TalkingDrugs | Drug Information, Issues, Stories & News

The Rise of Psychedelic Capitalism: Work Harder and Be Happy About It?

Once stigmatized and outlawed, psychedelics are moving from the counterculture to the mainstream. From Prince Harry’s use of psilocybin to National Football League quarterback Aaron Rodgers’ adventures with ayahuasca, our…

Jamie Brownlee

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May 20, 2025

Drug Policy Drugs & Development

‘Bulldozer Justice’ Unleashed on India’s Alleged Drug Consumers

In India, bulldozers have become more than just a construction tool, they are a symbol of the country’s approach to extrajudicial punishment. For years, India’s politicians have engaged in “bulldozer…

Ryan Hesketh

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May 17, 2025

Cannabis Drug Policy

Chaos as Health Minister Tried to Ban Cannabis Edibles in South Africa

After trying to unilaterally ban cannabis edibles in South Africa, and having this decision reversed by the President in late March, Minister of Health Aaron Motsoaledi has vowed he will…

Daniel Itai

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May 16, 2025

Latest Stories

Cannabis Drug Harm Reduction

Regulating Cannabis Vapes in Brazil: A Matter of Health and Coherence

Paulo Thiessen

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May 15, 2025

The regulation of cannabis in Brazil is progressing rapidly. In a country where over 7.7% of the population has reported…

Opioids

Is Fentanyl in All Drugs? New Study Challenges Common Myth

Patrick McConnell

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May 2, 2025

Incessant reporting on fentanyl and related deaths have created a reality where people using drugs in British Columbia (BC) fear…

Drug Policy Drug Trafficking Opioids

How Patients Became Collateral Damage in Mexico’s War on Fentanyl

Javier Trevino Rangel

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Apr 30, 2025

The current fentanyl crisis in the United States has had various and powerful consequences for Mexico. In the past month,…

Drug Policy Drugs & Development

“Matter of Life or Death”: The Public Health Costs of Disrupting US Aid in Africa

Armand Nsababaganwa

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Apr 30, 2025

On 20 January, American President Donald Trump signed an executive order initiating a 90 day freeze and review of all…

Language matters.

The words we use to describe drugs and the people that take them has a real and deep impact. From stigmatising labels, to being accused of murdering someone,

This month, we’re bringing together our stories that focus on on how language can shape our lives and futures.

View All Posts

Drug Policy Psychedelics

Counting Down: PsychedeliCare Launches Citizen’s Campaign for Psychedelic Therapy

Ryan Hesketh

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Mar 21, 2025

12 months, three proposals, one million signatures. That’s the target so that this time next year, the European Commission may…

Drugs & Gender

Latest Report Highlights Small Drop in World Female Imprisonments

André Gomes

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Feb 26, 2025

A new report by the Institute for Crime & Justice Policy Research (ICPR) at Birkbeck University revealed that over 733,000 women…

Other Drugs Psychedelics

“Magic Mushroom” Vapes: A Capitalist Fad of the Psychedelic Renaissance

Dennis Walker

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Feb 19, 2025

The ‘shroom boom’ has yielded the global market all manner of ways to consume the enigmatic and ancient ‘magic mushroom’.…

Drug Trafficking Stimulants

After Assad; What Next for Syria’s Captagon?

Narcosis

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Jan 14, 2025

As Bashar al-Assad flees for Russia, Syrian rebel groups – primarily the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) – have…

Drug Policy

COP16: How The Global Drug War Drives Harms for Indigenous Peoples and the Environment

Paula Graciela

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Dec 18, 2024

This October was the Conference of the Parties (COP) 16 to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Cali, Colombia,…

Resources

Drug Harm Reduction Other Drugs

Alpha-PVP: What Is It, and Key Harm Reduction Tips

Noor Vissram

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Oct 23, 2024

Alpha-PyrrolidinoValeroPhenone (also known as alpha-PVP) is a relatively recent New Psychoactive Substance (NPS) in global circulation. While previously prominent in…

Drugs & Gender Psychedelics

We Need More Research into Ketamine Use By Women and Gender-Diverse People

Isabelle Gius

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Oct 21, 2024

On 20 June, in honour of World Psychedelics Day, the Women and Harm Reduction International Network (WHRIN) and TalkingDrugs published…

Drug Policy Drug Trafficking Drugs & Development

How to Regulate Drugs in the EECA Region, According to Civil Society

André Gomes

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Aug 29, 2024

While the current international drug control conventions establish a global consensus, alternatives are increasingly being adopted: there is decriminalisation in…