Researchers in the United Kingdom have detected the presence of the powerful sedative xylazine in cannabis vapes and illicit pills taken to treat pain, insomnia and anxiety, putting people who use the tainted drugs at risk of overdose or other serious health consequences. The prevalence of xylazine has been growing since 2022, according to researchers at Kings College London, when the first overdose death from the drug in the U.K. was identified.

 Xylazine, a powerful non-opioid sedative commonly used as a veterinary tranquilizer, has been found in the drug supply in the United States for years. It is frequently mixed with heroin or fentanyl and has been implicated in thousands of overdose deaths nationwide, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Although it is commonly found in the illicit drug supply, xylazine has not been approved for use in humans by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The drug is a powerful sedative that can cause overdose and death, often when mixed with other drugs. Additionally, injecting the drug can cause skin ulcers and resulting complications including infections that sometimes necessitate amputation.

Xylazine Found in Vapes and Illicit Pills

In the U.K., researchers have found xylazine in THC vapes and counterfeit prescription drugs including codeine, alprazolam (Xanax) and diazepam (Valium) tablets, according to a study published on Wednesday. The research identified xylazine in samples collected from 16 people in the U.K., including 11 who had died.

“Xylazine has already penetrated the U.K. illicit drug market and is not limited to heroin supplies. Urgent action is needed to protect both people who use heroin and the wider population of people who use drugs from its acute and chronic health harms,” the researchers wrote.

In nine of the 11 confirmed deaths, xylazine was found in combination with an opioid such as heroin or fentanyl. Researchers say the lack of such a combination in the remaining two deaths suggests that xylazine may have been part of an illicit tablet or vape.

“This is cause for alarm as a much wider population of people who use drugs beyond heroin users will be exposed to its harms,” said Dr. Caroline Copeland, senior author of the study, told The Guardian.

“We also know that most people who buy heroin will not intend to buy xylazine and this combination increases the risk of overdose,” Copeland added. “Xylazine was designated an ‘emerging threat’ to the United States and this public health threat is a growing concern for the U.K.”

Copeland added that the total number of deaths in the U.K. is probably even higher because xylazine stays in the body for only a short time. Since August 2023, the last death covered by the research, “we’ve had several more deaths so it is only continuing and increasing,” the researcher said.

Dr. Benjamin Caplan, M.D., the chief medical officer at cannabis consultations provider CED Clinic and the author of The Doctor-Approved Cannabis Handbook, says that the “discovery of xylazine in counterfeit codeine, diazepam (Valium) tablets, and recently within THC vapes — particularly those sourced from home-grown suppliers — is particularly troubling.”

“These counterfeit products, often look like products sold from reputable sources, and so they may appear safe, but in fact may pose a grave threat to unsuspecting consumers,” Caplan, who was not involved in the U.K. study, wrote in an email to High Times. “My professional experience includes dealing with the aftermath of such substances, including patients who have suffered or even lost loved ones to adulterated products that they purchased outside of regulated dispensaries, which are closely monitored to avoid any such contamination.”

A U.K. government spokesperson said that officials “are aware of the threat from xylazine and are determined to protect people from the threat posed by this drug and other illicit synthetic drugs.”

“We will not hesitate to act to keep the public safe,” the spokesperson said. “Following advice from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, we intend to make xylazine a class C drug meaning anyone supplying this substance will face up to 14 years in prison, a fine or both.”

But study co-author Dr. Adam Holland, a co-chair of the drugs special interest group at the University of Bristol, said the increase in drug contamination and overdose deaths is a clear sign that punitive drug laws are not working.

“We need to expand the range of harm reduction interventions available for people who use drugs, including drug checking and overdose prevention centers, to give them the opportunities they need to stay safe,” Holland said.

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The government of the United Kingdom has approved changes to the rules governing industrial hemp licenses designed to make it easier for farmers to grow the crop. The new regulations will support regulated farmers who grow hemp and encourage new investment in the industry while continuing to discourage illegal drug uses of the plant, government officials said this week.

In the U.K., industrial hemp (cannabis with less than 0.2% THC) can be legally grown outdoors by licensed farmers for the production of fiber and seed. Under the current rules, initial hemp cultivation licenses are issued for three growing seasons for a fee of £580 (about $727). License renewals cost £326 (approximately $409) and are also good for three years.

Under the new rules, which are slated to go into effect for the 2025 growing season, the length of time a hemp license is valid will be extended to six years. The amended regulations also allow farmers to apply for a hemp cultivation license with a deferred start date of up to one year, giving new growers more time to prepare for the new crop.

