Category: Ketamine News

Nykol has over a decade of experience in the healthcare field. She enjoys administering anesthesia and hopes to provide a much-needed service to the Boise area.

In her off time, Nykol loves spending time with family. On her days off she can be found playing in the mountains or the nearest body of water. She is an avid four-wheeler and amateur paddle boarder and rock climber.

Nykol worked almost 10 years as an RN; most of that time was spent on the University of Utah Hospital’s Neurological Critical Care Unit. She entered Westminster’s graduate program in 2011 and graduated in 2014. She has been a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist for nearly 2 years. She has provided over 2,500 anesthetics and counting.

Boise Ketamine Clinic is a ketamine therapy clinic with locations in Boise, Nampa, and Emmett, Idaho. We offer a variety of ketamine therapy services, including ketamine infusions, ketamine-assisted psychotherapy, and ketamine for pain management. If you are interested in learning more about ketamine therapy, I encourage you to visit the Boise Ketamine Clinic website.

Nestled in a convenient location in Jacksonville, FL, near Fruit Cove, Yulee, and Lakeside, Altitude Health stands as a beacon of health and wellness, offering a comprehensive range of medical services under one roof. Our commitment to holistic healthcare extends beyond physical well-being, encompassing mental, emotional, and spiritual health.

At Altitude Health, our team of dedicated professionals is passionate about providing personalized care tailored to each patient’s unique needs. We believe in empowering individuals with the knowledge and tools they need to make informed decisions about their health, fostering a collaborative partnership between patient and provider. Our state-of-the-art facility is designed to offer a welcoming and comfortable environment, where patients can feel at ease and confident in the care they receive.

Whether you’re seeking preventive care, treatment for acute or chronic conditions, or guidance on your overall well-being, Altitude Health is your trusted partner in health. Our convenient location makes it easy for residents of Fruit Cove, Yulee, Jacksonville, and neighboring communities to access high-quality healthcare services, empowering them to live healthier, more fulfilling lives.

Renue Wellness is a leading provider of innovative mental health treatments, specializing in ketamine infusion therapy. Located at the crossroads of New York, Newark, and Jersey City, our clinic offers a convenient and accessible solution for individuals seeking transformative mental health care. Our prime location allows us to serve a diverse community of patients from these bustling metropolitan areas, ensuring that cutting-edge treatment options are available to those in need.

At Renue Wellness, we are dedicated to redefining mental health treatment by integrating the latest scientific advancements with compassionate care. Ketamine infusion therapy, our primary focus, has emerged as a breakthrough treatment for a variety of mental health disorders, including depression, anxiety, PTSD, and chronic pain conditions. Our skilled medical team is deeply committed to providing personalized care, designing treatment plans that are tailored to meet the unique needs of each individual patient.

Our state-of-the-art facility is designed to ensure comfort and privacy, creating a serene and supportive environment where patients can relax and receive treatment. Each treatment room is equipped with comfortable reclining chairs, soothing lighting, and a calm atmosphere to enhance the therapeutic experience. Our staff is trained to provide not only medical expertise but also emotional support, fostering a healing environment that respects the dignity and journey of every patient.

Safety and efficacy are paramount at Renue Wellness. Our clinic operates under strict medical guidelines to ensure that each ketamine infusion is administered with the highest standards of safety and professionalism. We continually monitor the latest research and participate in ongoing education to stay at the forefront of mental health treatment, ensuring that our patients receive the most effective care possible.

Choosing Renue Wellness means choosing a path to renewal and hope. Conveniently located near major urban centers like New York, Newark, and Jersey City, we are here to support you in your journey toward better mental health. Whether you are exploring ketamine therapy for the first time or seeking a reliable provider for ongoing treatment, Renue Wellness is here to help you rediscover the joy and wellness you deserve.

New research explores how ketamine’s effects on single neurons contribute to significant alterations in the functioning of brain networks.

Ketamine, recognized as an Essential Medicine by the World Health Organization, is utilized for a variety of purposes including sedation, pain management, general anesthesia, and treating treatment-resistant depression. Although its effects on brain-wide activity and its target within brain cells are known, the connection between these aspects has been unclear. A recent study conducted by researchers across four institutions in the Boston area employs computational modeling to explore previously overlooked physiological details. This research provides fresh insights into the mechanisms of how ketamine operates.

