Aus Gov Grants $2.2 Mil to Study Psychedelics | Snapchat Cracking Down on Drug Dealing | Could 'I Know You Do Ketamine' Win Hottest 100?
All the drug policy and related news from the past week in one place.
Hello!
Happy Friday and welcome to issue #70 of Drugs Wrap, a weekly compilation of the top stories in drug policy from across Australia and around the world.
After denying the application to reschedule MDMA and psilocybin on the basis of ‘more evidence needed,’ you may be forgiven for thinking this was another attempt by the government to kick the can down the road. However, it appears there is genuine interest in exploring the potential benefits of these drugs at the highest level, with news this week that a $2.2 million grant has been given to conduct further research.
The social media app Snapchat was revealed to be giving teenagers easy access to drug dealers last year but has, this week, unveiled a raft of new measures on the platform to clamp down on drugs.
The global movement to decriminialise cannabis took another step forward this week as Thailand became the first country to begin the process of decriminalising personal use, the first Asian country to do so.
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Sydney Researchers Awarded Over $2.2 Million By Australian Government To Study MDMA, Psilocybin
Could the federal government be shifting its stance on the potential medical benefits of psychedelics?
The Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF), under the Australian Government's Innovative Therapies for Mental Illness Grant, has awarded two Sydney research teams a total of over A$3 million ($2.24 million) to study MDMA and psilocybin therapies for mental illness.
The MRFF is a multibillion-dollar, long-term investment supporting Australian health and medical research. The government fund is intended to “transform health and medical research and innovation to improve lives, build the economy and contribute to health system sustainability.”
The dual awards will help to examine the efficacy of MDMA-assisted therapy to treat combined PTSD and alcohol use disorder, as well as funding a clinical trial of psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy in anorexia nervosa.
The international trial, awarded $1,951,246, will be led by Associate Professor Kirsten Morley from the Faculty of Medicine and Health with Professor Katherine Mills, Professor Paul Haber, Professor Maree Teesson and Professor Andrew Baillie.
ATO's 'Hardline' Drug, Alcohol Policy Will Drive Substance Abuse Underground, Union Warns
Managers at the tax office could soon be expected to dob in staff members they suspect might be using illegal drugs outside of work or drinking on the job, under new rules proposed by the human resources office.
The Australian Taxation Office's proposed zero tolerance approach will force managers and colleagues to be on the lookout for behaviour that might indicate someone in their team is under the influence of drugs or alcohol, or might be impaired from it, such as a hangover.
Managers will be expected to document discussions had with anyone suspected of being impaired and speak to witnesses of the behaviour. It will also require those notes and observations be passed on to the human resources unit for further investigation.
But the tax branch for the Australian Services Union is concerned the new ‘hardline’ rules will scare employees from coming forward with issues.
Branch secretary Jeff Lapidos said the burden was placed on managers to report any suspicions they had over their staff to the human resources team for potential misconduct action.
‘The ATO's policy of taking misconduct action against everyone who admits to any illicit drug use or inappropriate use of alcohol will only drive this conduct further underground,’ he said.
‘No employee will be able to seek support from the ATO to deal with any addiction or related health issues’.
Abbie Chatfield’s Ketamine Rant Song Rockets Into Hottest 100 Contention
Abbie Chatfield’s viral COVID-19 vaccination rant has been morphed into a song that is rocketing into contention for this year’s Triple J Hottest 100.
The reality star turned Instagram influencer launched into a rant at anti-vaxxers on her It’s A Lot podcast last year, saying: ‘You need to stop telling people you don’t want the vaccine because actually, who the fuck are you to say “I don’t trust it”? I know you do ketamine!’
It’s since been turned into a dance track by Melbourne DJ Candy Moore, titled I Know You Do Ketamine.
Both Chatfield and Moore have encouraged their fans to vote for the song in this year’s countdown, which will be unveiled on January 22, as countless people have taken to social media declaring they’ve voted for the tune.
