This Week in Psychoactives - 2.7.20

Cannabis

• Bernie Sanders Pledges Legal Marijuana In All 50 States On Day One As President (Forbes)

• Businesses Are More Profitable And Innovative In States With Legal Marijuana, Study Finds (Marijuana Moment)

• Nepal’s Communist Party Wants to Legalize Weed and Ban Booze (MERRY JANE)

• Vermont Committee Unanimously Approves Bill To Legalize Marijuana Sales (Marijuana Moment)

• Another Vermont House Committee OKs Bill To Legalize Marijuana Sales (Marijuana Moment)

• Gallup: Twelve Percent of Adults Acknowledge Smoking Marijuana (NORML)

• Virginia Lawmakers Approve Another Marijuana Decriminalization Bill (Marijuana Moment)

• CBD May Treat Psychosis Rather Than Cause It, Study Shows (MERRY JANE)

• Liberal Americans Are Six Times More Likely To Smoke Marijuana Than Conservatives, Poll Finds (Marijuana Moment)

• Whoopi Goldberg's cannabis company has shut down (CNN)

• Cannabis in South Africa: the duplicity of colonial authorities (TalkingDrugs)

Magic Mushrooms

• Inside the Campaign to Legalize Magic Mushrooms in California (Reason)

MDMA

• Speech Pattern Technology Can Now Detect If You’re High on MDMA (MERRY JANE)

5-MeO-DMT

• Supportive Context is Associated With Positive Effects From Inhaling 5-MeO-DMT (Psychedelic Science Review)

• 5-MeO-DMT: The 20-Minute Psychoactive Toad Experience That’s Transforming Lives (Forbes)

PCP

• What is PCP? The ‘angel dust’ drug used in Netflix’s The Stranger (The Tab)

Opioids

• The highs and lows of the opium trade in southern Africa (TalkingDrugs)

• "Gray death" drug is so dangerous, police say you shouldn't even touch it (CBS News)

Cocaine

• A fingerprint can show if someone has taken cocaine or just touched it (New Scientist)

• Enhanced cocaine vaccine blocks the high in mice (Futurity)

Caffeine

• Caffeine has been a boon for civilization, Michael Pollan says. But it has come at a cost. (The Washington Post)

Nicotine

• The vaping 'flavor ban' goes into effect today. Here's what it does (The Hill)

• Mismatched tobacco laws could put federal funding for NC at risk (The News & Observer)

• American Lung Association Gives Arizona Failing Grades in Tobacco Control Report (Phoenix New Times)

• American Lung Association gives Georgia low grades for tobacco use (11Alive.com)

• Michigan receives 'F' grade for tobacco prevention, new report shows (WWMT)

Alcohol

• Baby boomers are the booziest generation – and are driving a 60 per cent rise in alcohol-related hospital admissions (The Telegraph)

Kratom

• Natural herb kratom may have therapeutic effects and relatively low potential for abuse or harm (Medical Xpress)

• Maryland bills aim to restrict kratom (The Southern Maryland Chronicle)

Kava

• The great kava boom: how Fiji's beloved psychoactive brew is going global (The Guardian)

Miscellaneous

• Measure To Decriminalize Psychedelics Advances In Washington, D.C. (Marijuana Moment)

• Scientists find a new trippy link between psychedelics and climate change (Inverse)

• Psychedelics linked to persisting reductions in cannabis, opioid, and stimulant use (PsyPost)

• Could wearable microdosing technology be a thing one day? (Psymposia)

• DEA’s National Drug Threat Assessment Shows Decrease in Drug Overdose Deaths (Pharmacy Times)

• A New Nonprofit Is Betting on Psychedelic Therapy (Outside Magazine)

Think Wilder is reader-supported. If you enjoyed this week’s update, please consider helping out by becoming a patron, making a one-time donation, or sharing this post with a friend. Thank you for your support.

Disclaimer: "This Week in Psychoactives" does not censor or analyze the news links presented here. The purpose of this column is solely to catalogue how psychedelics are presented by the mass media, which includes everything from the latest scientific research to misinformation.

Image by Psychedelic Astronaut.