The new rules, which were developed in collaboration with experienced hemp growers, will also allow farmers to grow hemp anywhere on a licensed farm instead of limiting production to specific parcels of land. The change will give growers more flexibility in managing their operations and allow them to implement hemp into a crop rotation plan for their farms.

A Sustainable Crop for U.K. Farmers

The number of licensed hemp growers in the U.K. has increased significantly over the past 10 years, from only six in 2013 to 136 in 2023. Farming Minister Mark Spencer said in a statement that the new rules will give British farmers more opportunities to succeed by growing hemp.

“Industrial hemp has huge potential across the UK to unlock new revenue streams, expand our bioeconomy without permanently removing land from food production, and bring wider environmental benefits,” said Spencer, according to a report from FarmingUK.

“The licensing changes recognize industrial hemp as a field-grown agricultural crop and will enable more farmers to add hemp to their crop rotations,” he added.

Industrial hemp licenses do not allow farmers to utilize hemp flowers or leaves. Growers who wish to do so can obtain cannabis cultivation licenses, which allow for the indoor production of the plant for medicinal purposes. The dual licensing scheme is designed to allow for the cultivation of cannabis and hemp for permitted purposes while preventing drug misuse and protecting public safety.

“This government will always seek to reduce unnecessary regulatory burdens placed on businesses so that they can flourish and grow,” said Chris Philp, minister for crime and policing, the Farmers Guide reported on Wednesday. “The changes outlined today will help farmers and manufacturers in the UK to fully realize the economic potential offered through the safe and legal cultivation of hemp.”

The adoption of the new rules was supported by groups including the National Farmers Union (NFU). Jamie Burrows, chair of the NFU Combinable Crops Board, said in a statement that hemp agriculture can benefit farmers and the environment.

“It is one of the most sustainable crops farmers can grow, is a really good crop for capturing carbon from the atmosphere, has little to no input requirements and also has the ability to diversify farming businesses and crop rotations, especially when other break crops like oilseed rape are becoming more difficult for British farmers to grow due to increased pest pressure,” Burrows said this week.

The U.K. government has also requested that the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs provide guidance on whether the permissible amount of THC in industrial hemp can be raised from 0.2% to 0.3%, the standard in the United States, Canada, China and the European Union. 

The government also noted that it expects the nation’s police to continue to take a zero-tolerance approach to cannabis possession. Under U.K. drug laws, possession of cannabis can be punished by a fine and jail sentence of up to five years, with harsher sentences of up to 14 years behind bars for cannabis distribution convictions.

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A man swallowed over 110 grams of hash in a desperate attempt to avoid drug charges on the island of Bermuda in the Caribbean, but police simply waited for the hash to come out of the other end while he was taken to a nearby hospital for drug tests. Police counted a total of 53 “pellets” of hash that went entirely through his body. It’s a lesson learned that other vacationers should be aware of when planning a trip to any of the 181 islands of Bermuda.

The Royal Gazette reports that Kenneth Butterfield, 45, admitted importing the controlled drug into Bermuda when he appeared in Magistrates’ Court yesterday. The man originally faced charges of possession with intent to supply but that charge was dropped.

Butterfield said in court that he returned to the island from the U.K. on Feb. 16, 2023 and was arrested after refusing to be X-rayed by customs officials at L.F. Wade International Airport in Bermuda.

Butterfield was taken to King Edward VII Memorial Hospital to undergo a drug test to see if cannabis was in his system. While there, he passed 44 pellets and secreted an additional eight the next evening. They were found to be 110.76 grams of hash, called “cannabis resin” in the country.

Cindy Clarke, the Director of Public Prosecutions, said the going street value of the hash was high, and it would sell for more than $11,000 on Bermuda’s streets if sold by the ounce, more than $22,000 by the gram and more than $12,000 by the quarter-ounce. (A Bermuda dollar is equivalent to a U.S. dollar.) 

Magistrate Maria Sofianos ordered that reports be completed for Butterfield, who has previous convictions for similar offenses, and adjourned the case to March 28, 2024 for the man’s sentencing.

Butterfield will be sentenced next month, and he was ordered to surrender all travel documents and was released on $25,000 bail with one surety until that time.

Another man was arrested bringing cannabis “resin” aka hash onto the island in 2022. 

Tahva Virgil, 28, appeared in court in May 2023 and denied bringing hash and another substance containing THC into the island in February 2022. Prosecutor Taneka King said the hash had an estimated value of between $42,000 and $56,000. Senior magistrate Maxanne Anderson adjourned the case to a later date and released Mr Virgil on $25,000 bail.

Amounts of cannabis over 7 grams in the country often lead to jail time.