“This modeling work has helped decipher likely mechanisms through which ketamine produces altered arousal states as well as its therapeutic benefits for treating depression,” co-senior author Emery N. Brown, Edward Hood Taplin Professor of Computational Neuroscience and Medical Engineering at The Picower Institute for Learning and Memory at MIT

” data-gt-translate-attributes=”[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]”>MIT, as well as an anesthesiologist at MGH and a Professor at Harvard Medical School.

The researchers from MIT, Boston University, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Harvard University said the predictions of their model, published May 20 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could help physicians make better use of the drug.

“When physicians understand what’s mechanistically happening when they administer a drug, they can possibly leverage that mechanism and manipulate it,” said study lead author Elie Adam, a Research Scientist at MIT who will soon join the Harvard Medical School faculty and launch a lab at MGH. “They gain a sense of how to enhance the good effects of the drug and how to mitigate the bad ones.”

Blocking the door

The core advance of the study involved biophysically modeling what happens when ketamine blocks the “NMDA” receptors in the brain’s cortex—the outer layer where key functions such as sensory processing and cognition take place. Blocking the NMDA receptors modulates the release of excitatory neurotransmitter glutamate.

When the neuronal channels (or doorways) regulated by the NMDA receptors open, they typically close slowly (like a doorway with a hydraulic closer that keeps it from slamming), allowing ions to go in and out of neurons, thereby regulating their electrical properties, Adam said. But, the channels of the receptor can be blocked by a molecule. Blocking by magnesium helps to naturally regulate ion flow. Ketamine, however, is an especially effective blocker.

“Physiological details that are usually ignored can sometimes be central to understanding cognitive phenomena,” said co-corresponding author Nancy Kopell, a professor of math at BU. “The dynamics of NMDA receptors have more impact on network dynamics than has previously been appreciated.”

With their model, the scientists simulated how different doses of ketamine affecting NMDA receptors would alter the activity of a model brain network. The simulated network included key neuron types found in the cortex: one excitatory type and two inhibitory types. It distinguishes between “tonic” interneurons that tamp down network activity and “phasic” interneurons that react more to excitatory neurons.

The team’s simulations successfully recapitulated the real brain waves that have been measured via EEG electrodes on the scalp of a human volunteer who received various ketamine doses and the neural spiking that has been measured in similarly treated animals that had implanted electrode arrays. At low doses, ketamine increased brain wave power in the fast gamma frequency range (30-40 Hz). At the higher doses that cause unconsciousness, those gamma waves became periodically interrupted by “down” states where only very slow frequency delta waves occur. This repeated disruption of the higher-frequency waves is what can disrupt communication across the cortex enough to disrupt consciousness.

But how? Key findings

Importantly, through simulations, they explained several key mechanisms in the network that would produce exactly these dynamics.

The first prediction is that ketamine can disinhibit network activity by shutting down certain inhibitory interneurons. The modeling shows that the natural blocking and unblocking kinetics of NMDA-receptors can let in a small current when neurons are not spiking. Many neurons in the network that are at the right level of excitation would rely on this current to spontaneously spike. But when ketamine impairs the kinetics of the NMDA receptors, it quenches that current, leaving these neurons suppressed. In the model, while ketamine equally impairs all neurons, it is the tonic inhibitory neurons that get shut down because they happen to be at that level of excitation. This releases other neurons, excitatory or inhibitory from their inhibition allowing them to spike vigorously and leading to ketamine’s excited brain state. The network’s increased excitation can then enable quick unblocking (and reblocking) of the neurons’ NMDA receptors, causing bursts of spiking.

Another prediction is that these bursts become synchronized into the gamma frequency waves seen with ketamine. How? The team found that the phasic inhibitory interneurons become stimulated by lots of input of the neurotransmitter glutamate from the excitatory neurons and vigorously spike, or fire. When they do, they send an inhibitory signal of the neurotransmitter GABA to the excitatory neurons that squelch the excitatory firing, almost like a kindergarten teacher calming down a whole classroom of excited children. That stop signal, which reaches all the excitatory neurons simultaneously, only lasts so long, ends up synchronizing their activity, producing a coordinated gamma brain wave.

“The finding that an individual synaptic receptor (NMDA) can produce gamma oscillations and that these gamma oscillations can influence network-level gamma was unexpected,” said co-corresponding author Michelle McCarthy, a research assistant professor of math at BU. “This was found only by using a detailed physiological model of the NMDA receptor. This level of physiological detail revealed a gamma time scale not usually associated with an NMDA receptor.”