This Week in Psychoactives - 3.1.19

CANNABIS

• Vermont Senate Passes Marijuana Sales Legalization Bill (Marijuana Moment)

• San Francisco will remove more than 9,300 marijuana-related crimes from people’s records (Los Angeles Times)

• THC found more important for therapeutic effects in cannabis than originally thought (Science Daily)

• Portugal Rejects Recreational Cannabis, as Medical Becomes Legal (Talking Drugs)

• Cory Booker just reintroduced a bill that would legalize weed (Roll Call)

• Yeast produce low-cost, high-quality cannabinoids (Science Daily)

• New Hampshire House Passes Marijuana Legalization Bill (Marijuana Moment)

• Multistate Cannabis Operators Facing Unique Challenges (Forbes)

• Uh-Oh, California Could Run Out of Legal Cannabis by Summer (Leafly)

• Denver just made a big change on social-use cannabis: It will be permanent (The Denver Post)

• Marijuana Decriminalization Approved By Hawaii House Committee (Marijuana Moment)

• Studies: Cannabis Exposure Not Associated With Significant Changes In Brain Morphology (NORML)

• This ER doctor is about to launch the first marijuana breathalyzer, and it could completely upend how we do drug testing (Business Insider)

• Maryland Sets Sights on Cannabis Bills—18 of Them (Leafly)

• Florida Senator Wants To Let Voters Decide On Marijuana Legalization (Marijuana Moment)

• Delaware: Attorney General Calls For Expanding Use Of Civil Penalties For Marijuana Violations (NORML)

• This Anti-Vaping Bill Bans Everything But Edibles Indoors and Outdoors (Civilized)

• GOP Congressman Files Bill To Protect Native American Tribes That Legalize Marijuana (Marijuana Moment)

• Weston-super-Mare cannabis centre to show 'safe use' (BBC)

• Federal Reserve Head Calls For Clarity On Marijuana Banking Issues (Marijuana Moment)

• As Expected The UN Delays Voting On Cannabis (Forbes)

• USDA Gives Farmers A Status Update On Hemp Legalization Plans (Marijuana Moment)

• Rhode Island: Gov. Raimondo’s Proposed Marijuana Legalization Budget Plan (NORML)

• Elizabeth Warren Talks Marijuana In New Hampshire Presidential Campaign Stop (Marijuana Moment)

• Don't Expect A Big, National Cannabis Brand Anytime Soon (Forbes)

• Oregon Lawmakers Weigh Bill Allowing Marijuana Lounges And Cannabis Business Tours (Marijuana Moment)

• Legalized Cannabis Remains a Burning Topic for Employers (Workforce Management)

• FDA Head Reveals New Details About Agency’s CBD Regulation Plans (Marijuana Moment)

• Behind The Scenes With Cannabis Charities (Forbes)

• Marijuana Tax Revenue Should Fund Subway Improvement, New York’s Cuomo And De Blasio Say (Marijuana Moment)

LSD

• Bootsy Collins Explains How LSD Played A Role In His Split With James Brown’s Band (Live for Live Music)

• Life inside notorious cult The Family where children were starved, tortured and given LSD is revealed by former member (The Scottish Sun)

• A trip with the acid countess: Amanda Feilding and the medical case for drugs reform (New Statesmen)

MAGIC MUSHROOMS

• Sub-Acute Effects of Psilocybin on Empathy, Creative Thinking, and Subjective Well-Being (Taylor and Francis Online)

• Denver Voters Could Decriminalize Psilocybin Mushrooms in May (Psychedelic Times)

• Psychedelic revolution: Initiative to legalize psilocybin in 2020 sprouts in Oregon (Daily Emerald)

• Australia’s psychedelic drug trial (The Saturday Paper)

MDMA

• Capsule v zip lock bag: How the law views the way party drugs are carried (The Sydney Morning Herald)

• What It’s Like to Treat a Psychopath with MDMA Therapy: Interview with Luna (Psychedelic Times)

• Wedded Ecstasy: The Couples Using MDMA to Fix Their Marriages (Fatherly)

• Brit died plunging into Amsterdam canal after taking MDMA and 'behaving strangely' (Daily Star)

• Teen placed in juvenile facility for providing fatal dose of MDMA (The Intelligencer)

• Homicide rap filed against boyfriend of Cebu teen who died of ecstasy overdose (ABS-CBN News)

NOVEL PSYCHOACTIVE SUBSTANCES

• What is 2-CP, what does it do and where does it come from? (Mixmag)

• Remembering the Great British Mephedrone Craze (VICE)

SYNTHETIC CANNABINOIDS

• Milton bans synthetic marijuana, opiates after teen incidents (Atlanta Journal Constitution)

• Is Synthetic CBD the Future of Cannabis Pharma? (Cannabis Investing News)

KETAMINE

• Ketamine Seems to Ease Depression. We’ll Soon See What Else It Does. (Bloomberg)

• Psychedelic Afterlife? Researchers Determine Which Hallucinogenic 'Trip' is Most Similar to the Near-Death Experience (Daily Grail)

• Ketamine is becoming increasingly popular under clubbers in the Netherlands (Rave Jungle)

• Ontario clinic treating depression with ketamine (CTV News)

• Old drug with racy history is a new suicide prevention weapon (Standard-Examiner)

PCP

• PCP smoker gets prison time for assaulting ex-girlfriend and trying to set her apartment door on fire (Hartford Courant)

