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Journal by takyon

This is a dumping ground for links and other stuff for the 2018 4/20 article. Might as well get started now. Feel free to post articles or your suggestions in here up until April 20, 2018 (journal comments remain open forever, if you hadn't noticed). The article will cover topics including but not limited to cannabis, the opioid crisis, and the drug policies of any countries you are interested in, not just the U.S. I especially want articles regarding state/local ballot initiatives, implementation of drug policies, and the like, as well as articles about single events that can fit well on a timeline (such as this). If you want to critique the pro-legalization crowd, that's fine too.

Theoretically, the article could grow to an insane size without pissing everyone off too much with liberal use of the spoiler tag:

And don't forget the emojis. ☠☢☣🌋🌵🍁🍄🍍🍕🍷🍸🍹🍺🍻👽💀💉💊💨💰🔥😂🚬

I've already lost some of the links below due to an invalid resource error. I will probably edit my extension to add the equivalent of the "submission draft" feature for journals.

This journal entry will be edited to include more links and notes as we get closer. Although I'll retain a few surprises for the actual article.

Here are the past 4/20 articles:

2015: 4/20: StonerNews is People
2016: 4/20: Half-Baked Headline
2017: 4/20: The Third Time's Not the Charm

Timeline
(I have to decide whether I want to include many events or just past SoylentNews articles here.)

April 21: Massachusetts Throws Out 21,587 Tainted Drug Convictions
April 23: Remake of Classic "Your Brain on Drugs" Ad Slams Disastrous Drug War

May 11: Vermont Legislature Passes Cannabis Legalisation Bill
May 15: Jeff Sessions Reboots the Drug War
May 16: Cop Brushes Fentanyl Off Uniform, Overdoses

July 31: 34 Criminal Cases Tossed after Body cam Footage Shows Cop Planting Drugs

August 5: Cannabis Company Buys Entire California Town to Create Marijuana Tourist Destination
August 11: President Trump Declares the Opioid Crisis a National Emergency
August 17: Another Canadian Banned From the U.S. for Past Drug Use
August 30: FDA Designates MDMA as a "Breakthrough Therapy" for PTSD; Approves Phase 3 Trials

September 11: Thanks to the DEA and Drug War, Your Prescription Records Have Zero Expectation of Privacy

October 14: Study Suggests Psilocybin "Resets" the Brains of Depressed People
October 26: According to Gallup, American Support for Cannabis Legalization is at an All-Time High
October 27: Opioid Crisis Official; Insys Therapeutics Billionaire Founder Charged; Walgreens Stocks Narcan
October 28: Study Finds That More Frequent Use of Cannabis is Associated With Having More Sex

November 2: FDA Cracking Down on Unsubstantiated Cannabidiol Health Claims
November 4: People Who Take Psychedelics Are Less Likely to Commit Violent Crimes, Study Says
November 15: FDA Blocks More Imports of Kratom, Warns Against Use as a Treatment for Opioid Withdrawal
"Drug Bazooka" Seized Near the U.S.-Mexican Border
November 16: Opioid Commission Drops the Ball, Demonizes Cannabis
November 27: Hallucination Machine: Psychedelic Visuals in VR

December: World Health Organization Clashes With DEA on CBD; CBD May be an Effective Treatment for Psychosis
Ketamine Reduces Suicidal Thoughts in Depressed Patients

Links

* Veterans in New York can now get medical marijuana to treat PTSD
* A 12-Year-Old Girl With Epilepsy Is Suing Jeff Sessions Over Medical Marijuana
* Marijuana could be legal in New Jersey as soon as April
* The War On Drugs Repackaged
* Campaign to legalise magic mushrooms gains momentum in California
* Reports: Manson hospitalized in California
* Ohio's First Crop of Medical Marijuana Dealers See Green, But Face Hurdles
* The Rush is on for Ohio's Marijuana Dispensary Licenses
* Don Martin: Retired cops chasing pot of gold at the end of legalization rainbow
* Veterans are key as surge of states OK medical pot for PTSD (archive)
* The Indigenous Mexican Tribe That Honors Rare Psychedelic Toads
* What It's Like to Smoke the World's Strongest Psychedelic Toad Venom
* Europe's Largest Legal Weed Farm Is Being Built in a Nuclear Bunker
* Why It Feels Like You Can Communicate with Nature on LSD
* Jeff Sessions Isn’t Giving up on Weed. He’s Doubling Down.
* VIDEO: For LSD, What A Long Strange Trip It's Been
* New York Is Closer Than Ever to Legalizing Weed
* Solving the Dutch Pot Paradox: Legal to Buy, but Not to Grow
* Non-psychoactive cannabis ingredient (CBD) could help addicts stay clean
* A Dying Southern Town Needed a Miracle. Marijuana Came Calling.
* Reader: Kratom Saved My Life From a Heroin Addiction

Notes

Cannabis is the scientific term for the drug colloquially known as "marihuana/marijuana", which is now regarded as an outdated and racist term that was intended to scare the public.

