The Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) — the country’s agency for monitoring, assessing, and regulating therapeutic products — has initiated legal action against certain publishers over allegedly illegal cannabis advertisements, Reuters reports.

Under the Therapeutic Goods Act of 1989, companies are not allowed to advertise prescription medicines directly to the public without the TGA’s permission.

TGA officials announced the action on Friday, targeting News Corp Australia-owned News Life Media and other firms, including AG Therapeutics, Straight Up PR, and Mamamia.com.au, another media outlet. News Life Media and Mamamia are each accused of using prohibited messaging to promote medical cannabis, while officials said AG Therapeutics had improperly called cannabis products “plant medicine” and run online promotions for cannabis use.

“We allege that AG Therapeutics, Mamamia and News Life had been warned on multiple occasions in relation to the alleged unlawful advertising of therapeutic goods.” — TGA head Anthony Lawler, via Reuters

Australia has legalized medical cannabis at the federal level, but the program is strictly regulated, and adult-use cannabis remains prohibited. The Australian Medical Association announced last year that while it supports certain decriminalization policies, it opposes legalizing adult-use cannabis.

Meanwhile, the Australia Legal Cannabis Market report published last month said the market was worth about USD 126.32 million in 2024 and is expected to reach over USD 420 million by 2030.

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Taking a high dose of LSD, coupled with assisted therapy, led to “greater reductions in depression” among patients compared to those who received a low dose of the psychedelic, according to a new study.

Researchers at the University of Basel in Switzerland investigated the therapeutic potential of LSD for people with moderate-to-severe major depressive disorder, and they found the substance showed “promise” as a “novel approach” to treating the condition.

Notably, the study—published this month in the journal Med—indicated that “high-dose-LSD-assisted therapy reduced depressive symptoms more than low-dose therapy” and that the improvements lasted for up to 12 weeks after the treatment.

The randomized, double-blind trial involved administering doses of 100μg and 200μg of LSD for one cohort and two doses of 25μg of the psychedelic for the other. Symptoms of depression were measured at multiple intervals, starting with the baseline and followed up with examinations after two weeks, six weeks and 12 weeks.

After assessing the 61 patients post-administration, the researchers concluded that the “findings of this exploratory study support further investigation of LSD-assisted therapy in depression in a larger phase 3 trial.”

“The present trial’s strengths include a clinically representative sample with respect to the duration of illness, common comorbid conditions, and various pretreatments,” the study authors said. “Other strengths include the comparison with a low-dose group and a relatively long follow-up period of 12 weeks after the last administration.”

“LSD could be used safely within the framework of this study,” they said, adding that compared to previous trials involving psilocybin, “LSD has a longer duration of action.”

“This prolonged effect makes clinical application more resource intensive. It remains to be resolved whether this extended duration offers clinical advantages,” the study text says. “Furthermore, it is yet to be determined if there are other relevant differences among hallucinogenic drugs in terms of therapeutic potential.”

Last year, meanwhile, U.S. researchers announced that, for the first time ever, they will be administering LSD to patients in a Phase 3 clinical trial. The study will focus on whether the psychedelic can be used to effectively treat generalized anxiety disorder (GAD).

The federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted the LSD product “breakthrough therapy” status as a treatment for GAD last year.

Breakthrough drug status is meant to recognize the therapeutic promise of an emerging substance or therapy as well as speed the research and development of treatments that fill an unmet need. MDMA and psilocybin have also previously been awarded the designation.

Also last year, a report by researchers who gave a dog a dose of LSD in order to treat separation anxiety found that the psychedelic caused no adverse effects and appeared to “significantly” attenuate the animal’s nervous symptoms.

Another report, on the millions of Americans with depression who might qualify for psilocybin-assisted therapy if it becomes widely available, noted that if LSD is approved for treatment of generalized anxiety disorder, doctors might also prescribe it for off-label uses, such as depression.

A separate study published last summer found that pairing psychedelics like LSD with a small dose of MDMA seemed to both reduce those feelings of discomfort and highlight more positive aspects of the experience.

CBD From Cannabis Could Help Reduce Alcohol Binge Drinking, Study Shows

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia.

Chemically modifying industrial hemp or converting CBD into synthetic compounds, such as delta-8 THC, is prohibited in South Dakota, where law enforcement officials will begin seizing noncompliant products starting July 14.