So what about the periodic down states that emerge at higher, unconsciousness-inducing ketamine doses? In the simulation, the gamma-frequency activity of the excitatory neurons can’t be sustained for too long by the impaired NMDA-receptor kinetics. The excitatory neurons essentially become exhausted under GABA inhibition from the phasic interneurons. That produces the down state. But then, after they have stopped sending glutamate to the phasic interneurons, those cells stop producing their inhibitory GABA signals. That enables the excitatory neurons to recover, starting a cycle anew.

Antidepressant connection?

The model makes another prediction that might help explain how ketamine exerts its antidepressant effects. It suggests that the increased gamma activity of ketamine could entrain gamma activity among neurons expressing a peptide called VIP. This peptide has been found to have health-promoting effects, such as reducing inflammation, that last much longer than ketamine’s effects on NMDA receptors. The research team proposes that the entrainment of these neurons under ketamine could increase the release of the beneficial peptide, as observed when these cells are stimulated in experiments. This also hints at therapeutic features of ketamine that may go beyond anti-depressant effects. The research team acknowledges, however, that this connection is speculative and awaits specific experimental validation.

“The understanding that the sub-cellular details of the NMDA receptor can lead to increased gamma oscillations was the basis for a new theory about how ketamine may work for treating depression,” Kopell said.

Reference: “Ketamine can produce oscillatory dynamics by engaging mechanisms dependent on the kinetics of NMDA receptors” by Elie Adam, Marek Kowalski, Oluwaseun Akeju, Earl K. Miller, Emery N. Brown, Michelle M. McCarthy and Nancy Kopell, 20 May 2024, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2402732121

Additional co-authors of the study are Marek Kowalski, Oluwaseun Akeju, and Earl K. Miller.

The JPB Foundation, The Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, The Simons Center for The Social Brain, the National Institutes of Health

” data-gt-translate-attributes=”[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]”>National Institutes of Health, George J. Elbaum (MIT ’59, SM ’63, PhD ’67), Mimi Jensen, Diane B. Greene (MIT, SM ’78), Mendel Rosenblum, Bill Swanson, and annual donors to the Anesthesia Initiative Fund supported the research.

Terms and Conditions – Ketamine News

The Connecticut Public Health Committee unanimously approved a bill (House Bill 5396) that, if passed into law, would pave the way for the use of psilocybin and MDMA in the treatment of mental health issues. Psilocybin is a psychedelic compound found in “magic mushrooms,” while MDMA, also known as “molly” or ecstasy, is a synthetic, psychoactive drug that alters mood and perception.

Studies show that both substances have great potential in managing severe mental health issues such as anxiety, depression, and PTSD when used in conjunction with traditional therapy in what has come to be known as psychedelic-assisted therapy.

The legislation would require the state to set up three specialized treatment sites and fund a pilot program for psychedelic-assisted therapy that would provide “qualified” patients with access to psilocybin- or MDMA-assisted therapy through the FDA’s expanded access program.

Individuals who fall under the “qualified” patients group are retired first responders, veterans, healthcare workers, and individuals from historically underserved communities with serious or life-threatening behavioral/mental health disorders and no access to effective treatments.

The committee arrived at a decision after carefully considering oral and written testimonies presented during a public hearing. The majority of the testimonies came from people with personal experience with mental health issues, who provided compelling arguments about how psychedelics have helped them address and manage their conditions more effectively than traditional medicines.

The bill represents a bold move to increase access to reliable mental health treatments in the state amid a glaring national mental health crisis that the COVID-19 pandemic has only exacerbated. The unanimous, bipartisan decision by the committee reflects a growing consensus on the urgency to combat the mental health crisis by embracing new and innovative treatment methods.

“Most of us are aware that we had both access and quality issues with mental health before the pandemic hit us,” said Rep. Jonathan Steinberg, who also serves as the committee’s co-chair. “It took the pandemic to highlight the real gaps and shortcomings in supply and access to mental health care. It obliged us to be more open-minded and a little creative. It also led us to look with fresh eyes at alternative therapies.”

The bill is not aimed at legalizing psychedelic substances but rather to help set up a guiding framework for the state to provide access to these potentially lifesaving treatments as private and federal entities continue to invest and facilitate research and clinical trials.

