Are psychedelics legal in your state?

Psychedelics are being fast-tracked for research after a 2026 executive order

Many such compounds (including LSD, psilocybin, and more) are classified as Schedule I drugs—illegal to possess and federally regarded as having no medical use. Researchers say such restrictions have created significant hurdles for formal clinical trials. With this executive order, the FDA will enable work particularly focused on depression, PTSD, and alcohol use disorder.

Mental health applications of psychedelics

Scientists are investigating psilocybin, ketamine, LSD, and MDMA (also known as ecstasy) as potential treatments for mental health issues. These drugs enable an altered state of consciousness, which can have beneficial or harmful impacts depending on the nature of the experience. Research suggests these drugs can be effective in treating substance use disorders, mental health conditions, including depression and anxiety, and psychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia.

Psychedelic therapy's ethical guidelines (or lack thereof)

With a checkered history of misconduct, how will psychedelic-assisted therapists be held accountable in the emerging legal field? This article explores the nascent field's need for ethical guidelines and clear protection of patient rights when therapeutic breakthroughs teeter "on the edge of consent."

How psychedelics can potentially reinvent learning

Critical periods, discovered in the early 20th century, describe a period when someone is incredibly sensitive to their environment, and any information learned can stick with them for life. Some researchers argue these states can be "reopened" via psychedelics, which put the mind into a malleable state that can potentially be used to treat conditions ranging from lazy eyes to PTSD.

What can psychedelics teach us about dying?

Psychedelics have made their way into the world of licensed mental healthcare, and the drugs have been proven to help people process and lessen anxiety and depression. What does this mean for people with terminal illnesses who are afraid of death?

Drugs 101: An interactive guide

What's the difference between opioids and psychedelics? This guide details specific drugs and their various associated effects. Drugs in this wheel fall into seven categories: stimulants, depressants, empathogens, psychedelics, dissociatives, cannabinoids, and opioids.

How to make LSD

Lysergic acid diethylamide, often shortened to LSD, comes from ergot, a parasitic fungus that can be found in grains. Chemists rearrange the fungus' chemical structure or the structure of an ergot derivative through complex chemical reactions, transforming it into the hallucinogenic bicycle-shaped LSD crystal. Due to the partially synthetic drug's criminalization, many of the details of modern LSD crafting honed by "underground chemists" are kept secret.

Sports betting is legal in 47 states and the District of Columbia

This downloadable map provides an easy-to-see overview of each state's position on legalized gambling, including a breakdown of online versus retail betting. Click on a state, and a new page will provide information on what type of wagers are allowed, key regulations, tax rate data, and where that tax money will be allocated.

See this overview of the firework rules across all 50 states, ranging from a complete ban on non-professional fireworks in Massachusetts to states with more lax rules like Indiana.

The illegal happy hour map

Despite its origins as a US phenomenon, happy hours aren't welcome everywhere in the country. This resource includes a map that visualizes every American state's happy hour legislation, from the states with complete bans (like Massachusetts) to states that don't have any happy hour legislation at all.

The negative effects of cannabis use

After decades of criminalization, cannabis is a legalized drug in an increasing number of countries around the world. This allows for accurate, robust research on the drug's effects on humans . While weed isn't as harmful as alcohol, regular usage has its negative effects. As strains of the drug become stronger, so does its consequences. Watch this video for a lucid look at the effects of cannabis on its users.

Massachusetts is the only state that bans all non-professional fireworks

See this overview of the firework rules across all 50 states and Washington, D.C. It states that Indiana's rules are relatively loose as compared with other states. Beyond state and local rules on firework purchases and use, there are also regulations about the fuses on fireworks—they must burn between three and nine seconds to help reduce the risk of injury if the user doesn't get away quickly enough.

There is no clear national standard of laws for autonomous vehicle

Some US states allow self-driving vehicles to operate without a human driver present, while others require a licensed driver to be behind the wheel. As of January 2023, a total of 21 states have legalized autonomous vehicles in public, with six focused solely on semi-trucks.

Colorado legislates neural and biological data generated by the nervous system

The law expands personal privacy protections to include data from brain activity, marking the first legal step of its kind in the US. It targets companies involved in consumer neurotechnologies, which were previously not required to restrict user data access.

16 states impose term limits on their legislatures

As of 2025, 16 states limit how long lawmakers can serve, usually capping tenure at eight to 12 years in one chamber or across both chambers combined. Most of these limits stem from a 1990s reform wave aimed at curbing career politicians.

Words used in cannabis business names

As selling recreational cannabis becomes legal in many states across the US, cannabis dispensaries are increasingly common. While one might expect each of these dispensaries to have vastly different names, one study found that the names have some consistent similarities. Businesses with "beach vibes" or "green" in the name seem particularly common. Explore the full data visual here.

As of 2026, the majority of US states have unsafe radon exposure levels

Alaska, South Dakota, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Washington top the list of states with exposure levels above 4 picocuries per liter for this naturally occurring radioactive gas. While these state-level averages vary from one county, municipality, and home to another, the EPA encourages those in the highest-risk states to test their homes.

IVF is legal across America, but some worry that state bans could curtail this reproductive technology

This reproductive technology is available across the US, but if states take action to prohibit the discarding of unused embryos or pass related legislation, it could affect access to IVF. Laws prohibiting IVF or effectively outlawing the procedure by defining personhood as being conferred at the moment of conception have been under discussion in several states in recent years, including Ohio, Virginia, and Texas.