“Even if a person is caught with 7 grams or less of cannabis, that person’s residence, vessel or vehicle may be subject to search, if the police suspect other offences, such as possession with an intent to supply, or other criminal offences,” Bermuda’s Public Awareness Fact Sheet states about cannabis-related convictions. “It is still illegal to use, sell (supply), handle, or import cannabis and a person may be prosecuted for such offences.”

“If a person is caught with more than 7 grams of cannabis, that person may be arrested and prosecuted, resulting in a criminal conviction,” it reads.

Since Butterfield’s case involves over 100 grams, the charges most likely multiply.

Bermuda’s Struggle to Legalize Pot 

The island has attempted to legalize adult-use cannabis, but recent attempts failed, partly due to the fact that the nation is a British territory.

In September 2022, the U.K. prevented Bermuda from following through with its 2022 cannabis legalization bill, thwarting legalization in the island country.

The Royal Gazette reported that on Sept. 6, 2022, Bermuda Governor and Commander-in-Chief Rena Lalgie was “instructed” by United Kingdom Foreign Secretary to refuse to give royal assent to the Cannabis Licensing Bill. “The Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs concluded that the Bill, as currently drafted, is not consistent with obligations held by the UK and Bermuda under the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs and the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances. I have informed the Premier and relayed the UK’s continued desire to work with Bermuda on reforms within the scope of our existing international obligations,” Lalgie said.

Media reports that the denial of approval for Bermuda’s bill caused tension in relations between the U.K. and Bermuda.

In 1984, Paul McCartney and his wife Linda were busted in Bermuda after authorities found weed in a film canister, but he was fined just $100.

Last October, entrepreneurs Kim Caisey and Rickai Robinson launched the Bermuda Cannabis Association (BCA), the island’s first self-regulatory organization designed for the cannabis industry. They said the for-profit BCA’s mission is to foster a professional, responsible, and ethical cannabis industry in Bermuda.

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Pharmaceutical researchers in the United Kingdom are using the artificial intelligence tool AlphaFold to develop new psychedelic drugs, according to research released last month.

The research, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, shows that using an AI tool is as useful as experimentally produced protein structures, which can take up to years to investigate. The findings give further evidence of the utility of AlphaFold, an artificial intelligence tool developed by DeepMind in London.

“AlphaFold is an absolute revolution,” Jens Carlsson, a computational chemist at the University of Uppsala in Sweden, told Nature. “If we have a good structure, we should be able to use it for drug design.”

AlphaFold, a public database that holds structure predictions for nearly every known protein, has proven to be a significant advancement in biological research. With the tool, pharmaceutical companies can use the protein structure of molecules implicated in disease to identify and improve promising new drugs. But not everyone is sold on the AlphaFold AI technology as a tool for developing new drugs.

“There is a lot of hype,” said Brian Shoichet, a pharmaceutical chemist at the University of California, San Francisco. “Whenever anybody says ‘such and such is going to revolutionize drug discovery’, it warrants some skepticism.”

Shoichet noted that more than 10 studies have shown that predictions made by AlphaFold were not as useful as protein structures obtained with experimental methods such as X-ray crystallography when used to identify potential drugs in a modeling method called protein–ligand docking.

Protein-ligand docking is a method commonly used in the early stages of drug development that uses modeling to determine how hundreds of millions or even billions of compounds interact with key regions of a protein to identify substances that alter the protein’s activity. Previous studies have shown that when structures predicted by AlphaFold are used, the models do not do a good job of identifying drugs that are already known to bind to a particular protein.

Shoichet and Bryan Roth, a structural biologist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, led a team of researchers who came to a similar conclusion when they tested AlphaFold structures of two proteins implicated in neuropsychiatric conditions against known drugs. The researchers hoped to determine if small differences from experimental structures might cause the predicted structures to miss certain compounds that bind to proteins, but also make them able to identify different potentially useful compounds.

The researchers tested the hypothesis by using experimental structures of two proteins to virtually screen hundreds of millions of potential new drugs. One of the proteins, a receptor that senses the neurotransmitter serotonin, was previously determined through cryo-electron microscopy. The other protein’s structure, called the σ-2 receptor, had been mapped with X-ray crystallography.

The researchers ran the same screen with models taken from the AlphaFold database. They then synthesized hundreds of compounds deemed to be the most promising identified by either the AI-predicted or experimental structures and measured their activity. Significantly, the screens with predicted and experimental structures identified different drug candidates.

“There were no two molecules that were the same,” Shoichet said. “They didn’t even resemble each other.”

The researchers noticed, however, that the proportion of flagged compounds that altered protein activity in a significant manner –known as the hit rate– was almost identical for the two groups. AlphaFold structures identified the drugs that activated the serotonin receptor most strongly.

