Journal of psychoactive drugs
January 1, 2011
Charlotte Walsh
126 citations
The article examines the intertwined relationship between drugs and the Internet, with a particular focus on psychedelics. It traces the history of programming on psychedelics in Silicon Valley from the 1960s to the present, and explores how drugs are conceptualized as a technology and technology as a drug. The Internet facilitates white, grey, and black drug markets, turning it into a veritable candy store for pharmaceuticals, recreational, and lifestyle drugs. Online forums act as virtual street corners, challenging global prohibition. The greatest challenge to the current paradigm may be the Web as an information source, where experiential discourses offer alternatives to the hegemonic narrative, reconfiguring relationships between drugs, sellers, and users.
Entertainment and Sports Law Journal
June 27, 2016
Charlotte Walsh
2 citations
Magic mushrooms were reclassified as a Class A drug in the UK on July 18, 2005, under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. The paper traces their historical use from ancient Saharan tribes through the 1960s psychedelic revolution to a recent boom in internet sales. It examines the legal change from non-controlled fungi to Class A status, analyzing the desirability of this development within a comparative international context and considering potential unwanted side-effects.
September 1, 2016
Charlotte Walsh
1 citation
Ayahuasca occupies a legally ambiguous position in English law. Although its psychoactive component, DMT, is a Class A drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, neither ayahuasca itself nor the plants used to make it are listed. This chapter examines this ambiguity through the prosecution of self-proclaimed shamanic practitioner Peter Aziz. It argues that prosecuting activities involving ayahuasca under these circumstances constitutes an abuse of process, violating the principle of legal certainty guaranteed by Article 7 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
February 27, 2023
Charlotte Walsh
The chapter examines proactive regulatory approaches for plant medicines, beginning with a legal analysis of the UK Secretary of State's refusal—and subsequent failed appeals—to grant the ayahuasca-using União do Vegetal (UDV) church a license to import, possess, and supply its sacrament. It then considers how plant medicines might be regulated if prohibition ended, from strict legal regulation to the recommended decriminalization model, ideally supplemented by practitioner-generated best practice guidelines voluntarily adopted, drawing lessons from indigenous cultural practices.