The drug of choice in How To Play a Necromancer’s Theremin is bookpowder: “ground-up pages of a reality-disrupting book called The Unfashionable Western Spiral.” The effects are similar to DMT, and the powder can be sucked up like an anteater, made into tea, or sprinkled into a blunt. Several of the characters in the novel—a “postpostpostpostmodernmodernisthyperrealitypataphysicalexperiment” written by Chase Griffin and Christina Quay, published by Maudlin House—are on a constant trip, slipping in and out of actuality, free from the constraints of “spacetimeconsciousness.”

“I stared in stoned awe at a beast with a body made of books, the head of an alligator, and teeth of broken piano keys. I gawked at a giant baby doll climbing the Eiffel Tower with thousands of spindly naked people flying out of its mouth. The visual journey ended with a serpentine creature whose lamprey mouth coiled around the door’s border as hundreds of tiny tendrils extended from the mouth’s center. The tendrils reached toward the baby doll and alligator book creature and its piano key teeth, while other nightmare beasts danced at their feet and in the background.”

If a plot must be attached to this book, it’s that a group of people—fans of a cult psychedelic writer named Rocco Atleby—go on a journey to all of his old stomping grounds, beginning in Paris and ending…?

It reminds me of a handful of books, though much weirder than all of them: Juan Emar’s Yesterday, where a married couple wanders around Santiago, Chile, seeing all sorts of beheadings and strange animals; Soledad Brother by George Jackson, in its frenzied attempt to write its way out of a cage; The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, self-explanatory; Mount Analogue by René Daumal and Exploits and Opinions of Dr. Faustroll, Pataphysician by Alfred Jarry, both of which can be put into the same unidentifiable category.

How To Play a Necromancer’s Theremin is Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, if Wittgenstein dropped the act. “Synthesis is not a merging. It should be renamed Step Fucking Three. Step Fucking Three is the solidification of bifurcation. Step Four, Parentheses, is when the cooperation near the center begins to get gunked up with the system’s own inherent unsustainability. And then comes Paralysis, which we already talked about.”

There’s reference to glossolalia, or speaking in tongues—described as “the spontaneous discovery of the universal text that exists just below our layer of actuality.” Also, in case you’d forgotten or never knew, a theremin is an electronic musical instrument that can be played without any physical contact.

For those of you that read High Times’ WEIRDOS column, I imagine this book will put a smile on your face because it’s chock-full of rants and raves, some of which touch upon the same subjects we’ve covered.

“What a journey it’s been. It’s one narc after the next. These narcs keep approaching me and asking if I needed an archetypal old man in my life. What happened, by the way? Why did we stop using the word narc? Do we think narcs don’t exist? And that there’s no such thing as psy-ops? And that people from the bad side are unable to pose as a member of your good side? Why are all of us so nervous about admitting that psy-ops are real? Do all of us believe that psy-ops conspiracy fuckery is equal to lizard people and nanobot vaccines? The GSN blasted its classic rotten archetype, fnordz, holomultigraphic interfacing proscenium arch eristic analytical overlays.”

The book also adds a lot of unnecessary z’s to the ends of words, like the cannabis industry—a match made in trippy drippy, goopy plasmate, phantasmagorical heaven. It can seem overwhelming, until you start to go with it. Then, like all expeditions, including regular ol’ boring life, the words begin to prove themselves kind and rather inviting. How To Play a Necromancer’s Theremin is a step in the right direction toward breaking down the walls of what’s considered “normal” and “acceptable,” in literature and beyond. Hats off to those traveling in a formless state.

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Individuals in a survey reported greater gratitude, nature relatedness, and nature appreciation after embarking on an ayahuasca retreat experience. 

The active chemical in ayahuasca is DMT (dimethyltryptamine) and it also contains monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) that play a role. The survey respondents rated effects on several scales to determine which effects were most prominent.

PsyPost reported Tuesday that 65 participants were observed who attended a well-known ayahuasca retreat in Costa Rica frequented by Americans. The study, “Effects of Ayahuasca on Gratitude and Relationships with Nature: A Prospective, Naturalistic Study,” was published recently in the Journal of Psychoactive Drugs. The study was led by Jacob S. Aday and a team of researchers associated with Central Michigan University in Mount Pleasant, Michigan. Aday was assisted by Emily K. Bolesch, Alan Kooi Davis, Sarah E. Domoff, Kyle Scherr, Josh D. Woolley, and Christopher C Davoli.

Sixty-five participants attended the Soltara Healing Center in Puntarenas Province, Gigante, Costa Rica. Soltara is an all-inclusive ayahuasca retreat center where attendees pay to participate in ayahuasca ceremonies with indigenous Shipibo curanderos (plant healers) from Peru. It’s attracted celebrities such as former New York Jet and commentator Aaron Rodgers. As compensation for their participation, study authors entered participants in a drawing to potentially win $100.

The participants stayed at the Soltara center for 5-12 nights and participated in 2-7 ayahuasca ceremonies during their stay. Participants received an email with the study survey, and in it, they completed assessments of gratitude using an Appreciation Scale, relatedness to nature using a Nature Relatedness Scale, and the appreciation of nature using an Appreciation of Nature Scale.

The second survey contained the same three assessments from the first one, plus more related to their ayahuasca experiences: mystical experiences during the ceremonies using an Mystical Experience Questionnaire, awe using an Awe Experience Scale, and ego dissolution using an Ego Dissolution Inventory.

Researchers observed that gratitude increased significantly after the retreat. Nature relatedness and appreciation of nature were also more pronounced after the retreat. These increases were more pronounced in participants who reported stronger mystical experiences.

