Drug War Chronicle, Issue #1144 -- 12/1/21 Table of Contents with Live URLs Plus lead article...

[Bobbie Sellers]

Drug War Chronicle, Issue #1144 -- 12/1/21
Phillip S. Smith, Editor, psm...@drcnet.org
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/1144

A Publication of StoptheDrugWar.org
David Borden, Executive Director, bor...@drcnet.org
"Raising Awareness of the Consequences of Drug Prohibition"

Table of Contents:

1. CHRONICLE BOOK REVIEW: "PSYCHEDELIC JUSTICE"
This is crucial work for anyone pondering where we go from here with
psychedelics (and how we got here in the first place).
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2021/nov/30/chronicle_book_review

2. THIS WEEK'S CORRUPT COPS STORIES
A meth-cooking New Jersey cop gets himself in trouble, a southern
California sheriff's deputy gets caught trying to frame a woman for
meth, and more.
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2021/dec/01/weeks_corrupt_cops_stories

3. OR HAS ANOTHER $270 MILLION FOR DRUG TREATMENT PROGRAMS, GERMANY TO
LEGALIZE MARIJUANA, MORE... (11/19/21)
Germany is moving to legalize marijuana, DC is moving to legalize
marijuana sales, and more.
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2021/nov/19/or_has_another_270_million_drug

4. FIRST ACTUAL FENTANYL-LACED MARIJUANA CASE -- OR NOT? -- ICC
TEMPORARILY SUSPENDS PHILIPPINES PROBE, MORE... (11/22/21)
An Illinois judge rules the odor of raw marijuana is no longer a basis
for a vehicle search, an Ohio move to legalize marijuana is nearing its
signature-gathering goal, and more.
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2021/nov/22/first_actual_fentanyllaced

5. NY MARIJUANA ARRESTS UP IN SMOKE, TX MJ POLL, FIRST SD MEDMJ PATIENT
CARD, MORE... (11/23/21)
St. Louis aldermen move to end fines for pot possession and allow
personal cultivation, New York marijuana arrests are declining
dramatically, and more.
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2021/nov/23/ny_marijuana_arrests_smoke_tx_mj

6. SD MJ LEGALIZATION INIT THROWN OUT, NEW ZEALAND LEGALIZES DRUG
CHECKING, MORE... (11/24/21)
A federal jury finds major drugstore chains culpable in two Ohio
counties' opioid crisis, St. Louis decriminaizes marijuana possession,
and more.
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2021/nov/24/sd_mj_legalization_init_thrown

7. MA POLL FINDS PUBLIC HAPPY WITH LEGAL WEED, MEXICO SENATE MOVING ON
MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION, MORE... (11/26/21)
Pennsylvania medical marijuana regulators take aim at vape products,
Mexican cartel violence flares in Sonora and Zacatecas, and more.
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2021/nov/26/ma_poll_finds_public_happy_legal

8. FL DECRIM BILL, UAE DRUG REFORM, GUIDE FOR PSYCHEDELIC CHURCHES,
MORE... (11/29/21)
The Chacruna Institute releases a guide for psychedelic churches, DOJ
Says the Bureau of Prisons short-changed up to 60,000 First Step Act
prisoners on earned-time credits, and more.
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2021/nov/29/fl_decrim_bill_uae_drug_reform

9. NYC OPENS NATION'S FIRST OFFICIAL SUPERVISED INJECTION SITES, TORONTO
MOVES TOWARD DRUG DECRIM, MORE... (11/30/21)
A pair of supervised injection sites are now operating in New York City,
NORML issues a report on marijuana legislative victories in the states,
and more.
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2021/nov/30/nyc_opens_nations_first_official

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================

1. CHRONICLE BOOK REVIEW: "PSYCHEDELIC JUSTICE"
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2021/nov/30/chronicle_book_review

Chronicle Book Review: Psychedelic Justice: Toward a Diverse and
Equitable Psychedelic Culture (A Chacruna Anthology) by Beatriz Labate
and Clancy Cavnar, eds. (2021: Synergetic Press, 237 pp., $19.95 PB)

The world and culture of psychedelics is undergoing rapid change. From
the decriminalization of entheogenic plants in various US locales to the
rise of ayahuasca tourism in the Amazon, from the stunning advances in
psychedelic-assisted therapies to the equally stunning gusher of
corporate capital investment in potential psychedelic gold mines, the
Psychedelic Renaissance is most definitely upon us.

