Israel’s Iron Dome risks getting overstretched if war against Hamas widens

• October 19, 2023

Patrick Sykes, Beril Akman and Selcan Hacaoglu | Bloomberg

Israel’s high-tech air defense system, the Iron Dome, risks getting overwhelmed by missile attacks if the escalating war with Hamas in Gaza expands into a wider regional conflict.

The US-backed system of interconnected radar and mobile missile batteries is designed to shoot down rockets, missiles and mortars that could hit Israeli population centers or important infrastructure. It has been lauded for reaching a 90% interception rate in past attacks.

But like any air defense system, it relies on sufficient stocks of interceptor missiles and can be overrun if the incoming assault is large enough.

Hamas, which the US and European Union have designated a terrorist group, fired 3,000 rockets in the first 20 minutes of its surprise Oct. 7 attack, a major increase from previous operations, according to Patrick Sullivan, the director of the US Military Academy’s Modern War Institute. The group’s missiles were also more advanced than in previous incidents.

Now American officials are worried about the possibility of Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah firing precision missiles at Israeli cities, while the country’s military gets engaged in grinding urban warfare in densely populated Gaza.

To prevent such a scenario, the US sent two aircraft carriers to the region as a deterrent to those who might seek to take advantage of Israel’s Gaza operation, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.

Even a small drop in the Iron Dome’s interception rate to around 80% would mean many more rockets would get through should Hamas or others start another round of intense attacks. With around 100,000 missiles and rockets estimated to be at Hezbollah’s disposal, such an overwhelming offensive and a decline in Iron Dome’s effectiveness are seen as plausible among officials in the Middle East and beyond.

What Is Israel’s Iron Dome Anti-Rocket System?: QuickTake

Northern Front

Hezbollah is “the world’s most heavily armed non-state actor” and has a large, diverse stockpile of unguided artillery rockets and ballistic, anti-air and anti-tank missiles, said Shaan Shaikh, an associate fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington DC.

“If Hezbollah enters the ongoing conflict, there is absolutely a risk of Iron Dome defenses getting overwhelmed by rocket fire,” he said.

Why Hezbollah Is a Wild Card in New Mideast Fighting: QuickTake

“Hezbollah’s missile arsenal, of course, dwarfs that of Hamas and exceeds it in quality and accuracy,” according to Alexander Downes, professor of political science and international affairs at The George Washington University in the US. “If it launches massive salvos, some will get through.”

While Iron Dome is used to counter short-range rockets, the entry of more advanced weapons into the war could also see Israel tap other defensive systems like “David’s Sling” and Patriots for longer-range rockets and drones.

Their use would add further to Israel’s defense costs at a time when military supplies are already stretched by a rapid mobilization of reservists. Each Iron Dome interceptor costs tens of thousands of dollars, according to Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies, known as INSS. Hamas’s rockets, while more advanced than they used to be, are cheaper to produce than Israel’s, making it easier for the group to replenish its stocks.

Strategic Shift

Backed by the US and produced by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and Raytheon Technologies, Iron Dome is designed with resource limitations in mind. The system only intercepts rockets that are expected to hit populated areas, ignoring those bound for empty space.

Read more on Israel’s exports of air defenses here.

A wider war would mean tough choices about how to allocate those resources to defend civilians and the military.

“I think the Israeli public understands that the war with Hezbollah will not be like a war with Hamas,” said Kobi Michael, senior researcher at the INSS.

Click here for more on the Israel-Hamas War

Israel would likely shift from trying to intercept missiles to trying to destroy launch sites before they’re used, said CSIS’s Shaikh.

The US has already dispatched extra military aid to bolster Israel’s supplies including Iron Dome interceptors and other air defenses. Many in Washington are calling for more.

Republican member of the Armed Services Committee Senator Tom Cotton wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that President Joe Biden should follow his predecessor Richard Nixon’s example from the 1973 Arab-Israeli war.

“Send everything that shoots on everything that flies.”

–With assistance from Iain Marlow, Henry Meyer and Ugur Yilmaz.

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com

©2023 Bloomberg L.P.

​ Orange County Register 

Will Smith reunites with Jada Pinkett Smith in Baltimore, calling their relationship ‘brutal and beautiful’

• October 19, 2023

Mary Carole McCauley | Baltimore Sun

Actor Will Smith surprised his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, on a Baltimore stage Wednesday night to declare his unconditional love and devotion to her.

