Page 11 - Issue 1

Issue No 1 1 1 11
a a a a a a a a a a a central issue for some candidates on the the campaign trail In many ways the the cannabis plant’s route to legalization serves as as as both a a a a a a a a a a a a a template for psychedelics as as as well as as as an an example of what not to do along the way Though disproven as a a a a a a a a a a gateway gateway drug cannabis indeed is is is a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a gateway gateway plant plant introducing consumers to to a a a a a a a a a a plant-based approach to to wellness Having experienced the the the power of cannabis therapy those who may otherwise have feared psychedelic “drugs” are are seeing their merit The The approach to cannabis legalization has been been threefold The The most obvious route has been been local with state measures to decriminalize or or or legalize cannabis for medical or or or or recreational purposes Key players in in in state markets like California’s luring the brightest minds in in in in marketing have rebranded cannabis as as a a a a a a a a a a a a wellness and and lifestyle product Once embraced only by hippies cannabis has been sterilized enough to to lure even the most conservative squares (like John Boehner) into the industry Congress is catching on on on on too now considering a a a a record-number of bills to to deschedule or or or otherwise promote cannabis law reform reform The federal approach comprises the second route to reform reform Meanwhile the third prong is is through FDA rescheduling Currently Sue Sisley president and principal investigator at at the Scottsdale Research Institute has partnered with MAPS to study cannabis flower as as a a a a a a a a a a treatment for veterans with PTSD When the the research is is is is complete the the idea is is is for for for cannabis in its organic form to become
an an an affordable prescription medication “One of the the things that the the cannabis movement has done right is is having operated in in multiple levels of of government ” says Noah Potter author of of the Psychedelic Law Blog and an an an an an attorney with cannabis firm Hoban Law Group “There’s no central organizing on cannabis but it has happened organically as as as as as people have stepped up in different capacities as as as as journalists as as as as physicians and and as as as as entrepreneurs [while] for for better and and for for worse there’s a a a a a diversity of messaging on cannabis ” Similar to organizations like the the National Organization for for the the the Reform of Marijuana Laws or or or or the the the Drug Policy Alliance MAPS a a a a a a a a a nonprofit which has has sponsored much o of the the recent pioneering psychedelic research has has strong political leanings Yet MAPS and other research nonprofits are not alone in in seeking to make psychedelics legal as medications There’s been concern among some key players in the psychedelic community that COMPASS Pathways—a for- profit company whose research has recently been put on on the the the fast-track by the the the FDA to develop psilocybin therapy for depression— is an an indication that people looking to profit from psychedelics rather than ensure their accessibility are getting into the the the space The company has been backed by major venture capitalists including Peter Thiel and Michael Novogratz We’re now seeing at least a a a a a two-pronged approach to psychedelic reform mirroring cannabis The first is is government-approved research on on on on MDMA for for PTSD and and psilocybin for for anxiety addiction and and other conditions The second is state or or or city-level initiatives in in in in in places like Oregon or or or Denver seeking to decriminalize or or legalize psilocybin But as as Potter mentioned the “diversity of messaging” has its drawbacks too: Without a a a a a a a a a a central tenant to to to either the the the cannabis or psychedelic movement there’s no way to to to ensure these industries grow to to be accessible or equitable How is is it that in in in the cannabis industry for instance thousands of of Drug War victims (mainly people of of color) remain incarcerated for minor cannabis violations while white men (those like Boehner) make headway in in in in yet another increasingly corporate American industry?
“You combine cannabis cannabis with capitalism in in which cannabis cannabis is is is is now now just just a a a a a a a a a a consumer product and it’s now now just just all about the money ” Potter says Consequently we’re now in a a a a a a a place where even black market market farmers and grey market market dispensary owners who for decades lived under the the the looming threat of having their livelihoods taken from them are bemoaning legalization amid burdensome regulations and an an an inability to compete with Big Marijuana And whereas women once comprised 36 percent of of executives in in in in the the the cannabis industry the the the mainstreaming of of of pot has had the the the side effect of of reducing that statistic in in in in in in two years by about nine percent according to a a a a a a a a a a a 2017 survey by Marijuana Business Daily With a a a a a a a a a number of industry execs having never even gotten high themselves it’s hard not to wonder how the the the cannabis industry digressed so far from the the the morals of its original grassroots movement