Month: February 2026

Researchers behind a recent clinical trial at Imperial College London said that participants with depression who took a dose of dimethyltryptamine (DMT) experienced reduced symptoms compared to those who took a placebo, Medical News Today reports.

DMT is a naturally occurring substance that is fact-acting and has intense, but somewhat short, psychedelic side effects. The study, published in the February edition of Nature Medicine, found that a single treatment with DMT could relieve symptoms of depression for up to 6 months.

The researchers also noted that DMT’s short half-life of about 5 minutes could enable “shorter therapeutic sessions, potentially increasing convenience and reducing costs.”

Other psychedelics, including psilocybin (magic mushrooms) and MDMA, have been tapped for research and medicinal programs as an effective way to handle treatment-resistant depression, PTSD, and other disorders.

Meanwhile, last year, researchers discovered that DMT could protect against stroke damage in animal and cell models.

And in 2023, a small trial conducted by biotechnology company Small Pharma found that DMT could improve symptoms of depression when used in conjunction with therapy.

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New research from the University of Colorado Anschutz suggests that cannabis consumption is associated with better cognitive function and larger volumes in several brain regions in adults aged 40 to 77. Anika Guha, PhD, a clinical psychologist and faculty research associate in the Department of Psychiatry at CU Anschutz, noted that while bigger brain volumes are not “always better,” researchers “often see smaller brain volumes due to processes like atrophy and neurodegeneration,” which are “often correlated with reduced cognitive function and increased dementia risk.”

“In this study, we did see that most of the brain regions we looked at demonstrated a positive relationship between brain volume and cognitive performance. So in this sense, we could think of larger brain volumes in the context of aging as possibly reflecting maintained brain volume and preserved cognitive function, as opposed to say something like atrophy that we expect to occur with age.” — Guha in an interview posted to the CU Anschutz website

Guha noted that “for many” of the study’s outcome measures, cannabis “moderation seemed to be best,” and that participants who consumed moderate amounts of cannabis “generally had larger brain volumes and better cognitive performance.”

“At the same time,

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The National Rifle Association (NRA), Independence Institute, and FPC Action Foundation joined the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) in the filing of amicus briefs in United States v. Hemani – a case in front of the U.S. Supreme Court that challenges the federal prohibition of the possession of firearms by anyone who “is an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance.”  

The brief from the NRA, Independence Institute, and FPC, notes that throughout history, restrictions on discharging firearms by intoxicated persons, along with sales to intoxicated persons, were imposed by U.S. states and territories, but those restrictions ended when the individual was sober. The brief further notes that “Alcohol was ubiquitous in early America” and that “hemp has been cultivated in America since Jamestown.” 

The NRA-led brief also takes aim at the brief filed in support of the ban by Smart Approaches to Marijuana that contends cannabis legalization has led to an increase in bullying and that cannabis potency “is greater than before.” The NRA amicus brief points to a study funded by the National Institute of Justice that examined the effects of cannabis legalization on crime in Colorado and Washington which found that cannabis “legalization and sales have had minimal to no effect on major crimes” in those states, finding “no statistically

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An Alabama bill that would make it a misdemeanor to smoke or vape cannabis in a motor vehicle with a child present last week passed the state House, according to the Alabama Political Reporter. The legislation was passed by a near-unanimous 77-2 vote (with 18 abstentions).   

The proposal would make it a Class A misdemeanor to smoke or vape cannabis in a motor vehicle when a child is present, imposing a potential penalty of up to a year in prison and a $6,000 fine. Those found to have violated the law would also be required to attend an education course developed by the Alabama Department of Public Health and would require that any individual who is a mandatory reporter under Alabama law must report when a child smells of cannabis, with the report being treated as an instance of known or suspected child abuse or neglect. 

The bill considers a “child” any person under the age of 19-years-old, which drew pushback from Democratic Rep. TaShina Morris, who argued that parents should not be implicated on charges of child abuse or neglect if their 18-year-old child – a legal adult – is reported for smelling of cannabis. 

Democratic Rep. Rolanda Hollis argued that a child could go to school smelling of cannabis without their parent’s knowledge, or that a child could smell of

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