“I just really wanted to come out and just be here and hold it down for you the way you have held it down for me,” Will Smith said in a surprise appearance at the Enoch Pratt Free Library. “We have had a very, very long and tumultuous [relationship]. We call it ‘brutiful.’

“It was brutal and beautiful at the same time.”

As Smith spoke spontaneously from the stage before an excited crowd and effusive applause, Pinkett Smith stood at his side, one hand covering her mouth. Their son, Jaden, and daughter, Willow, stood toward the wings, gesturing excitedly, while Pinkett Smith’s mother, Adrienne Banfield Norris, who celebrated her 70th birthday Wednesday, watched from the audience.

It was an emotional, romantic speech, and it seemed designed to quash public speculation that the couple’s long and storied marriage was over — rumors that reached a fever pitch after Pinkett Smith appeared Friday on the “Today Show” to discuss an extended rough patch in their relationship.

But Pinkett Smith told The Baltimore Sun that what had been a six-year estrangement was in the past. She said she and Smith have been working to repair their relationship and have grown much closer in the previous 18 months — a statement she repeated Wednesday night on the Pratt stage.

“Will and me are good,” Pinkett Smith told Laura Coates, an anchor and chief legal analyst for CNN, who moderated the discussion about “Worthy,” the Baltimore native’s memoir that was released Tuesday. “All the people who don’t understand and got something to say are just going to have to fall in line.

“The truth of the matter is I’m not leaving Will’s side and he’s not going to leave mine. We’ve been on a powerful quest. And I’m happier than I’ve ever been.”

It was a joyous and unexpected reunion made even more special by the multiple family members who attended. They included Trey Smith, whom Pinkett Smith has described in her memoir as her “bonus son,” his mother, Sheree Zampino, and multiple other cousins, aunts and family members of both members of the couple.

Will Smith’s appearance capped a conversation that Pinkett Smith, 52, had been having with Coates in front of a capacity crowd at the Pratt about her memoir.

Coates set up Will Smith’s surprise appearance by asking:

“What did your family think about this book? You know what, actually, why don’t I just ask your family? I think they’re here. I know your mom is here,” Coates said, and nodded toward Norris. Then she paused dramatically.

“But,” Coates asked, “is anyone else here?”

As Smith strode onto the stage, the crowd gasped. Dozens of audience members began filming the interaction on their mobile phones.

Smith began speaking into the microphone and at times appeared almost giddy with joy.

“We got together when we were in our 20s,” Will told the audience.

“I had huge dreams of what I wanted to do in the world and in my life, and I was on fire with a vision. And as I stand here before you today, I am happier than I’ve ever been in my entire life.”

Smith said everything he has ever accomplished — his awards, his money, his family — came to him because Pinkett Smith was willing to put her own ambitions on hold.

He said his dreams “were largely built on the foundation of Jada’s sacrifices,” and mentioned that Pinkett Smith had gone out of her way to develop a close friendship with Zampino, his ex-wife and Trey Smith’s mother, “so that I could have all of my children with me.”

The confusion began when Smith confirmed to “Today” host Hoda Kotb that she and Smith had separated in 2016 and for six years, lived almost entirely separate lives.

That interview resulted in a raft of such headlines as this one from London’s The Independent: “Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith have been separated since 2016 — when should couples just get divorced?”

Three days later, Pinkett Smith returned to “Today” again to clarify her relationship with her husband.

“This whole journey, as difficult as it’s been, has just brought Will and I closer in such an authentic way,” she told Kotb. “We were in this very fragile place. Now, we’re just super solid. We kind of had to go our separate ways in order to really see each other and find our way back.”

“There might not be a divorce in theory anymore?” Kotb asked.

“There’s no divorce in theory,” Pinkett Smith replied. “We really have been working hard at bringing our relationship together, back to a life partnership.”

Smith told the Pratt audience that he was unaware of the speculation that he and his wife were on the brink of divorce. For the past three weeks, he said, he has been in Papua New Guinea assisting research in a project about biodiversity. He switched his mobile phone off because he had no internet service. It wasn’t until he reached Sydney, Australia, that the rumors finally reached him.

“Our union,” he said, “is a sloppy experiment in unconditional love” and then added:

“Jada is the best friend I have ever had on this planet, and I am going to show up for her and support her for the rest of my life.”