“Here, participants completed validated surveys related to gratitude, nature relatedness, and nature appreciation one-week before, one-week after, and one-month after attending an ayahuasca retreat center,” the study reads. “Compared to baseline, there was a significant increase in gratitude, nature relatedness, and nature appreciation at the one-week and one-month follow-ups. Ratings of mystical-type experiences and awe, but not ego dissolution, during participants’ ayahuasca sessions were weakly-to-moderately correlated with these increases.”

Researchers were also able to learn several more things about the impact of an ayahuasca experience.

“The number of ayahuasca ceremonies attended at the retreat was not related to change in outcomes, underscoring the importance of the quality rather than the quantity of the experiences in post-acute change,” the study continues. “Lastly, participant age was negatively related to the occurrence of mystical-type experiences and awe, supporting literature indicating blunted psychedelic effects with increased age. In the context of study limitations, the results suggest that mystical-type experiences and awe occasioned by ayahuasca may be linked to prosocial changes in gratitude and relationships with nature that may be beneficial to mental health.”

Interestingly, the strength of ego dissolution experiences and the number of ayahuasca ceremonies attended were not associated with significant changes in the level of gratitude, appreciation of nature, and nature relatedness.

Other Effects of Ayahuasca

Many other potential uses for ayahuasca in therapy are being explored. A study published earlier this year, for instance, found that ayahuasca may help individuals become less narcissistic.

The findings, published in April 2023 in the Journal of Personality Disorders and based on a three-month evaluation of more than 300 adults, suggested that after “ceremonial use of ayahuasca, self-reported changes in narcissism were observed,” although the researchers did urge some caution.

“However, effect size changes were small, results were somewhat mixed across convergent measures, and no significant changes were observed by informants. The present study provides modest and qualified support for adaptive change in narcissistic antagonism up to 3 months following ceremony experiences, suggesting some potential for treatment efficacy. However, meaningful changes in narcissism were not observed. More research would be needed to adequately evaluate the relevance of psychedelic-assisted therapy for narcissistic traits, particularly studies examining individuals with higher antagonism and involving antagonism-focused therapeutic approaches,” the researchers wrote.

Another study published in the British Journal of Pharmacology in February explored how ayahuasca (shortened to AYA for the use in this study) and DMT interacts with serotonin receptors in the part of the brain that regulates fear.

In that study, ayahuasca was found to affect serotonin receptors in the infralimbic cortex of the brain, where fear is regulated.

With a better understanding of how ayahuasca impacts gratitude and a connectedness with nature, we can better understand how it could be applied in psychedelic-assisted therapy.

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On the industrial outskirts of Oakland, California, tucked among the timeworn facades of warehouses and workshops, there’s a building entrance so nondescript it defies capture by photography—not only would you never notice it if you walked right past it, you wouldn’t even be able to see it if you were looking directly at it. Security is a paramount concern for cannabis businesses operating in “The Town,” and thanks to a serendipitous quirk of forced perspective and pre-war architecture, would-be bandits would have an easier time robbing the Hogwarts Express. This is ideal for a business trying to prevent unwelcome visitors, but much less so for a visiting journalist with a faulty sense of direction and a penchant for getting stoned before big interviews.

In addition to being monstrously difficult to locate, once you step inside the building housing the corporate headquarters for James Loud Genetics, it gives the distinct impression of being—to quote Doctor Who—“bigger on the inside.” Blazing white, labyrinthine hallways with soaring ceilings (accented with large television monitors displaying high definition photos of different stages of the germination and tissue culture processes) connect to specialized, climate-controlled lab rooms, processing centers, and the plush lounge that serves as the studio for the James Loud Podcast.

The titular host of that podcast, James Loud, is the founder and primary breeder at James Loud Genetics, a cannabis brand with deep roots in the pre-legalization weed game.

Loud cracked his first seed in 1995, at the age of 14, and never looked back. Since then, he’s been exploring the bleeding edge of breeding techniques and technology, always staying true to his name and seeking the same Holy Grail—louder terps.

The son of an engineer, Loud’s process has always been rooted in experimentation and innovation, and in the early days of his breeding career—when police helicopters were still actively scanning for the telltale heat signature of a commercial indoor cannabis grow—he responded with a technological solution.

“I had a garage grow and we grew in octagons,” Loud says. “So we had vertical growing because we were worried about the footprint for the infrared from the helicopter. So we thought the footprint would be less so the heat signature would be less. And so we grew in these vertical grows where we had 26 plants per light, and they all grew towards that center light.”

With that problem more or less solved, he settled into the business of actually growing cannabis, with varying degrees of success at first.

“I really like Chem Dawg, so I grew some and it was just this wall of larf, it was terrible… outdoor it was phenomenal, indoor it was phenomenal in beds, but it wasn’t meant to be grown in a vertical system with a short veg [period], because it likes to stretch… The best thing for the octagon was GDP because it has a very short veg, so you can take something like GDP and veg it for seven to 10 days max and it still wouldn’t get to the light.”

Loud has made a lifelong career from cannabis breeding, a decision that has taken him on a decades-long personal and professional journey, with stops around the world, from Colombia to Spain and beyond, and it all began in the pages of High Times.

Like many of us who discovered cannabis before the advent of the internet, Loud found information and inspiration in the pages of this very magazine. One year after smoking his first joint at the age of 14, he read something that changed the trajectory of his entire life.

“There was a High Times article when I was younger called ‘The Million-Dollar Grow Room,’ and that was my favorite article growing up… it changed my perspective on growing. We had closet grows and stuff like that, but that article put things in the realm of financial possibility,” he says, then smiles a bit sheepishly and admits, “And I just love High Times.”

It’s a sentiment that’s proven to be mutual. James Loud Genetics has secured six High Times Cannabis Cup victories and was inducted into the High Times Seed Bank Hall of Fame in 2014.

“Now I want to do ‘The Billion-Dollar Grow Room, and you can only do that with seeds,” Loud says. “We can make a billion dollars with seeds, no problem.”

