Regulators Unprepared for Kava Trial | Tasmanian Poppy Farmers Under Strain | Does 'Euphoria' Glamorise Drug Use?
All the drug policy and related news from the past week in one place.
Hello!
Happy Friday and welcome to issue #72 of Drugs Wrap, a weekly compilation of the top stories in drug policy from across Australia and around the world.
Interesting week this week, with psychedelic therapy getting a front-page spot in The Australian’s weekend supplement. While the conversation has certainly shifted after the TGA decided not to down-schedule MDMA and psilocybin, it’s good to see that its still being kept warm.
The Pacific Island drink kava is back in the news as the Australian trial to open up access enters its second year which could see it available for unrestricted commercial purposes by 2023.
If you’ve yet to give New York Magazines’ Power Trip podcast a listen I highly, highly recommend that you do. I finally got around to it last weekend and it’s a brutal and necessary reality check on the perils and harms of underground psychedelic therapy and why we desperately need oversight in this space. A bit of a Catch-22 situation of course, but I’m thankful it’s getting the exposure it needs.
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You can also follow the Drugs Wrap Psychedelia playlist on Spotify for new ‘psychedelic’ music caught in the email filter.
Let’s get to it.
Kava Drug Trial Has its Critics
This is a heavily critical piece but its interesting to get an update on the ongoing kava trial in Australia nonetheless. In 2019, Scott Morrison announced a trial end to the ban on kava imports into Australia which is now entering its second year.
The pilot scheme began in December 2019 to allow Pacific arrivals to each bring up to 4kg of kava powder into Australia.
This second phase of the two-year trial starting in December allows for unlimited commercial importation of kava for food use.
However, before that can happen, Australia's food label regulators Food Standards Australia New Zealand say they need to clarify existing permissions for kava to “ensure it continues to protect public health.”
Because of COVID-19 impacts, the regulator is ‘playing catch up’ and have declared the issue urgent.
They hope to restrict kava beverages to consumption only in the place it has been prepared, not for home use, trying to limit it to ceremonial purposes only. They hope to have their changes finalised by the end of the year when the trial enters its second phase.
Police in Echuca, Newcastle Concerned by Reports of Needle Spiking Nearly 1,000km Apart
Police in Victoria and New South Wales have raised concerns about the insidious criminal activity of needle spiking, with recent reports affecting women in hospitality venues.
Women in Echuca and Newcastle have reported falling ill and finding tiny puncture wounds in a spate of incidents at regional venues nearly 1,000 kilometres apart.
Victorian Detective Sergeant Barry Gray of the Campaspe Crime Investigation Unit said he first heard about needle spiking on licensed premises just after New Year's Eve celebrations.
While investigations continue he would not say how many reports were received.
In NSW, Newcastle police are investigating allegations that up to six women were jabbed with ultra-fine needles at late-night venues in early December.
Police told the ABC toxicology tests found no illicit or prescription drugs in the women's systems, but further testing was underway and detectives had viewed hours of CCTV vision and interviewed witnesses.
Reports of needle spiking have also emerged in the United Kingdom in recent months.
Turn On, Tune In, Get Well?
Interesting to see The Australian write on the benefits of psychedelic therapy. Not that right-wing publications have not spoken on the potential medical benefits before, but a profile on Former Liberal Party director Andrew Robb and his desire to see psychedelics legalised for medical purposes featuring as the cover story in The Weekend Australian Magazine seems like a big step.
Robb is a board member of Mind Medicine Australia and speaks regularly on his struggles with mental health, the treatment for which, with drugs like MDMA and psilocybin, he hopes to cure. However, being a former Liberal minister, he’s not likely to cross any legal lines.
The piece is hilariously twee in its sprinkled references to Jefferson Airplane, Pink Floyd, and The Beatles, but tapping into that boomer 60’s mentality is probably not a bad idea for encouraging sympathy and support for the movement.
Mind Medicine also released via email this week findings from their study, conducted by Essential Research, that found a strong majority of Australians support the legalisation of psychedelics for mental health treatment. However, it comes with the heavy caveat ‘when they were made aware of the promising results of these treatments’. The nature of bias in polling and the ability to induce answers is well documented and likely at work here but it would be interesting to see the full methodology at work here.
Tasmania's Poppy Farmers Ride Booms and Busts of Global Pharmaceutical Industry
When the CSIRO went looking for farmers willing to experiment with a new crop back in the 1960s, one of Australia's great agricultural success stories was unleashed.
The meteoric rise of Tasmania's poppy industry saw the small island state become a powerhouse for painkiller production, responsible for half the global market for the raw narcotic material needed to manufacture pharmaceuticals.
However, since 2012, the amount of land dedicated to poppies has fallen from 29,396 hectares to 8,282 hectares, while the thousand-odd farmers involved has shrunk to 306.
Demand for poppies over the past decade has been severely impacted by a global oversupply, largely driven by the crackdown on prescriptions in the wake of the US opioid crisis.
This poppy glut was compounded by COVID-19, which led to the cancellation of many elective surgeries that require pain relief.
Amid these tumultuous times, one of Australia's big three poppy processors Sun Pharma Sun Pharma slashes poppy production in April while another — Palla Pharma — went into voluntary administration in December.