©2023 Baltimore Sun. Visit baltimoresun.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

​ Orange County Register 

UK Prime Minister tells Israel ‘we want you to win’ on Middle East trip

• October 19, 2023

Kitty Donaldson, Ellen Milligan | Bloomberg News (TNS)

U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak embarked on a round of high-stakes Middle East diplomacy with an echo of Britain’s wartime leader Winston Churchill, saying that Israel is facing “its darkest hour” and telling Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu: “We want you to win.”

Sunak was speaking alongside his counterpart ahead of their closed-door meeting on Thursday, as the U.K. prime minister joined a procession of foreign leaders visiting Israel in a bid to prevent the conflict from widening. Sunak said he welcomes Israel “taking every precaution” to avoid harming civilians in Gaza and that the U.K. is boosting aid.

“We absolutely support Israel’s right to defend itself in line with international law, to go after Hamas, to take back hostages,” Sunak said. Netanyahu said this “will be a long war and we will count on your support.”

Sunak will go to Saudi Arabia later Thursday, his office told reporters in London. With the death toll mounting in Gaza amid an Israeli bombardment that followed Hamas’s incursion into southern Israel this month, Western leaders are seeking to avoid the conflict sucking in other countries. That’s especially after a blast at a hospital Tuesday in Gaza that Palestinian officials said killed hundreds. Israel and Hamas have issued rival claims about who was responsible. Hamas has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, Canada and the European Union

Sunak’s Israel visit follows others by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Tuesday and U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday. French President Emmanuel Macron has said he will travel to the region “as soon as I consider that we have a useful agenda and very concrete actions to drive forward.”

The prime minister told broadcasters British intelligence is still working to establish who was behind the blast at the Gaza hospital, and said it is important to avoid “jumping to conclusions.”

Hamas — designated a terrorist group by the European Union, the U.K. and the U.S. — blames Israel for the explosion, while Israel’s army says the hospital was struck in a failed missile attack by militants from the Islamic Jihad group. Anti-Israel protests broke out in several major cities around the region.

There are also complicated domestic politics for Sunak to navigate. The Israel-Hamas conflict has led to a surge of reports of anti-Semitic incidents, as well as those of Islamophobia, the Metropolitan Police has said. U.K. Security Minister Tom Tugendhat alluded to that when he said Thursday British intelligence still hadn’t reached a conclusion on who was responsible for the hospital explosion.

“We’re going to be getting this right because the cost in terms of the loss of a peace opportunity or increased community tensions in the U.K. is too high of a price to pay,” he told Times Radio.

At a regular briefing in London, Sunak’s spokesman Max Blain said that seven British nationals have been confirmed killed in Hamas’s brutal attack on southern Israel earlier this month, and that it is feared some of the nine missing Britons may also be dead.

Sunak declined to be drawn on whether he would support a ground invasion by Israel into Gaza. “We have to remember that it is Hamas, the terrorist organization, that embeds itself in the civilian population and they should be held accountable for that,” he told broadcasters.

In a sign of the delicate political balance nations are trying to take on the Israel-Hamas conflict, on Wednesday both the U.K. and Russia abstained on a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for “humanitarian pauses” to deliver aid to Gaza, which was vetoed by the U.S. but backed by the 12 other members.

U.K. Foreign Secretary James Cleverly is also touring the Middle East, starting in Egypt on Thursday. He will press the Egyptians to open the Rafah border crossing from Gaza to allow foreign nationals to leave.

“It is in no one’s interests — neither Israeli, Palestinian nor the wider Middle East — for others to be drawn into this conflict,” Cleverly said in a statement.

The foreign secretary is also expected to visit Qatar to discuss helping British nationals to leave the narrow strip of land between Israel and the Mediterranean. A stopover in Turkey will focus on the nation’s connections with Hamas’s leadership in order to prevent violence spiraling in the region.

___

©2023 Bloomberg L.P. Visit bloomberg.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

​ Orange County Register 

Californians rattled awake by early-morning ShakeAlert earthquake warning messages

• October 19, 2023

Californians and others across the West Coast were rattled awake early Thursday morning when a planned test of the ShakeAlert earthquake warning system misfired seven hours ahead of time.

The messages — each reading “TEST of the earthquake warning system” — blared on phones at 3:19 a.m. Thursday, startling awake users of the MyShake app across California, Oregon and Washington, according to system administrators and numerous people who received the messages. The alert came ahead of the planned Great ShakeOut earthquake drill, which was scheduled to take place at 10:19 a.m. Thursday. as a means to prepare the California and other areas of the nation for a large-scale earthquake.