This Week in Weed
Importers Who Bend New GMP Rules Warned to Expect ‘Full Weight of the Law’
Bod Gets Green Light for Long-Covid Trial in the UK
Study Finds Cannabis Can Improve Your Sex Life
California was Supposed to Clear Cannabis Convictions. Tens of Thousands Are Still Languishing
California Pot Growers Say Life is Hard Without Double-Dealing
Thailand Set to Legalise Personal Use of Cannabis
Around the World
Snapchat is Making it Harder for Children to Buy Drugs on its App
Snap is making it harder for children to buy drugs on the app with a series of changes to its social media app.
The company said it was taking measures to ‘protect 13 to 17 year olds’ by restricting its friend recommendation feature known as ‘Quick Add’. People will not be able to suggest adding minors unless they have “a certain number of friends in common with that person.”
Snapchat also will be developing new parental tools to give ‘parents more insight into who their teens are talking to on Snapchat, while still respecting their privacy’.
It says it has increased its proactive detection rates by 390 per cent – an increase of 50 per cent since its last public update.
The social media app says it has a zero tolerance policy for drug dealing on Snapchat, and claims that 88 per cent of drug related content it uncovers is proactively detected by its machine learning and artificial intelligence technology, but that has not always stopped sellers.
An NBC News investigation in October revealed that in the United States, Snapchat was used to sell prescription pills like Percocet, OxyContin or Xanax which were actually counterfeit, and contained a deadly dose of fentanyl that resulted in the deaths of a number of teenagers.
In England, a survey found that one in five 13 to 14-year-olds have seen drugs sold on social media, including cocaine and MDMA.
UK: It’s Baby Boomers, Not Young People, Who are More Likely to be Addicted to Drugs
New analysis of NHS figures shows that the numbers of older people using addiction services have pulled away from other age groups at an alarming speed.
Cannabis remains the most widely used illicit drug, with the number of people aged 55 and over under the care of drug treatment services rising by nearly 800% over the past 15 years – the figure for the over-65s is more than 1,000%. This compares to a drop of more than 25% among 18- to 19-year-olds. But it doesn’t stop there. For alcohol, opioids, cocaine, crack and amphetamines, there has been a drop of more than 25% in the number of 18- to 19-year-olds under addiction services, compared with a rise of more than 200% in the 55-and-over group over the same timeframe.
Drug Addiction – A Big Challenge for Taliban Government
Al Jazeera paints a bleak picture of drug use in Afghanistan in its recent photo series. Afghanistan is one of the leading producers of heroin and methamphetamine. Most of the drugs produced are exported to the world’s black markets.
However, those who use the drugs within the country, often under bridges outdoors, are rounded up, beaten and forcibly taken to treatment centres by the Taliban to avoid visible casualties in harsh winter conditions.
The rehabilitation centre in the capital Kabul has some 350 staff and can cater to about 1,000 patients. Yet it is occupied by about 3,500 drug addicts who have been brought there by the Taliban.
The Psychedelic Selection
Survey Shows Many Americans Support Psychedelics to Treat Mental Health Issues
Can Microdosing Magic Mushrooms Help You Quit Drinking?
Big Questions about Space, Time, Neandertals, Psychedelics and Reality
A Hallucinogenic Tree Changed How Humans Used Drugs
Archaeologists Suspect Hallucinogenic Beer Helped Bolster a Peruvian Empire
Top Federal Drug Official Says ‘Train Has Left The Station’ on Psychedelics As Reform Movement Spreads
Psychedelic Use is Only ‘Weakly’ Associated with Psychosis-Like Symptoms, According to New Research
Morning Glories May Be a Source of New Psychedelics and Medicines
Watch: Inside New York City’s Supervised Consumption Site for Illegal Drugs | The Washington Post
I would like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which I live and work, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, and pay my respects to elders past and present. Sovereignty was never ceded.
Thanks for reading, have a great weekend, and I look forward to sharing all the latest with you next Friday.
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