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The Disaster and Dysfunction of Diddy’s Harlem Charter School

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Cop Your XXL Merch NowDiddy’s Harlem charter school Capital Prep is severing ties with the embattled music mogul, and parents, students and former employees are calling the school a disaster.Diddy’s Harlem School Reportedly a DisasterOn Friday (March 15), The Cut published an extensive report detailing the disaster and dysfunction of Diddy’s Harlem charter school Capital Prep, which the mogul opened in 2016. Fourteen individuals, including students, parents and former employees, described the school, located in East Harlem, N.Y. one of the city’s poorest neighborhoods, as having frequent violence and a high turnover rate. Not to mention, Diddy has allegedly barely been involved with the school aside from the occasional photo op.”He was supposed to be an inspiration to those children, coming from what you might consider the hood—and he was not,” a parent said.There reportedly hasn’t been a full teaching staff for the entirety of its tenure, with students sometimes not getting taught subjects for months. They are instead found loitering in the lunch room. Parents claim they weren’t informed about a bedbug outbreak, and said police were often called on students who broke the school’s uniform policy.Capital Prep currently serves 500 students in grades six through 12, the majority of them Black from low-income families.XXL has reached out to Diddy’s team for comment.Read More: 50 Cent Clowns Diddy for Showing Too Much LoveDiddy Spotted Out and About For First Time Since LawsuitsThe latest bit of bad press to befall the music mogul comes after Diddy and his sons Justin and Christian were spotted out in public on Sunday (March 6). Diddy was captured on video by paparazzi as he left a restaurant in Los Angeles. In the video, Puff is seen smiling as he leaves the restaurant with his sons in tow. The group get into an awaiting SUV as photogs get flash photos, but Diddy doesn’t speak.The Bad Boy Entertainment founder is currently facing multiple lawsuits alleging abuse and sexual assault.Read More: Fans Weigh In on Diddy Sexual Assault AllegationsCop Your XXL Merch NowSee 43 Photos of Impressively Unique Mansions Rappers Own

Candace Owens Gives Joe Budden Her Harsh Opinion on Black Culture

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Cop Your XXL Merch NowJoe Budden has debuted his highly anticipated interview with Candace Owens and the conservative pundit expresses some harsh opinions on the state of Black culture.Joe Budden Interviews Candace OwensOn Friday (March 15), Joe Budden finally delivered after teasing the interview with the controversial right-wing talking head for the past couple of weeks. During the interview, which can be seen in full here, the two discuss opinions on Black America, fat acceptance, porn addiction, how she’s perceived and more. At one point during the interview, Owens got on the topic of her disdain for the current state of Black culture and cited Ice Spice’s latest single “Think U the S**t (Fart).””I just don’t need to hear about Ice Spice’s farts,” Candace sternly declares in the video below. “I just don’t. I don’t want to hear about it. We used to produce really good music and it’s gone down the drain. I think even that is international. I think it’s because it’s a part of the, ‘Let’s slowly make it modify the education systems so that Black people can’t read and, at the same time, feed them with a pipeline of garbage,’ and you will wake up one day, and what surrounds you will be garbage.”She continues: “Now, we’re at a place where we don’t even just produce it, we defend it. We’re like, ‘That’s Black culture.’ No, it’s not. When did you grow up? That’s not Black culture that I grew up with. So, don’t try to make me love filth.”Read More: 36 Feuds Involving Rappers Going at Non-RappersCandace Owens Previously Calls Out Ice SpiceThis is not the first time Candace Owens has been critical of Ice Spice. Following the released of “Fart” back in January, Ownes blasted the track on her show.”If you’re wondering whether or not it’s a good song, what do you think? It’s called ‘Think U The S**t (Fart)’,” Owens said before playing a clip from the song. “Now I think we can all admit that we’ve fallen as a society. I mean, I wouldn’t say that was Mozart or Beethoven, but I’m not all of these mainstream media publications that routinely run to defend this kind of music similar to what they did with ‘WAP’ the most disgusting and filthiest lyrics I’ve ever read. They will then sit down and write an article trying to convince you that what you just heard was magical and they did this with this Ice Spice song.”Read More: Joyner Lucas Thinks Candace Owens Should Trade Places With George Floyd to See How It Feels to Die by Asphyxiation on “Devil’s Work 2″Cop Your XXL Merch NowSee Candace Owens opining on Black culture below.Watch a Clip of Candace Owens’ Interview With Joe BuddenHere Are Rappers Who Are Still Supporting Donald Trump