State officials say the goal of the Shake Out is to encourage people to practice earthquake safety, and remind residents to keep their emergency earthquake kits well-stocked. About 10 million people are expected to participate throughout the state, including school children and many office workers.

A simple time zone mix-up is to blame for the erroneous early-morning test alerts, said Robert de Groot, a member of the U.S. Geological Survey’s ShakeAlert operations team.

The messages were delivered at 10:19 Coordinated Universal Time, rather than Pacific Time. As a result, they were sent seven hours ahead of schedule.

“It was just a simple twist in the code,” said de Groot. He added that the problem has since been corrected, and that previously-scheduled alerts for the correct time of 10:19 a.m. PT would still be sent as planned.

The errant messages were only sent to people who had downloaded the MyShake app, and who had successfully installed the program on their phones. More than 1 million people across the West Coast have installed the app, though it’s unclear how many people have completed the setup process, de Groot said.

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Messages planned as a part of the Great ShakeOut on Thursday morning will still only be issued to people with the MyShake App. In the event of a real earthquake — such as the 4.1 temblor that struck near the Sacramento County town of Isleton on Wednesday — additional messages also would be sent via other means, including through Google and through cell towers, similar to how Amber Alerts are issued.

de Groot acknowledged the inconvenience of Thursday’s misfired early-morning message. Still, he implored Californians to download the MyShake app, given how it could keep them safe during an actual earthquake.

“We understand what happened, and it’s been addressed,” de Groot said. “The people behind this know what they’re doing and they’re making every effort to make sure this never happens again.”

Earthquake safety

Before an earthquake: How to set up a family plan and make your house safer
Earthquake kits: What to put in a go-bag, plus what supplies to keep at home and in the car
ShakeOut Day: Here are eight-plus things you can do now to get ready for an earthquake
How to talk to your kids about earthquakes … without scaring them
If a 7.1-magnitude earthquake hits L.A., expect ‘significant damage’

“This alert system, first of all, is a new tool for everyone’s earthquake preparedness toolbox — it’s an enhancement to what people already have,” de Groot added. “And the idea behind this is: It may give those critical seconds for people to drop, cover and hold on before the heaviest shaking arrives.”

To download the app, go to myshake.berkeley.edu.

​ Orange County Register 

Dunn: Ciarelli enshrined in CIF Hall of Fame

• October 19, 2023

Tony Ciarelli, a longtime and highly decorated throws coach in track and field, was enshrined in the CIF-Southern Section Hall of Fame on Oct. 18, along with his brother, Rocky, who was honored posthumously following a distinguished career as a volleyball coach.

“I am very proud to be inducted into the CIF Hall of Fame,” Tony Ciarelli said. “To take it to another level, my late brother Rocky was also inducted for his great accomplishments in his volleyball coaching career. Not sure how many brothers have inducted together. CIF started in 1913 and has a great history of coaches throughout its history. There are over 600 high schools in the Southern Section alone. It is a great honor to receive this award.”

Ciarelli, in his fourth year as a volunteer assistant throws coach with the UC Irvine track and field program, is also a member of the Mt. San Antonio College Relays Hall of Fame and Arcadia Invitational Track and Field Hall of Fame. Ciarelli coaches at UCI with his daughter, Katelyn, the Anteaters’ associate head coach of track and field.

At the high school level, mostly at Newport Harbor High, Ciarelli helped his athletes win a combined 32 Southern Section divisional and Masters Meet titles, as well as coaching 52 state qualifiers in the shot put and discus throw, taking home 33 state medals.

“Nothing like this is done alone,” Ciarelli said. “I would like to thank all of the athletes and coaches that helped me reach these great milestones.”

Ciarelli coached at Newport Harbor from 1990 to 1996 and again from 2005 to 2020. He started his coaching career at Honolulu (Hawaii) Damien from 1979 to 1981, Edison from 1982 to 1989 and Huntington Beach from 1997 to 2004.

Ciarelli has mentored six state champions, four in the discus and two in the shot put.

Two of Ciarelli’s students, Huntington Beach’s Scott Moser and Newport Harbor’s Bo Taylor, rank second and third on the state’s all-time list in the discus throw, with Moser reaching 213 feet, 11 inches in 1997 and Taylor hitting 213 feet, 7 inches in 2006.

Ciarelli, a 1972 Huntington Beach graduate, is also a highly acclaimed Olympic weight training coach and conditioning guru who has influenced myriad students and athletes throughout his career.