Considering the facility’s current production rate of roughly seven million seeds per year, $1 billion in revenue doesn’t seem that farfetched.

His decision to dive headfirst into the risky, unregulated world of clandestine cultivation immediately led him down the path of innovation and experimentation. And once again, High Times played a role in his journey.

“I got the Phototron, you know the ones that were in the back of High Times magazine,” he says with a smile. “The first time we grew, one of my friends fucked it up, he poured a whole gallon of fish emulsion and made the weed taste like salmon.”

But, of course, things got better.

“From the moment I got green bud, I loved the taste, the smells, everything about it including the high,” he says. “I was into all the different flavors, and that’s what’s always motivated my breeding.”

Loud is an experienced cannabis connoisseur, and as a breeder he’s all too familiar with the fickle winds of fashion—this year’s superstar strain is tomorrow’s forgotten fad. So it’s not terribly shocking that he’s a bit of a classicist when it comes to the cultivars he’s passionate about; you’ll often hear him talking about the big names of yesteryear, like Super Silver Haze and Romulan with deep reverence and love.

But there’s one particular cultivar whose haunting siren song still echoes tantalizingly to him from a not so distant past, and his eyes glisten with the light of a secret flame when he speaks her name: Cat Piss.

“That needs to be mentioned in the article, how much I love Cat Piss,” he says. “That’s my desert island strain… it’s super nostalgic, we got it in the ’90s, like mid ’90s.” 

For Loud, it was the first cultivar he ever smoked that passed what would become one of his go-to tests for gauging just how “loud” some weed is, the re-fire test.

“It’s the first thing that I really remember that you smoked it down to the roach, and you fired it up the next day or even a week later and it still tasted like Cat Piss,” he says.

Younger readers—those of you acclimated to cannabis with the sweet, approachable cake and candy flavors that dominate the current terpene landscape—may not realize that us late 20th century smokers once sought out weed that smelled like animal excretions. Both Skunk and Cat Piss were once towering giants in the minds of stoners seeking the strongest strain, highly prized for the intense intoxicating effects that came along with their raw pungency.

Skunk is undeniably the biggest name that emerged from that era; an amalgamation of three classic landrace cultivars; Acapulco Gold, Colombian Gold, and Afghani, that smelled just like its name. But if Skunk and its direct descendants are like The Beatles and The Rolling Stones—universally acclaimed, widely known, and indelibly linked to the era that produced them—Cat Piss is more like Grand Funk Railroad; equally popular during their shared heyday, but criminally underrated and less widely remembered in the present time.

Loud is setting out to change all that with a project that sits at the intersection of three of his overlapping passions, cannabis breeding, cannabis education, and Cat Piss, a documentary film about his breeding project to resurrect the strain with assistance from the original breeder, which he says will film “this year with a goal of releasing it later in the year.”

During the day of my visit he’s preparing to interview Steve DeAngelo—founder and former CEO of the pioneering cannabis dispensary Harborside—for yet another documentary project collecting the oral history of cannabis. This on top of his recently published book, a groundbreaking textbook on the technical nuances of cannabis breeding and tissue culture, Cannabis Breeding: The Art and Science of Crafting Distinctive Cultivars.

Loud is building a cannabis media empire, and his aspirations are on full display in the slick, professional design of his podcasting studio lounge, which is where the majority of our meeting takes place. It has an elaborate paint job that includes a graffiti-style mural, a large, backlit sign with his logo on it, a wall of Mason jars filled with seeds, a professional array of condenser mics on telescopic stands arranged at a chic wooden conference table surrounded by comfortable office chairs, and a fully stocked bar with everything from Japanese whiskey to cold Imperial ale in the fridge.

The show itself is a fun, informative space where drug war veterans swap stories and give each other their flowers (and/or concentrates) while they’re still alive. The vibe is casual but serious, because everyone involved takes the craft of cannabis cultivation very seriously, but they also tend to be very serious smokers and the James Loud Podcast studio is definitely the smoking section at this facility.

The conversation is wide ranging, often personal, and always entertaining. It’s like Charlie Rose meets Joe Rogan, only instead of asking his guests if they’ve ever smoked DMT, Loud asks them if they’ve ever smoked Cat Piss.

At a time when the outlaw past of this industry seems increasingly at odds with the hyper-regulated confines of its present and future, Loud provides a living bridge from past to present and a clear vision for the future.

“We’re slowly but surely becoming tomato farmers,” he says. “The price has gone down. People will be able to make a good living doing it still—obviously there are very successful tomato farmers—but the high prices associated with the black market are mostly long gone.”

The way he sees it, cannabis markets are simply maturing, the way all markets do.

“With mature markets, you see people trusting brands,” he says. “In these unstable markets it’s all about the latest and greatest. I look at it like a Top 40 playlist and there’s not a lot of things that stand the test of time… I think in the future brand trust is going to be a much bigger thing, instead of the latest and greatest thing.”

For Loud, that future is about using meristem tissue culture to secure clean, pathogen-free genetics and following his nose to the next facet of cannabis waiting to be expressed through purposeful breeding.

And when it comes to all the new players in the weed game, the ones who never experienced the wild rush of the bad old days of total prohibition? Loud feels like anyone who would subject themselves to the very different challenges of the legal weed game—drug war veteran or not—is a warrior in their own right.

He says his most recent visit to MJBizCon convinced him that the remaining players are all driven by passion, which he believes is the key ingredient to success.

“They aren’t window shopping, they’re really invested in this industry,” he says. “There’s hardship, but the people sticking it out are really passionate about the plant and this is what they’d be doing even if they weren’t getting paid and that’s me, I’m that guy. I’m gonna be breeding no matter what, I’m gonna be smoking no matter what, because this is what I was meant to do.”

This article was originally published in the May 2024 issue of High Times Magazine.