North West Is Turning Into Kanye’s Reincarnate

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Cop Your XXL Merch NowNorth West wants to be a rap star, and Kanye West is doing everything in his power to make sure that happens—for better or worse.Ye’s 10-year-old daughter has grown up before fans’ eyes. One thing that can be said is she’s definitely her daddy’s daughter. From dressing up as the Graduation bear on her father’s album cover to standing up to the paparazzi, North has proven to be the spitting image of her controversial pops. She also has Ye’s multi-hyphenate mind state.”[I want to be] a basketball player, a rapper,” North told I-D magazine in her first-ever magazine interview last October. “Well, when I was 7, I wanted to be a boxer. But now I don’t want to be a boxer. I’m going to do art on the side. When I’m, like, 13, I want to walk dogs, to make money to buy art supplies, because everything around here is so expensive. So, a rapper, a basketball player, and I’m going to make artwork that I sell. Also, one day I want to own Yeezy and SKIMS, and I want to be a business owner.”Read More: Every Artist That Appears on Kanye West and Ty Dolla Sign’s Vultures 1 AlbumAlso like her father, North appears to be ready for her time in the spotlight. And Ye is all the way here for it. The eldest of Ye and Kim Kardashian’s four children has been a mainstay at recent Vultures listening events and doesn’t appear to be shy about being the center of attention. Sound familiar?North stole the show at Ye and Ty Dolla $ign’s star-studded Vultures listening event at Miami’s Wynwood Marketplace last December where the pre-teen previewed her verse on the Vultures 1 track “Talking.””It’s your bestie/Miss, Miss Westie/Don’t try to test me/It’s gonna get messy/It’s gonna get messy/Just, just bless me,” she rapped to the hyped crowdNorth’s shining moments haven’t gotten all praise, with some people questioning Ye’s parenting skills for having his elementary-school daughter around grown men rapping lyrics like, “Beautiful big t**ty butt-naked women just don’t fall out the sky, you know.”On March 10, North officially announced during a Vultures 2 listening event in Phoenix that she is following in her father’s footsteps and working on her debut album. She announced the album will be titled Elementary School Dropout, an obvious nod to Ye’s debut major label LP, The College Dropout, released 20 years ago.It appears North is already getting familiar with the press, giving her first post-album announcement interview with Jazzy’s World TV during her father’s headlining performance at Rolling Loud on March 14.Read More: Here Are the Best Parts of Big Boy’s Interview With Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ignIf there were any more doubts that North is officially in music mode, she appears to have a new verified Spotify account, displaying her sole musical appearance.With Ye’s backing, it’s clear North West is turning into his reincarnate.North West Spotify.Spotifyloading…Cop Your XXL Merch NowSee 12 Hip-Hop Duos and Groups to Look Out for in 2024