Psychedelic-assisted therapy may not be a silver bullet for the ongoing mental health crisis, but they offer hope where there is currently little to be found. If enacted, this will be an important step in the right direction for mental health treatment as it will provide an alternative approach to a problem that has remained under-addressed and often overlooked for far too long. And although the FDA’s expanded access program is still inherently restrictive, the new law would pave the way for increased access.

DecrimPovertyDC, a coalition of progressive activist groups, has sparked nationwide attention with its ambitious effort to push for drug policy reform in the nation’s capital. The coalition has brought together a range of organizations that all share a common goal- to see an end to the mass incarceration of people caught up in the “War on Drugs.”

When it comes to drug policies, the United States is woefully behind the times. While other countries have been moving towards a more public health-centered approach, the United States continues to invest billions of dollars in a failed “war” that has led to the mass incarceration of thousands of people, particularly low-income and marginalized communities.

The Drug Policy Alliance (DPA), Students for Sensible Drug Policy, Honoring Individual Power and Strength (HIPS), and D.C. Justice Lab are just some of the organizations that have come together to form DecrimPovertyDC. The group has already made a splash, launching a legislative proposal and organizing a series of rallies and lobbying events to push for a number of reforms, including the decriminalization of all drugs, expanded harm reduction and public health intervention services, and investment in evidence-based education programs focused on harm reduction.

“We have 50 years of experience to show us what an enforcement-first approach to drugs gets us – record overdose deaths, skyrocketing mass incarceration, and severe racial inequality. To continue down this path is not only irresponsible but cruel and inhumane,” Queen Adesuyi, who serves as Policy Manager for the Office of National Affairs at the DPA, is quoted as saying.

The legislative proposal, named the District of Columbia Drug Policy Reform Act (D.C DPRA), calls for a comprehensive and humane drug policy that prioritizes public health and safety. If enacted, the proposal recommends that people found in possession of controlled substances – that are below a certain benchmark amount (yet to be determined), would no longer face criminal penalties, but would, instead, receive a citation and be referred to a harm reduction center.

“The goal of DecrimPovertyDC is to decriminalize poverty by working to end stigma, violence, criminalization, and other forms of oppression against people who are targeted by the state for ‘crimes of poverty,’ including drug use, sex work, housing insecurity, citizenship station, and incarceration history,” HIPS spokesperson Righteous-Rogers, is quoted as saying.

This approach has proven to be more effective than criminalization in reducing drug use and its associated harms. Baltimore recently ceased prosecuting drug possession, among other minor, non-violent crimes like prostitution, and is yet to record an uptick in crime rates or increased threats to public safety, according to Johns Hopkins University researchers.

This is in line with decades of research that shows decriminalization does not lead to more crime. Portugal, for instance, underwent decriminalization in 2000 and has since recorded a dramatic decline in drug-related crime and fatal overdoses.

DecrimPovertyDC believes that it is time for our nation’s capital to catch up with the rest of the world and pioneer a more sensible and humane approach to drug policy.

According to the DecrimPovertyDC campaign, the impact of laws criminalizing possession and use of drugs “extends far beyond the criminal legal system, as people face an array of punishments in employment, housing, education, immigration, child welfare, and public benefits – all of which can trap people in poverty.”

All these factors make recovery and re-entry into the community unnecessarily difficult for those with drug convictions, which in turn contributes to repeat offenses, creating a vicious cycle of poverty and criminal convictions.

The campaign has been met with open arms by some members of the Law Enforcement Action Partnership (LEAP), a non-profit organization made up of former and current corrections officials, judges, prosecutors, and police officers committed to improving the criminal justice system.

Evan Douglas, a retired D.C. patrol officer and member of the LEAP, has expressed his unwavering support for the D.C. DPRA. He cited that, after witnessing firsthand all the ills brought about by tough-on-crime policies and a criminal justice system that prioritizes punishment, “the only way forward” is through decriminalization, drug education, implementation of public health interventions and harm control, and record sealing.

Members of the public in D.C. (District of Columbia) have also expressed great support for drug policy reform, according to a survey conducted by FM3 Research. The poll shows that 83% of the participants favor the decriminalization of drugs, with 65% strongly backing far-reaching drug policy reform.

