MAPS Members, Supporters & Friends,
As momentum builds for psychedelic and marijuana research and reform, we’re working more than ever to educate the media and the public about these important developments.
Make sure to check out psychedelic research and therapy pioneer Stan Grof on Deepak Chopra’s radio show and see what Time magazine has to say about the future of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy.
While our hard-earned tax dollars are used to imprison and punish millions of drug users, there is no government funding for the highly-demanded research that MAPS is persistently orchestrating. To make matters worse, since these drugs cannot be patented, no for-profit pharmaceutical company has an interest in paying for the research to gain FDA approval and then bringing the drug to market.
In the meantime, society must rely on people like you and me to fund this research.
You can help remedy this market failure, by making an investment in psychedelic and marijuana research and reform today. Your tax dollars won’t fund psychedelic research this year, but your tax return can!
Here’s a few of the noteworthy articles that we’ve posted recently in the MAPS in the Media archive:
1. Coming Up: Stan Grof on Deepak Chopra’s Wellness Radio Show: Saturday, April 7
2. What’s Next? According to Time Magazine, Legal Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy
5. Media Coverage of New Raich Case Rejection
6. Former Republican Congressman Bob Barr Takes Position as Lobbyist for Marijuana Policy Project
7. Panel of UK Experts Rate Alcohol and Tobacco More Dangerous Than LSD, Cannabis, and Ecstasy
1. This Saturday, April 7: Stan Grof on Deepak Chopra’s Wellness Radio
Pioneer psychedelic therapist and researcher Stanislav Grof, M.D., will be on Deepak Chopra’s Wellness Radio show this Saturday, April 7. The show runs on Sirius channel 102 from 10 am to 1 pm EST, and will repeat all day. If you don’t have a subscription, you can listen to the broadcast online through a free 3-day trial, by visiting Sirius and clicking ‘listen online’. Sign up on Friday if possible in case theres a lag time.
Dr. Grof will be speaking about the recent resurgence of psychedelic research, and his newest book, published by MAPS, The Ultimate Journey: Consciousness and the Mystery of Death.
2. What’s Next? According to Time Magazine, Legal Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy
Time Magazine’s annual “What’s Next” issue ran a brief story entitled “Taking a trip for your mental health,” highlighting MAPS-sponsored MDMA, psilocybin, and ketamine research.
3. Exclusive Agreement Reached with Washington Post Magazine for Story on Flagship MAPS-Sponsored MDMA/PTSD Research
As we reported last month, after several years of effort, three rejections, and an appeal, the Institutional Review Board (IRB) for Dr. Michael Mithoefer’s flagship MAPS-sponsored US MDMA/PTSD study approved an amendment to the study’s protocol. The IRB decided that it will not object to subjects speaking with the media and/or documentary filmmakers following completion of each subject’s participation in the study.
In the meantime, MAPS and Dr. Mithoefer have been working with Tom Shroder, editor of the Washington Post Magazine, who will publish an exclusive story about Dr. Mithoefer’s study and its subjects. The story will be published in approximately one year, once each of the subjects have completed treatment. Dr. Mithoefer plans to begin treating the final five subjects in the next two months, and treatment process can last up to 10 months for subjects who initially receive the placebo.
4. American Medical News and Orange County Register Pipe in on MAPS’ Proposed Marijuana Production Facility
On March 25, Alan Bock, senior editorial writer for the Orange County Register published “Still Waiting to Inhale,” describing several recent signs of hope for medical marijuana patients, such as the recent DEA ALJ ruling in favor of ending NIDA’s monopoly on marijuana research by licensing Prof. Lyle Craker’s proposed MAPS-sponsored medical marijuana production facility.
American Medical News also published “DEA judge’s ruling could help medical marijuana research,” about MAPS’ recent legal victory in our quest to put marijuana through FDA clinical trials.
5. Media Coverage of New Raich Case Rejection
On March 14, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously rejected (3-0) an appeal by medical marijuana patient Angel Raich, ruling that the 10th amendment does not protect her right to use medical marijuana and that there is no constitutional right to use marijuana to treat pain and suffering. MAPS and MPP submitted an amicus curiae brief for the appeal, as well as for Raich’s previous cases, detailing the federal government’s obstruction of medical marijuana research. Raich, a mother of two, uses marijuana to treat severe chronic pain, an inoperable brain tumor, wasting syndrome, and seizures. With Raich’s appeal lost, one more potential door to federally-legal medical marijuana is firmly shut, making the route through FDA even more necessary than before.
Prof. Randy Barnett, Raich’s lawyer and a professor at Georgetown University Law Center, published a thorough op-ed in the Wall Street Journal. The San Francisco Chronicle also published a candid op-ed, “The laws against marijuana are stupid”.
6. Former Republican Congressman Bob Barr Takes Position as Lobbyist for Marijuana Policy Project
As reported by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, former Republican Congressman Bob Barr has become a vocal supporter of medical marijuana and has taken a new position as a lobbyist for the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP). Read how it was reported in “Barr Shifts in Support of Medical Marijuana”. Last month, MPP awarded MAPS a grant of $45,000 for lobbying efforts to pressure DEA to accept the recent Administrative Law Judge ruling in favor of Prof. Lyle Craker’s proposed MAPS-sponsored marijuana production facility.
7. Panel of UK Experts Rate Alcohol and Tobacco More Dangerous Than LSD, Cannabis, and Ecstasy
London’s Guardian published “Alcohol worse than ecstasy on shock new drug list.” The article describes a groundbreaking report published in the medical journal The Lancet from a group of the UK’s leading scientists, including members of the government’s top advisory committee on drug classification, that concluded that alcohol and tobacco should be rated as more dangerous than cannabis, LSD and ecstasy. Back in the US, the Associated Press covered the report in “Study: Alcohol, Tobacco Worse Than Drugs”.
London’s Guardian also published a stinging indictment of the Drug War, entitled “Drugs: Stop the War.”
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Your help is needed to ensure that science triumphs over politics. The Lancet study is one more sign of validation for MAPS’ agenda, demonstrating how far behind the curve current drug policy is from science and public opinion. If you are in favor of psychedelic and marijuana policy based on science, not vested political interests, please consider supporting MAPS today by making a special donation, purchasing art, books, or merchandise, or by joining MAPS as a member.
Yours,
Jag Davies, MAPS Director of Communications
The Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies
MAPS :: 10424 Love Creek Road :: Ben Lomond, CA 95005
Tel. 831.336.HEAL (4325) :: Fax. 831.336.3665
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Advocating Science over Politics,
Replacing Fear with Facts:
Your Support is Needed!