The 13 Best New Hip-Hop Songs This Week

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Cop Your XXL Merch NowWeek in and week out, there are plenty of brand-new rap songs, no matter the time of year. It can be really difficult to stay aware of what’s out and also what’s hot, so XXL decided to make things much easier for you. Instead of sorting out nearly everything that released this week, we’ve narrowed it down to strictly the best of the week, saving you plenty of time.Expect to see selections from the established stars, the next wave of new talent, the up-and-comers and everyone else in between. If your song is fire enough to beat the competition, it’ll take one of the weekly spots. You can trust us on this one; follow our lead and you’ll never get laughed off the aux cord again. Your friends will finally trust you with playlists; it’ll be wonderful. In addition to that, you can check back every week for the latest and greatest tracks. You’ll always have somewhere to turn to each week, being sure to find some songs you’ll dig.Enjoy this week’s list, featuring new songs from Cardi B (“Enough (Miami”), Gunna (“Prada Dem” featuring Offset), Ski Mask The Slump God (“Shibuya”) and more. See you next week.Cop Your XXL Merch Now”Enough (Miami)”Cardi B”Prada Dem”Gunna featuring Offset”Shibuya”Ski Mask The Slump God”Stand Tall”Rapsody”Real Woman”PartyNextDoor”Toast”Flo Milli”Accessible”Tierra Whack”Shakin It”Bktherula featuring Cash Cobain”Deep in the Water”Don Toliver”Pull Up Ghost-Clan”Chief Keef and Mike WiLL Made-It featuring 2 Chainz”No Then You a H*e”Maxo Kream”10pm on Fulton”Jay Critch”Skidoo”BLP KosherSee 117 Hip-Hop Songs With Over 1 Billion Spotify Streams

Lil Wayne, Post Malone Allegedly Lied to Feds to Get $8 Million

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Cop Your XXL Merch NowLil Wayne and Post Malone are being accused of lying to federal authorities in order to obtain over $8 million in pandemic loans.Lil Wayne and Post Malone Allegedly Lie About Drug-Use to Get Pandemic AidOn Friday (March 15), Business Insider reported that they had filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the Small Business Administration to investigate celebrities who had received millions in pandemic loans back in 2021. Among those celebs were Post Malone and Lil Wayne. The publication claims both artists had told the feds their touring companies were a “drug-free workplace,” a necessary step to receive pandemic-related grants.Business Insider then criticized Wayne’s open use of marijuana, as well as Posty’s admittance to using shrooms. The publication claims this meant the rappers boldly lied to the SBA in order to get grants for $8.9 million and $10 million, respectively.When reached for comment, the SBA wrote back to the outlet and said “personal actions” did not necessarily disqualify aid, but confirmed they were looking into certain loans they paid out.”The SBA’s process of monitoring and auditing of grant recipients is actively ongoing,” a statement read. “To date, about $40 million has been returned from SVOG grantees and additional files have been referred for ongoing criminal investigation or civil recovery. To date, none of the recoveries relate to the drug-free certification.”XXL has reached out to Lil Wayne and Post Malone’s team for further comment.Read More: Lil Wayne Finds André 3000’s Comment on Rap DepressingLil Wayne Settles Lawsuit With Personal ChefThe allegations come after Lil Wayne settled a wrongful termination lawsuit filed by his former personal chef. According to documents obtained by XXL, Lil Wayne’s former personal chef, Morghan Medlock, filed paperwork at Los Angeles County Superior Court on March 8. The paperwork told the court that she and Weezy had settled her wrongful termination lawsuit, though explicit terms of the settlement were not disclosed.Read More: Lil Wayne Reveals 2 Chainz Used to Be His Weed Dealer Before RapCop Your XXL Merch NowSee Which Rappers Are Touring in 2024