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As it turns out, your marital status could affect the extent to which psychedelics can lower your stress levels. And it appears that single folk may experience the greatest benefit of psychedelics. 

An analysis of data from the National Survey of Drug Use and Health revealed that individuals who had used psychedelics at least once in their lives, in general, had lower levels of psychological distress, according to research PLOS ONE. This association was most pronounced among people who were single and significantly weaker among those who were married, widowed, or divorced, PsyPost reports. 

There’s already loads of research that clearly establishes a positive correlation between psychedelics and mental health. The Department of Veteran Affairs is funding research into psilocybin and MDMA to treat PTSD and depression. The FDA recently recognized LSD’s potential to treat anxiety. And there’s a study suggesting that DMT may be an effective treatment for depression.

The research into the martial status and tripping looked at classical psychedelics like LSD, psilocybin, mescaline, and DMT, in addition to MDMA. 

The study’s author, Sean M. Viña, sought to explore the relationship between psychedelic use, marital status, household size, and psychological distress. He hypothesized that married individuals who have used psychedelics might experience reduced distress and that those in larger households would face increased distress. He also suspected that the beneficial effects of psychedelics on distress would be least pronounced among people with large households.  

Viña analyzed data from the National Survey of Drug Use and Health, which is an annual survey conducted across all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. This survey seeks to measure the pervasiveness of substance use and mental health issues in the United States. 

This analysis looked at data on people’s distress levels over the past month using the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale. The Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10) is a straightforward tool for measuring psychological distress. It consists of 10 questions about emotional states, each with five possible responses. The K10 can be used as an easy screening method to figure out one’s levels of distress (you can try it here). 

It also considered whether participants had ever used classic psychedelics like DMT, ayahuasca, psilocybin, LSD, mescaline, peyote, or MDMA. It also included information regarding participants’ marital status, household size, and other demographic details.

While single people won in some ways, and we’ll get to that, the results indicated that married individuals experienced lower levels of distress compared to single and divorced people. Married folks’ distress levels were actually comparable to widowed individuals. 

Interestingly, the divorced individuals had the highest levels of drug use, unrelated to the psychedelics, which included cannabis but also tobacco, cocaine, tranquilizers, inhalants, pain relievers, and heroin. They also were more likely to have started drinking at an earlier age. While some of that substance use could be in reaction to divorce, it also may indicate that, unsurprisingly, an unhealthy relationship with drugs could lead to relationship problems. 

Those who reported using classic psychedelics, in general, had generally less psychological distress. This was held true even after considering marital status and household size. But the connection between psychedelic use and reduced distress was strongest in single individuals. It was also significantly weaker in those who were married, widowed, or divorced. So, while being partnered or mourning a partner could lead to less stress in general, such folks may have a reduced benefit from taking psychedelics. 

Notably, and giving child-free people a reason to celebrate, those with the most stress had larger households. If a person using classic psychedelics was married, the connection between living in a large household and experiencing psychological distress was even stronger. 

“The results confirm the predictions that LCPU [lifetime classic psychedelic use] exacerbates the negative consequences of household size for the heads of households who are married, widowed, and divorced. The results also suggest that larger households are associated with harm regardless of marital status, but the negative consequences decrease for single psychedelic users as the household size increases,” Viña explained. 

Viña went on to conclude that: “Widowed psychedelic users may experience some benefits from living with more people, but these benefits decrease as the household size becomes too large. In contrast, among married or divorced psychedelic users, the distress caused by household size worsens as the family sizes increase. Finally, for widowed psychedelic users, there is a negative association between household size and distress, but this association decreases at a decreasing rate.”

So, while, if you’re windowed, it might not be a bad idea to move in with a friend, don’t move in with an entire family. 

“These results can be explained by the increasing responsibilities that heads of households face as their families grow, which are then exacerbated by psychedelic use. On the other hand, single individuals may experience a diffusion of responsibility as their family sizes increase,” Viña said. 

It’s important to remember that while studies like this are fascinating, we don’t always know if they’re demonstrating correlation or causation. In other words, while psychedelics could lead to less stress for single people, compared to overworked and exhausted moms and dads, on the other hand, it could just be that single people are more likely to have less stress and have a free weekend to spend tripping. 

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On May 17, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore signed two bills that will create a psychedelic task force, called the “Task Force on Responsible Use of Natural Psychedelic Substances,” which was established by the passage of House Bill 548 and Senate Bill 1009.

Effective starting on July 1, 2024, the two bills green light recruitment for the task force, which will consist of 17 members. Together they will research a variety of considerations for “natural psychedelic substances,” including psilocybin, psilocin, dimethyltryptamine (DMT), and mescaline (but not peyote).

The task force’s mission is to recommend law and policy changes in order to build a program that “enables broad, equitable, and affordable access to psychedelic substances.” Task force members will also assess the best research available to better understand public benefits and uses of “natural psychedelic substances,” as well as review potential risks, and examine the best courses of action to increase accessibility. 

Additionally, the task force is also required to study various barriers for healthcare practitioners and facilitators, such as insurance, licensing restrictions, zoning, advertising, as well as financial services.

Members of the task force will also need to review how to approach civil penalty punishments for “the planting, cultivating, purchasing, transporting, distributing, or possessing of or other engagement with natural psychedelic substances.” The bills also address the requirement of expunging Maryland residents who were convicted of nonviolent psychedelic-related crimes, as well as releasing those serving time in prison for such crimes.

The 17-member task force will include the following: a Senator representative, a House representative, the Secretary of Health (or Secretary’s designee), the Secretary of Disabilities (or a designee), the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (or a designee), the Director of the Maryland Cannabis Association (or a designee), a representative from either the University System of Maryland, Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research, or Sheppard Pratt (a private, nonprofit healthcare provider), a representative from a Native American tribe with experience in religious and/or spiritual use of psychedelics, a behavioral health expert, a substance use disorder expert, a chronic pain treatment expert, a psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy expert, a psychedelic researcher, an expert regarding care in underserved communities, a drug policy reform expert, a law enforcement expert, a patient suffering from conditions in which psychedelics can help treat, and finally a physician who has experience with the “appropriate use” of psychedelic substances.