OPIATES/OPIOIDS

• Opium-Addicted Parrots Keep Raiding Poppy Farms in India (VICE)

• Allegations Against the Maker of OxyContin Are Piling Up. Here’s What They Could Mean for the Billionaire Family Behind Purdue Pharma (TIME)

• US Quietly Ends Anti-Opium Airstrikes Amid Taliban Peace Talks (Breitbart)

• The Opioid Crisis Isn’t White (The New York Times)

• “Mom, When They Look at Me, They See Dollar Signs” (Mother Jones)

• Bus Driver Overdosing on Heroin Crashes Bus With 12 Students Aboard, Police Say (TIME)

• FDA May Recommend Naloxone Be Co-Prescribed With Opioids (The Fix)

• Carfentanil found in heroin siezed in Uxbridge (Worcester Telegram)

• Naloxone in Maryland schools (WMDT)

• Pain patients on opioids also are getting rescue drug naloxone to prevent overdose (The Philadelphia Inquirer)

COCAINE

• Woman calls police, complains drug dealer sold her sugar instead of cocaine (Newshub)

METHAMPHETAMINE

• KTLA Anchor Chris Burrous Dies After Putting Crystal Meth In Anus (Hip-Hop Wired)

• North Koreans reportedly use crystal meth as casually as cigarettes and are shipping the drug to China (INSIDER)

ALCOHOL

• The Alcohol Crisis In America Has Been Overshadowed By Opioids, But Can No Longer Be Ignored (Forbes)

• Mothers return to pre-pregnancy drinking within five years: study (The Sydney Morning Herald)

• Arkansas county sells alcohol after 70-year ban (KLFY)

• New bill would lower blood alcohol content limit for some drivers (ABC 13)

• Smoking and alcohol: Double trouble for the brain? (Science Daily)

• Online poll finds Chinese university students favour alcohol ban on campus (The Drinks Business)

• India toxic alcohol: At least 130 tea workers dead from bootleg drink (BBC)

• Liver transplants tied to alcohol use in the US doubled since 2002 (Health24)

• Is alcohol consumption more helpful than harmful? It depends on your age (EurekAlert!)

• Increasing alcohol limits in Utah beer gets Senate support (AP News)

NOOTROPICS

• Nootropics Found to be Useful Memory Aid (The Avion)

KRATOM

• Can You Drive on Kratom? Is It Safe To Drive After Taking Kratom? (Kratom Guides)

• Poison reports related to herbal drug kratom soar, new study says (USA Today)

• Is kratom nature’s answer to opioids? (Honolulu Star-Advertiser)

• Some patients use Kratom to fight opioid addiction (WESH)

MISCELLANEOUS

• Home Office gives green light to first drug testing clinic (The Guardian)

• Is Scanning Inmates' Mail To Stop the Spread Of Drugs Legal? (The Fix)

• Has the decade-old war on drugs in Asia succeeded? (Al Jazeera)

• Psychedelic therapy — the metamorphosis of mental health care (Medium)

• Legal Weed Did More to Stop Drug Smuggling Than Any Wall (Reason)

• To Fight Addiction, Neronha Calls For Reclassifying Simple Drug Possession From Felony To A Misdemeanor (The Public's Radio)

• Pharma execs offer Senate ideas to lower drug costs – except actually cutting prices (CNBC)

• Joe Biden’s Drug War Record Is So Much Worse Than You Think (Leafly)

• Peganum Harmala, the “Ayahuasca” of North Africa and Eurasia (Kahpi)

• Climax Is The Scariest Movie About Drugs You Will Ever See (Refinery29)

• Magic in the Margins: Interview with an Underground Psychedelic Therapist (Psychedelic Times)

• New study claims microdosing improves focus and fights depression (Mixmag)

• Psychedelics: A Historical Account of Use and Rejection (71 Republic)

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On the Monday following each edition of “This Week in Psychoactives,” I post a “Last Week in Psychoactives” video recap to my YouTube channel. After that is done, I retroactively add the video to the corresponding blog post. Here is this week’s video recap:

---

Think Wilder is reader-supported. If you enjoyed this week’s update, please consider helping out by becoming a patron, making a one-time donation, or sharing this post with a friend. Thank you for your support.

Disclaimer: "This Week in Psychoactives" does not censor or analyze the news links presented here. The purpose of this column is solely to catalogue how psychedelics are presented by the mass media, which includes everything from the latest scientific research to misinformation.

Image by Psychedelic Astronaut.