Some of the Olympians Ciarelli has coached include the Netherlands’ Rutger Smith, India’s Seema Antil, Canada’s Jason Tunks and Americans Jarred Rome and Brian Blutreich, as well as Cara Heads Slaughter, who represented the U.S. at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia, in weightlifting. Ciarelli coached Heads Slaughter and her sister, Gina, at Newport Harbor High.

Ciarelli, who competed in the javelin throw in track and field at the University of Hawaii, was also a highly sought-after football coach as a defensive coordinator.

Upon his arrival in 1989 as Newport Harbor’s strength and conditioning coach, as well as defensive coordinator, Ciarelli introduced Olympic weightlifting to the football program as the Sailors, under head coach Jeff Brinkley, won four CIF-Southern Section titles and appeared in eight CIF championship games. The 1994 Sailors finished 14-0 in their first CIF championship season, completing the school’s first and only perfect season.

“At one point, with Tony Ciarelli, we had the premier strength and conditioning program for high school sports, and you hear a lot of stories about college coaches coming through and observing,” Newport Harbor Principal Sean Boulton said.

Rocky Ciarelli, who died in February at age 66, coached volleyball for 32 years at Edison, Huntington Beach and Newport Harbor.

In his final season in 2019, he led Newport Harbor’s boys to the CIF Division 1 and CIF State Division 1 titles. At Huntington Beach, Ciarelli guided the boys to CIF Division 1 championships in 1993 and 1994, and the Oilers’ girls to CIF Division 2-AA and CIF State Division 2 titles in 1996.

Richard Dunn, a longtime sportswriter, writes the Dunn Deal column regularly for The Orange County Register’s weekly, The Coastal Current North.

​ Orange County Register 

These Florida researchers are giving depressed, anxious people psychedelics

• October 19, 2023

A therapy session with Patricia Brown starts like any other. She leads her clients into a peaceful, quiet room, draped in beige and generic, calming artwork.

Then her clients lie down, close their eyes, put on a blindfold and headphones, and trip for six hours on psilocybin, the psychoactive chemical found in magic mushrooms.

Brown is a psychiatric nurse practitioner and head of clinical operations at CNS Healthcare. CNS in Thornton Park and APG Research near the Central Business District are two global clinical trial sites testing whether microdoses of psychedelics — typically about one-tenth of a recreational dose — can help people with depression and anxiety.

A growing number of clinical trials suggest single doses of psychedelics can have long-lasting impacts on the brain, leading the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to issue “breakthrough therapy” designations to these drugs beginning in 2017.

These treatments could have untapped potential for helping the estimated one in three people with treatment-resistant depression, meaning they have tried at least two different antidepressants that haven’t worked, said Brown. The clinical trial she’s working on right now targets this group.

“This is the opportunity for us to take treatment for depression and anxiety to the next level,” Brown said.

The rebound in psychedelics’ popularity isn’t without controversy, however. A potentially troubling trend is emerging. From 2018 to 2021, a survey published in the scientific journal Addiction indicates a doubling of recreational psychedelic use in the U.S., with 8% of young adults having tried hallucinogens as of 2021. This is the highest number seen since the 1980s.

Recreational use sparks concern

This isn’t the first time these drugs have been studied for therapeutic benefits. These investigations have taken place since the 1940s, though research halted in the 1970s when the federal government classified these drugs as Schedule 1 due to their potential for abuse.

Over the last few decades, there’s been a resurgence in promising scientific research, continuing the work of 50 years ago. But it’s dangerous to use these drugs outside a medical setting, especially without a guide, said Dr. Robert Molpus, a psychiatrist and addiction researcher.

Molpus leads the CNS Healthcare location of a clinical trial of small doses of LSD on people with anxiety. The study is run by Mind Medicine, a biotech pharmaceutical company seeking approval for its proprietary form of LSD.

“What we have here is pharmaceutical-grade medication produced under very strict tolerances and standards,” said Molpus. “Whatever you buy on the street, it’s not pharmaceutical grade and you actually have no idea what’s in it or what the dose is.”

Psychedelics theoretically alleviate mental illnesses by creating new connections in the brain, according to the National Institutes of Health. Negative connections can be created just as easily as positive ones, Molpus warned.

“The idea is that things are connected wrong because of experience or trauma. And so, what you want to do, is get them reconnected; you want to break this bad connection,” Molpus said. “You don’t want a different set of bad connections. That’s where the therapy piece comes in.”