The task force will be required to combine their findings in a report and sent to Moore and the general assembly no later than July 31, 2025. However, the task force will remain operating until December 31, 2026.

HB-548 was introduced earlier this year in January, and passed in the House by March 13, with a final passing in the Senate by April 3, while SB-1009 followed suite with an introduction in February, followed by passage in the Senate on March 18 and House passage on April 2.

While SB-1009 was still being considered in the Senate, sponsor Sen. Brian Feldman explained that cannabis has received its fair share of studies, and now it’s time to focus on the benefits fo other psychedelics. “This is actually an area that’s been studied far more than cannabis, whether for behavioral health issues related to post traumatic stress disorder, addiction broader behavioral health, depression issues, addiction, chronic pain, just another tool in the toolbox when you’re dealing with a treatments,” Feldman said in March, according to a WYPR news report.

University of Baltimore, Maryland pharmaceutical studies professor, Andrew Coop, explained that there are numerous studies being conducted and show a lot of promise with psychedelic-assisted therapies. “There are 54 clinical trials currently going on in Maryland and again, with a safety profile, almost unheard of showing including no overdose, no withdrawal, no hangover and no addiction,” Coop said. “There are clinical trials funded by the National Institutes of Health. The Food and Drug Administration has designated psilocybin a breakthrough therapy. The Department of Defense is funding psychedelic research for veterans. This shows the support of the federal government and the safety profile.”

Maryland legalized medical cannabis in 2013, while adult-use cannabis was approved by voters in November 2022, and sales began in summer 2023. Approximately 100 medical cannabis dispensaries were permitted to sell adult-use cannabis products at launch, and during the first week of recreational sales the state collected $20 million.

The mainstream status of cannabis continues to grow, and it’s affecting more than just consumers. Maryland Law Enforcement officer applicants are currently required to abstain from cannabis use for three years before being considered, but in January Montgomery County Police Chief Marcus Jones stood up against that rule. “I think in today’s environment, where we are with the legalization of cannabis, that has now restricted law enforcement agencies, particularly larger agencies, across the state,” said Jones.
In the meantime, Marylanders are already learning about the benefits of psychedelic-assisted therapy firsthand. Businesses such as Inner Path Wellness, based in Baltimore, Maryland, are offering an outlet to experiment with psychedelics as a treatment. Patient Tim Hamilton provided an oral testimony to the General Assembly on March 14 about the efficacy of such treatments. “They saved my life and it’s made me a better husband, a better father, and a better person,” Hamilton said. “It can help millions of people.”

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Detectives in Walnut Creek, California investigated a man and woman suspected of robbing a liquor store, and stumbled on a fully-functioning DMT lab at their home nearby in Brentwood. Police say that some of the suspects allegedly used explosive materials in the presence of a child to extract and synthesize DMT.

Danielle Kumerow, 42, and Maxwell Hayworth, 44, allegedly entered Hops and Scotch, a Walnut Creek-based liquor store, and robbed them for $50,000 to $60,000 worth of alcohol, in bottles. Walnut Creek, where the liquor store was located, is known for its upscale shopping. The liquor store robbery took place on March 23, at about 12:10 a.m., and video footage shows a man and woman loading bottles of liquor into a Nissan Frontier after cutting a hole into the wall, authorities said. They rented the Frontier ahead of the crime that took place, police said.

The Mercury News reports “the pair became suspects when a rental car used in the break-in was linked back to Kumerow, court records show. But when police showed up to their home on Shasta Daisy Lane in Brentwood, they were surprised to discover lab equipment associated with the psychedelic drug DMT, authorities said.”

CBS News reports that authorities say they found three containers of an explosive compound used in the process to make DMT. Upon learning about a possibly explosive compound, The Walnut Creek Police Department bomb squad was called in and determined that the compound in the containers was triacetone triperoxide, or TATP, which is a highly volatile explosive. DMT makers use TATP because it can be easily manufactured from readily accessible reagents and is extremely difficult to detect due to its  lack of UV absorbance, fluorescence, or facile ionization. 

The area in Brentwood was evacuated for safety as crews moved the containers of TATP to another location for detonation, while one container had to be detonated in place. All the detonations reportedly went safely.

Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office announced the operation last month. On the morning of March 26, detectives served a search warrant at a residence in the 800 block of Shasta Daisy Drive.

Johnathan McCarthy, 29, was also arrested and booked into the Martinez Detention Facility on an outstanding warrant for being a parolee at large, the Sheriff’s Office said.

Court records show that both suspects, Kumerow and Hayworth, are facing charges of alleged burglary, grand theft, manufacturing and possessing a controlled substance, and child endangerment. 

One of the suspects walked free after posting bail. Hayworth remains in jail with his bail set at $380,000, but Kumerow posted $250,000 bail and is a free woman while the case is pending. Both are due in court for their next hearing on May 13.

The Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office announced that they’d be open to tips about the alleged crimes that took place in the Brentwood home.

What DMT Labs Do

While the extraction process involved dangerous chemicals, the compound itself is found throughout nature and used by multiple cultures.

DMT or N, N-Dimethyltryptamine is a substituted tryptamine that occurs naturally in many plants and animals—including the human body—which is structurally similar to psilocybin and produces short, more intense hallucinations. At least one study has shown that the pineal gland has high concentrations of INMT, which has a role in the biosynthesis of DMT which is present in mammalian brains.

DMT labs create the compound in an attempt to produce the powerful, psychedelic effects. It can be smoked as a crystal, eaten or drunk as a tea, injected, or snorted. It’s a bit more than a party drug as the psychedelic experience provides an intense ego shift that can be a death-like purge or bring on an epiphany.

