On August 30 New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo’s office made a major announcement: the Governor will hold fifteen “listening sessions” on cannabis legalization at locations around the state in September and October. Those sessions are now underway. The Governor’s press release states: The purpose of these sessions is to garner input from community members… Read More New York legalization update: the Governor launches a series of “listening sessions” around the state for public input and what New York City can do about it

I’m pleased to announce that two psychoactive mushroom decriminalization initiatives were filed on Monday (Rosh Hashanah, wouldn’t you know) with the Denver City Council. (See articles in Westword and The Rooster.) Of course this development is a big deal. (Note that I’m biased, having worked with the initiative organizer, Kevin Matthews, on the text for… Read More A new front opens up: psychoactive mushroom decriminalization in Denver

Today New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo’s office made a major announcement: the Governor has appointed a “working group” under the direction of Chief Counsel Alphonso David that will draft legalization legislation. The working group will consist of: David Holtgrave, PhD, Dean, School of Public Health, University at Albany R. Lorraine Collins, PhD, Associate Dean for Research, University at… Read More New York moves much much much closer to cannabis legalization

My conversation with Lex Pelger is now available at Psychedelic Salon. Thoughts/comments/questions are welcome.

I’m pleased to announce that I have become a consultant on the new “Policy” section of Chacruna, a cutting-edge online journal relating to psychedelics.

I am pleased to announced that my article Psychedelic Markets of the Future has been published on the cutting-edge website Chacruna.

Dear Readers: It is time to conceptualize the structure of legal access to psychedelics. I started this blog in 2010 with the intention of laying the foundation for the development of Psychedelic Law, an examination of the unique characteristics of psychedelics, with the goal of extricating them from the antiquated “narcotics control” model to which… Read More What is Psychedelic Law?

Description: In the 1950s and early 1960s, over 1,000 scientific papers were written about LSD, an exciting phenomenon new to Western medicine that offered an unprecedented window into brain function and revolutionary potential in mental health care. By 1970, the status of LSD and other psychedelics had changed dramatically; they were branded a menace to… Read More “The Legal History of Psychedelics” is taking place in front of you

From the Financial Times: a UK start-up is preparing (presumably “funding”) a clinical trial of psilocybin in treating depression! Great news! Progress on another front! Just one little quirk: “The widespread recreational use of magic mushrooms has given regulators reassurance that psilocybin is safe….” Hmm. Sounds like “anecdotal evidence.” Can the regulators really look to anecdotal… Read More UK start-up to test psilocybin effectiveness in treating depression: where does that leave the psychonauts?

I’m reading Professor Blitz’s 2010 article “Freedom of Thought for the Extended Mind: Cognitive Enhancement and the Constitution” as part of my preparation for the Legal History of Psychedelics program at the NYC Bar Association next Wednesday. The topic of his paper is not psychedelics per se. Instead it focuses on the legality of using… Read More Drug policy without neuroscience