But as psychedelics come in from the cold, psychedelic culture is
increasingly feeling growing pains, with any number of conundrums,
controversies, and contradictions. How does Indigenous knowledge and
practice of sacred plant medicines (ayahuasca, peyote, psilocybin
mushrooms) translate into Western medical science? How does a scene
dominated by straight White guys move toward diversity and equity? How
can psychedelics retain their transformative power if and when they
become commodified corporate products? And how can the movement deal
with sleazy -- if not downright criminal -- operators in its midst?

Who better to tackle these issues than the good folks at the Chacruna
Institute of Psychedelic Plant Medicines (https://chacruna.net)? Founded
by Brazilian anthropologist and anthology co-editor Beatriz (Bia)
Labate, the institute "produces high-quality research on plant medicines
and psychedelics and helps propagate academic knowledge in more
accessible formats," according to its web site. It also tries to bridge
the gap between traditional ceremonial use and clinical and therapeutic
settings and seeks to "foster cultural and political reflections on the
field of psychedelic science and facilitate conversations about
controversial topics that have been simmering on the sidelines as
psychedelics go mainstream."

Edited by Labate and Chacruna co-founder and board member psychologist
Clancy Cavnar, Psychedelic Justice is one of the fruits of those labors,
and boy is it juicy! One could be forgiven for assuming a tome such as
this would be dry and tendentious, but one would be mistaken. Some 30
contributors from across the psychedelic specturm take on the heavy
questions surrounding the realm, and they do so with verve and flair.
The pieces are almost uniformly passionate, provocative, and insightful,
and they dig down deep into the issues percolating in the psychedelic space.

The book is divided into thematic sections -- Inclusion, Diversity, and
Equity; Perspectives on Cultural Appropriation, Colonialism, and
Globalization of Plant Medicines; Psychedelics and Western Culture;
Queer; Sex and Power; and Sustainability, Policy and Reciprocity -- with
multiple authors and points of view in each section. Although diverse
viewpoints are represented, the contributors are collectively members of
the broad psychedelic community and appear united in wanting to not lose
that underlying transformative potential that so characterizes
psychedelics and differentiates them from other classes of drugs.

Whether it is a critique of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy (like
psychotherapy in general) as too invested in the individual dealing with
his problems to take on the social causes of those problems, a skeptical
examination of the burgeoning psychedelic conference scene, or a
jeremiad against the failures of "White feminism," Psychedelic Justice
and its contributors are down for radical cultural transformation.

And that includes some form of policing the burgeoning commerce in
psychedelics. Whether its is abuses and neglect in the unregulated
ibogaine treatment industry or the predatory practices and sexual
exploitation of clients by some ayahuasca shamans (both traditional and
neo-), Psychedelic Justice demands the community find a way to weed out
such behavior. Sexual abuse by therapists is bad enough; sexual abuse by
therapists while clients are under the influence of powerful
mild-altering drugs is potentially even more shattering.

One nit I want to pick is that the book's emphasis is overwhelmingly on
spiritual and/or therapeutic use. There is little discussion of issues
surrounding recreational use, and it almost seems as if some
contributors think using merely to enjoy the psychoactive effects is not
worthy. But I would wager that the vast majority of psychedelic drug
users are not doing so primarily for spiritual or therapeutic purposes,
but because they enjoy the sensations. I could be wrong, though.

Still, Psychedelic Justice is an invaluable contribution. It demands to
be read by anyone who claims to have an interest in psychedelics, plant
medicines, or, more broadly, social justice under capitalism. It will
provide you with plenty to ponder.

================ ...
___________________

It's time to correct the mistake:
Truth:the Anti-drugwar
<http://www.briancbennett.com>

Cops say legalize drugs--find out why:
<http://www.leap.cc>
Stoners are people too:
<http://www.cannabisconsumers.org>
___________________

bliss -- Cacao Powered... (-SF4ever at DSLExtreme dot com)

--
bobbie sellers - a retired nurse in San Francisco

"It is by will alone I set my mind in motion.
It is by the beans of cacao that the thoughts acquire speed,
the thighs acquire girth, the girth become a warning.
It is by theobromine alone I set my mind in motion."
--from Someone else's Dune spoof ripped to my taste.