Licensed mental health counselor Elizabeth Lindell Mendez says recreational psychedelics worsened pre-existing mental illnesses and addiction issues in some of her clients. She worked for six years in community mental health residential and day treatment programs before moving to Thriveworks Counseling & Psychiatry in Maitland a few months ago.

“When you actively hallucinate, the more you do it, the less likely you might be to come back, especially if you have a hereditary predisposition that you’re unaware of,” she said. “It can actually increase and exacerbate symptoms.”

She emphasized that she hasn’t seen any clients who took these drugs within a controlled medical setting.

The American Psychiatric Association released a statement in 2022 calling preliminary research into psychedelics “promising” but cautioned about a lack of evidence.

“There is currently inadequate scientific evidence for endorsing the use of psychedelics to treat any psychiatric disorder except within the context of approved investigational studies,” the statement read.

Studies combat stigma

Brown is confident that current clinical trials are not dangerous.

“I think there really is a stigma that we have to overcome,” she said.

The ongoing trials at CNS are regulated by the FDA and don’t allow people with psychotic and personality disorders to participate. People with other mental illnesses like post-traumatic stress disorder and people who would take other psychiatric medications during the study can’t participate either.

Brown is working on a randomized clinical trial testing the impact of a single dose of psilocybin. The study, conducted by biotech company COMPASS Pathways, will include therapy before the psilocybin dose, a therapist present for the eight-hour period a patient is high, and additional therapy afterward to process what the participant has experienced and help them integrate what they’ve learned.

Another point to keep in mind is that psychedelics do not typically lead to addiction, said Molpus.

“Can you overuse it? Absolutely, you can. But it’s actually not all that common,” Molpus said. “It can happen, and it does happen, but it’s not like meth or heroin that can really capture and trap people in addiction.”

Decades of research back up that assertion, according to the National Institutes of Health.

A push to roll back restrictions

The FDA labels psychedelics like psilocybin, LSD, peyote and MDMA (ecstasy) as having “high abuse potential” and no recognized medical use, hence their Schedule 1 classification.

This designation is theoretically reserved for the most dangerous and addictive drugs in the U.S. In recent years, advocates have questioned it. Molpus labeled psychedelics’ classification “more political than medical.”

Marijuana, too, is Schedule 1, despite decades of evidence of its potential therapeutic benefits. The majority of states, including Florida, have legalized it for medical use.

Amid mounting arguments that these drugs should be more accessible, a handful of countries and U.S. locations like Oregon have decriminalized or legalized MDMA and mushrooms.

In 2021 and 2022, Florida lawmakers introduced legislation that would have ordered state-funded research into the therapeutic applications of psilocybin, ketamine and MDMA for treating conditions including depression, bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, chronic pain and migraines. The bills failed to achieve widespread support.

Nationally, more than 60% of U.S. voters support legalizing psychedelic therapy, a 2023 poll done by the University of California, Berkeley, found.

The future of psychedelics

A potential roadmap for magic mushrooms and LSD can be seen with ketamine, another drug with hallucinogenic or psychoactive properties.

Ketamine ‘saved my life’: Depressed, anxious Floridians turn to unregulated psychedelics

The FDA approved a derivative of ketamine called esketamine — manufactured by Janssen Pharmaceuticals and sold as a patented nasal spray called Spravato — in 2018.

It’s only available for people with treatment-resistant depression through a restricted distribution system with strict guidelines.

Ketamine differs from traditional psychedelics, however, because it has been used in medical settings for decades and is not as tightly regulated. Physicians who don’t want to jump through federal government hurdles or work with insurance companies are allowed to prescribe traditional ketamine off-label as a treatment for mental health conditions.

Meanwhile, the only foray into selling mushrooms commercially in Florida so far was unsuccessful.

In 2022, Ybor City’s Chillum Mushroom Hemp Dispensary briefly bypassed Florida’s restrictions by selling psychedelic mushrooms that didn’t contain the banned ingredient of psilocybin. It advertised itself as the first magic mushroom dispensary in the U.S., and was so successful it opened a second St. Petersburg location.

Even though the mushrooms technically didn’t include any banned ingredients, they were not approved to be sold as food. The store tried out a loophole, labeling them as intended “only for education or spiritual purposes,” not for consumption.

This wasn’t enough to stop the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services from shutting down Chillum Mushroom Hemp Dispensary’s sales.