Pennington County State’s Attorney Lara Roetzel and local law officials sent a June 10 letter to Genesis Farms LLC, a licensed medical cannabis company with 10 dispensaries, including two in Rapid City, and a cultivation and manufacturing facility in Box Elder.

The letter, also signed by Rapid City Police Chief Don Hedrick and Pennington Sheriff Brian Mueller, warned that Genesis Farms could be in violation of the hemp legislation that former Gov. Kristi Noem signed into law last year.

“It has come to my attention that your business may be selling products that violate the law,” Roetzel wrote. “The continued sale of these products in our community cannot be tolerated.”

It’s unclear how many businesses received the letter.

The 2024 signed legislation, House Bill 1125, prohibits the manufacturing or sale of hemp-derived products containing compounds like delta-8 THC, delta-10 THC, THC-O and HHC, or other chemically manipulated cannabinoids. The goal for state lawmakers was to eradicate intoxicating hemp products from unregulated storefronts.

Genesis Farms did not immediately respond to a Cannabis Business Times request seeking clarity on whether the products in question are being sold in the company’s licensed medical cannabis dispensaries or elsewhere.

H.B. 1125 modified South Dakota Codified Law to state that no person or entity may:

1. Chemically modify or convert industrial hemp as defined in §38-35-1, or engage in any process that converts CBD into delta-8 THC, delta-9 THC, delta-10 THC, or any other tetrahydrocannabinol isomer, analog or derivative; or
2. Sell or distribute industrial hemp or an industrial hemp product that contains chemically derived cannabinoids or cannabinoids created by chemically modifying or converting a hemp extract.

However, the law does not restrict South Dakota residents from possessing such products purchased online from out-of-state distributors.

Those who violate the law are subject to a Class 2 misdemeanor, which carries a maximum penalty of 30 days in jail and/or a $500 fine for each instance of a noncompliant product being manipulated or sold in South Dakota.

Roetzel wrote in the June 10 letter that state lawmakers intended to close a legal loophole for products containing such hemp derivatives after “many unpredictable and harmful products” were sold for human consumption.

“Please be advised that starting July 14, 2025, our law enforcement agencies will be enforcing this statute,” she wrote. “Any products found in violation of SDCL 34-20B-119 will be subject to legal action, including the seizure of the noncompliant products. Each individual package or product that violates this statute constitutes a separate Class 2 misdemeanor, potentially resulting in multiple charges during a single inspection.”

While the law took effect on July 1, 2024, the state’s policing agencies had no plans at that time to immediately prioritize enforcement mechanisms, South Dakota Searchlight reported. Enforcement often requires laboratory testing to differentiate synthetic from natural cannabinoids in consumable hemp products.

Under H.B. 1125, cannabinoids produced by decarboxylation from a naturally occurring cannabinoid acid without the use of a chemical catalyst are OK. So, too, are nonintoxicating cannabinoids, such as CBD, and cannabinoids that are present in non-ingestible products like a topical cream.

While H.B. 1125’s enforcement efforts appear to be teed up for next month, South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley has long supported cracking down on intoxicating hemp products. In March 2024, he joined a coalition of 21 state attorneys general that requested the U.S. Congress fix language in the 2018 Farm Bill that allowed “bad actors” to exploit the marketplace.

“Illicit suppliers are stealing legitimate brand names and packaging harmful and dangerous products as candy, snacks and cereal,” Jackley said last year. “These copycat hemp products put people, especially children, at risk. They also jeopardize lawful hemp production for agricultural purposes here in South Dakota.”

Specifically, the 2018 Farm Bill, which federally legalized industrial hemp cultivation, doesn’t regulate finished goods but rather requires hemp plants to contain no more than 0.3% delta-9 THC on a dry-weight basis during a pre-harvest field test.

While U.S. lawmakers have attempted to redefine hemp, the farm bill’s reauthorization was kicked down the road in 2023 and again in 2024, leaving many state lawmakers to rewrite the rules in their jurisdictions in the name of public health and safety.

In South Dakota, it’s now up to businesses to ensure the products on their shelves are compliant or face the hand of the law.

“It is important that you and your business evaluate whether products you sell contain unlawful synthetic drugs,” Roetzel wrote. “It is your responsibility as a business to understand the law and to know what is lawful and unlawful.”