Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Maryland Legislature Considers Relaxing Laws On Psychedelic Drugs
The Baltimore Sun: Maryland May Ease Access To Psychedelic Drugs
Maryland residents may someday be able to legally use certain natural psychedelic drugs if the legislature takes action on a report delivered this week. (Hille, 11/7)
The Colorado Sun: Colorado’s Governor Wants To Legalize An African Psychedelic, But There’s A Conflict Over Where Ibogaine Is Sourced
Gov. Jared Polis wants to push a new substance into Colorado’s psychedelic medicine program — some say pushing too hard. And a member of a state psychedelic advisory board has called for an investigation into the governor’s psychedelic adviser, accusing him of “tampering” with the rulemaking process for where to source the medicine, The Colorado Sun has learned. (Capps, 11/7)
WCMH: OSU Researchers Launch Psychedelic Drug Education Project
As more people experiment with psychedelic drugs, researchers say that without clear dosage guidelines, users can find themselves in dangerous or overwhelming situations. Now, Ohio State is stepping up with a new training program to help first responders and health care workers handle those emergencies. (Bender, 11/6)
In other health news from across the U.S. —
The CT Mirror: CT Bids $13M To Purchase Prospect Medical’s Waterbury Hospital
UConn Health, Connecticut’s flagship academic medical institution, bid $13 million to purchase Waterbury Hospital from Prospect Medical Holdings, the California-based operator that filed for bankruptcy protection in January. (Golvala, 11/7)
Politico: The Medicaid Program That Saved Money, Turned People’s Health Around — And Got Killed
The end of the Healthy Opportunities Pilot in North Carolina is a story of how MAHA might actually be realized — or not — at the state level. (Rab, 11/8)
North Carolina Health News: NC Launches Teams To Help People With Mental Illness Leaving Prison, Jail
Trying to get back on one’s feet in the community after leaving prison or jail is rarely easy. People often face steep hurdles finding housing, employment and health care. For those with serious mental illness, the transition can be even more difficult. (Crumpler, 11/10)
El Paso Matters: El Paso Integrates Recovery In Criminal Justice System
Angelica Hernandez felt anxious in the days leading up to Tuesday, Oct. 28. But when she entered that familiar courtroom, the same one she had stepped into every month the past year Hernandez knew she was ready for the next step. Hernandez, 47, became the first person to graduate from El Paso County’s INSPIRE Mental Health Court, spearheaded by Judge Selena Solis in the 243rd District Court. (Totiyapungprasert, 11/7)
The Texas Tribune: Texas Sues Roblox Over Child Safety Claims
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing the online gaming platform Roblox for allegedly exposing children to sexually explicit content and exploitation, the latest in a flurry of lawsuits from his office aimed at big business. (Klibanoff, 11/7)
San Francisco Chronicle: Dispensaries Are Recommending Cannabis For Pain And Sleep — With No Evidence, UCSF Study Finds
Cannabis dispensaries in the Bay Area often recommend specific strains and doses of cannabis to customers for sleep and pain — despite a lack of scientific evidence for most of the recommendations, according to a new UCSF study. Cannabis dispensary sales associates, or budtenders, in San Francisco and Alameda County most frequently recommend topicals for pain and edibles for sleep, often citing personal experience as their reason for their recommendation, the study found. Budtenders also strongly prefer indica strains for sleep. (Ho, 11/9)
The Washington Post: Rastafarian Goes To The Supreme Court After A Prison Shaved His Dreadlocks
By the time Damon Landor arrived at a Louisiana corrections center to serve out a sentence for drug possession in 2020, he had maintained his Rastafarian vow to let his hair grow for nearly two decades. Landor, whose dreadlocks almost reached his knees, revealed his faith to a guard and handed him a copy of a court decision that held that a federal law on religious freedom prevented Louisiana prisons from forcing Rastafarians to cut their hair. The guard threw the ruling in the trash. Despite pleas to the warden, Landor was handcuffed to a chair and held down by two correctional officers as his dreadlocks were forcibly sheared. (Jouvenal, 11/10)