What is the difference between "opioids" and "opiates"? "Opioid" is a broader term:

Opioids include opiates, an older term that refers to such drugs derived from opium, including morphine itself. Other opioids are semi-synthetic and synthetic drugs such as hydrocodone, oxycodone and fentanyl; antagonist drugs such as naloxone; and endogenous peptides such as the endorphins. The terms opiate and narcotic are sometimes encountered as synonyms for opioid. Opiate is properly limited to the natural alkaloids found in the resin of the opium poppy although some include semi-synthetic derivatives. Narcotic, derived from words meaning 'numbness' or 'sleep', as an American legal term, refers to cocaine and opioids, and their source materials; it is also loosely applied to any illegal or controlled psychoactive drug. In some jurisdictions all controlled drugs are legally classified as narcotics. The term can have pejorative connotations and its use is generally discouraged where that is the case.

Want to legalize drugs easily? Make recreational drugs treatments for "boredom" and "spiritual malaise".

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The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 16 2017, @08:29PM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 16 2017, @08:29PM (#597871)

    The drug colloquially known as "marihuana/marijuana", which is now regarded as an outdated and racist term that was intended to scare the public.

    It's only regarded as such by regressives. Presumably these morons also think their own shadow is a revelation of "internalized racism" and self-flagellate accordingly.

  • (Score: 2) by chromas on Thursday November 16 2017, @09:42PM (2 children)

    by chromas (34) Subscriber Badge on Thursday November 16 2017, @09:42PM (#597918) Journal

    The emojis are broken! [imgur.com]

    Thanks Firefox 57.

  • (Score: 2, Funny) by Ethanol-fueled on Friday November 17 2017, @05:51AM (1 child)

    by Ethanol-fueled (2792) on Friday November 17 2017, @05:51AM (#598079) Homepage

    I'll probably just pitch in by posting personal drug stories in the comments section. Like that time we packed a potato bug in a friend's bowl and he smoked it, or that time some unscrupulous dope-addicts tried to sell me a pellet of rabbit-shit as "hash."

    • (Score: 1) by rylyeh on Saturday November 18 2017, @06:56PM

      by rylyeh (6726) <{kadath} {at} {gmail.com}> on Saturday November 18 2017, @06:56PM (#598721)

      Friend of mine lost a dare and bonged an ant.
      The formic acid from the ant sent him into a spewing coughing frenzy.

      --
      "a vast crenulate shell wherein rode the grey and awful form of primal Nodens, Lord of the Great Abyss."
  • (Score: 2) by dry on Friday November 17 2017, @07:36AM (1 child)

    by dry (223) on Friday November 17 2017, @07:36AM (#598099) Journal

    Up here in Canada, we're marching towards legalization, set to happen on Canada Day (Jul 1) 2018. Here the Federal government writes the criminal laws and the Provinces enforce them. So each of the 10 Provinces are scrambling to legislate how it is going to be sold etc with variations from Alberta going pure private business to Quebec going with a government business doing all the dealing. There's also the argument about how the taxes will be split with the feds opening the bargaining at 50/50 and the Provinces screaming "unfair" as they'll have to do the regulating, enforcement etc.

    As for the opioid crisis, here in BC we've had safe injection sites for quite a while and they're relatively successful as no one has died in one. doesn't help the people doing it alone at home though.
    The push is now to decriminalize and the feds are resisting. There is a trial of giving clinical heroin to some junkies that seems quite successful. Heard an interview with one, he now has a job and is a productive member of society. Instead of worrying about his next fix and the quality, just stops at the clinic twice a day for his fix. The feds did announce they will allow the program to expand but they're scared of scaring away the right wingers by allowing too much freedom.
    It's bedtime so no links right now, my internet connection is shit.

  • (Score: 1) by rylyeh on Saturday November 18 2017, @07:54PM (1 child)

    by rylyeh (6726) <{kadath} {at} {gmail.com}> on Saturday November 18 2017, @07:54PM (#598742)
    This one is kinda interesting: [mercurynews.com]

    In an email, Davis told the Resident that the [San Jose]city attorney’s office “is preparing to take court action to shut down both illegal dispensaries.” She was referring to Coachella Valley Church at 2142 The Alameda and Oklevueha Native American Church of South Bay at 265 Meridian Ave. “It’s a priority for me, so I will be doing everything I can to shut down illegal pot clubs, regardless of whether they call themselves churches or not,” Davis said. For the past few years, the city has allowed only 16 cannabis clubs to operate as long as they have permits and pay sales and business taxes. Davis said City Attorney Rick Doyle told her the two churches “have been in the hopper as part of the regular process of shutting down illegal dispensaries as they pop up.” Staff and members of Coachella Valley Church, which opened in May, previously told the Resident sales and use of cannabis are exempt under the banner of religious freedom. Members use marijuana both in the downstairs chapel and on the church’s rooftop lounge as part of their Rastafari practice, they said.

    --
    "a vast crenulate shell wherein rode the grey and awful form of primal Nodens, Lord of the Great Abyss."
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