MDMA Passes Phase 3 Trials | Slow Drug Reform a 'Disgrace' | Chlöe Swarbrick Says MPs Have Different Private Views on Drugs
All the drug policy and related news from the past week in one place.
Hello!
Happy Friday and welcome to issue #39 of Drugs Wrap, a weekly compilation of the top stories in drug policy from across Australia and around the world.
A fair bit going on this week with big news in the psychedelic space as a MAPS-sponsored Phase 3 trial of MDMA reports findings. Efficacy of MDMA and therapy has been demonstrated on a large scale to have a significant impact on PTSD symptoms, with 67 per cent of those treated now no longer qualifying for the diagnosis.
Following on from last week’s story, CDA Health has quit the AMCA following the controversial launch of their express cannabis ordering platform.
In other news, George Jung, the real-life drug smuggler on whom the film Blow was based, has passed away at the age of 78. Jung was obviously not a good person in that he profited from the sale and distribution of cocaine, working with Pablo Escobar to import huge quantities of the drug in the 70s and 80s, damaging communities across the Americas. However, because of the Greek tragedy-esque portrayal of his life, in what is undoubtedly one of my favourite films, I couldn’t help but feel a tinge of sadness at his passing.
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Let’s get to it.
MDMA Just Passed a Big Hurdle on Its Way to Becoming Medicine That Could Cure PTSD
A MAPS-sponsored study has just published its results of the first-ever Phase 3 clinical trial of a psychedelic - not that MDMA is a classic psychedelic. It made headlines around the world, including this article in the New York Times, that spoke of the breakthrough achievements of validating what the earlier research has suggested. Namely, MDMA, when given in conjunction with therapy, has potentially curative properties for complex mental health conditions like PTSD and treatment-resistant depression.
I spoke with Mind Medicine Australia’s Chairman, Peter Hunt, for this piece to find out what the impact of this research might be on the current deliberation by the TGA for the rescheduling of MDMA and psilocybin. Hunt believes the trial can only be good news and that there is a strong chance the TGA will reschedule the drugs.
‘A Disgrace’: Ice Inquiry Commissioner Accuses Government of Ignoring Calls for Reform
The commissioner who led the state’s ice inquiry has accused the NSW government of missing a once-in-a-generation opportunity for drug reform and ignoring his recommendations 15 months after handing down a landmark report.
Professor Dan Howard SC said he was deeply disappointed with the government’s failure to respond to the 104 remaining recommendations after rejecting five almost outright, including pill testing and another supervised injecting centre. He said he wanted to know its reasoning for doing so.
‘Having heard all the evidence I’ve heard, and made the recommendations that I’ve made, to be 15 months later wondering what on earth is the government planning to do, it makes me despairing of the political process’.
‘I wonder how many of the politicians who are deciding what to do with this report have actually bothered to read it, frankly, because if they had they would understand the urgency of the measures that were recommended’.
‘People Were Out to Get Me’: Australian Publisher Speaks Out After Release from Myanmar Jail
The Walkley-award winning former journalist and southeast Asia media tycoon is back in Australia after being released from jail in Myanmar two years and 10 months into a 13-year prison sentence.
It was a Wednesday night in June 2018 when Dunkley’s life was turned upside down.
He was at home with his girlfriend and friends in Yangon’s Bahan township when a dozen policemen brandishing shotguns and a battering ram burst in. In a tin, the officers found nearly 800 methamphetamine pills, 300 grams of crystal methamphetamine, 16 grams of marijuana and 0.1 grams of heroin, according to the police report.
Dunkley, handcuffed and led away immediately, was one of nine people arrested in the raid and ultimately convicted after a 14-month trial. He insists, however, that the drugs were not his but a friend’s and his capture was connected to his plans to launch a new English and Burmese print, broadcast and online media venture in Myanmar.
‘[The police] knew exactly where to go in my house. Some people were out to get me, it’s obvious. Who knows who is tipping them off?’
‘You make friends and you make enemies. Before I was arrested I had people from the Home Affairs Ministry coming to my home urging me to not go ahead with a rather large media project I had almost nailed away, worth several million dollars. Suddenly, I’m getting busted for drugs’.