This Week in Psychoactives - 2.15.19

CANNABIS

• Senator Files '420' Marijuana Bill To Legalize It Federally (Forbes)

• Mexican Senate Report Lays Out Marijuana Legalization Considerations (Marijuana Moment)

• New Mexico Lawmakers Approve Marijuana Legalization Bill At Committee Hearing (Marijuana Moment)

• Oregon has more legal cannabis than the state can consume in six years (Quartz)

• States With Legal Medical Marijuana Have Lower Teen Use Rates, Large-Scale Study Finds (Marijuana Moment)

• Why CBD Works Better With a Little THC (Even If You Don’t Want to Get High) (Leafly)

• Study Shows How Marijuana Component CBD Can Help People With Substance Use Disorders (Marijuana Moment)

• Veterans Medical Marijuana Access Legislation Introduced In House and Senate (NORML)

• European Parliament Approves Medical Marijuana Resolution (Marijuana Moment)

• Bill to Provide Greater Access for Virginia Medical Cannabis Patients Succeeds (NORML)

• Missouri Lawmakers Approve Marijuana Expungement Bill For Medical Cannabis Patients (Marijuana Moment)

• Kamala Harris Got So High Smoking Weed in College She Thought She Was Listening To Snoop Dogg and Tupac (Reason)

• Where Presidential Candidate Amy Klobuchar Stands On Marijuana (Marijuana Moment)

• Michigan’s First Cannabis Lounge Is the Chill Alternative to Bars (Leafly)

• Marijuana possession bill reintroduced in state Senate (Winston-Salem Journal)

• Maury Povich Smoked A Marijuana Strain Named After His Wife, Journalist Connie Chung (Marijuana Moment)

• Dan Bilzerian's Weed Company Is Keeping Sexist Cannabis Ads Alive (VICE)

• If you support marijuana legalization, you should support safe injection sites (The Philadelphia Inquirer)

• Here's How New Mothers are Using CBD to Combat Baby Brain (Civilized)

• Aurora Cannabis earnings show big growth in pot sales, but worrisome profit trend (MarketWatch)

LSD

• The Man who Mapped LSD (OUPblog)

• Microdoses of LSD change how you perceive time (Big Think)

• Amanda Feilding: ‘LSD can get deep down and reset the brain – like shaking up a snow globe’ (The Guardian)

MAGIC MUSHROOMS

• $1m kicked into campaign for magic mushroom therapy (The Sydney Morning Herald)

• Push to legalize psychedelic mushrooms gains traction in Eugene (KEZI)

• Hallucinogenic Mushrooms Are Having a Moment. Here's What It's All About. (Cheddar)

• Magic Mushrooms Show Promising Results for Treating PTSD and Depression (San Diego Entertainer Magazine)

MDMA

• MDMA Users May Have a Social Advantage Over People Who Use Other Drugs (Inverse)

• Israel's Health Ministry Approves Compassionate Use of MDMA to Treat PTSD (Haaretz)

• MDMA Expanded Access is almost here. What’s it all about? (Psymposia)

• Use of Ecstasy spreading in Cebu: PDEA 7 (Sun.Star)

• Police issue a warning for yellow octopus ecstasy pills (Mixmag)

• Daniel Eades, 19, took MDMA at Halo and Wetherspoon (Bournemouth Echo)

• Young dad dies after taking ecstasy on New Year's Eve (Derbyshire Live)

AYAHUASCA

• The First Indigenous Ayahuasca Conference (Yubaka Hayrá) in Acre Demonstrates Political, Cultural and Spiritual Resistance (Chacruna)

• Ayahuasca Shows Huge Potential As a Treatment For Severe Depression (Reset.me)

• What Ayahuasca is Trying to Teach Us: An Interview with Dennis McKenna (Reality Sandwich)

• Mindful Eating as a support for Ayahuasca Dieta (Tam Integration)

SYNTHETIC CANNABINOIDS

• Severe bleeding associated with use of tainted synthetic cannabinoids (AAP News)

• Colorectal cancer: Scientists halt growth with cannabinoid compounds (Medical News Today)

• Children as young as THREE are treated in hospital after taking Spice as Britain's synthetic drug crisis deepens (Daily Mail)

NITROUS OXIDE

• Laughing gas now an option for women giving birth (Everything Lubbock)

• Residents 'disgusted' after piles of 'hippy crack' canisters dumped outside Cambridge home (Cambridgeshire Live)

• Everything you need to know about nangs, the worrying craze growing amongst Aussie teens. (Mamamia)

KETAMINE

• Taking Ketamine Can Feel a Lot Like a Near-Death Experience (Tonic)

• F.D.A. Panel Recommends New Depression Treatment (The New York Times)

• Ketamine Clinics of Los Angeles Commemorates Five Years of Patient Success Stories (New Kerala)

PCP

• Man who killed USA Today reporter in PCP-fueled crash sentenced to six years in prison (The Washington Post)

OPIATES/OPIOIDS

• When the Cure Is Worse Than the Disease (The New York Times)

• Mapping the Opioid Epidemic (New America)

• Overdose remedy naloxone now carried by all Ventura police officers (Ventura County Star)

