More states legalize Pot 8) when for Oz?

[K]

[K]

[Skids]

Gee... I love beer.

[stui magpie]

^

I've gone off beer a bit, just mainly drinking Cab Shiraz.

Red red wine....................

[K]

Breast-Feeding Mothers Should Avoid Marijuana, Pediatricians Say

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/27/heal ... thers.html

http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/c ... .2018-1076

"∆9-THC was detectable in 34 (63%) of the 54 samples up to ∼6 days after last reported use..."

[Skids]

Australia Pushes for Easier Cannabis Access in Face of "Hidden" Opioid Epidemic

According to a recent report, opioid-related deaths in Australia have nearly doubled.

According to a separate report, opioid-related deaths in Australia nearly doubled from 2007 to 2016. The National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre at UNSW in Sydney released a report stating that 1,045 Australians died of opioid overdoses in 2016. Of the 1,045 opioid overdose deaths, 76 percent were attributed to pharmaceutical opioids.

https://hightimes.com/news/australia-pu ... -epidemic/

[Skids]

Very informative segment on the Landline show on ABC.

We really need our government to wake up to this.

We're being left behind by the rest of the world.... as usual

[think positive]

Went past a shop in Freo this morning, it said Marijuana medicine! Nearly changed sides of th3 road, thought I was in Denver!

[K]

[Nick - Pie Man]

So a millennial was elected into the ACT legislative assembly and the first thing he does is try to make his recreational drug habit legal ..

https://www.canberratimes.com.au/politi ... 503rs.html

[K]

Giant bricks of marijuana wash up on Florida beaches

https://www.theage.com.au/world/north-a ... 504of.html

[K]

This is what happens to a shy octopus on ecstasy

https://www.theage.com.au/environment/s ... 5055s.html

'Robert Malenka, a professor of psychiatry and neuroscience at Stanford University, who was not involved with this study, called for increased study of MDMA in an influential Cell paper in 2016.
...

Some people call MDMA "an empathogen" because "it reduces inhibition, it reduces social anxiety, it reduces the fear of social interaction", Malenka said. And because MDMA can curb hostility and anger, Malenka sees its value as a tool in neuroscience.

"I passionately believe we need to understand [what makes social interactions positive]," he said - nothing less than the "survival of our species" depends on it.
...

MDMA binds to a receptor for the molecule serotonin, a neurotransmitter that affects our mood. The receptor is like a vacuum at the end of a neuron that sucks up the serotonin molecules, Malenka said. MDMA flips the pump from a vacuum to a leaf blower, releasing more serotonin.

... "Octopuses are special because they are separated from humans by over 500 million years of evolution, but they are able to do so many complex, interesting cognitive behaviours," Dolen said.

They also appear to have something in their brains like the serotonin receptor in humans. ...

Considering the hugging behavior and similar part of the gene, the authors say there's evidence "the neural mechanisms subserving social behaviors exist in O. bimaculoides". Put another way, despite the 500 million years of separation between humans and octopuses, and our very different brains, what rewards us for social activity probably rewards octopuses, too.

Malenka, who called the approach in this report "very clever", said he was not totally convinced that serotonin and its receptor explained this behaviour. The genetic evidence is suggestive, but MDMA also interacts with neurotransmitters such as dopamine, he pointed out.

"Without a test like blocking serotonin and then retesting the effects of MDMA, you can't be sure that this is the mechanism," Bedi said. "However, I think that it is not an unreasonable hypothesis." '

[HAL]

Do you?

[think positive]

With all the pricks in prison, they felt the need to drug an octopus

Would have been a million volunteers

[K]

What Happens When You Give L.S.D. to an Elephant?

Humans keep finding ways to justify giving drugs and alcohol to animals.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/24/opin ... phant.html