Best Parts of Kanye West, Ty Dolla Sign Interview With Big Boy

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Cop Your XXL Merch NowKanye West and Ty Dolla $ign are on a promotional run for their new Vultures 2 album and recently chopped it up with Real 92.3’s Big Boy in an in-depth interview.Ye and Ty’s Big Boy InterviewOn Friday (March 15), Ye and Ty sat down for an exclusive interview following their performance at Rolling Loud California. The duo touched on a number of topics including  their successful collab album Vultures 1, working together, Ye’s daughter North’s budding rap career and the music industry. Here are a few of the other big highlights that came out of the interview.Ye said he had invented genres of music, explaining: “I done invented every style of music of the past 20 years. I created Weeknd genre, [Travis Scott], Drake. I’ma go ahead and say it, with all love, Future and [Young] Thug also because the auto-tune album. 808s [& Heartbreak], if you think about it…Now, everyone, they added what it was to it. It’s a new genre, it’s called making your own money.”Ty Dolla $ign said working with Ye was intense because he would think some songs were done, only to have Ye come in and completely change it. “I’ll come with a song and as far as I’m concerned the song will be fully done and he’ll come back man and change that s**t like 20 times,” Ty said. “Like it go from like a dance music song to ‘Back to Me.’ Like, if you woulda heard the first ‘Back to Me’, it was like completely different.”Kanye West said when “Carnival” went No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, he went on a “f**k you” rant, and forced streamer Adin Ross to publicly apologize to him after the streamer implied no brands were ever going to do deals with Ye anymore. “That’s the exhale,” Ye said. “‘I’d like to thank,’ I ain’t thankful! It’s f**k everyone up out this b***h. You know what’s so cool about that is n****s like Adin Ross had to apologize.”Ye compares the album-making process to getting a BBL. “It does get worse before it gets better,” Ye said of the album creations. “Like plastic surgery where like they get the BBL and they gotta drive in the car and they can’t even sit on the pads. They definitely can’t get on Spirit…then I’ll tell Ty like the song like, ‘the BBL is almost ready. It’s almost ready for the summer.'”Ye said that during the recording process of Vultures 1, he asked for his daughter North West’s opinion on “Back to Me,” and said he felt like his late mother Donda West was speaking through her. “I remember sitting with North in Italy and playing her, ‘Back to Me’ and asking her what do you think of this line in the middle of the song? And I was like, ‘do you think I should change this?’ And she was like, ‘you know it’s a good song.’ Sometimes I feel like my mom speaks through her. So she’s like ‘it’s a good song, this is just a banger. Like you gotta say what you feel.’Elsewhere in the interview below, Ye also addresses his recent rant where he dissed Drake, Adidas, Hailey Bieber and others.Read More: Kanye West and Drake’s Confusing Feud Continues to Get More ConfusingYe and Ty Prep Vultures 2 AlbumThe new interview comes on the heels of Ye and Ty headlining Rolling Loud California 2024 on Thursday (March 14). Earlier this week, they performed two Vultures 2 listening events in San Francisco and Phoenix. Vultures 2 was supposed to be released on March 8 but has yet to drop. Ye recently noted he plans to sell the album on his website for $20 instead of releasing it on digital streaming platforms. The newly formed duo are still riding high off the success of Vultures 1, which spent two weeks atop the Billboard 200 chart. The single “Carnival” featuring Playboi Carti and Rich The Kid is currently No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.Read More: Kanye West and Ty Dolla Sign Want You to Say to Hell With the Music Streaming SystemCop Your XXL Merch NowSee Ye and Ty Dolla $ign’s interview with Real 92.3’s Big Boy below.Watch Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign’s New InterviewSee Every Artist on Kanye West and Ty Dolla Sign’s Vultures 1 Album

Cardi B Reveals She and GloRilla Are Related

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Cop Your XXL Merch NowCardi B reveals she is related to GloRilla.Cardi B Reveals She’s GloRilla’s CousinOn Thursday (March 14), Big Boy TV aired a new interview with Cardi B in promotion of her upcoming album. During the sit-down, Bardi makes the revelation that she is related to GloRilla.”A lot of people don’t know this, this is a true story,” Cardi B says in the video below. “My grandfather… I don’t like to put my family business, like, but he used to push weight and everything. And there was like this one time that like, he lived in Tennessee or whatever. So, he ain’t really told my grandma that he was dealing with somebody over there. Then, he had like a kid out there. You know, that’s GloRilla’s dad and everything, so that’s what’s makes us related.”Read More: Industry Plants Are Consuming the Conversation, But Are They Real?GloRilla Reveals She’s Related to Lil Uzi VertThe Cardi B revelation comes after GloRilla recently revealed she is related to Lil Uzi Vert, during an interview on the Past Your Bedtime podcast with host Fannita Leggett last month.”That’s my cousin,” Glo revealed when asked about working with Uzi. “That’s my real cousin.”When Fannita asked why the two rappers have yet to collab, Glo responded: “We actually working on it. We gon’ get it together. We never started on a song, we gotta get it together. That’s my cousin, though.”Read More: 117 Hip-Hop Songs With Over 1 Billion Spotify StreamsCop Your XXL Merch NowSee Cardi B reveal she is related to GloRilla below.Watch Cardi B on Big Boy TVSee Rappers You Didn’t Realize Were Related

Denver Begins Psychedelic Training For First Responders

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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.”