It appears in Amazonian plants used for ayahuasca like chacruna and Mimosa tenuiflora as (5-MeO-DMT) and in certain species of cacti, or in animals like toads as bufotenin (5-HO-DMT).

High Times typically reports on the potential for DMT in the field of medicine, such as its potential to treat depression or other conditions. In a study published in February in Nature Scientific Reports, researchers explored the effect that DMT had on the mental health of study participants. An analysis of the data from both studies showed that participants had a significant reduction in depression symptoms following the administration of DMT, suggesting that the drug might have potential as a quick-acting treatment with therapeutic effects on mood. The study also showed that the intensity of the psychedelic experience with DMT was linked to improvements in mental health.

Though less prevalent than cannabis or psilocybin, DMT labs pop up from time to time. Usually, however, the ability to manufacture it is simply not worth the risks involved.

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An Arizona church has reached a settlement in a lawsuit against the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and other federal agencies that allows the Indigenous religious organization to use the psychedelic brew ayahuasca for sacramental purposes. Under the agreement, the Church of the Eagle and the Condor (CEC) will be permitted to import, prepare and distribute ayahuasca to its members at religious ceremonies.

“The Church of the Eagle and the Condor has reached a settlement to secure its religious freedom and the right to use Ayahuasca as its sacrament,” the church wrote in an announcement of the settlement. “This is the first Indigenous-based church to receive recognition and protection.”

In 2022, the CEC filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Customs and Border Protection and the DEA after DHS officials seized shipments of ayahuasca intended for sacramental use by church members. The lawsuit also cited government threats that the church and its members could face prosecution under federal drug charges if they continued to import ayahuasca, which contains the psychedelic drug and Schedule I controlled substance DMT (N, N-Dimethyltryptamine).

The settlement allows the CEC and its members to obtain and use ayahuasca in paste or liquid form under an exemption to the Controlled Substances Act. The concentrate will then be diluted with water into a ceremonial tea by church members for religious ceremonial purposes held in Phoenix. The settlement permits the DEA to take samples of imported shipments to confirm they contain ayahuasca and no controlled substances other than DMT. 

“This Agreement permits CEC to import, receive, manufacture, distribute, transport, securely store, and dispose of ayahuasca solely for CEC’s religious purposes,” the settlement reads. “CEC may not conduct any of these activities for non-religious purposes, including but not limited to recreational purposes. CEC may not use any DEA registrations subject to this Agreement to import, receive, manufacture, distribute, store, or use any other controlled substance.”

Ayahuasca is used in South America by Indigenous cultures and folk healers in spiritual and religious ceremonies. In recent years, the psychoactive brew has gained popularity with American celebrities including Aaron Rodgers, Will Smith, Miley Cyrus and others, who have used ayahuasca to take advantage of its purported mental health benefits.

CEC Ayahuasquero (sacramental practitioner) Joseph Tafur, M.D. said in a statement that the ceremonial use of ayahuasca “is an essential sacrament for our church.”

“Our ceremony is rooted in the Shipibo Amazonian tradition which has been passed down by countless generations,” he said. “Now, in fulfillment of the ancient Prophecy of the Eagle and the Condor, this tradition has come to North America.” 

“I am honored to be an Ayahuasquero with the CEC, and bring to our ceremony the care, respect, and reverence that it deserves,” Tafur continued, adding, “Our ancestral practice will continue to support the community and nourish our holistic well-being.” 

Belinda P. Eriacho, a CEC board member of Diné and A:shwii lineages, said that the settlement with the DEA “reaffirms our right to practice our spirituality as we have always known. It is a recognition by the U.S. government and an important milestone in honoring and validating indigenous belief systems. Prior to contact, indigenous peoples have used sacred plant medicines for healing and ceremony since time immemorial.”

“Our relationship with our plant relatives has always been an extension of our worldview. This has been interrupted by the imposition of governmental policies that have suppressed our way of life and demonstrated religious intolerance,” Eriacho continued. “This settlement is a significant step and acknowledgment of our spiritual beliefs as original peoples of the Americas.” 

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The Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), a 34-year-old nonprofit research and educational organization “that develops medical, legal, and cultural contexts for people to benefit from the careful uses of psychedelics and marijuana,” announced in a press release on Monday that it “has partnered with the City and County of Denver to provide comprehensive training on psychedelic crisis assessment and intervention to the city’s first responders.” 

The Psychedelic Crisis Assessment and Intervention training was “commissioned by the Denver Psilocybin Mushroom Policy Review Panel (DPMPRP), a first-of-its-kind panel that was formed after the passage of Ordinance 301 in May 2019, which effectively decriminalized the personal use and possession of psilocybin mushrooms in Denver,” MAPS said in a statement. 

Per the press release, the training will cover topics including: “The history, usage, psychological and physiological response, and potential adverse effects of psilocybin ingestion”; “The legal considerations and implications of decriminalization and the role of first responders”; “The standards and protocols for effective psilocybin or psychedelic-related crisis response planning, training, and deployment”; and “The best practices and techniques for assessing, de-escalating, and managing psychedelic crises.”

According to the local publication Westworld,  the training program “became even more important in 2022, when Colorado became the second state (after Oregon) to legalize medical psilocybin use and the first state to decriminalize specific psychedelics, including psilocybin, DMT, ibogaine and mescaline.”

“Created as part of the 2019 voter initiative decriminalizing psilocybin, the Denver Psilocybin Mushroom Policy Review Panel took a brief hiatus in 2023 after Prop 122 passed,” Westworld reported this week. “But the panel is meeting again and is expected to take a leading position in Denver’s approach to its medical psilocybin rules.”