• Mass. Issues Guidelines After Boston Nurse Was Denied Life Insurance For Carrying Naloxone (WBUR)

• Even in best-case scenario, opioid overdose deaths will keep rising until 2022 (Los Angeles Times)

• Opioid-Related Deaths Decreasing in Iowa, Report Shows (WHO-TV)

• Veterinarian sentenced to 6 years for stitching heroin into puppies and turning them into drug mules (INSIDER)

• Why the Rural Opioid Crisis Is Different From the Urban One (CityLab)

• Opium cultivation business squeezed by market shift towards meth (Myanmar Times)

• Vet saves Victoria puppy with naloxone injection (Maple Ridge News)

• Offer: help solve the opioid crisis, have your student loans forgiven (Rooster Magazine)

• Indy coffee shop is the newest place to offer life-saving drug naloxone (Fox 59)

• Coroner: No carfentanil spike locally, but OD deaths are up (Dayton Daily News)

• 'Church Of Safe Injection' Offers Needles, Naloxone To Prevent Opioid Overdoses (NPR)

• It's too late to save my son's life, but this drug can save others (The Sacramento Bee)

• Houston Cop Involved in Deadly Drug Raid Relieved of Duty Due to 'Ongoing Questions' (Reason)

• Naloxone training could help save numerous lives (KVAL)

METHAMPHETAMINE

• Crystal Meth Is North Korea's Trendiest Lunar New Year's Gift (The New York Times)

• Officials: Iowa sees higher-quality meth, increased drug use (The Daily Nonpareil)

BENZODIAZEPINES

• The Deadly Worst Case Scenario for America's Xanax Obsession (VICE)

ALCOHOL

• Beer before wine, you'll feel fine? Not according to a new study (CTV News)

• More than 100 dead after drinking bootleg alcohol in India (Reuters)

• Man 'under influence of alcohol' allegedly beats stepdaughter to death (Jakarta Post)

• How heavy drinking might boost your appetite for alcohol (Health24)

• Alcohol Problems Grow as Booze Gets a Bigger Kick (WebMD)

• Alcohol’s effects on the brain (The Ithacan)

• Plan to raise alcohol limits in beer at Utah stores approved (Cache Valley Daily)

• Report says Utah has lowest alcohol consumption per capita in country (KUTV 2News)

• Thousands sign petition to stop ban of alcohol on some Michigan rivers (WXYZ)

• I Stopped Drinking For 30 Days — & My Skin Got So Much Better (Refinery29)

• Giving up alcohol made our lives better — and turned us into terrible guests (The Washington Post)

ABSINTHE

• Does absinthe really make drinkers hallucinate? (Fox News)

NOOTROPICS

• Brain‑Enhancing 'Smart Drugs' Promise a Boost in Creativity, Memory (The Swaddle)

• Seven Mental and Athletic Performance Benefits of Nootropics (Youth Health Magazine)

• Noopept: one of the most potent brain boosters on the market (London Post)

KRATOM

• Kratom Is A Drug, But Indonesia Really Wants It To Remain An Unlicensed Supplement (Science 2.0)

• The FDA is wrong about kratom (The Washington Post)

• Regulations Are On Hold as Kratom Debate Rages (WebMD)

• Kratom No Longer Allowed In Columbus (WCBI)

• What Is Kratom & Why Is It Being Used For Opiate Self-Detox? (Psychology Today)

• Miracle treatment or dangerous drug? (The Star Online)

MISCELLANEOUS

• El Chapo, the Notorious Drug Kingpin, Has Been Found Guilty in His U.S. Trial (TIME)

• 'Kitty Flipping' and the Psychonaut Obsession with Mixing Drugs (VICE)

• FDA explores using blockchain to track drug supplies (Engadget)

• How Brexit Will Shape Britain's Drug Supply (VICE)

• GOP Iowa lawmaker proposes decriminalizing psychedelic drugs for medical use (The Hill)

• Sri Lanka hiring hangmen, inspired by Philippines' war on drugs (Reuters)

• Will El Chapo's conviction change anything in the drug trade? (The Guardian)

• Victoria city councillors call on B.C. to provide safe-inhalation sites for drugs (Times Colonist)

• Tennessee bill would charge pregnant women using drugs if baby born addicted (KMPH)

• Students Turn To Study Drugs And Alcohol To Cope With Campus Life (Forbes)

• Is there something divine about gender and psychedelics? (The Psychedelic Scientist)

• Microdosing Hallucinogens Has Positive Effects—but Not What You Might Suspect (Pacific Standard)

• Riverstyx: A Small Family Foundation That Funds Psychedelic Research and Other Fringe Causes (Inside Philanthropy)

• Sex On Drugs (PSU Vanguard)

• The case for drug decriminalization in Baltimore (The Baltimore Sun)