LSD, the drug commonly known as acid, works in part by activating the serotonin receptor. Many researchers are trying to identify drugs that work similarly without causing hallucinogenic effects so they can be used as antidepressants.

“It’s a genuinely new result,” said Shoichet.

Carlsson and his team of researchers found in research that has yet to be published that AlphaFold structures had about a 60% hit rate class of target called G-protein-coupled receptors. He said that having a tool that can reliably predict protein structures would be revolutionary for the drug development industry.

“It would be very convenient if we could push the button and get a structure we can use for ligand discovery,” he said.

But AlphaFold will not take the place of other methods of discovering new drugs. Predicted structures can be helpful for some but not all drug targets, and which applies is not always readily apparent. 

“This is not a panacea,” says Karen Akinsanya, president of research and development for therapeutics at Schrödinger, a drug-software company based in New York City that is using AlphaFold.

AI is not likely to replace experimentation for new drugs, but researchers say the value of AlphaFold and similar tools should be recognized.

“There’s a lot of people that want AlphaFold to do everything, and a lot of structural biologists want to find reasons to say we are still needed,” says Carlsson. “Finding the right balance is difficult.”

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A 3D printed chip which mimics human organ systems may allow for drugs to one day be tested without harming animals.

Pharmaceuticals are often if not always tested on animals before ever being administered to humans, though many drugs never make it that far in the process. In fact, when I interviewed Willy Myco the notorious YouTube educator on all things shroom-growing, he told me that he left a high-ranking position with a top pharmaceutical company to pursue YouTube content creation because he saw a room full of animals in cages who were slated to be incinerated after the tests were complete. 

This practice may eventually be a thing of the past thanks to a particular new invention created by in vitro pharmacology p.H.D. student Liam Carr and his fellow researchers at the University of Edinburgh. The 3D-printed device, which loosely resembles a translucent Connect-4 set, is referred to as a “body-on chip” and reportedly is able to replicate the way different medicines move through the human body by utilizing a process known as positron emission tomography or “PET scanning.” This essentially means that small radioactive chemicals are sent into the device which transmit images to small cameras. 

“This device is the first to be designed specifically for measuring drug distribution, with an even flow paired with organ compartments that are large enough to sample drug uptake for mathematical modeling, Carr said to the Guardian. “Essentially, allowing us to see where a new drug goes in the body and how long it stays there, without having to use a human or animal to test it.”

Now while this all may be too fancy of medical language for this humble journalist to fully grasp, Carr said the way the device works almost perfectly matches the rates at which drugs are taken in by different organ systems, allowing for accurate mathematical data to be gathered without the need for humans or animals to actually take the drug. 

“Using mathematic modeling, we have found that the rate of transfer into the organ compartments and the uptake of nutrients in vitro mimics in vivo organ results,” Carr said in a University of Edinburgh press release. “It’s been really exciting to be able to use PET imaging to modify the device and produce even flow through all organ compartments.”

According to PETA, over 110 million animals including “mice, rats, frogs, dogs, cats, rabbits, hamsters, guinea pigs, monkeys, fish, and birds” are killed every year in pharmaceutical testing. Many of these animals are subjected to barbaric forms of what most humans would consider torture as well including having holes drilled in their skulls, being forced to inhale toxic fumes, being immobilized in restraints for several hours at a time to name a few. Carr’s supervisor said in a press release that this new device could drastically reduce that number of animals over time, especially considering that a very low percentage of drugs actually progress past animal trials. 

“This device shows really strong potential to reduce the large number of animals that are used worldwide for testing drugs and other compounds, particularly in the early stages, where only 2% of compounds progress through the discovery pipeline,” said Carr’s supervisor Dr Adriana Tavares of the University’s Centre for Cardiovascular Science.

Carr and his fellow researchers have received funding in the form of £260,000 (which equates to a little over $287,000 USD) from the Medical Research Council to continue testing the device using sterile materials. The device can also reportedly be used to test other substances beyond pharmaceuticals such as aerosols, food and household products. 

“We’re delighted to be supporting Liam and the CVS team in the development of this ‘body-on-chip’, and we look forward to seeing the impact this novel device has on testing and progression of new compounds and drugs in the future,” said Dr Susan Bodie, Head of Business Development for the College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine at Edinburgh Innovations.

It was not immediately clear based on the press release when/if the device may be distributed or when, if ever, the number of animals used in experiments may begin to dwindle but as with all things medicine it is safe to assume it will be a little while before use of this device becomes widespread. But for the sake of the animals, consider my fingers crossed. 

