Drugs & Entheogens

This archive covers progress in drug policy reform, psychedelic-assisted therapy, harm reduction, and the science behind entheogenic substances. From clinical trials to legal milestones, these stories track how researchers, policymakers, and communities are rethinking humanity’s relationship with mind-altering compounds.

Cannabis being weighed, for article on legal cannabis dispensary, for article on Germany cannabis legalization

Germany to become second E.U. nation to legalize recreational cannabis

By / / Good News For Humankind

Recreational cannabis legalization in Germany would mark a significant shift for Europe’s largest economy — moving the country away from a prohibition model that its own health minister says has shown no clear results. The proposal would allow licensed shops and pharmacies to sell cannabis to adults, with age-based limits on potency designed to protect younger users. Because Germany sits at the heart of the E.U., its approach could reshape how other member states think about drug policy far more than smaller precedents have. This is what evidence-based reform looks like in practice.

Measuring Psilocybin Magic Mushroom Micro Doses in Laboratory for A Scientific Experiment, for article on psilocybin therapy

The world’s first Phase 3 psilocybin clinical trial is about to commence

By / / Good News For Humankind

Psilocybin therapy is making history: Compass Pathways will launch the world’s first Phase 3 trial for treatment-resistant depression by the end of 2022, enrolling nearly 1,000 participants across two pivotal studies. This is the threshold every promising drug must cross to become an approved medicine, and no psychedelic compound has crossed it before. For the roughly 100 million people worldwide whose depression doesn’t respond to standard treatments, the stakes are real — current options are few, often invasive, and inconsistently helpful. A single guided dose, if the evidence holds, could reshape what care looks like. Beyond depression, this moment signals that a long-stigmatized class of medicines is finally being tested with the rigor patients deserve.

Vancouver at sunset, for article on drug decriminalization

British Columbia becomes first Canadian province to remove criminal penalties for possession of some hard drugs

By / / Good News For Humankind

British Columbia’s decision to decriminalize personal drug possession is one of the most significant public health pivots in Canadian history — replacing arrest with a referral to care for adults carrying small amounts of certain substances. Fear of police kept people from calling for help during overdoses, pushing drug use away from life-saving services. Evidence from Portugal and other jurisdictions suggests decriminalization paired with strong health supports can reduce overdose deaths — and a major province choosing this path adds real momentum to treating addiction as a health issue, not a crime.

Micro X-ray of mushrooms with false colors, for article on psilocybin clinical trials

First European psychedelic drug trial clinic opens in the U.K.

By / / Good News For Humankind

Clerkenwell Health’s opening marks a turning point for psychedelic medicine, moving it from university labs into dedicated commercial infrastructure built to carry promising compounds through late-stage clinical trials. The clinic’s first focus is patients facing terminal diagnoses — a population where conventional treatments often fall short, and where earlier psilocybin studies showed lasting reductions in anxiety and depression after just one or two sessions. By serving multiple drug developers at once, the facility could meaningfully accelerate how quickly different psychedelic compounds reach the people who need them. It’s a signal that this field is ready to scale.