• Japan managed to win its war on drugs, why can’t we? (The Spectator)

• Trip Sitters and Conscious Bachelorette: Interview with Chi of Truffles Therapy (Psychedelic Times)

• Psychedelics Live Up to Early Promise (Discover Magazine)

• How 'Russian Doll' flirts with psychedelic therapy (The Outline)

• Becoming an Entheogen (Medium)

• Psychedelic Meditation (The Third Wave)

---

On the Monday following each edition of “This Week in Psychoactives,” I post a “Last Week in Psychoactives” video recap to my YouTube channel. After that is done, I retroactively add the video to the corresponding blog post. Here is this week’s video recap:

---

Think Wilder is reader-supported. If you enjoyed this week’s update, please consider helping out by becoming a patron, making a one-time donation, or sharing this post with a friend. Thank you for your support.

Disclaimer: "This Week in Psychoactives" does not censor or analyze the news links presented here. The purpose of this column is solely to catalogue how psychedelics are presented by the mass media, which includes everything from the latest scientific research to misinformation.

Image by Psychedelic Astronaut.

This Week in Psychedelics - 6.15.18

Cannabis

• Canadian Senate Signs Off On Historic Cannabis Regulation Measure (NORML)
• President Trump Expresses Support For Bipartisan Marijuana Fix (NORML)
• Expect Fully Legal Weed Within 5 Years, Says Former Top Pharma Lobbyist and Congressman Billy Tauzin (Reason)
• Parisians queue for cannabis after softening of drug laws  (The Telegraph)
• Minneapolis cops halt low-level marijuana stings after racial disparity revealed (StarTribune)
• CBD Could Help People Smoke Fewer Cigarettes (Tonic)
• Oklahomans To Decide In Two Weeks On Providing Medical Marijuana Access (NORML)
• Meet the Cannasexuals: Can your vagina get high? (BBC)
• UN Drug Committee Finds Cannabis an Effective, ‘Relatively Safe Drug’ (Leafly)
• Five Danish political parties support legalisation of cannabis (The Local)
• Senators Include Medical Marijuana Protections In Justice Department Bill (Forbes)
• The Pot Industry Is Overwhelmingly White, and One Congresswoman Wants to Change That (Rolling Stone)
• 7 mayors want pot removed from federal list of illegal drugs (Associated Press)
• House Appropriations Committee Blocks Cannabis Banking Amendment (NORML)
• Subjective Reports Positive for Cannabis in MS, but Caution Urged (Medscape)
• Senate Majority Leader Announces Progress On Hemp Reform Legislation (NORML)
• S.C. Democrats overwhelmingly supported medical marijuana on the ballot Tuesday. Experts weigh in on what that really means. (Charleston City Paper)
• How Will Employers Handle Cannabis In The Workplace? (Civilized)
• Congressional Black Caucus Announces Support for Marijuana Law Reforms (NORML)
• Uruguay struggling to meet demand for legal marijuana (Associated Press)
• Using Marijuana to Treat Opioid Addiction (The Fix)
• Can Legal Cannabis Help Slow the Opioid Drug Epidemic in the U.S.? (TheStreet)
• How Mapping Marijuana DNA Could Change the Future of Pot (Rolling Stone)
• Rules around marijuana marketing irk some in the cannabis industry (CBC)
• Marijuana Cultivation Is Where Cannabis Workers Can Earn The Largest Salaries (Forbes)
• How to Throw a Cannabis Dinner Party (High Times)
• Ask a Stoner: What Are Some Good Psychedelic Strains? (Westword)
• Art Of The Deal: Trump Looks To Trade Cannabis Legalization for Justice Department Nominees (Forbes)
• How The Cannabis Industry Became America's Hotbed Of Invention (Forbes)
• U.S. Markets 'Definitively' Missing Out on Capital by Barring Cannabis Companies (TheStreet)

LSD

• Did An Acid Trip Change Your Life? Scientists Want To Know About It (Futurism)
• LSD And Toxic Lies (The Third Wave)
• '70s Flashback: When Howard Stern Took LSD (CelebStoner)

Psilocybin/Magic Mushrooms

• LSD and magic mushrooms could heal damaged brain cells in people suffering from depression, study shows (The Independent)

MDMA/Ecstasy

• Why is Britain suffering from an ecstasy overdose? (ShortList)
• Cannabis and MDMA use is on the rise among Irish young people (Extra.ie)
• This Piece of Art Is Made Out of 4,000 Ecstasy Pills (VICE)
• Warning as deadly blue ‘Punisher’ and ‘Duracell’ ecstasy pills found at Manchester’s Parklife Festival (The Sun)

Ayahuasca/DMT/5-MeO-DMT

• DMT vs. 5-MeO-DMT (Psychedelic Heaven)
• Ayahuasca Healings Is a One Stop Online Destination for All Information Relating to Ayahuasca (Digital Journal)

