Pentru cei interesati de modul in care substantele psihedelice sunt in prezent vazute de mediul academic din punctul de vedere al utilitatii lor potentiale (integrate inclusiv in anumite forme de psihoterapie), poate informatiile de mai jos vor fi de ajutor… Personal, eu nu urmaresc cu prioritate ce se intampla pe acest subiect dar stiu ca in Romania persista numeroase pareri contradictorii … Evident, datele de mai jos reprezinta doar o mica parte a unui complex puzzle (nu am intentia sau pregatirea sa pot oferi un review adecvat al temei).

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AMA Calls for Review of Medical Marijuana’s Legal Status

New Policy Marks Historic Shift From Prior Stance

HOUSTON – November 10 – In a move considered historic by supporters of medical marijuana, the American Medical Association’s House of Delegates today adopted a new policy position calling for the review of marijuana’s status as a Schedule I drug in the federal Controlled Substances Act. The old language in Policy H-95.952 had previously recommended that “marijuana be retained in Schedule I,” which groups marijuana with drugs such as heroin, LSD and PCP that are deemed to have no accepted medical uses and to be unsafe for use even under medical supervision.

The revised policy, adopted today, states, “Our AMA urges that marijuana’s status as a federal Schedule I controlled substance be reviewed with the goal of facilitating the conduct of clinical research and development of cannabinoid-based medicines, and alternate delivery methods.” It goes on to explain that this position should not be construed as an endorsement of state medical marijuana programs.

“This shift, coming from what has historically been America’s most cautious and conservative major medical organization, is historic,” said Aaron Houston, director of government relations for the Marijuana Policy Project, who attended the AMA meeting. “Marijuana’s Schedule I status is not just scientifically untenable, given the wealth of recent data showing it to be both safe and effective for chronic pain and other conditions, but it’s been a major obstacle to needed research.”

Drugs listed in Schedule II, for which medical use is permitted with strict controls, include cocaine, morphine and methamphetamine. A pill containing THC, the component responsible for marijuana’s “high,” is classed in Schedule III, whose looser requirements allow phoned-in prescriptions.

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With more than 26,000 members and 100,000 e-mail subscribers nationwide, the Marijuana Policy Project is the largest marijuana policy reform organization in the United States. MPP believes that the best way to minimize the harm associated with marijuana is to regulate marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol. For more information, please visit http://MarijuanaPolicy.org.

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The American Medical Association (AMA) voted  to reverse its long-held position that marijuana be retained as a Schedule I substance with no medical value. The AMA adopted a report drafted by the AMA Council on Science and Public Health (CSAPH) entitled, “Use of Cannabis for Medicinal Purposes,” which affirmed the therapeutic benefits of marijuana and called for further research. The CSAPH report concluded that, “short term controlled trials indicate that smoked cannabis reduces neuropathic pain, improves appetite and caloric intake especially in patients with reduced muscle mass, and may relieve spasticity and pain in patients with multiple sclerosis.” Furthermore, the report urges that “the Schedule I status of marijuana be reviewed with the goal of facilitating clinical research and development of cannabinoid-based medicines, and alternate delivery methods.”

http://www.opposingviews.com/articles/opinion-ama-ends-72-year-policy-says-marijuana-has-medical-benefits-r-1257871699

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http://tedxmidatlantic.com/live/#RolandGriffiths

An excellent 19-minute talk on the Johns Hopkins studies of psilocybin-based mystical experiences with special attention to religious and spiritual topics.

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http://www.frontiersin.org/humanneuroscience/paper/10.3389/neuro.09/053.2009/
Løberg E and Hugdahl K (2009) Cannabis use and cognition in schizophrenia. Front. Hum. Neurosci. 3:53. doi:10.3389/neuro.09.053.2009

People with schizophrenia frequently report cannabis use, and cannabis may be a risk factor for schizophrenia, mediated through effects on brain function and biochemistry. Thus, it is conceivable that cannabis may also influence cognitive functioning in this patients group. We report data from our own laboratory on the use of cannabis by schizophrenia patients, and review the existing literature on the effects of cannabis on cognition in schizophrenia and related psychosis. Of the 23 studies that were found, 14 reported that the cannabis users had better cognitive performance than the schizophrenia non-users. Eight studies reported no or minimal differences in cognitive performance in the two groups, but only one study reported better cognitive performance in the schizophrenia non-user group. Our own results confirm the overall impression from the literature review of better cognitive performance in the cannabis user group. These paradoxical findings may have several explanations, which are discussed. We suggest that cannabis causes a transient cognitive breakdown enabling the development of psychosis, imitating the typical cognitive vulnerability seen in schizophrenia. This is further supported by an earlier age of onset and fewer neurological soft signs in the cannabis-related schizophrenia group, suggesting an alternative pathway to psychosis.
Keywords: schizophrenia, psychosis, cannabis, neurocognition, substance abuse, neuropsychological functioning, illegal drugs

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Mainstreaming Psychedelics: From FDA to Harvard to Burning Man

Rick Doblin’s Google tech-talk on November 17, 2009. PowerPoint.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwAGkGpv6Ss

If you have a problem with the show constantly starting and stopping, try clicking on the red HQ box under the screen.

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Dear friends,
Two months ago the website of the Núcleo de Estudos Interdisciplinares sobre Psicoativos (NEIP) published a text called “O LSD Caboclo: notas sobre a reportagem ‘Na selva, um místico vende o sonho’ (1968)”, written by me, Brian Anderson and Matthew Meyer. An expanded, translated version of this text has now been published on Erowid.org with the title “1960s Media Coverage of Ayahuasca and the UDV: Notes on the article “Na selva, um místico vende o sonho” [In the forest, a mystic sells dreams] (1968)”. An English translation of the article can be found at the end of our text; and there is also a link to the article in the original Portuguese.

This text presents a few of observations on one of the very first newspaper articles to be written on the União do Vegetal (UDV) and distributed throughout Brazil. The article was written in 1968, during a period when awareness of the Brazilian ayahuasca religions was first beginning to reach beyond the Amazon. Until now, 40 years latter, this article has, to our knowledge, not been referenced in the ayahuasca literature.
Although the article demonstrates a clear prejudice against the UDV and makes some inaccurate claims, it also presents new information on the religion and a fascinating view into the climate that surrounded the religious use of ayahuasca in 1960s Brazil.

You can read the text here:

http://www.erowid.org/chemicals/ayahuasca/ayahuasca_info13.shtml

Best wishes
Bia Labate & co-authors
http://bialabate.net
http://www.neip.info

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Prague – The Czech government approved the list of hallucinogenic plants and mushrooms, including hemp, coca, mescaline cactus and magic mushrooms, and decided that people would be allowed to grow up to five pieces of such plants and keep 40 magic mushrooms at home, a CTK source said.
http://www.ceskenoviny.cz/news/zpravy/czech-govt-defines-rules-of-hallucinogenic-plants-growing/411010

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