is another one of Europe’s under-appreciated beauties. Sao Miguel may be a small island around 740 miles off the west-coast shores of Portugal but It is actually the largest of the Azores archipelago of Portugal and it is situated in the North Atlantic Ocean. It is 40 miles long and 9 miles wide, with a 293 square miles area. Due to its beauty, with stunning beaches and incredible greenery, It has become a major tourist spot. Sao Miguel is also known for its tasty fruits, such as pineapples – and its wine and meats. Portugal writes:

“A vibrant garden in the middle of the Atlantic. It is no coincidence that the island of São Miguel in the Azores archipelago is also known by the nickname “Green Island“… The scenery that São Miguel offers, so diverse, is a pleasant awakening for visitors, thanks to the beautiful lakes, sandy beaches, hills, high mountains, green plains and blue ocean. São Miguel still retains that unique charm of yesteryear, when life passed serenely and unhurriedly.”

The capital city of Sao Miguel is Ponta Delgarda, which is also the capital of the entire azores region. This region is made up of 9 islands, Sao Miguel being the largest. It is believed that the island was discovered in the early 1400s by Goncalo Velho Cabral, and after centuries of wars and tidal waves (which destroyed the capital) the island has stayed strong. Although modestly inhabited, the place has a real sense of pride and unity. But then, in 2001, that was all about to change. In a youtube video, a traveller Naomi Mikleova emotionally says:

“Before all of the drugs came to the island, people just kind of lived their lives, they were raising cattle and making cheese and dedicating themselves to agriculture and fishing. And then, in 2001, the arrival of all of this cocaine, kind of turned the life on the island upside down”

An island that had once been so green and modest, was about to become white and rich. In other words, half a ton of 80% pure cocaine from a drug smuggler was about to wash ashore and change the island forever.

The Story of the Missing Cocaine

Picture this: you’re living in the tiny fishing village of Rabo de Peixe on the island of Sao Miguel. You’re one of 7,500 inhabitants in the village and the most eventful thing that ever happens there is a good catch. Life is pretty dull. However, one day, you see a large ship passing by. This isn’t normal, but you decide that perhaps it’s an ambitious sailor that has got lost. Nevertheless, after a few hours, unidentified packages begin washing up on the shore. By the end of the day, around 300 of these UFP’s (unidentified floating packages) have washed up. Many have been taken into the police and many have also been kept. What would you do? Would you call the authorities? Or would you keep hold of yours, thinking perhaps that this random substance could be worth more money than you’ve ever seen before?

In June 2001, this is what occurred. For once, in the small village of Rabo de Peixe, something actually happened and it changed the entire island significantly. A Sun Kiss 47 yacht, carrying over 500kg of highly pure cocaine, was about to drop its load on the shores of Sao Miguel. The drug boat, which had already completed a few trips to Venezuela from the Canary Islands, was now en route to Spain to also drop off some cocaine. However, the boat was not doing well, and the yacht’s mast had been damaged by some rough weather. It would be impossible to make it to Spain, so they needed to stop somewhere: Sao Miguel was the chosen destination.

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The issue was, they were unable to anchor into the port as their boat would be checked by authorities, so instead they decided to hide the drugs under water in a nearby cave. Using fishing wire and misjudged planning, they tied the packages together and anchored them below sea level inside the cave. There were over 300 packages of cocaine, worth around 40 million euros. Due to continued bad weather and rough seas, the packages untied themselves and were released into the murky waters. El Pais writes:

“As they bobbed ever closer to the pier in Rabo de Peixe, news of their arrival tore through the town, prompting a frenzied treasure hunt. According to witnesses, dozens of people, from teenagers to grannies, ventured out onto the treacherous quay that night to fish for the goods.The police managed to confiscate 400kg of the powder in the first-ever operation of its kind on the archipelago. The remainder was commandeered by locals, many of whom were both poor and uneducated.”

The police tried to convince the public and the world that the yacht was only carrying 500kg of cocaine, when actually the boat itself could have carried up to 3000kg. Eventually people began to acknowledge the value of these findings and those who did get their hands on a parcel began trying to use them in all manner of ways. The issue was, no one knew the price or the market. Therefore, newly pronounced dealers were selling people a beer glass full of cocaine for 20 euros. This, as many will know, is far far too cheap. Nonetheless, people wanted to make money as quickly as possible. This led to a large increase of overdoses among the island. In fact, women selling mackerel were even beginning to coat the fish with cocaine instead of flour and men began using it on their coffee instead of sugar. Nuno Medes, the journalist covering the case said:

“We had 20 deaths and an untold number of overdoses in the three weeks following the landing. But these are unofficial statistics that we cobbled together with the help of doctors and health workers”

For those selling this cocaine, their lives were changed forever. Despite selling it for extremely cheap, they were able to make a good amount of money from it, after finding a random parcel on the shore. Nonetheless, this was probably where the good fortune ended. In reality, Sao Miguel had been cursed by these parcels. The drug smuggler, Antoni Quinzi was found and arrested, and although he helped the authorities find some of the remaining parcels, the damage had been done. The police and the media tried to send out warnings to the public, to stop the misuse of the newly discovered cocaine but it didn’t work. Ultimately, in a world of wealth divisions, it’s no surprise that the poorer people would take advantage of a step up if they were given it – even if it was fueled by illegal and dangerous substances. Unfortunately the 80% cocaine was far more pure than anything usually bought on the streets, making it highly addictive and appealing. People got hooked quickly and those who could afford it went to rehab, those who couldn’t turned to cheaper drugs when the cocaine ran out like heroin. A journalist from the Guardian wrote:

“Outside Rabo de Peixe, I waited with a group of drug users for the local methadone van, which travels around the island treating people for heroin addiction. That morning, about 20 addicts clustered near a kennel of snarling Azorean cattle dogs. Most of the addicts were gaunt with jaundiced eyes, rotting teeth and grey, wrinkled skin. Small children accompanied a few of the users, while most came alone and spoke to no one, smoking and staring at the tarmac.”

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Final Thoughts

Many lives were ruined instantly and in the long term due to the random event that took place in 2001. What seemed like a dream come true – a lottery win – soon became a trigger for drug addiction and despair. What is evident with this story is how little the capitalist structure caters for people’s needs. What island in the world would not take advantage of this amount of cocaine randomly finding itself on their shore? When money is scarce and opportunities are little, what choice do people have? Nonetheless, the fact remains that Sao Miguel is a breathtakingly beautiful place and if you ever have the chance to go – you should.

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The post Sao Miguel: The Rise and Fall of Cocaine Island appeared first on Cannadelics.

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