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Here’s your totally tokerific Tuesday news at the MJ Daily News Digest for August 15, 2023.

GOP Presidential Candidate Ramaswamy Supports (Some) Drug Legalization (For the Troops)

Vivek Ramaswamy, a long-shot Republican candidate for the White House, recently blasted Fox News on Twitter (nka X). 

According to the Fox News tweet: “Vivek Ramaswamy breaks with GOP on decriminalization of hard drugs: ‘I’m in that direction.’”

Vivek Ramaswamy breaks with GOP on decriminalization of hard drugs: 'I'm in that direction' https://t.co/bEVcxlncyT

— Fox News Politics (@foxnewspolitics) August 14, 2023

In reality, Ramaswamy does not back the decriminalization of “hard drugs” such as cocaine or heroin. He even described the Fox News tweet as “more planted trash.” Rather, he supports the decriminalization of ayahuasca and ketamine -- neither of which, technically, qualify as hard drugs. 

More planted trash. I support decriminalizing ayahuasca & ketamine for veterans suffering from PTSD, to prevent the epidemic of fentanyl & suicide. It’s pathetic that Establishment candidates are using lies as a substitute for a message. When you strike the swamp, the swamp… https://t.co/NHrQ2lxadb

— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) August 15, 2023

Ayahuasca does contain a Schedule I drug, DMT, but given DMT’s low addiction potential and near-zero lethality, it’s not on the same level as, say, meth (which, by the way, is Schedule II). Ketamine is a Schedule III drug alongside codeine, and it’s currently administered as a medication nationwide. 

Ramaswamy clarified he only wants psychedelics decriminalized to help veterans with PTSD. Does that mean he could give two shits about the survivors of domestic abuse and car who also struggle with PTSD? Maybe, maybe not. All we know is that, up until this point, he’s been promoting himself as the “anti-woke” candidate, as if every other GOP contender isn’t also campaigning on the anti-woke ticket in 2024. 

The DEA Says Synthetic Delta-8 Is Illegal 

The Drug Enforcement Administration says it’s about to drop some new rules officially banning the synthetic cannabinoid delta-8-THC nationwide.

As discussed at Marijuana Moment, the DEA has taken some confusing stances on a variety of popular synthetic cannabinoids, which also include HHC, delta-10-THC and THC-O. The agency claims that since these particular cannabinoids are produced from hemp-derived CBD, they’re synthetic and therefore illegal.

Delta-8-THC naturally occurs in both weed and hemp but typically in miniscule amounts.

In 2021, a DEA representative said delta-8 was not a controlled substance. Is the DEA walking back its original claim? 

Off-The-Clock Weed Use Does Not Increase Workplace Accidents, Study Finds

A study in the Canadian Journal of Public Health found that tokers who blaze at home are not more prone to accidents at work. If the findings receive further support from additional studies, employers and their insurance policies may have a difficult time discriminating against cannabis consumers. 

However, getting lifted at work can lead to more workplace accidents. The researchers stated puffing on the clock could nearly double the incidence of injuries on the job.