Morning Glory Seeds

• UAE legal Q&As: What is the punishment for being caught having taken 'Morning Glory'? (The National)

Synthetic Cannabinoids/Psychoactive Research Chemicals

• Warning over potent 'fake MDMA' drug which causes psychosis and keeps users awake for three days (The Telegraph)

Dissociatives

• Ketamine is likely one solution to prevent school massacres, doctors agree (Rooster)
• Ketamine and Psychedelic Drugs Change Structure of Neurons (Neuroscience News)
• Hit-and-run suspect ran over Deep Ellum bartender while smoking PCP, passenger says (Dallas News)

Opiates/Opioids

• One easy, cost-free thing Trump can do to ease the opioid crisis (The Washington Post)
• Lack of evidence casts doubt on police claims of officers overdosing after accidental opioid contact (The Star Vancouver)
• Beyond Books: How Libraries Are the Latest Front in the Opioid Fight (Governing)
• Big Opium's fines could approach Big Tobacco's as lawsuits mount (Rooster)
• Afghanistan is producing a lot more opium than before the US invasion. The US just can't stop it (Business Insider)
• Nan Goldin's Misleading OxyContin Story Feeds the Myth of 'Highly Addictive' Pain Pills (Reason)

Absinthe

• What Can We Learn About Moral Panics from Absinthe? (Patheos)

Kratom

• Kratom Advocates Take Their Fight To Washington As Potential Federal Ban Looms (HuffPost)
• Kratom Could Be Illegal Before It Gets a Chance to Solve the Opioid Crisis (Inverse)
• Can Kratom Be Detected In Urine And Drug Test? (Kratom Guides)
• Photos: US hunger for opioid alternative drives Kratom boom in Indonesia (Hindustan Times)
• 5 Kratom Strains to Help Increase Your Productivity At Work (Kratom Guides)
• Edmonton kratom retailer frustrated by 'aggressive' Health Canada raids (CBC)
• Yellow Maeng da Kratom Review: Origin, Benefits and Side Effects (Kratom Guides)

Kava

• Kava is the ‘anti-caffeine’ (Greenville Journal)
• More Improvements Needed In Kava Sector (Fiji Sun)

Miscellaneous Psychedelics/Psychoactives/Drug Policy

• Psychedelics Promote Structural and Functional Neural Plasticity (Cell Reports)
• How Big Pharma Hopes to Make Psychedelics Profitable (The Market Mogul)
• Psychedelic drugs promote neural plasticity in rats and flies (EurekAlert!)
• Men who have used psychedelics are roughly half as likely to commit intimate partner violence (PsyPost)
• E3 Attendees Get High on Digital Psychedelics (GlobeNewsWire)
• Can psychedelics help prevent suicide? (Big Think)
• Group Therapy for Psychedelic Integration (Chacruna)
• Balancing Cultural Traditions and Science in Entheogenic Research: A Conversation with Brad Adams, Ph.D. (Psychedelic Times)
• New Resolution Demands Congress Apologize For Failed Drug War (Marijuana Moment)
• Why Is Everyone Into Microdosing Right Now? (Girlboss)
• This Is Why Xanax Is Blowing Up in America (VICE)
• Trump Should Hurt Sessions by Helping Drug Offenders (Reason)
• Can Psychedelics Induce Flow States? (The Third Wave)
• The Holy Trinity of Music, Religion, and Psychedelics: Interview with Tim Ferson of OM Collective (Psychedelic Times)
• I talked with Adam Strauss about Ketamine for OCD, Trip Sitters, and The Mushroom Cure Los Angeles (Psymposia)
• Why Are Rhode Island Democrats Pushing a Bill That Could Send Some Drug Dealers to Prison For Life? (Medium)
• 1 In 3 Adults In The U.S. Takes Medications Linked To Depression (NPR)
• Drug testers at festivals will tell you if that MDMA you bought is actually sugar (Metro)
• As Mind-Altering Drugs Meet The Mainstream, The D.C. Psychedelic Society Is Bringing The City's 'Trippy People' Together (DCist)
• Agony and Ecstasy: Psychedelics as the next big health remedy? (The Irish Times)
• Psychedelic Drugs Can Cure 'The Most Painful Condition Known to Man' (Andrew Joseph)

Disclaimer: "This Week in Psychedelics" does not censor or analyze the news links presented here. The purpose of this column is solely to catalogue how psychedelics are presented by the mass media, which includes everything from the latest scientific research to misinformation.