It is evident that a criminalized approach to the so-called war on drugs creates a system that is rigged against those who are already marginalized. It is time for lawmakers in D.C. to enact a more sensible and humane drug policy that does not condemn offenders to lifelong consequences, as proposed by the DecrimPovertyDC campaign.

“Magic mushrooms” have been used for centuries for healing, religious, and spiritual purposes. But after being “unfairly” stigmatized in the US during the 1960s counterculture politics and later outlawed, magic mushrooms seem to be making a comeback.

There is growing evidence that “magic mushrooms” could be instrumental in treating mental and behavioral health issues. Recent studies show that psilocybin, the psychedelic substance found in the so-called magic mushrooms, could revolutionize the world of mental health treatments.

Apparently, classic psychedelics like psilocybin and LSD can help “rewire” the brain in ways that could play a role in long-term recovery from severe psychological and behavioral health issues like anxiety, depression, addiction, and post-traumatic stress disorder when used under supervision.

“…rather than just masking a symptom, it allows you to go and look at the cause of the problem and figure out the best way to address that moving forward,” said Eric Gaden, a veteran and nurse – who testified in front of Washington lawmakers in favor of psilocybin legalization.

Currently, psilocybin is a Schedule I drug, meaning it is illegal in the United States. But this might soon be a thing of the past. There is a growing wave of support for decriminalizing magic mushrooms, and lawmakers are starting to take notice.

In 2020, Oregon voters passed a ballot initiative to legalize the supervised use of psilocybin for therapeutic purposes. This move has since become a pacesetter, with multiple legislative proposals seeking to legalize psychedelics or facilitate psychedelic research popping up in Connecticut, California, Utah, New Jersey, Texas, Missouri, and New Jersey.

Surprisingly, what has been viewed as a taboo and fringe issue for decades is quickly gaining mainstream traction and most of the legislative proposals are receiving unanimous, bipartisan support at the preliminary stages.

In mid-march, Connecticut’s Public Health Committee unanimously approved a bill looking to legalize and provide funding for a pilot program that will give “qualifying” patients access to psilocybin- and MDMA- assisted therapy. A similar bill seeking to grant universities and research institutions in Oklahoma the right to conduct psilocybin research also received similar support from the state’s Public Health Committee.

Recent polls, including one conducted in D.C. by FM3 Research, have divulged that an overwhelming majority of voters would be much more likely to vote for leaders who embrace drug policy reforms. By the looks of things, the same playbook that was used to legalize and destigmatize cannabis is in play again, this time in favor of the “magic mushrooms” and other psychedelic substances. Lawmakers and members of the public are slowly but surely coming around to the idea that these psychedelic substances have immense medicinal value.

And with more studies and clinical trials showing evidence of their efficacy, everything seems to be moving on a positive path, and it’s only a matter of time before more and more states follow in the footsteps of Oregon. The FDA has also described psilocybin as a breakthrough treatment, a designation that carries plenty of promise.

However, not everyone is on board with the idea of legalizing psychedelics. Some have chosen to tread carefully, while others have rebuffed the idea. For instance, the State of Washington decided to shelve a bill that, if enacted, would have legalized supervised use of psilocybin by adults above 21 years of age. Instead, the state lawmakers allocated a substantial budget to psilocybin research and how to effectively implement a legal psilocybin treatment program.

On the other hand, the U.S. House of Representatives has, on two occasions, rebuffed an amendment tabled by New York lawmaker Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D) that sought to get rid of “old” laws that restrict psychedelics research.

So it would seem that we are still in the early stages of what might prove to be a protracted battle to legalize and destigmatize the use of psychedelic substances for medicinal purposes.

But with more support and positive evidence, it seems inevitable that at some point in the near future, psilocybin and other psychedelics may be legally available for the treatment of severe and life-threatening behavioral and mental health disorders in most states, at the very least.

Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps, a major player in the soap industry, has recently announced that they will be providing free ketamine-assisted therapy to their employees as part of their healthcare benefits.

Ketamine-assisted therapy is a relatively new development in the field of mental health treatment. It has proven to be highly effective in managing a wide range of hard-to-treat mental illnesses, including severe depression, end-of-life anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

The treatment involves using controlled ketamine infusions in a medical setting in combination with traditional counseling and therapy techniques to help individuals struggling with mental illness manage their symptoms and improve their overall quality of life.