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Although the United Kingdom (U.K.) legalized medical cannabis in 2018, it has not approved any clinical studies and is not widely available as a prescription through the country’s National Health Services (NHS).

A recent report from Sky News provided an update on the NHS, stating that no studies have been funded to help explore the efficacy of medical cannabis yet. However, U.K.-based Celadon Pharmaceuticals recently began a clinical trial featuring 5,000 patients who suffer from chronic pain.

Earlier this year in March, Celadon Pharmaceuticals became the first company in the U.K. to be licensed by the British government, called the Home Office, to sell its products to private clinics that are legally allowed to prescribe cannabis.

At first Celadon Pharmaceuticals conducted a preliminary study, examining 500 patients and found that cannabis did help reduce patients’ reliance on opioids, and also helped improve sleep. This past summer, both the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and the NHS Research Ethics Committee approved of the larger Celadon clinical trial.

“As an approved Trial, it is believed to be the only one of its kind in the U.K., and is designed to create a data set that will support doctors’ prescriptions of cannabis-based medicines, and in time enable potential reimbursement by the NHS and insurance companies,” the company wrote in a press release this summer. “It also enables General Practitioners to prescribe the medicine to patients in addition to specialist doctors, and organisations such as charities can advertise recruitment for the Trial. The Company believes this to be a major advance in enabling much wider access for patients, ultimately leading to the opening up of the UK market for cannabis-based medicines.”

Celadon’s co-founder, James Short, more recently told Sky News that first and foremost, his business is a pharmaceutical company, not a cannabis company. “We’ve got to try and get away from the stigma. When I first got involved in the business I was nervous to even talk about it with friends,” Short said. “But our job is not to get people high. It’s to give them a better quality of life.”

Numerous patients, especially parents of young patients, have spoken out in favor of medical cannabis, and called the government to take action so that it could be more accessible and affordable for families. Hannah Deacon and her son Alfie Dingley, Emma Appleby and her daughter Teagan, Emma Matthews and her son Louis, Matt Hughes and his son Charlie, and Karen Gray and her son Murray from Scotland are just a few recognizable names of U.K.-based parents fighting for their kids’ rights to cannabis and an improved quality of life.

Families outside of the U.K. such as Irish mother Vera Twomey had called upon their own governments for improved treatment opportunities for her daughter, Ava, who suffered from Dravet syndrome. Sadly, Ava passed away earlier this year in May at age 13.

While there are many firsthand accounts of medical cannabis helping patients, U.K. doctors still remain hesitant. “In the aftermath of what happened with opioids the medical community is understandably a little bit skeptical about introducing a new drug without really robust evidence,” said NHS consultant and British Pain Society spokesperson, Dr. Alan Fayaz. “The opioid epidemic has perhaps done cannabis a bit of a disservice because it’s tainted ground.”

Furthermore, Fayaz said that the 2018 law change coming before clinical evidence was clear has been harmful to the cause. “It creates this bizarre two-tiered system which actually doesn’t advantage the patients on the NHS and it doesn’t really advantage the patients in the private sector either,” Fayaz explained. “I think what we need is the research to be able to identify the role cannabis will play.”

Currently only patients who manage a private prescription are able to gain access, which is incredibly expensive. Sky News spoke with Chad Martin, who pays £300 per month ($378 USD) to obtain medical cannabis to treat his arthritis. “I am fortunate to be able to afford the drug. Others can’t,” Martin explained. Initially his doctor prescribed opioids to treat his condition.

His cannabis medicine of choice is a cannabis inhaler, which helps treat pain and inflammation flare-ups. “When the weather changes, arthritis can affect you regardless, but cannabis has worked way better than anything else I’ve taken in the past,” Martin said.

The Home Office launched its cannabis review in June 2018. At the same time, the Home Secretary also announced that Alfie Dingley and Billy Caldwell would be granted a license to legally obtain cannabis to treat their conditions.
In 2019, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) decided that there wasn’t enough evidence that medical cannabis can help patients who suffer from epilepsy. Later in March 2021, NICE updated its 2019 stance on medical cannabis, clarifying that “There is no recommendation against the use of cannabis-based medicinal products.” Two years later in March 2023, NICE approved Epidyolex, a CBD-based medicine, for those who suffer from tuberous sclerosis complex.

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A California man has been extradited to the U.K. to face manslaughter  charges over the death of a woman at his 2016 slapping therapy workshop. 

An investigation was opened in October, 2016 when 71-year-old Danielle Carr-Gomm was found dead in her hotel room at Cleeve House in Seend, Wiltshire. Carr-Gomm had recently attended a paida lajin retreat, which is a form of therapy from China wherein a person vigorously slaps certain parts of the body in order to expel certain toxins from the blood. 