Noosa's Youth Have Limited Access to Proper Health Services for Mental Illness and Drug Addiction
People seeking to access free rehabilitation services in Noosa are having to travel three hours to public facilities on the Gold Coast as the majority of mental health facilities in Noosa are private.
While this may not pose a problem for Noosa's wealthier residents, many young people are unable to afford local services or attend other more affordable services in the region.
Noosa's only hospital is private and does not include a mental health ward. People experiencing a mental health emergency would have to travel to Nambour, about 45 minutes away, for the nearest public hospital with a mental health ward.
For young people without access to a car, this means over an hour on a bus or a costly taxi or rideshare fare.
This Week in Weed
France Temporarily Overturns CBD Ban
European Nations Are Moving to Legalise Recreational Cannabis
Schumer Gives Update on Federal Cannabis Legalisation and Banking in Meeting With Equity Advocates
Creso Pharma to be Snoop Dogg’s New Neighbour in the Metaverse
COVID Triggers Widespread Use of Cannabis Among Endometriosis Sufferers
I Gave My 9-Year-Old Son Cannabis to Help Him With His Severe Disability. It Saved His Life and Mine.
Around the World
Two Powerful Drugs Now Adding to US Overdose Crisis
Emerging reports show that two little-known drugs are making lethal new contributions to America's drug overdose crisis.
Para-fluorofentanyl and metonitazene are being seen more often by medical examiners looking into overdose deaths, according to a government report published Thursday. They often are taken with — or mixed with — illicit fentanyl, the drug mainly responsible for the more than 100,000 U.S. overdose deaths in the last year.
Increasingly, one or the other of the two drugs is the sole reason for some overdose deaths. The overdose-reversing drug Naloxone can still work, but more of it may be needed than when other drugs are involved.
The report, published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for U.S. medical and public health professionals, is one of the first of its kind to raise alarms about the drugs.
UK: Current and Former Users Asked to Advise Government on Drug Policy
People experiencing substance dependency and those undergoing treatment are being asked to make recommendations about rehabilitation services.
Scotland’s drugs policy minister Angela Constance announced a collaboration of past and present drug users, charities and third-sector organisations that will meet to suggest ideas for the Scottish Government.
The National Collaborative will be led by human rights law expert Professor Alan Miller, with support from government officials in the drugs policy division.
Constance said:
‘Successful delivery of the national mission requires a better way of listening to, and acting on, the voices of those with lived and living experience’.
Also in the UK, Volteface has run the numbers to work out just how much the war on drugs is costing England and Wales each year. They estimate that nearly £20 billion ($38 billion) is spent annually on direct, indirect, and intangible costs. This is roughly the GDP of Jamaica and could fund the employment of 600,000 nurses or half a million teachers.
Does HBO’s ‘Euphoria’ Really Glamorize Drug Abuse?
Representatives of Drug and Alcohol Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) recently issued a statement accusing HBO’s Euphoria of glamorizing drug abuse to a young audience.
‘Rather than further each parent’s desire to keep their children safe from the potentially horrific consequences of drug abuse and other high-risk behavior, HBO’s television drama, Euphoria, chooses to misguidedly glorify and erroneously depict high school student drug use, addiction, anonymous sex, violence, and other destructive behaviors as common and widespread in today’s world’.
Founded in 1983, D.A.R.E. famously taught students to ‘say no’ to drugs, until the program lost its federal funding in the late nineties, after multiple studies showed D.A.R.E. to be counterintuitive, sparking student’s curiosity about drugs rather than scaring them into sobriety.
D.A.R.E., it seems, had completely the wrong approach - but are they right about Euphoria?
Jordanian Army Says it Killed 27 Drug Smugglers from Syria
The Jordanian army says it has killed 27 drug smugglers who attempted to cross into the kingdom from Syria under the cover of heavy snow.
The smugglers were backed by ‘armed groups’, a statement said, adding that some fled back to Syrian territory.
Troops ‘found large quantities of narcotics’ where the clashes happened.
The Jordanian army has vowed to strike with ‘an iron fist’ at any smuggling or infiltrations that threatened national security.
It said troops had applied new rules of engagement that were introduced after an army officer was killed in a shootout with smugglers on the border with Syria earlier this month.
The new rules were also said to reflect growing concern about a recent surge in the smuggling of drugs from Syria, mostly amphetamine tablets bearing the Captagon logo.
The Psychedelic Selection
Sensible Policy on Psychedelic Drugs is Growing More Common
Congressman Blasts DEA Over Psychedelics Scheduling at Event With Former GOP Colleague
Clinical Study of Psychedelic Drugs for Cancer Patients Could Be a ‘game changer’
Antidepressant Psychedelics Could Be Separated From Hallucinations, Suggest Crystal Structure Researchers
Are Double-Blind Studies Holding Back Psychedelic Research?
Psychedelic Integration Therapy Has Progressed
Psychedelic Therapy and Suicide: A Myth Busted?
A Beginner’s Guide to DMT, the Most Mysterious Psychedelic of Them All
What Happens When Psychedelic Treatment for PTSD Turns Into a Bad Trip
Fish on Acid? Microdosing Zebrafish with LSD Shows Its Potential Benefits for Humans
Watch: Right-Wing Psychedelia | Psymposia
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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