‘The Last Brave Thing That happened’: How the Injecting Room Led the Way on Drug Reform
The Kings Cross injecting room’s first medical director said she doubts the centre would have opened in today’s political environment as it was “the last brave thing that happened” in drug reform.
The injecting room arose out of the Drug Summit held after the 1999 state election and former premier Bob Carr, whose government gave it the green light, said it was “an interesting example of media campaign elevating an issue onto the public agenda”.
Since then the Uniting Medically Supervised Injecting Centre has provided medical supervision for more than 1.2 million injections, managed 10,582 overdoses without any deaths, and made nearly 19,000 referrals to health and welfare services.
Historic PBS listing for Australians with a rare epilepsy condition
In a historic first, Australians living with a rare form of epilepsy will have access to a medicinal cannabis drug, which is being listed on Australia’s Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) for the first time.
From 1 May 2021, Australians living with Dravet syndrome will have access to Epidyolex (cannabidiol), a new treatment used in combination with at least two other anti-epileptic medicines on the PBS.
Epidyolex is only the second medicinal cannabis drug registered for supply in Australia, and the first one to be subsidised by the Australian Government on the PBS.
Dravet syndrome is a rare, genetic epileptic encephalopathy that gives rise to seizures that don’t respond well to the standard medications. The disorder begins in the first year of life in otherwise healthy infants.
It is estimated that around 116 patients each year will benefit from the listing of Epidyolex, who might otherwise pay more than $24,000 per year for the treatment. Instead, they will now pay only $41.30 per script or $6.60 if they have a concession card.
Cancer Council Applauds US Ban on Menthol in Tobacco, Calls for Australia to Follow
Cancer Council has commended the US Food and Drug Administrations decision to ban menthol flavouring of tobacco products and has called on the Australian Government to do the same as part of its landmark review of tobacco control legislation.
Chair of Cancer Council Australias national Tobacco Issues Committee, Libby Jardine, said the FDA’s decision, announced overnight, followed years of petitioning from independent health groups
Ms Jardine said Australia was rightly recognised as a world leader in tobacco control and that we should match strong action elsewhere, provided it is supported by the evidence.
‘Weve had strong evidence for years that flavouring agents such as menthol attract new smokers and make it more difficult for addicted smokers to quit’.
Pharmacists, GPs Urged to Co-Prescribe Naloxone
Opioid‐related mortality in people taking pharmaceutical opioids for chronic pain is common but can be prevented, say experts. While pharmaceutical opioid prescribing and unintentional overdose deaths continue to rise, health practitioner attitudes towards risk may be contributing to low naloxone prescribing rates, argue experts.
The rate of opioid-related deaths almost doubled between 2007 and 2017, alongside a doubling in numbers of PBS opioid prescriptions. Most of these deaths involved prescription opioids.
Naloxone was listed on the PBS in November 2019 as an unrestricted General Schedule medication. However, supply remains low. While a recent Australian study reported that 78% of patients on Schedule 8 opioids for chronic non‐cancer pain qualified for take‐home naloxone, current national data show that less than 3% of all naloxone supplied is on individual PBS prescriptions. An additional negligible amount of naloxone is sold over the counter by pharmacists.
Emyria and Partner Mind Medicine Australia Launch Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy Programme Targeting PTSD
Emyria Ltd and partner Mind Medicine Australia have launched the EMDMA-001 psychedelic-assisted therapy program targeting sufferers of treatment-resistant post-traumatic stress disorder.
As a first step, and pending ethics approval, Emyria, an innovative drug development and clinical services company, will sponsor a major, independently monitored, clinical trial targeting treatment-resistant PTSD with evidence-based MDMA-assisted therapy.
A key priority of this first program is to help evaluate the long-term safety, efficacy and cost benefits of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy. Such evidence is needed, along with fit-for-purpose clinical infrastructure and trained therapists, in order to deliver psychedelic-assisted care in a safe, standardised and scalable way.
It should be noted that the charity Mind Medicine Australia is the primary petitioners of the TGA application to reschedule MDMA and psilocybin and that Emyria is a for-profit data analytics company.