60-year-old Hongchi Xiao, a man from California who was in Australia at the time of his extradition, was held and questioned in the U.K. in 2016 along with two other men in relation to Carr-Gomm’s death.

“Hongchi Xiao, 60, of Cloudbreak, California, returned to the United Kingdom from Australia on an extradition warrant and has been taken to Gablecross custody in Swindon where he was charged. This relates to the death of Danielle Carr-Gomm, 71, at Cleeve House in Seend in October 2016,” said local police to the Guardian. 

According to a BBC article on the subject of paida lajin, the head and joint areas of the patient are repeatedly slapped until they turn red or bruised. This is based around the ancient Chinese belief in “sha,” meaning that “toxins” from the blood vessels which appear during the course of paida lajin therapy in the form of redness or bruising at the slapping site are a sign of latent disease. Critics of this practice have pointed out, somewhat redundantly, that this is just the result of blood vessels breaking and skin bruising. 

According to ABC Australia, Xiao was previously investigated over the 2015 death of a seven-year-old diabetic boy in Sydney, Australia who had previously attended one of his workshops. Xiao received a 10-year sentence for his involvement in the boy’s death in 2019. An investigation revealed he told the boy’s parents that the boy would not need insulin or medical treatment for his diabetes if he attended the slapping therapy.

An Australian news outlet reported in 2022 that Xiao’s charges had been overturned after he appealed his case on the grounds that the evidence presented was inconsistent. He had served six years of his 10-year sentence at the time, and was out of jail a little over a year-and-a-half before his extradition 

Matthew Carr-Gomm, Danielle’s son, told the Guardian that his mother was diabetic but had difficulty injecting her insulin due to a fear of needles, thus leading her to seek holistic methods to treat her ailments. 

“She was always keen to try and find alternative methods of treating and dealing with her diabetes and was very interested in alternative and holistic medicine and therapies. I know she was desperate to try and cure herself of this disease. She always maintained a healthy lifestyle and was adamant that nothing would stop her from living a full life,” Matthew said. “In recent years, mum was in a great place with a partner, a lovely home, and was traveling the world. She had a lot of life left in her.”

A BBC reporter with a knee injury actually reported on her firsthand experience attending a paida lajin workshop in 2015, though she was actually beaten with bamboo sticks instead of slapped. 

“He felt around my knee for where he thought the “little clots” were and without warning, forcefully whacked my knee. He aimed for exactly the same spot each time. It was excruciating. I yelled in surprise. The bruises turned purple quickly and minutes later, I had to halt the blows,” said BBC reporter Pamela Koh. “The beating needed to continue for at least 20 minutes to be effective, I was told. I gritted my teeth between the sharp, swift blows but I had to tell him to stop. He resumed until it became unbearable again and I tried to sit through the full 20 minutes of pain.”

Incidentally, Koh reported that her knee eventually did get better but that the bruises took weeks to heal properly and she was unsure if her knee got better because of the therapy or because of the body’s natural ability to heal. A video of Xiao demonstrating paida lajin therapy can be found at this handy dandy little hyperlink. He was charged with manslaughter by gross negligence upon his return to the U.K. It was not immediately clear how much prison time he faced if convicted. 

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Some CBD products may not be all they seem, according to newly published analysis. 

Researchers from the United Kingdom assessed a variety of CBD-based liquid products –– tinctures, oils, e-liquids and beverages –– that are sold online in Britain. 

“Cannabidiol (CBD)-containing products are sold widely in consumer stores, but concerns have been raised regarding their quality, with notable discrepancies between advertised and actual CBD content. Information is limited regarding how different types of CBD products may differ in their deviation from advertised CBD concentrations,” the researchers wrote in an introduction to the analysis, which was published this month in the Journal of Cannabis Research.

The researchers purchased 13 aqueous tinctures, 29 oils, 10 e-liquids and 11 drinks on the internet.

“CBD concentrations were quantified in aqueous tinctures, oils and e-liquids via high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), and in drinks via gas chromatography-mass spectrometry,” they explained.

Ultimately, the researchers found that many of the products were misleadingly labeled. 

“Measured concentrations fell -25.7 ± 17.3, -6.1 ± 7.8, -6.9 ± 4.6 and – 0.03 ± 0.06 mg/mL below advertised concentrations for aqueous tinctures, oils, e-liquids and drinks, respectively,” they wrote in their explanation of the study’s results. 

