MJ moment

Studies demonstrating the therapeutic benefits of psychedelics could be leading more people to experiment with substances like psilocybin, a top federal drug official said in a new interview with Marijuana Moment. And when it comes to cannabis research, she said scientists should be allowed to investigate products from state-legal dispensaries instead of using only government-grown plants. National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) Director Nora Volkow also spoke in the Thursday interview about the need to decriminalize drug possession and her surprise that teen marijuana use has not increased as more states enact legalization. Volkow, who closely monitors emerging drug trends, particularly among youth, also discussed a new federal survey reveling that fewer college-aged adults are drinking alcohol and are instead opting for psychedelics and cannabis. Monitoring the Future (MTF), a long-term epidemiological study, is meant to highlight patterns of behavior for the use of legal and illicit drugs, and its latest iteration found that past-year use of psychedelics like psilocybin and LSD among college students nearly doubled from 2019 to 2020, from five to nine percent. At the same time, past 30-day alcohol use for that group decreased from 62 percent in 2019 to 56 percent last year. Volkow said the coronavirus pandemic likely helps explain that trend, as young people tend to drink alcohol more in social settings, and the health crisis ground much social interaction to a halt. But what's to account for the abrupt change in behavior when it comes to psychedelics? The survey itself doesn't speculate about the reason for the shift, but Volkow says the surge in research and early clinical trials showing signs that these substances hold significant therapeutic value is a factor. She said people "start to discover the potential that these drugs have," and they gravitate toward them. Mainstream media outlets have…

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Source : Top Federal Drug Official Discusses Rise In Psychedelics Use And The Need To Study Marijuana From Dispensaries

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