This Week in Weed
Industry Backs TGA Over Illicit Cannabis but Price Remains a Barrier for Legal Channels
TGA Warns Consumers About Potential Harm from Unlawfully Supplied Medicinal Cannabis
CDA Health Quits AMCA Following Launch of Express Ordering Service
Puro Aims to Write ‘Organic Playbook’ for Cannabis Cultivation
Go Behind the Scenes with Aussie Cannabis Activists Showcasing $420k in Front of Parliament House
NSW Police Were Out in Force at the Nimbin 2021 MardiGrass Over the Weekend Upholding Out-of-Date Drug Laws
Thousands of Sober Stoners March for Drug Law Reform in Nimbin
Study: Use of CBD-Dominant Cannabis Associated with Reduced Alcohol Intake
Around the World
As More States Legalise Cannabis, People with Drug Convictions Want Their Records Cleared
Sixteen states and the District of Columbia have legalized recreational marijuana over the last nine years, and industry advocates have applauded measures to de-stigmatize the substance and bring major revenue to state coffers.
But for people with lingering drug convictions, the news has raised more questions about what legalization means for their criminal records. Currently in Virginia, ‘you have to go through all these hoops and loopholes to actually have an expungement’. This may soon change.
Like many other states that recently legalized marijuana, Virginia lawmakers included provisions in their legislation that over several years will allow for the automatic expungement of certain marijuana convictions, meaning people may one day see their records cleared without having to petition to do so.
There are reports from the White House that Joe Biden is very much not turning out to be the drug reform President that many had hoped he would be. Chuck Schumer’s cannabis legalisation plan is a prime example of this obstructionism.
However, in positive news from the administration, Biden has eased restrictions on prescribing treatment for opioid addiction in an effort to combat the crisis in The States.
As we see from numerous reports such as this one, 2020 was one of the worst years ever for fatal drug overdoses.
The Hill has written that, in order to combat the crisis, we urgently need a COVID-level response to deal with the issue.
In cannabis news, a CBS poll has found that the majority of US adults want cannabis legalised in their state.
Willie Nelson has just concluded his inaugural cannabis conference which aims to plant the seeds of social justice and wellness.
Canada: The COVID-19 Pandemic Has Laid Bare Decades of Drug Policy Failures
A ‘syndemic’ occurs when multiple public health emergencies interact to make each other worse. This past year clearly fits the label: the global COVID-19 pandemic has indisputably intensified the existing drug overdose crisis in Canada.
The pandemic has exacerbated risk and harm for people who use drugs. However, it would be inaccurate and short-sighted to suggest that the spike in drug-related deaths over the past year is solely, or even primarily, the result of the pandemic.
Rather, current realities should be understood as the result of decades-long, pre-pandemic political decisions and the consequent, entrenched policy failures. From the lack of welfare and treatment services to the criminalization of drug use and resulting stigmatization, it is long-standing political inaction and failed policy measures that have resulted in the thousands of lives lost to overdoses and now, drug toxicity.
Also from Canada, a recent study has found that far fewer cannabis consumers are accessing illegal products following the enactment of adult-use legalisation
U.S.-Mexico Efforts Targeting Drug Cartels Have Unraveled, Top DEA Official Says
A senior Drug Enforcement Administration official told NPR efforts to target drug cartels operating inside Mexico have unravelled because of a breakdown in cooperation between law enforcement agencies and militaries in the two countries.
‘We're willing to share [intelligence] with our counterparts in Mexico, but they themselves are too afraid to even engage with us because of repercussions from their own government if they get caught working with DEA’.
In light of this, Mexico is worried that another release of a top drug lord will bring further criticism of the country. Hector “El Güero” Palma was hours away from freedom after a judge’s secretary sent a letter — on a Saturday and national holiday — saying the government had to release him immediately after he was acquitted on organized crime charges.
‘This is a matter of national importance’, President López Obrador said Monday. ‘Imagine the suspicion, the jokes, the memes’.
The fact that memes are now a consideration in international and domestic policy is both a hilarious and depressing sign of the times.
Could Brexit End Up Boosting UK Tobacco Harm Reduction?