The dispensary reluctantly stopped offering the mushroom in August, according to a statement on its website.

[email protected]; @CECatherman Twitter

Correction: An earlier version of this story misidentified the American Psychiatric Association.

​ Orange County Register 

CIF-SS girls volleyball playoffs: Scores from Wednesday’s Division 1 games

• October 19, 2023

CIF-SS GIRLS VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS

DIVISION 1

Wednesday

First round of pool play

Pool A

#1 Mater Dei def. #8 Palos Verdes 3-0

#5 Marymount def. #4 Sierra Canyon 3-2

Pool B

#2 Mira Costa def. #7 Los Alamitos 3-0

#3 Huntington Beach def. #6 Alemany 3-0

Tuesday, Oct. 24

Second round of pool play

All games start at 6 p.m.

Pool A

#5 Marymount at #1 Mater Dei

#8 Palos Verdes at #4 Sierra Canyon

Pool B

#6 Alemany at #2 Mira Costa

#7 Los Alamitos at #3 Huntington Beach

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​ Orange County Register 

Capistrano Unified rejects a parental notification policy

• October 19, 2023

Capistrano Unified School District voted against enacting a parental notification policy Wednesday night, the first Orange County school district to outright deny such a proposal.

As it was written, the Capistrano Unified parental notification policy focused on mental health, saying a designated school counselor would notify a student’s family “when they have reasonable cause to believe that doing so will avert a clear and present danger to the health, safety or welfare” of students.

But after being asked for clarification by the student board member during the discussion on Wednesday, Oct. 18, Trustee Lisa Davis said that gender identity would also require notification to parents under the umbrella of this policy.

The board voted 4-2 to reject the policy, with Davis and Judy Bullockus the two yes votes.

Related links

How LGBTQ rights and parental notification bills fared in the California Legislature this year
Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified adopts broader ‘student welfare’ parental notification policy
Sex education classes often don’t include LGBTQ+ students. New restrictions could make it worse
Bill to stop California school textbook bans signed by Gov. Newsom

The policy was first presented by Davis during the board’s September board meeting. Then, Davis said, “This policy brings parents into the conversation regarding some of the most important aspects of a child’s life.”

The proposed policy was written with verbatim language that was used in the approved parental notification policy at Placentia-Yorba Linda School District.

Capistrano Unified’s proposed policy said: “Due to the current nationwide mental health crisis exacerbated by the global pandemic, the Capistrano Unified School District recognizes the need for frequent, ongoing and oftentimes immediate communication between school administration, staff, and parents/guardians. Furthermore, with reports of depression, anxiety and suicide rates at an all-time high among public school students, action is needed to address this emerging crisis and support the health and welfare of district students.”

Andrew Fredriksz, a previous school counselor at Capistrano Unified, said that he is against the policy in a letter sent to Board President Krista Castellanos earlier this week.

“While parent rights are extremely important and they should always be contacted regarding life-changing decisions regarding their children, reporting to parents how a student identifies does not fall under life-changing decision-making,” said Fredriksz, now a counselor at Laguna Beach Unified. “The risk of outing a student in a household where they will not be accepted and may have a negative impact on their mental health is a greater concern in this discussion.”

“I have a lot of respect for the board,” said Fredriksz. “They are unfortunately caught in divisive culture politics as are the students.”

Fredriksz said he does not believe a parental notification policy will be enacted at Laguna Beach Unified.

“Laguna Beach Unified does a great job of cultivating a community where everyone is heard — families, students and staff,” said Fredriksz. “There seems to be a foundation of respect between everyone which helps promote productive conversations.”

Orange Unified was the first Orange County school district to adopt the policy in early September, and Placentia Yorba-Linda soon followed suit, becoming the second district to approve the policy last week. Many parental rights activist groups say they will attend Tustin Unified’s next meeting on Nov. 13 to encourage the policy to be addressed there.

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In districts that have adopted these policies, situations that would warrant parent notification include requests to use different names or pronouns or requests to change sex-segregated programs (like athletic teams or changing facilities) that differ from the student’s “assigned biological sex at birth.”

The policies also include notification guidelines if a student reports self-harm, suicidal ideation or injury to others.

Capistrano Unified has 63 campuses, making it the largest district in Orange County. The district includes the cities of San Clemente, Dana Point, San Juan Capistrano, Laguna Niguel, Aliso Viejo, Mission Viejo and Rancho Santa Margarita.

​ Orange County Register