This column is a collaboration with DoubleBlind, a print magazine and media company at the forefront of the psychedelic movement. A psychedelic trip can be among the most sacred experiences of a person’s life. And yet, that impulse to take a psychedelic for a spiritual reason is often overlooked as a reason to lift prohibition
Lifestyle
It only took one instance of public shaming for me to never leave my home maskless again. In April 2020, I went for a jog, bare-faced, along a wide boulevard in my Brooklyn neighborhood. “Wear a mask!” a man shouted, scandalized, as I passed him several feet away. He’d been talking with a companion as
If it seems like a new state is legalizing cannabis nearly every week, don’t worry, you’re not high — states are indeed legalizing the drug at an unprecedented pace. The wave of green legislation doesn’t seem like it’s going to start ebbing anytime soon, either. In just the past six months, every cannabis-related ballot measure
The rollout of the Covid-19 vaccine in America under the Joe Biden administration has been a historic success. As of this week, more than 200 million shots have been administered — doubling the president’s original 100 day goal. Among vulnerable seniors, 81 percent have gotten at least one shot, as have more than 40 percent
On Wednesday, Manhattan district attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr. announced that his office would no longer be prosecuting prostitution and unlicensed massage arrests, and that it would be dropping 914 cases dating all the way back to the 1970s. The office also moved to dismiss more than 5,000 loitering for the purpose of prostitution cases, which
The government center in downtown Minneapolis — where people gathered outside after the guilty verdict was brought down on Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd — is sandwiched between skyscrapers. I look up at the buildings, taking in their pointless grandeur. I don’t often find myself in this part of the city. I’m
Former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty of second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter on Tuesday April 20th. After the verdict was read, Chauvin was taken into the custody of the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office. It’s unclear when Chauvin will be sentenced. Per The New York Times, a defendant like Chauvin with
Once a symbol for a certain level of stoner status, the bong — along with the rest of cannabis culture — has gone through a bit of a renaissance over the past few years. The general premise of the bong hasn’t changed much: most still require packing a bowl full of ground up weed, lighting
In Mexico, native healers known as the curanderos used cannabis, or pipiltzintzintli, in their practice to treat a variety of conditions. The shamans believed there was a correlation between medicinal plants and divine spirits, a notion that didn’t sit well with the Spanish church. “Towards the end of the 17th Century, the Catholic Church caught
Closing arguments in the trial of Derek Chuavin, the former Minneapolis cop accused of murdering George Floyd, ended just before 4 p.m. central time Monday, April 19th. Minnesota prosecutor Steve Schleicher addressed the jury first, his statements lasting just under two hours; Chauvin’s defense attorney, Eric Nelson, spoke afterwards, his remarks dragging on for nearly
Three weeks before Christmas, in the piney woods outside of Fort Bragg, North Carolina, a deer hunter came across the fallout from a firefight that, to date, no one has been able to explain. A tricked-out Chevy Colorado with matte-black wheels and racing tires was stuck in a rut on a dirt road near Lake
The Black Keys returned to the stage for the first time in over a year to play a four-song set during the Triller Fight Club boxing event at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium Saturday. The big event was to see 24-year-old Jake Paul face off in the boxing ring against Ben Askren, and the polarizing YouTube star made short work
UPDATE (4/14): San Luis Obispo District Attorney Dan Dow has announced charges against Paul Flores and his father Ruben in connection with what he is calling the 1996 “homicide” of Cal Poly student Kristin Smart. Paul Flores is being charged with first-degree murder and it is being accused of killing Smart while attempting to rape
Producer Scott Rudin announced Saturday that he would step away from his Broadway productions following a story detailing his alleged abusive behavior by former employees. In an apology published Saturday in The Washington Post, Rudin wrote, “After a period of reflection, I’ve made the decision to step back from active participation on our Broadway productions,
After exploring the Watergate scandal, the impeachment of Bill Clinton, and more, the podcast Slow Burn will offer a beat-by-beat accounting of the years leading up to the Iraq War when it returns for its fifth season, April 21st. Reporter Noreen Malone helmed this investigation, which will examine how the Iraq War — now widely
Over the past few years, there has been an emerging body of evidence that psylocybin, or the active compound in magic mushrooms, could serve as a potentially effective treatment for major depressive disorder. On Wednesday, the New England Journal of Medicine added to that body of research with a small study from Imperial College London,
Body camera footage released Thursday, April 15th, showed that 13-year-old Adam Toledo had his hands up and did not appear to be holding a firearm when a Chicago police officer shot him in the chest and killed him. The video appears to contradict claims made by a prosecutor last week that Toledo had a gun
Over the past year, there has been a dramatic shift in the amount of space vaccines occupy in the public consciousness. During the development and testing of the current Covid-19 vaccines, people followed the different phases of the clinical trials like an early season of American Idol. In fact, many referred to and thought of
Six of the six people who developed a rare blood clotting disorder after being inoculated with the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine were women. Of the 66 cases of anaphylaxis reported after the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, 63 were women. And of the blood clots that have prompted European countries to suspend the use of
Six weeks and nearly seven million shots into the rollout of Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose Covid-19 vaccine, federal health agencies have recommended pausing its distribution, following six reported cases of a rare, but serious type of blood clot as a side effect. On the morning of April 13th, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and