“Oils deviated relatively less (-19.0 ± 14.5%) from advertised concentrations than e-liquids (-29.2 ± 10.2%), aqueous tinctures (-51.4 ± 41.4%) and drinks (-65.6 ± 36.5%; p < .01), whilst e-liquids deviated less than aqueous tinctures and drinks (p < .05), and deviation was not different between aqueous tinctures and drinks (p = .19). Only 5/63 (8%) products had measured concentrations within 10% of advertised concentrations,” the researchers added.

The researchers noted that, similar to previous studies on the subject, “few products had measured CBD concentrations within 10% of advertised concentrations, with most falling below advertised concentrations.”

“All individual product types deviated from advertised concentrations, with oils deviating least. These findings may be indicative of poor manufacturing standards, or that CBD undergoes degradation in consumer products,” they wrote in their conclusion. “This reinforces concerns over quality of CBD-containing consumer products and may highlight the need for improved regulation of such products.”

CBD products have proliferated considerably around the world in recent years, including in the United States. But although they are legal, those products are often woefully unregulated, leaving consumers in the dark as to what is –– and isn’t –– in the stuff that they are buying.

Last week, a bipartisan group of lawmakers on Capitol Hill reintroduced legislation that would place CBD products under the regulatory eye of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

“Despite being legally grown in the United States for nearly five years, hemp and hemp-derived CBD are still in a regulatory gray zone that puts consumers at risk and holds producers back,” said Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden, one of the co-sponsors of the bill. “The FDA says it needs Congress to act. We’ve got the bill to ensure equal and safe access to hemp-derived CBD.”

In a press release, the group of senators and representatives explained that currently “the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetics Act prohibits any new dietary ingredient, food, or beverage from entering the market if it has been studied or approved as a drug.”

“The FDA has the authority to exempt items from this prohibition, but has yet to exempt hemp-derived CBD, despite Congressional action to legalize its production and sale. By exempting hemp- derived CBD from the prohibition, the Hemp Access and Consumer Safety Act will allow FDA to regulate hemp-derived CBD like all other new dietary ingredients, foods, and beverages,” the press release said.

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The Scottish government last week called for decriminalizing possession of personal quantities of drugs in a bid to address the alarming rate of overdose deaths in the country, which is among the highest in Europe. In a policy proposal, the semi-autonomous Edinburgh government, led by the pro-independence Scottish National Party, said that eliminating criminal penalties for drug possession would “allow for the provision of safe, evidence-based harm reduction services.”

“The war on drugs has failed,” Scottish drugs minister Elena Whitham said at a news conference alongside fellow drug policy reform advocates Helen Clark, the former New Zealand Prime Minister, and ex-Swiss President Ruth Dreifuss.

“Our current drug law does not stop people from using drugs, it does not stop people from experiencing the harm associated and, critically, it does not stop people from dying,” Whitham added. “In fact, I would say today here, that criminalization increases the harms people experience. Criminalization kills.”

Europe’s Highest Overdose Death Rate

The death rate from drug overdoses in Scotland is three times the rate for the United Kingdom as a whole and the highest in Western Europe. Last year, there were 1,330 fatal drug overdoses in Scotland, a country of only 5.5 million people, according to government figures cited by the Associated Press. 

“Every single drug death is a tragedy, behind each statistic is a grieving family and community,” the Scottish government wrote in a policy paper published on Friday. “The scale of the drug deaths emergency in Scotland requires us to use every lever at our disposal, and we are clear that our actions to resolve this crisis must be comprehensive. This government’s position has consistently been that tackling the drugs emergency requires a concerted and radical public health approach.”

The Scottish government cited the drug policy in Portugal, where criminal penalties were eliminated in 2001 in favor of health-focused reforms that focus on drug treatment for those experiencing problematic use. The Scottish government said a similar decriminalization plan would free “individuals from the fear of accessing treatment and support, reducing drug-related harms and, ultimately, improving lives.”

Whitman also said that the government would like to see the law changed to allow for the establishment of supervised drug consumption sites, which have been shown to save lives and encourage those with substance misuse disorders to seek help. Other proposals include introducing a regulated supply of drugs to promote consistency and safety. 

Whitman said that without a radical change in drug policy, the situation would continue to worsen, adding that Scotland was “facing down the barrel of a storm in terms of synthetic opioids and new and novel street benzodiazepines that are heading to our shores.”

“If we are not prepared for that arriving here, with 21st century drug laws in place, I’m terrified as to what that could look like,” she said.

U.K. Government Quickly Nixes Decriminalization Bid

But the drug decriminalization proposal is opposed by conservatives in both Scotland and the U.K. national government. Current policy in Scotland allows those caught possessing drugs to be released with a police warning, but full decriminalization would require the approval of the U.K.’s conservative government in London. Max Blain, spokesman for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, said that approval would not come.

