LSD chemist and longtime drug war prisoner, William Leonard Pickard, was officially released from prison on July 27, 2020. Pickard had been locked down since 2000 and was slated to serve two life sentences without the possibility of parole.

Power Tripping is Psymposia's weekly deep-dive into New York Magazine's Cover Story: Power Trip podcast, co-produced with Psymposia.

A tobacco ban will likely reduce smoking. But focusing only on drug use masks the violence behind policy choices. A ban on tobacco is not done with a magic wand. Behind every law is state violence.

American policing is a white supremacist institution that has repeatedly demonstrated the degree to which it values property over human life. Our struggles against the police are inseparably entwined with similar struggles around the world, and they cannot be disconnected from larger struggles for human rights.

Language used by mainstream media affects the way we think about and respond to sexual violence, and no language is neutral. When journalists repeat the misrepresentations of abusers without qualification, they retraumatize victims and perpetuate ongoing misogynistic views about sexual violence.

The War on Drugs is inherently anti-black. Most psychedelic users that I’ve encountered are hesitant to take a stance on the racial aspects of the drug war.

There’s an emerging public, political, and scientific consensus that otherwise-law-abiding people should not be arrested simply for using or possessing a drug.

What does MDMA rescheduling mean for the recreational user? If you are under the impression that MDMA is on its way to being rescheduled, across the board, you may be disappointed.

If neither the state nor defenders of our continued drug policies can provide a rational justification for the continued practice of incarcerating drug users, then the use of punishment by the state against drug users is morally unjustified.

UC Berkeley SSDP members are organizing college classes focused on drug education.