Look up where your generic prescription drugs are made

This project from investigative journalism outlet ProPublica compiled source data for most generic prescription drugs in the US. Roughly 90% of drugs on the market are generic, and in rare cases investigators have noted issues with compliance or safety at some plants. Using your drug's name and the company on the label, find out any issues with your drugs here.

44% of Americans say they pray at least once a day—discover how your state's religiosity stacks up against the rest of the country.

A guide to single-use plastic bans across the US

Over 100 cities and municipalities in the US have banned Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) in government facilities including New York City, Los Angeles, Seattle, San Diego and Miami Beach, Florida. Here, maps illustrate what US states have bans in place.

The DEA enforces federal drug laws under the Department of Justice

Established in 1973, the Drug Enforcement Administration directs federal efforts to fight illegal drug trafficking, oversee controlled substances, and dismantle large narcotics networks both within the United States and internationally.

Accessing the dark web is legal in the US, the EU, and most countries worldwide

As long as users do not pay for illegal goods or services or acquire illegal content, they cannot be prosecuted. Those on the dark web include academics, researchers, and cybersecurity experts gathering threat intelligence on cybercriminals, cyberterrorists, and state actors, as well as protesters, activists, and grassroots organizers.

Graffiti exists in a legal gray area

"Street art" has become a major seller in the art world, yet many states still consider graffiti to be illegal vandalism. Copyright law complicates the situation further, offering protections for "original works of authorship fixed in a tangible medium of expression," even if they've been created illegally.

Is time travel really possible?

The laws of physics, as currently understood, don’t categorically reject the possibility of time travel. But, scientists are skeptical, especially when it comes to traveling to the past. Hopping between past, present and future would require the world to have some wacky yet-to-be-discovered physical properties like negative mass, negative energy, and infinite density. Time travel also introduces philosophical questions about free will, causality, and chronology.

When state and local laws conflict, state law almost always prevails

Courts generally side with state law when it conflicts with a local ordinance. Whether the contradiction is explicitly stated or merely implied by the two laws, state authority typically prevails.

Explore Pew Research's 2025 Religious Landscape Study

The study—conducted in 2007, 2014, and 2023-24—surveys more than 35,000 Americans about their affiliations, beliefs, practices, and views on religion. Find data on religion broken down by all 50 states.

An investigation suggests a Scottish island became awash in forever chemicals via seafoam and seaspray—raising questions about what that means for the safety of other coastal areas.

The United States is one of only around two dozen countries with a fully federal system of government, in which power is divided between national and state governments.

Despite being favored by 87% of Americans, Congress does not have term limits.

After her fellow cult members tried to kill her with an LSD-infused hamburger, one member of the Manson Family, the murderous cult led by Charles Manson, decided to testify against the group's leader.

Researchers believe the brain consolidates memories, processes emotions, and plans for the future during dream states

Jimmy Carter signed a 1978 bill that legalized home brewing, a move credited with kick-starting the craft beer industry.

70 years ago today, city officials in Santa Cruz, California, banned rock 'n' roll to protect its youth from corruption after witnessing a 'provocative' concert the night before.

A 2019 Facebook event called on attendees to "Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop All of Us," resulting in countless memes, the creation of a music festival, and eventually the arrests of those who did try to approach the area.

The story of Dollree Mapp, whose legal challenge over her 1957 conviction for possessing "obscene material" led to a major strengthening of the Fourth Amendment

Telehealth demand for GLP-1s for weight loss is booming as consumers seek easier access.

Doctors differentiate between a phobia and fear by asking patients whether their fear interferes with their day-to-day activities.

In 2026, Finland was named the world's happiest country for the ninth consecutive year based on its wealth, social safety network, and high life expectancy, among other factors.

During the French Revolution, a botanist's letter asking about "dear Rhus" (poison ivy) was intercepted, leading authorities to suspect he was conspiring with the Russians.

While the first exchange-traded fund (a 'basket' of different assets that can be bought and sold on a stock exchange) in the US only launched in 1993, the global ETF market has grown to more than $10T in the short time since.

Some Pokémon have been named after real and fictional organisms, while some real-world species have been named after Pokémon, such as Chilicola charizard and Binburrum zapdos.

In 2025, four executives from large tech companies were given positions in the US Army Reserves—including Palantir Chief Technology Officer Shyam Sankar, which reinforced Palantir's ties with the US military and its role as a leading defense partner.

Explore fun facts from the USPS, including unique post office buildings, a stamp that traveled past Pluto, and more.

As of 2025, the most cited papers in science include a review of graphene, methods to improve image recognition, streamlining electron density calculations, and optimizing protein studies.

The price of gas is a composite made up of several different factors, with the federal gas tax making up less than 20% of what drivers pay at the pump.

An Ebola vaccine was developed during the 2018 west African Ebola outbreak, but the 2026 Ebola outbreak is with a different species of the virus, not the one that the vaccine is approved to treat.

All rainbows are 'raincircles' caused by water droplets separating white sunlight into a spectrum of colors, but Earth's surface blocks the bottom half of the circle from our line of sight.

Art theft is the third-largest source of criminal revenues worldwide, thanks in part to the subjective nature of valuing a work of art.

The concept of phantom limbs, the perception that amputated limbs are still present, dates back to a French military surgeon in the 16th century.