“There are no plans to alter our tough stance on drugs,” he said.

“Illegal drugs destroy lives and devastate communities. We are committed to preventing drug use by supporting people through treatment and recovery and tackling the supply of illegal drugs, as set out in our 10-year drugs strategy,” the U.K. Home Office wrote in a statement after Scotland’s decriminalization plan was proposed. “We have no plans to decriminalise drugs given the associated harms, including the risks posed by organised criminals, who will use any opportunity to operate an exploitative and violent business model.”

Russell Findlay, justice spokesman for the Scottish Conservative Party, said “It is madness to try and solve Scotland’s drug death crisis, the worst in Europe, by essentially legalising heroin, crack and other class-A drugs. This would put more drugs on our streets. It would put more lives at risk.”

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Police in the United Kingdom arrested more than 1,000 individuals and confiscated more than 180,000 cannabis plants in a recent push to crack down on illegal marijuana cultivation. The eradication campaign, dubbed Operation Millie by U.K. law enforcement officials, was carried out throughout the month of June and involved every police force in England, Scotland and Wales, according to media reports.

Steve Jupp, the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) lead for Serious and Organized Crime, told reporters that the operation had “successfully disrupted a significant amount of criminal activity.”

Operation Millie was the largest cannabis eradication campaign to date, with more than 11,000 police officers across the U.K. participating in the month-long drive. The National Crime Agency and Immigration Enforcement were also involved in the operation, which saw the execution of more than 1,000 warrants during the month of June. Of the more than 1,000 arrested, 450 have since been charged with an offense.

In addition to the nearly 200,000 cannabis plants seized during Operation Millie, police also confiscated 15 to 20 firearms, approximately 40 other weapons and £650,000 ($825,000) in cash. Police estimated the value of the cannabis plants seized at £130 million, although some have suggested that such estimates from law enforcement are often inflated.

Raids Targeted Criminal Gangs

Police said that the operation was carried out not only to eradicate illicit cannabis cultivation sites but also to disrupt organized criminal gangs that use the money generated by the operations to fund other criminal activities. Other offenses committed by such gangs include money laundering, violence and trafficking in Class A drugs, all of which are offenses that “blight communities,” according to the NPCC. In the U.K., cannabis is designated a Class B drug, while more potentially addictive and dangerous substances such as heroin are listed as Class A drugs.

“We know that organized networks involved in cannabis production are also directly linked to an array of other serious criminality such as Class A drug importation, modern slavery and wider violence and exploitation,” said Jupp.

Police said that illicit cannabis growers have used structures of various sizes to house their operations, noting that illegal weed farms have been found in a range of buildings from empty residential homes to large industrial complexes. Often, the sites are dangerous because the operators are stealing electricity, posing a risk of fire. Locations can also be subject to water damage and strong fumes.

“This operation not only successfully disrupted a significant amount of criminal activity, but the intelligence gathered will also help inform future law enforcement across the country,” Jupp said. “Cannabis-related crime is often thought to be ‘low level’, however, there are clear patterns around the exploitation and violence organized crime groups are using to protect their enterprises. We also frequently find that cannabis production is just one aspect of their criminal operations and that they are complicit in wider offending which blights our communities.”

U.K. Police Chiefs Call For Drug Decriminalization

Late last year, the NPCC announced that the group is developing a plan to effectively decriminalize the possession of drugs including cannabis and cocaine. If adopted by the government, the use and possession of small amounts of recreational drugs would be treated as a public health issue for first-time offenders, rather than a criminal offense subject to prosecution and jail time or other punishment.

The proposals, which were developed by the NPCC and the College of Policing, would effectively decriminalize the possession of Class A drugs including cocaine and Class B substances such as marijuana. Under the plan, individuals caught with illegal drugs would be offered an opportunity to attend drug education or treatment programs, rather than being subjected to prosecution. 

Police would take no further action against those who agree to complete the program, giving them a chance to avoid a criminal record. Those who fail to finish the drug program or who are subsequently caught with illicit drugs would still be subject to criminal prosecution.

Jason Harwin, the former NPCC lead on drugs and a former deputy chief constable, is working with the College of Policing on the new partial decriminalization strategy.

“We should not criminalize someone for possession of drugs,” he said in a statement reported by The Telegraph. “It should be diversion to other services to give them a chance to change their behaviors.”

Fourteen of the U.K.’s 43 police forces have already adopted policies similar to the drug decriminalization proposal from the nation’s police chiefs. But the plan is at odds with the country’s Conservative Party government, which has floated proposals to stiffen the penalties on recreational drugs including cannabis.

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