Drug News and Discussions

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Harris says she backs legalizing marijuana, going further than Biden

Vice President Harris reaffirmed her support for legalizing marijuana Monday, speaking up on the issue publicly for the first time she became the Democratic nominee.

“I just think we have come to a point where we have to understand that we need to legalize it and stop criminalizing this behavior,” Harris said during a nearly hourlong interview on the sports and culture podcast “All the Smoke” released Monday.

“I just feel strongly people should not be going to jail for smoking weed,” she told hosts Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson. “And we know historically what that has meant and who has gone to jail.”

The vice president added that supporting marijuana legalization is “not a new position for me. I have felt for a long time we need to legalize it.”

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/4 ... e23f7ba5d3

[firestar464]

I'm not particularly pleased with the idea of weed dispensaries popping up everywhere. It should be nationalized IMO

[Vakanai]

I'm not particularly pleased with the idea of weed dispensaries popping up everywhere. It should be nationalized IMO

That's never going to be on the table - USA pretty much never nationalizes anything anymore, and politicians are more interested in taking what is nationalized and privatizing it.

[Powers]

Lest comes Trump and bans it all.

[weatheriscool]

[caltrek]

Why Do Americans Pay More for Prescription Drugs?
by David Armstrong
May 9, 2025

Introduction:

(ProPublica) In the U.S., the price of Revlimid, a brand-name cancer drug, has been increasing for two decades. It now sells for nearly $1,000 a pill. In Europe, the price has been consistently lower — in some countries by two-thirds.

I started reporting on Revlimid after I was prescribed the drug following a diagnosis of multiple myeloma, an incurable blood cancer. Stunned by the high price, I found that the drugmaker, Celgene, had used Revlimid as its own personal piggy bank for more than a decade, raising the price in the U.S. whenever it saw fit.

Even with lower prices in Europe, Celgene still made a profit there, a former executive told Congress. That added to the more than $21 billion in net earnings the company made after Revlimid was introduced in 2005.

Of course, Revlimid isn’t the only drug with a price disparity. Americans pay more in general for prescription drugs than people in other wealthy countries. And costs keep going up, saddling patients with crippling debt or forcing them to choose between filling prescriptions or buying groceries. So why do we pay so much more? And is anything being done about it?

Read more here: https://www.propublica.org/article/why ... on-drugs

[firestar464]

[weatheriscool]

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[weatheriscool]

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Trump seeks to cut restrictions on marijuana through planned order

Source: Washington Post

December 11, 2025 at 6:26 p.m. EST

President Donald Trump is expected to push the government to dramatically loosen federal restrictions on marijuana, reducing oversight of the plant and its derivatives to the same level as some common prescription painkillers and other drugs, according to six people familiar with the discussions.

Trump discussed the plan with House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) in a Wednesday phone call from the Oval Office, said four of the people, who, like the others, spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. The president is expected to seek to ease access to the drug through an upcoming executive order that directs federal agencies to pursue reclassification, the people said.

The move would not legalize or decriminalize marijuana, but it would ease barriers to research and boost the bottom lines of legal businesses. Trump in August said he was “looking at reclassification.” The Biden administration also looked into rescheduling cannabis.

“We’re looking at it. Some people like it, some people hate it,” Trump said this summer. “Some people hate the whole concept of marijuana because it does bad for the children, it does bad for the people that are older than children.”

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business ... ive-order/

[wjfox]

Medicinal cannabis company to create 100 jobs in Scottish expansion

7 hours ago

A multi-national medical supply company is expanding into Scotland with a cannabis manufacturing facility in the Borders.

Breathe Life Sciences (BLS) will create 36 jobs when the production and distribution centre opens towards the end of next year - with a three year plan for the workforce to increase to around 100.

The Sydney-based firm already has licensed overseas manufacturing sites in Manchester, Prague, and the Japanese city of Nagoya.

CEO Sam Watson said: "This is a fast-growing industry and coming to Scotland is part of our plans for meeting demand."

Since medicinal cannabis was legalised by the UK government in 2018, the market has grown to a current annual value of around £250m.

The number of active patients is expected to increase, according to industry research, from 80,000 just now to more than 190,000 by the end of the decade.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ckgzzl01n2go

[firestar464]

[weatheriscool]

[weatheriscool]

Trump signs order to speed review of psychedelics, including the controversial drug ibogaine

Source: AP

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Saturday directed his administration to speed up reviews of certain psychedelic drugs, including ibogaine, which recently has been embraced by combat veterans and conservative lawmakers despite having serious safety risks.

Ibogaine and other psychedelics remain banned under the federal government's most restrictive category for illegal, high-risk drugs. But the administration is taking steps to ease restrictions and spur research on using the drugs for medical purposes, including conditions like severe depression.

“Today’s order will ensure that people suffering from debilitating symptoms might finally have a chance to reclaim their lives and lead a happier life,” Trump said as he signed an executive order on the drugs. The Republican president said his directive will help “dramatically accelerate” access to potential treatments. "If these turn out to be as good as people are saying, it's going to have a tremendous impact,” he said.

Veteran organizations and psychedelic advocates have long contended that ibogaine, which is made from a shrub native to West Africa, has great promise for hard-to-treat conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder and opioid addiction.

Read more: https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/tru ... 08118.html

[firestar464]

[weatheriscool]

Trump reclassifies state-licensed medical marijuana as a less-dangerous drug in a historic shift

Source: AP

Updated 8:16 AM EDT, April 23, 2026

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s acting attorney general on Thursday signed an order reclassifying state-licensed medical marijuana as a less-dangerous drug, a major policy shift long sought by advocates who said cannabis should never have been treated like heroin by the federal government.

The order signed by Todd Blanche does not legalize marijuana for medical or recreational use under U.S. law. But it does change the way it’s regulated, shifting licensed medical marijuana from Schedule I — reserved for drugs without medical use and with high potential for abuse — to the less strictly regulated Schedule III. It also gives licensed medical marijuana operators a major tax break and eases some barriers to researching cannabis.

Trump told his administration in December to work as quickly as possible to reclassify marijuana. On Saturday, as the Republican president signed an unrelated executive order about psychedelics, he seemed to express frustration that it was taking so long.

Blanche said Thursday that the Department of Justice was “delivering on President Trump’s promise” to expand Americans’ access to medical treatment options. “This rescheduling action allows for research on the safety and efficacy of this substance, ultimately providing patients with better care and doctors with more reliable information,” he said in a statement.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/medical-mari ... 4b6c690268