The UK now has an unrelated and unintended opportunity post-Brexit: to evolve into the model for tobacco control. No longer under the EU’s Tobacco Products Directive, the country can potentially improve its already-empathetic stance on smoking cessation and transform into the world leader in tobacco harm reduction. The government aspires to be “smoke-free” by 2030—an objective typically understood as getting adult smoking rates below 5 per cent—and advocates have seized on the chance to push for fresh regulations to arrive at that target.
The NewStatesman has published an op-ed co-authored by famous ethicist Peter Singer laying out the moral argument for the full legalisation of drugs.
Chlöe Swarbrick Blasts National MPs for Only Backing Drug Reform in Private
Green Party Drug Spokesperson Chlöe Swarbrick has blasted the National Party for lack of action on drug reform, claiming some MPs have far different positions in private than in public.
‘I think what you'll find is that the current National Party administration is not particularly keen on constructive dialogue when it comes to drug reform in this country’.
‘And it's really unfortunate, given that I have had multiple conversations over around three and a half years now with National MPs who express very different opinions in private’.
Swarbrick wouldn't name specific MPs but said there was a 'handful' she had spoken to. She also confirmed she is investigating a cross-party paper on decriminalising cannabis, which would use a new rule to bypass the traditional lucky dip ballot for pushing a new bill into Parliament.
The End of Pandemic-Related Lockdown is Bringing a Wave of Cocaine to Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico is seeing a surge in cocaine seizures, indicating that drug flows are being reactivated after months of dormancy amid pandemic lockdowns and that the island is on track to tally a record drug haul in 2021.
According to Puerto Rican authorities, the total amount of cocaine seized was up by nearly half year-on-year through March and 64% through mid-April.
Substance Use and Abuse in Guyana’s Prisons: Self-Medication by Inmates
A new survey highlighting the conditions of prisons and the factors behind incarceration has found that substance use is a common theme across the Caribbean prison worlds, both prior to incarceration and within prison walls. The study illustrates that individuals who use drugs and/or alcohol before committing a criminal offence have higher levels of recidivism than those who did not consume such substances. The observation suggests, as does the international literature on drug treatment programmes during custody, that substance misuse is a risk factor in criminal recidivism.
Myanmar General's Speech at UN Drug Policy Conference Draws Outrage
The inclusion of Lt-Gen Than Hlaing at the UN conference appears to be the first time that a senior figure in Myanmar’s regime has participated in a UN forum since the February 1 coup.
As Myanmar's newly installed deputy minister for home affairs, Hlaing has played a central role in the ongoing violent crackdown that has seen nearly 3,600 people arrested and more than 766 killed in the country’s blood-stained streets.
Hi inclusion rejected the advice of the UN Secretary-General not to legitimise or recognise the military coup regime.
Thai Ruling Thwarts Opposition Bid to Disqualify Minister Over Drugs Link
Thailand's Constitutional Court on Wednesday ruled that a prominent politician should keep his cabinet post, thwarting opposition moves to disqualify him over news reports he was jailed in Australia for drug trafficking in the 1990s.
Thammanat in 2019 denied wrongdoing and dismissed reports by two newspapers in Australia, the Sydney Morning Herald and the Age, that he had been jailed there for four years on a drugs charge. The newspapers have stood by their stories.
The ruling said that Thammanat Prompao, a deputy agriculture minister and power-broker in Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha's ruling coalition, did not violate the constitution because he had not been convicted by a Thai court.
The Psychedelic Selection
Bill to Legalize Psilocybin Therapy Introduced in Maine
A Psychedelic Drug Passes a Big Test for PTSD Treatment
The Nib Magazine Drugs Issue
The Push to Legalise Psychedelics has Ignored Indigenous Communities
Can a Genetic Test Predict Your Response to Psychedelic Drugs?
Non-Hallucinogenic Psychedelics: Scientists Close in on Compound
Native Tribes Should Have More Say in the Psychedelic Movement
Psychedelic Businesses Can Be Leaders in Sustainability
The Black-Led Collective Reclaiming Psychedelics for BIPOC
Listen: Rick Doblin on ‘How Legal Psychedelics Work to Deepen our Self Awareness’
Watch: The New York Academy of Sciences Webinar on ‘Psychedelics for the Treatment of Depression and Psychiatric Disorders’
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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