Image by Dahtamnay, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

This Week in Psychedelics - 1.27.17

Image by Dahtamnay, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Cannabis

• Pot Protesters Welcome President Trump With 4,200 Joints (Reason)
• Georgia eases draconian law on cannabis use (The Guardian)
• Israel's Ariel University opens first academic course on medical cannabis (The Jerusalem Post)
• NORML Chapters Organize State Lobby Days for Marijuana Law Reforms (NORML)
• Maine Poised to Push Back Retail Cannabis Until 2018 (Leafly)
• Cannabis and Epilepsy Treatment (Leafly)
• Authorities seize 3,000 pounds of marijuana disguised as watermelons (CBS7)
• Israel to fund research for medical cannabis crops (The Times of Israel)
• Trump's AG Nominee Continues to Waffle on Cannabis (Leafly)
• Using Veganics for Growing Organic Cannabis (Leafly)
• Cannabis workshop educates on new program, future potential (The Guam Daily Post)
• Texas Judge Says Teacher Shouldn't Be Disciplined for Consuming Cannabis in Colorado (Reason)
• How Cannabis Became Illegal in Israel in the First Place (Haaretz)
• Can You Trademark a Cannabis Brand? 'Stash' Case Offers Two Answers (Leafly)
• Inside the #Trump420 Movement (TIME)
• Cannabis Drug Company Zynerba Is Gearing Up For A Big Summer (Forbes)
• Great-grandmother battles Ministry of Healthy over medicinal cannabis products (Stuff.co.nz)
• High Hopes for the Legal Cannabis Industry (PR Newswire)

LSD

• Ever Had a Really Long Acid Trip? Now Science Knows Why (WIRED)
• The Micro-Dose vs. The Mystical Experience: Has LSD Turned its Back on the Psychedelic Revolution? (High Existence)
• When Nixon's Henchmen Plotted to Assassinate a Journalist with LSD (The Daily Beast)
• 'A Really Good Day' Recaps A Month-Long Adventure Of Microdosing LSD (NPR)
• Here's how underground chemist Tim Scully planned to save the world with LSD (The Verge)
• How Tripping On Acid Makes Music More Meaningful (Inverse)
• Why I take LSD at work, a true story (Well+Good)

Psilocybin/Magic Mushrooms

• How Microdosing Psilocybin May Keep Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD) at Bay (Psychedelic Times)
• Magic Mushrooms Can Manage Anxiety And Depression In Cancer Patients; According To Research (iTech Post)

MDMA/Ecstasy

• Three Ways You Can Get Involved With the Phase 3 Trials of MDMA as a PTSD Treatment (Psychedelic Times)
• MDMA By Any Other Name: How Street Names Harm the Reputation of Psychedelic Therapy (Psychedelic Times)
• MAPS Looks to Make MDMA into an FDA-Approved Psychotropic Agent (Monthly Prescribing Reference)
• MDMA: a tool for psychotherapy? (The McGill Daily)

Ayahuasca/DMT

• Tourist boom for ayahuasca a mixed blessing for Amazon (The Guardian)

Salvia Divinorum

• Murder suspect Harris Binotti filmed losing control while flipping out on mindbending drugs (The Scottish Sun)

Dissociatives

• Researchers Build Multi-Regional Brain Chip to Study PCP's Effects on Brain (medGadget)
• Taking ketamine 'could help alcoholics quit booze', experts claim (Metro)

Opiates/Opioids

• Heroin injection sites may open soon in U.S. (Lancaster Online)
• How Repealing Obamacare Could Impact the Drug Crisis (ATTN:)
• The Story Behind the Viral Photo of an Opioid Overdose (TIME)
• Recent deaths prompt state warning about carfentanil (Centre Daily Times)
• Bill Maher: Heroin 'a Gateway to Being a Republican' (Rolling Stone)

Kratom

• America's war against opioid addiction - and the battle for kratom, the dietary supplement that has changed thousands of lives (The Telegraph)
• Kratom: What We Know (Medscape)
• Another blow to fighting opium addiction with the scheduling of Kratom (Psychedelic Press UK)

Kava

• Santo kava farmers fear 'silent killer' investor threat to their production (Asia Pacific Report)
• Board: Women's Kava Drinking Worrying (Fiji Sun)
• Woman Clan Leader Says Men Also Abuse Kava (Fiji Sun)

Miscellaneous Psychedelics/Psychoactives/Drug Policy

• BREAKING: Attorney General Vote Delayed (NORML)
• How College "Psychedelic Clubs" are Changing the Conversation on Drugs (Leafly)
• Monero, the Drug Dealer's Cryptocurrency of Choice, Is on Fire (WIRED)
• Why psychedelic drugs are having a medical renaissance (PBS)
• Pill testing sounds like a great idea, but there's a catch (The Age)
• Better living through mushrooms (City Pulse)

Disclaimer: "This Week in Psychedelics" does not censor or analyze the news links presented here. The purpose of this column is solely to catalogue how psychedelics are presented by the mass media, which includes everything from the latest scientific research to misinformation.