After Prop 122 passed in 2022, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat, signed the measure into law last year. The law directs “the department of revenue [to create] the natural medicine division for the purpose of regulating and licensing the cultivation, manufacturing, testing, storage, distribution, transport, transfer, and dispensation of natural medicine or natural medicine product between natural medicine licensees.”

The measure requires the natural medicine division to: “Regulate natural medicine, natural medicine product, and natural medicine businesses, including healing centers, cultivators, manufacturers, and testers, and issue licenses for such businesses; Promulgate rules necessary for the regulation of natural medicine, natural medicine product, and natural medicine businesses; and Perform duties necessary for the regulation of natural medicine, natural medicine product, and natural medicine businesses, including investigatory and disciplinary authority.”

Kevin Matthews, former President of the Denver Psilocybin Mushroom Policy Review Panel, celebrated the launch of the training program.

“I’m proud of my hometown for stepping into a national leadership role with this training. It represents a giant leap forward for public health and safety with psilocybin and natural medicines in Denver and is a perfect example of what cities can do to better integrate emerging psychedelic policies into their existing infrastructures. I’m looking forward to the city continuing its collaboration with MAPS to monitor outcomes and educate Denver residents on this exciting new issue,” Matthews said in a statement.

Sara Gael, a former MAPS Harm Reduction Officer, said the group is “honored and excited to collaborate with the City and County of Denver to provide this groundbreaking training program on psychedelic crisis assessment and intervention.”

“We believe that this program will equip first responders with the necessary knowledge and skills to handle psilocybin and psychedelic related crises in a safe and compassionate manner and ultimately improve the health and well-being of the community. This program is also a testament to the progressive and visionary leadership of Denver, which has taken a bold step to decriminalize psilocybin and create a model for other cities to follow,” Gael said.

MAPS said in the press release on Monday that its “training aims to enhance the knowledge, attitudes, and skills of first responders to quickly recognize and effectively respond to emotional and behavioral crisis incidents involving psilocybin and other psychedelics.” The group also said that the “Denver Harm Reduction training initiative has been well received by the City of Denver leadership, who recognize the importance and value of providing first responders with the necessary tools and skills to handle psychedelic-related crises in a safe and compassionate manner.”

“The program also seeks to enhance responder safety and reduce risk and liability in situations where individuals are experiencing a psychedelic-induced crisis,” the group explained. “After three years, a team of over 20 MAPS and subcontracted professionals with backgrounds in law, medicine, psychiatry, mental health, neuropsychopharmacology, law enforcement, crisis response, quality improvement, and education developed the curriculum. The final training is customized for law enforcement, mental health, and emergency medical service personnel and will be delivered through asynchronous videos and corresponding assessments.”

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The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) posted a notice on the Federal Register on Jan. 3, which includes the most recent breakdown of Schedule I Substances in its 2024 aggregate production quotas (APQ), as well as a wide variety of public comments and DEA responses.

According to a Federal Register article published in November 2023, delta-9 THC (referred to as “d-9-THC” on the list) included a proposed amount of 900,610 grams for 2024. Now, the 2024 APQ includes a delta-9 THC of 1,523,040 grams. In comparison to last year, the established quota for delta-9 THC in 2023 was listed at 384,460 grams, while the revised quota amount was increased to 628,460.

According to the same November 2023 Federal Register article, the proposed amount of “all other tetrahydrocannabinol” was listed at 790,010 grams. Now, the 2024 APQ lists the THC quota at 1,166,130 grams. In an October 2023 APQ adjustments report, the DEA listed general THC at 15,000 for 2023 established quotas, and 350,000 for proposed revised 2023 quotas.

The DEA also included a request for 20,000 grams of psilocybin (which was established in October at 8,000 grams but increased to 15,000 grams). DMT (5-Methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine) was also listed at 3,000 grams in October and November 2023, but was updated to reflect an increase to 11,000 grams in the most recent January 2024 report.

Production goals for other substances such as marijuana (6,675,000 grams), marijuana extract (1,000,000 grams), psilocin (24,000 grams), ibogaine (150 grams), MDMA (12,000 grams), and mescaline (1,200 grams) saw no changes between November 2023 and now. Over time, the DEA has gradually increased the quota for many of these substances due to increased interest.

In the November report, the DEA explained its expectation for this trend. “There has been a significant increase in the use of schedule I hallucinogenic controlled substances for research and clinical trial purposes,” the DEA wrote. “DEA has received and subsequently approved new registration applications for Schedule I researchers and new applications for registration from manufacturers to grow, synthesize, extract, and prepare dosage forms containing specific Schedule I hallucinogenic substances for research and clinical trial purposes.”

The public comment portion of the report was compiled of 4,699 public comments “from DEA registrants, people with chronic pain, patients with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), pain advocacy associations, U.S. professional associations, U.S. nurses, the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, the Australian ADHD Professionals Association, the ADHD Foundation Australia, and others.” Those comments varied in topic, from opioid drug shortages, stimulant drug use in both the U.S. and Australia, and more.

In one of the comments, three manufacturers requested that the proposed APQ for “dexmethylphenidate (for conversion), lisdexamfetamine, and psilocybin be established at sufficient levels for manufacturers to meet medical and scientific needs.” Additionally, the DEA also received quota applications “for 4-Anilino-N-phenethyl-4piperidine (4-ANPP), all other tetrahydrocannabinol, delta-9- tetrahydrocannabinol, dimethyltryptamine, fentanyl and pentobarbital.”

Another public comment referred to the religious use of Schedule I substances (specifically “psilocin, psilocybin, mescaline, ibogaine, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), 2-(4-Iodo-2,5-dimethoxyphenyl) ethanamine (2CI), dimethyltryptamine (DMT), 5-methoxy-NN dimethyltryptamine (5-MeO-DMT)”). In one case, the Native American Church requested that the APQ for mescaline (aka peyote) be increased for their use, and allow its planting in the wild due to shortages. The commenter claimed that the DEA “has disregarded their legal religious use of psychedelics as a factor when setting the production quotas of these substances,” and requested a hearing if the agency does not grant their requests. The DEA’s response didn’t address the statement, and only wrote that the DEA has worked with indigenous communities in the past.

