Switzerland is to begin a pilot scheme that will allow adults to buy cannabis legally for recreational use. The pilot scheme, announced last year, will launch in the city of Basel this summer, with other cities such as Zurich, Geneva, and Bern to follow later in the year. Under the pilot scheme, 400 adults in…

Psilocybin, the active compound in magic mushrooms, can ‘open up’ the brains of people with depression, helping patients to overcome rigid thought patterns and negative fixations, new research suggests. A study led by the Imperial Centre for Psychedelic Research has shown that psilocybin therapy increases brain connectivity in people living with depression, even weeks after…

Industrial hemp was outlawed in the USA in 1937 under the Marihuana Tax Bill along with all other varieties of cannabis. Prior to this, it was widely grown for industrial and agricultural purposes across the world and was thought to have arrived in America via the British who grew the crop wherever they went to…

America is currently living through an opioid epidemic that has had deadly consequences for its communities for decades. 2020 was the deadliest on record with over 75,000 overdoses directly related to opioids. Many observers agree this crisis was born in the early 1990s and was exacerbated in 1995 by the licensing and the mass marketing…

Low-dose ketamine infusion appears to be effective at reducing levodopa-induced dyskinesia (LID) in patients with Parkinson’s disease. Topline results from a Phase 2 study conducted by PharmaTher, a leading company in speciality ketamine pharmaceuticals, show that 100% of patients treated with ketamine experienced a reduction in dyskinesias, with no serious side effects.   The study aimed…

The Danish capital city Copenhagen has presented a motion this month that calls for the freedom to operate their own cannabis policy within the city. The motion put forward at the beginning of March to parliament, known as Folketinget, outlines the city’s plan to let its citizens not only possess and consume cannabis recreationally but…

Researchers have published a study that shows MDMA assisted therapy (MDMA-AT) produces positive results for patients living with eating disorders and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). It is estimated that globally 8.4% of women and 2.2% of men live with an eating disorder, in the UK the total figure is estimated to be 1.4 million. …

Scientists in Tel Aviv, Israel have released the results of a small study into the viability of treating Tourette syndrome with cannabis. The open-label clinical trial was to determine the effectiveness and tolerability of medicinal cannabis treatment on adult patients who live with Gilles de la Tourette syndrome (GTS). GTS is a childhood-onset neuropsychiatric disorder…

The Lisbon based European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) has published a report which reveals levels of drug consumption across Europe. Data was gathered by testing wastewater for illegal drugs in around 80 cities across 23 countries. The authors of the report say it provides a valuable snapshot of the drug flow…

Scientists have published findings of 17 year long study that appears to show smoking cannabis, even without tobacco, can result in a higher epigenetic age.  Our epigenetic age differs from our birth age and is believed to be influenced by external factors. These external factors can result in a difference between our birth age and…