~~~ Mattha Busby ~~~

the Guardian • September 29, 2022

Mexican tourism boom: Tulum’s locals fight evictions as developers move in

In Tulum, the jewel of Mexico’s Riviera Maya , where ancient ruins perch above white-sand beaches frequented by Hollywood stars , a rapidly growing district of luxury condominiums looms above a barrio made up of homes inhabited mostly by local...

The Intercept • July 26, 2022

Biden Administration Plans for Legal Psychedelic Therapies Within Two Years

and drug misuse crises kill thousands of people per week, the potential of psychedelic-assisted therapies “must be explored,” urges a federal letter on behalf of the U.S. health secretary and shared with The Intercept. President Joe Biden’s...

Leafly • May 12, 2022

Mexico's Supreme Court rules personal marijuana possession legal, again

Legal limits on the amount of cannabis that can be possessed for personal use in Mexico are unconstitutional, the country’s supreme court ruled in a decision handed down on Wednesday. It’s the latest in a series of judgements striking down marijuana...

The Times • May 11, 2022

First licence for service to test purity of illegal drugs

The first permanent licence for a testing service that will allow drug users to assess the strength and purity of illegal substances has been issued by the Home Office. The facility will open in Bristol later this month in a move that is likely to...

the Guardian • February 12, 2022

Mexico lime inflation leaves sour taste as cartels gouge prices for cuisine staple

The citric kick of the limes which grow abundantly across Mexico – the world’s largest producer of the fruit – help give the country’s cuisine its distinctive flavour. But aggressive price-fixing by criminal groups has sent prices soaring, prompting...

Lucid News • February 11, 2022

More States Follow Oregon’s Lead Toward Legal Psilocybin Therapy

Three U.S. states, modeling themselves after trailblazing Oregon – which put in motion a legal framework for psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy – could be next to authorize therapists to facilitate sessions with psilocybin mushrooms for...

Lucid News • January 4, 2022

Texas Leads the Way in Bi-Partisan Support for Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy Research

A U.S. Special Forces veteran with crippling mental health issues was suffering from debilitating pain and rapidly deteriorating cognitive abilities that brought him to the verge of a vegatitive state. Then, when he first smoked a hallucinogenic toad...

the Guardian • October 26, 2021

Regulating indigenous medicine in Mexico ‘could violate rights’

Proposed legislation that would grant the Mexican state authority to regulate and control the practice of indigenous medicine could violate the country’s constitution and international conventions on the rights of ancestral communities, academics and...

August 31, 2021

Police Might Raid Student Halls for Drugs During Freshers' Week

Last week, reported The Times, Home Secretary Priti Patel told police chiefs that they need to combat cocaine use on campuses, with raids during freshers’ week being considered “to drive home the message”. While this tactic might make it appear...

the Guardian • August 25, 2021

Families urge ban on English police Taser use against people in distress

The families of people who died after being Tasered by police in England have called for a ban on the use of electrical weapons against people in mental health crises. The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said on Wednesday that there was...

the Guardian • June 7, 2021

MPs call for drug safety testing amid fears of rise in UK festival deaths

Women whose children died at festivals after taking drugs have urged the UK government to support “life-saving” substance-checking services after an influential parliamentary committee warned it was concerned there would be a surge in youth drug...

May 31, 2021

UK Plan To Give Vulnerable People Vitamin D This Winter Is Only Just Starting

A UK government plan to deliver free vitamin D supplements to those most at risk from COVID in England is not expected to be completed until mid-February, leading to criticism that the scheme is yet another example of authorities providing a “half...

May 31, 2021

Now That Medical Cannabis Is Legal in the UK, What's Next?

A large majority (60 percent) of respondents to a study commissioned by the United Patients Alliance—which represents the interests of medical cannabis patients in the UK—said they had substantially reduced the number of pharmaceutical drugs they were...

May 31, 2021

Yoga Teachers Are Rising Up Against Bad Employers

While there has been a boom in Zoom classes in the last year, COVID and social-distancing has hit yoga teachers hard, in an industry where there wasn’t enough work to go round even before the pandemic. Most yoga teachers, like other members of the...

the Guardian • May 28, 2021

Prince Charles advises people recovering from Covid to practise yoga

Prince Charles has suggested that people struggling to return to full health after having the coronavirus should practise yoga. In a video statement on Friday to the virtual yoga and healthcare symposium Wellness After Covid, the heir apparent said...

the Guardian • March 7, 2021

Family of teenager who died call for more drug checking at festivals

The family of a 17-year-old who died at a music festival in 2019 after taking illegal drugs have urged organisers to be “realistic and practical” about substance use at their events in order to save lives. Anya Buckley, from Oldham, died at Leeds...

the Guardian • January 10, 2021

Call for UK prisons to trial free cannabis to see if it cuts drug deaths

Prisons should trial free cannabis schemes for drug-dependent inmates to ascertain whether it could reduce overdose deaths, bring down violence and help people overcome opioid addiction, a police and crime commissioner has said. The North Wales PCC,...

the Guardian • January 9, 2021

Government breaks promise to maintain ban on bee-harming pesticide

A pesticide believed to kill bees has been authorised for use in England despite an EU-wide ban on its use outdoors two years ago and an explicit government pledge to keep the restrictions. Following lobbying from the National Farmers’ Union (NFU)...

January 7, 2021

This Is How Psychedelics Hack the Brain, According to Scientists

In a scientific review paper published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology, Robin Carhart-Harris, one of the world’s most eminent psychedelic medicine researchers, says this “pivotal mental state”, which can be achieved with the use of psychedelic...

the Guardian • December 10, 2020

Theresa May accused of breaking rules in blocking drugs expert

Theresa May has been accused of breaking the code for public appointments as prime minister after it emerged that she blocked the appointment of a drugs expert to the Home Office’s drug advisory panel because he had been critical of the scale of NHS...