Another request included listing the fruiting bodies that contain psilocybin and psilocin, as well as “peyote buttons containing mescaline,” in the quotas, rather than just the pure chemicals. However, the DEA responded by stating that the APQ listings are based on the Controlled Substances Act and it will continue to label them in accordance with the act. Also technically, peyote is categorized separately from mescaline.

The DEA recently issued a warning to the state of Georgia for independent pharmacies selling low-THC cannabis oil products. “All DEA registrants, including DEA-registered pharmacies, are required to abide by all relevant federal laws and regulations,” a letter sent to pharmacies in December 2023 stated. “A DEA-registered pharmacy may only dispense controlled substances in Schedules II-V of the Controlled Substances Act. Neither marijuana nor THC can lawfully be possessed, handled, or dispensed by any DEA-registered pharmacy.”

Georgia pharmacies officially began selling low-THC cannabis oil in October 2023. At the time, only three pharmacies received a license to sell cannabis with less than 5% THC, although there are more than 400 independent pharmacies that could be a part of the program throughout the state.

With substances like fentanyl rising as one of the most common sources of overdose death last year, it’s imperative that research on the benefits of cannabis, psilocybin, DMT, continue to progress.

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The Arizona Department of Revenue recently released new data about cannabis sales reported for the months of June and July.

Medical cannabis sales started in Arizona back in December 2012, while recreational cannabis sales started in Arizona in January 2021, but recent data shows that both industries have been experiencing a gradual decrease in sales.

For medical cannabis during the month of June, sales dipped to $28 million followed by a downward trend of $26.1 million in July, which the Arizona Mirror reports as the lowest sales number for medical cannabis since recreational sales began. Within the past 30 months, medical cannabis sales have only fallen below the $30 million mark five times—all of which were recorded in 2023. This includes the months of January, February, May, June, and July, while sales in March and April remained above $30 million.

The highest amount of medical cannabis sales that the state has collected in its history of sales was in April 2021 with $73.4 million, and other monthly sales data shows a decrease in sales, such as July 2022 with $40 million.

These steady decreases in medical sales are seen alongside slight increases in recreational sales. In March 2023 recreational sales reached $99.9 million, while April recreational sales hit $90.1 million. However, June sales data shows a decrease to $85 million, followed by $77 million in July.

The total amount of money collected from total cannabis sales in 2022 was $1.4 billion (medical brought in $500 million, and recreational hit $9.50 million). Since January 2021, the state has collected $1.5 billion in medical cannabis sales, while recreational sales made more than $2.2 billion within the same time period.

Year-to-date data shows that so far between January-July, Arizona has collected a total of $207 million in medical cannabis sales, and $621 million in recreational cannabis sales.

So far, the data reviews how recreational cannabis has reached new heights while medical cannabis sales gradually decrease, but both markets have been trending downward overall since March 2023.

Data for state excise taxes show that recreational cannabis has generated more than $208.2 million in 2023 (so far), which is an increase compared to excise tax data for 2021. The department shows that adult-use cannabis generated $32.9 million over the course of 11 months, followed by $132.8 million in 2022. In overall cannabis excise taxes, Arizona has collected more than $360 million.

State law requires that one third of cannabis excise taxes go toward community colleges, while 31% goes toward public safety as well as law enforcement and fire departments. Additionally, 25% is given to the Arizona Highway User Revenue Fund, which is distributed to various cities and towns to improve highway construction and other related expenses. Finally, 10% of cannabis taxes are put into the justice reinvestment fund, which can be used for various substance abuse programs, workforce development, but also to accomplish other goals such as helping residents expunge their criminal records.

Cannabis patient card numbers are collected by the Arizona Department of Health Services, which recently reported that there were 126,938 cardholders in July, and 124,496 in August. The state’s highest number of cardholders was recorded in January 2021 with 299,054 patients. The department also shared that during the month of August, medical cannabis patients bought 4,719 pounds of various cannabis products. Between January and August, patients have purchased 37,979 pounds.

Even though medical cannabis sales have decreased, it hasn’t stopped patients from using it to treat their various medical conditions. In March, a bill was introduced to add autism and post-traumatic stress disorder to the list of qualifying conditions, and was passed by the House in June.

A year ago in 2022, more than 1,450 Arizonians were pardoned from their past federal cannabis possession convictions between 1992-2021, as directed by the Executive Order announced by President Joe Biden. According to Arizona attorney Jonathan Udell, this was a welcome change for people whose convictions have been on their record for decades. “I think there’s a lot of people out there that really feel the sting of being branded a non-law-abiding citizen,” Udell said. “And this sends a very big message to those people that you’re not a bad person because you smoked a plant one time that grew out of the ground or possessed some grass in your pocket.”

While the industry keeps a close eye on the performance of both medical and recreational cannabis, other substances being researched for medical use are also continuing to grow. Earlier this year in May, an Arizona veteran was facing prison time for trying to treat his cluster headaches with DMT. “It’s the worst pain I’ve ever felt in my life,” Laetzsch said about the headaches. “Nothing helps the headache as well as DMT when I’m actually having it. It will abort the headache immediately. A small hit will abort the headache for about an hour to an hour and a half. If I take a bigger hit it can last longer but some of the headaches last a few hours so I would have to take a few hits during that episode. But, I would be pain-free. It wasn’t even a psychoactive amount that I smoked to abort the headache.” Currently, DMT is illegal in Arizona.

Psilocybin is also illegal in the state, although recent legislation has been introduced to allow research to be conducted on the substance.

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