Kamala Harris To Host White House Weed Policy Reform Summit With Fat Joe

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Vice President Kamala Harris is hosting a White House meeting to discuss drug policy reform that will feature guests including hip hop artist Fat Joe and others who have benefitted from the cannabis pardons granted by the Biden administration. The Friday meeting will also include Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, a leading proponent of cannabis legalization in his state, and other advocates for ending the criminal prohibition of marijuana. 

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In October 2022, President Joseph Biden issued an executive order pardoning thousands of people with federal convictions for marijuana possession, saying, “No one should be in jail just for using or possessing marijuana.” In December 2023, the president went further by expanding the pool of people eligible for a pardon for marijuana convictions under federal or Washington, D.C. law. 

“President Biden and I have been clear: We must continue to change our nation’s approach to marijuana and reform the criminal justice system,” the vice president said in a statement in December. As I have declared many times before, no one should be in prison simply for smoking weed. That is why we continue to call on Governors to join us in this long-overdue work.”

White House Meeting Features Pot Policy Reform Advocates

Friday’s meeting at the West Wing of the White House to discuss the Biden administration’s cannabis policy reforms will include guests such as Beshear and five-time Grammy award nominee Fat Joe, who is one of thousands of people to be pardoned by the president. 

“Friday’s engagement will build on the Vice President’s efforts to uplift the historic actions the Biden-Harris Administration has taken to ensure everyone has access to opportunity, including by making the criminal justice system more just. This will continue in the weeks and months to come,” a White House official said, according to a report from NBC News.

Another pardon recipient, cannabis activist Chris Goldstein, a regional coordinator with the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), will also attend. In 2014, he was convicted of a federal marijuana possession charge for smoking marijuana during a protest in an outdoor area of Independence Hall National Historic Park in Philadelphia. 

“These Presidential pardons are a powerful and meaningful action,” Goldstein said in a statement from NORML. “They carry a tremendous power of goodwill — not just to those of us who received them, but for the entire country. These pardons are seen by people everywhere as tangible signs of the White House taking action on marijuana policy.”

Goldstein said that he plans to use the time with Harris at Friday’s meeting to bring further awareness to the presidential pardon process. He also hopes to stress the need for further federal action on cannabis reform, including the descheduling of marijuana under the Controlled Substances Act.

“Three of us will discuss the real-world impact of our federal marijuana convictions and the relief provided by these Presidential pardons,” said Goldstein. “Thousands of people are still eligible, and this event should help raise awareness for more people to apply.”

“We will help represent tens of millions of Americans who have been arrested for marijuana in nearly a century of prohibition,” he added.

Fat Joe / Shutterstock

Reform Advocates Call For More Than Words

The news of this week’s White House roundtable discussion on cannabis policy reform was welcomed by justice advocates and members of the cannabis industry. Sarah Gersten, executive director and general counsel at the Last Prisoner Project, a nonprofit working to secure the release of all cannabis prisoners, said that she hopes the meeting results in action from the president.

“Clearly, the administration understands that taking action to repair the harms of cannabis criminalization will help energize voters who overwhelmingly believe marijuana should be legal,” Gersten said in a statement on Wednesday. “But the general public also believes no one should be incarcerated for cannabis, and Biden has failed to keep that campaign promise. Biden could free the over 3,000 federal cannabis prisoners with the stroke of a pen. If he truly wants to tout his actions on cannabis reform, bolder action needs to be taken.”

Jeffrey M. Zucker, co-founder and president of Denver-based cannabis consultants firm Green Lion Partners, also called for the Biden administration to make meaningful progress on federal cannabis reform.

“From this meeting, I hope to see a shift toward comprehensive drug law reform that acknowledges the disproportionate impact of current policies on communities of color,” Zucker said in a statement to High Times. “Reforms prioritizing social justice, harm reduction and economic empowerment would reflect genuine progress.”

