The Takeaway

Bicycle Day commemorates the day when Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann was the first human to trip on LSD on April 19, 1943.And now, there is a growing movement in the United States to decriminalize and legalize psychedelic substances, such as psilocybin – the active ingredient in “magic mushrooms.” New research shows that these psychedelic drugs can be used for recreation and also for therapeutic treatments.

In November 2020, Oregon became the first state to legalize psilocybin-assisted therapy, alongside decriminalizing the personal possession of drugs more broadly. In Cities such as Denver, Oakland, California and Washington, D.C., voters have approved ballot measures to decriminalize the personal possession of psychedelic mushrooms.

And although Psilocybin and other psychedelics remain illegal under federal drug laws, there are several prominent universities studying psychedelic-aided therapy and its effectiveness in treating mental health conditions including depression, anxiety, PTSD and – perhaps most surprisingly – addiction.

We speak with Michael Pollan, Co-founder of the Berkeley Center for the Science of Psychedelics and author of How To Change Your Mind: What The New Science Of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, And Transcendence, about the history of Bicycle Day, the criminalization of psychedelics, and psychedelic-aided therapy.

April is National Poetry Month and The Takeaway is talking with young poets across the country. Isabella Ramirez is Urban Word’s 2022 National Youth Poet Laureate South Regional Finalist. She joined the program to talk about her work and shared one of her poems.  

In late March, New York City Mayor Eric Adams’s administration began carrying out highly publicized sweeps of homeless encampments. The mayor has said he’s focused on getting people off the streets and into shelters, but even under the best of circumstances there are many barriers associated with making a shelter-based strategy effective for all who are affected by homelessness. Brendan Cheney, the Director of Policy and Communications for the New York Housing Conference, and Joel Berg the CEO of Hunger Free America join The Takeaway to discuss Adams’ approach to homelessness.  

Last week President Biden used the word "genocide" for the first time to characterize Russia's actions in Ukraine. But do Russia's atrocities in Ukraine rise to the legal definition of genocide? We speak with Gissou Nia, director of the Strategic Litigation Project for the Atlantic Council, to explore the international framework of what constitutes genocide, and consider whether Russia’s atrocities in Ukraine rise to that level yet.

At the beginning of April, the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a report stating that global greenhouse gas emissions are continuing to rise… putting the world at risk for more climate-change related issues, unless immediate action is taken. 

Extreme weather events are likely to force millions from their homes - creating climate refugees across the world and right here in the United States. In advance of these perils, some are trying a new process known as “managed retreat," or planned relocation of communities impacted by climate change. We talk with A.R. Siders, an assistant professor at the University of Delaware and climate change adaptation expert on what managed retreat is and how it has been implemented across the US. 

We also talk with Hilton Kelley in Port Arthur, Texas about climate-related issues in his community. Kelley is also the founder and director of the Community in Power and Development Association.

 Over the past year, Atlanta’s median home prices have increased nearly 24  percent and according to the real estate brokerage firm Redfin -- Atlanta home purchases have been particularly targeted by investors- which means flipping and reselling for even higher prices. A report by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta says the median annual income in Atlanta has increased by roughly one thousand dollars since 2020, meanwhile the median home price has gone up by more than 100,000 dollars. 

As housing prices rise, the city’s racial demographics are also shifting.  White residents coming to Atlanta have vastly outnumbered the arrival of new Black residents, a reversal of trends from previous decades, when Black residents made up the majority of Atlanta's population. 

For our ongoing series, Georgia at the Intersections, we’re talking about what this all means for Atlanta residents and Georgia politics. We spoke with Jim Burress, a WABE reporter who's been covering Atlanta’s housing market for nearly 14 years and Bambie Hayes-Brown, CEO of Georgia Advancing Communities Together, an organization representing non-profit housing and community development groups in Georgia.

A poll conducted by ABC News in January found that only 20% of Americans feel confident in our country’s election systems.  And that skepticism exists for those who identify with both parties.  We look to Georgia, one of the highly contested states in 2020 to see how skepticism is playing a part in who’s running, and efforts to tighten voting laws and restrictions.

Gabriel Sterling, Chief Operating Officer and Interim Deputy Secretary in the Office of the Georgia Secretary of State joins us to discuss the road ahead to the midterm elections.

We host a politics roundtable talking about the lead up to midterm elections this November and the ongoing “culture war” between Republicans and Democrats. 

We speak with Christina Greer, Associate Professor of Political Science at Fordham University, co-host of podcast FAQ NYC, and author of the book "Black Ethnics: Race, Immigration and the Pursuit of the American Dream." And Ron Christie, former Special Assistant to President George W. Bush and Republican strategist.

At the start of the month, the Biden administration announced that on May 23, they will be ending Title 42, the Trump-era public health rule that has been used to expel migrants out of the United States since the start of the pandemic.

Since it was first implemented, immigration advocates have been pushing for an end to the policy, which blocks most migrants from seeking asylum. And even establishment Democrats like Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer have called on the Biden administration to terminate Title 42. But more conservative Democrats like Arizona Senators Kyrsten Sinema and Mark Kelly have partnered with Republicans to create legislation that would keep Title 42 in place.

The Takeaway hears from advocates Abraham Paulos, Deputy Director of Communications and Policy of the Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI), and Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, Senior Policy Counsel at the American Immigration Council, about how their organizations are reacting to the end of Title 42. And we also speak with Camilo Montoya-Galvez, immigration reporter for CBS News, about the politics of ending Title 42.

Back in 1971, President Richard Nixon declared a "war on drugs." More than 50 years later, it's clear that what was a war on drugs in principle turned into an assault on marginalized communities in practice. That’s a tone very different than what we heard from President Biden earlier this year during the State of the Union address. At his address, the Biden said, "There is so much we can do: increase funding for prevention, treatment, harm reduction, and recovery. Get rid of outdated rules that stop doctors from prescribing treatments. And stop the flow of illicit drugs by working with state and local law enforcement to go after traffickers. If you’re suffering from addiction, know you are not alone. I believe in recovery, and I celebrate the 23 million Americans in recovery."

And it’s not just President Biden. Even conservative politicians like like Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton have advocated for treatment rather than punishment to address opiod addiction – a  a drug epidemic where white Americans largely have been the public face. To be clear opioid use is a crisis. In 2019 over 70 percent of overdose deaths in the US involved an opioid. And according to research published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, overdose deaths between 2009 and 2019 actually hit Black communities the hardest.Even as this crisis is being discussed in ways that are different from previous drug epidemics, there is still a lot of stigma for those seeking recovery from opioid use disorder, also known as OUD. This month the Department of Justice sent an important message with hopes of addressing that stigma. The DOJ issued guidance explaining that people who are recovering from opioid use disorder are protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act, known as the ADA. This includes anyone taking prescription medications as part of their treatment.

We speak with Ryan Hampton, an advocate and author of the book “UNSETTLED: How the Purdue Pharma Bankruptcy Failed the Victims of the American Overdose Crisis.” Ryan is also a person in recovery from opioid addiction. We also speak with Kassandra Frederique, executive director at Drug Policy Alliance, a non-profit that works to end the war on drugs.