The “magic soap” company- which has its headquarters in Vista, California – is an ardent proponent of drug decriminalization and a vocal supporter of the use of psychedelic medicines for their therapeutic benefits.

Over the years, the family-owned business has used the labels on their soap and personal care products as a unique advocacy tool for preaching world peace and enlightening the masses about the benefits of psychedelic-assisted therapy.

Starting in 2015, they have channeled over $23 million to drug research, advocacy, and decriminalization/legalization efforts, as The New York Times reported. The company has also made headlines on several occasions in the past few years after being heavily involved in orchestrating and funding the successful push to legalize hemp cultivation in the United States and the legalization of the “magic” mushrooms for medicinal use in Oregon.

The decision to offer ketamine-assisted therapy as part of their employee healthcare benefits went into effect early this year and is seen as a natural extension of the company’s commitment to psychedelic research and drug policy reforms.

“Considering all our advocacy on this issue, this employee benefit is the next logical step,” Michael Bronner, the President of Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps, tweeted. “I don’t want to oversell ketamine therapy as a miracle cure, but it just stripped the rust away, gave me a reset, and got me to a really good space,” he added, referring to his experience with the treatment.

This move also comes at a time when psychedelic research is experiencing a resurgence, with more and more evidence mounting in support of the potential psychological and behavioral health benefits of different kinds of psychedelics.

The rise in research into psychedelics has also been spurred on by the discovery that classic psychedelics such as LSD and psilocybin could revolutionize the way we view and treat mental and behavioral health disorders.

David Bronner, the company’s CEO (Cosmic Engagement Officer), is also very passionate about drug decriminalization and the use of psychedelics for their medicinal effects. “Let’s face it, the world would be a far better place if more people experienced psychedelic medicines,” he is quoted as saying.

Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps is only the first major company to offer ketamine-assisted therapy as part of their employee healthcare benefits. Still, it’s likely we will see more and more companies follow suit in the coming years as psychedelic research and legalization efforts continue to gain mainstream traction.

Just months after Governor Daniel McKee of Rhode Island signed into law a bill proposing the establishment of what will be the country’s first overdose prevention sites, lawmakers in the Ocean State have launched two drug decriminalization bills in what may be seen as an accelerated effort to adopt more progressive drug policies.

This comes at a time when the “War on Drugs” has failed terribly, for a large part, and more and more states are leaning towards drug decriminalization and public health-centered interventions as a way to address problems associated with drug use and addiction.

One of the bills, sponsored by representative Brandon Potter (D), looks to build on the existing marijuana decriminalization policy by including both buprenorphine and psilocybin on the list of restricted substances whose possession doesn’t amount to a criminal penalty in the state.

Psilocybin is a psychedelic compound found in psychedelic “magic” mushrooms, which has shown incredible potential in helping manage severe mental disorders like depression, anxiety, and PTSD and could be instrumental in mitigating the widespread mental health crisis in the country. Buprenorphine, on the other hand, is a type of opioid medication that has shown great success in treating opioid addiction.

But unlike marijuana which doctors can only “recommend” to avoid any licensing repercussions, the proposed bill would give qualified medical professionals the green light to, “in good faith,” prescribe psilocybin for therapeutic use. The proposal also gives the director of health the mandate to promulgate the rules and regulations needed to effect this provision if passed into law.

The second bill was sponsored by representative Jose Batista (D) and looks to implement a far-reaching drug policy reform that would prevent criminal prosecution or jail time for possession of up to 1 oz. (one ounce) or less of any substance listed in The Controlled Substances Act (CSA), with the exception of fentanyl.

According to the bill, a violator would be subject to a $100 civil penalty for first-time offenders and $300 fines for any subsequent offenses. This is a significant departure from the current policy where individuals caught in possession of drugs can face criminal prosecution and jail time, in addition to other punitive measures such as fines, and community service.

Both bills, if passed into law, would put Rhode Island at the forefront of drug decriminalization efforts and send a clear message that the state is willing to abandon failed punitive drug policies in favor of progressive laws and evidence-based intervention measures which can help save lives and improve public health.

Rhode Island is also nearing marijuana legalization for recreational use by adults in the state. This push to legalize marijuana is spearheaded by Governor Dan McKee (D) and would bring Rhode Island to par with over 20 other US states which have already adopted similar measures.

It is indeed a new dawn for drug policy reform in Rhode Island, and it will be interesting to see how these bills progress through the state legislature.