Indiana Psilocybin-Assisted Therapy Bill Sent to Governor

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Last week, a psilocybin research bill in Indiana was sent to the desk of Gov. Eric Holcomb. The bill was recently passed in the Senate in February (Senate Bill 139), followed by the House Public Health Committee shortly afterwards.

Following the end of the 2024 legislative session on March 8, bill sponsor Sen. Ed Charbonneau published a press release about his pride in working toward passing three different bills. The first would help make child care more affordable for Indianans, and the second included an expansion to health plans to include coverage for searching biomarkers for diagnosis or condition treatment. 

However, the third bill includes a mention of SB-139. “Another bill I worked on this session was Senate Bill 139, which would have established a fund to aid Indiana research institutions in studying the potential use of psilocybin in treating mental health and other medical conditions, especially in veterans and first responders,” Charbonneau wrote. “While SB 139 did not make it through the legislative process, the language was added to House Enrolled Act 1259, which would also expand the number of people eligible to provide health care services.”

Now the bill is being sent to the desk of Gov. Holcomb for final review. If SB-139 became law, it would create a therapeutic psilocybin research fund that would be managed by the Indiana Department of Health. The fund would provide financial assistance to research institutions to study psilocybin as a method of treating mental health or other conditions. The bill currently states conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, chronic pain, migraines, alcohol use disorder, and tobacco use disorder.

Additionally, it works to compare “the efficacy of psilocybin as a treatment for mental health and other medical conditions…with the efficacy of other current treatment options for mental health and other medical conditions.”

One requirement of institutions that apply to research psilocybin would include the use of veterans or first responders in their study as they “Evaluate and determine whether psilocybin is an effective treatment for mental health and other medical conditions.” After the study is concluded, the researchers would then submit a report of their findings to the Interim Study Committee on Public Health, the Indiana Behavioral Health Commission, and Human Services, as well as “state department and division of mental health and addiction.”

If passed, these processes to organize applications would begin starting on July 1, 2024.

Last year in November, the Interim Study Committee on Public Health, Behavioral Health and Human Services held its last meeting and issued a report recommending that legislators consider developing a psilocybin pilot program in 2024 “that strikes a balance between access, research, and prudence.”

At the meeting, Charbonneau explained that he’s already spoken with educational institutions that are interested in studying psilocybin. “I have had discussions with both [Indiana University] Health and with Purdue University,” said Charbonneau. “I spoke to 150 pharmacy students at Purdue, and afterward had a chance to speak with the dean of the pharmacy program…and he texted Dr. Jerome Adams, who’s now at Purdue University.” Adams previously served as U.S. surgeon general under former President Donald Trump.

The report made a distinction between medical cannabis and psilocybin, and described psilocybin-assisted therapy as more beneficial. “Many people conflate increased access to psilocybin assisted therapy with the issue of increased access to medical and recreational cannabis,” the report said. “However, the committee hearing made it clear that the evidence for psilocybin assisted therapy is promising and significantly more robust and the two issues are unrelated.”

Indiana’s neighboring states of Illinois, Michigan, and Ohio all have some form of cannabis legalization now. The only remaining state is Kentucky to the south, which currently has legalized medical cannabis but won’t officially launch until 2025.

However, Sen. J.D. Ford told WFYI Indianapolis in January that the lack of progress is due to legislators refusing to discuss legalization. “You’ve got the elected officials who are unwilling to have the conversation and you’ve got some of these other powerful lobbying groups that are continuing to block conversation, block bills from getting a committee hearing,” Ford said.

In a press event in January, Senate Pro Tempore Rodric Bray shut down inquiries from reporters regarding cannabis decriminalization or legalization. “Are we going to legalize cannabis this session? That’s not going to be the case,” Bray said. 

Previously in 2019, Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb has previously stated that he will not take action on any cannabis legalization bills until it has been legalized on the federal level. “If the law changed, we would look at all the positive or adverse impacts it would have,” Holcomb said. “I’m not convinced other states have made a wise decision.”

In 2023, he did admit that decriminalizing cannabis in small amounts makes sense. “I do not believe that simple possession at certain limits should derail someone’s life,” Holcomb said.