This Week in Psychedelics - 8.20.21

Cannabis

• Gallup Poll Finds Almost Half Of US Adults Have Tried Marijuana (High Times)

• Meet THC-O, a hemp-derived compound three times stronger than THC (Leafly)

• Study Shows Cancer Patients Consume Less Cannabis Than General Public (High Times)

• Ohio Activists Submit Revised Marijuana Legalization Petition For 2022 Ballot After State Rejected Earlier Version (Marijuana Moment)

• Consumption Lounges on the Horizon for Nevada (High Times)

• NBA Star Kevin Durant Teams Up With Weedmaps To Destigmatize Marijuana In Sports (Marijuana Moment)

LSD

• Exploring the Role of Serotonin 2A Activation in LSD’s Effects on Empathy (Psychedelic Science Review)

Magic Mushrooms

• Diamond Therapeutics Announces Health Canada Approval of Clinical Trial with Low-Dose Psilocybin (Psilocybin Alpha)

DMT

• Biomind Labs to Advance a Phase II Clinical Trial on DMT for Treatment-Resistant Depression (Business Wire)

Ayahuasca

• The Sustainability of Ayahuasca (Reality Sandwich)

• Ayahuasca and Femininity (Reality Sandwich)

• Can Ayahuasca Alter Personality? (Reality Sandwich)

5-MeO-DMT

• Psychedelic toad venom could soon be a clinical treatment for depression (Sifted)

Salvia Divinorum

• Developing a Novel Psychedelic: Salvinorin A (Psychiatric Times)

Synthetic Cannabinoids

• Belfast: Youths Hospitalised After Unknowingly Vaping Spice Instead of CBD (Vaping Post)

Ketamine

• A New Ketamine Test Kit is Now Available (DanceSafe)

• What Happens If Ketamine Treatment Doesn’t Work? (Healing Maps)

• The Pros And Cons Of Ketamine For Anxiety: Here’s What We Know (Healing Maps)

PCP

• How PCP Became A Weapon of Police Propaganda [Part 2] (Psychedelics Today)

Miscellaneous

• Mixing Psychedelics and SSRIs Is Generally Safe, with Significant Exceptions (Lucid News)

• At-Home Genetic Testing Can’t Tell You If You’re Going to Have a Bad Trip (VICE)

• California Bill To Legalize Possession Of Psychedelics Clears Another Hurdle But Faces Key Challenge Next Week (Marijuana Moment)

• Rat poison is just one of the potentially dangerous substances likely to be mixed into illicit drugs (The Conversation)

• Denver Launches the Nation’s First Psychedelic Harm Reduction Training for First Responders (Lucid News)

• Ann Arbor City Council Declares Psychedelics Awareness Month For September (Marijuana Moment)

• Tech Startup Tripp To Use Virtual Reality To Improve Psychedelic Therapy (Forbes)

• Beckley Psytech completes oversubscribed $80m (£58m) fundraise to develop portfolio of psychedelic medicine breakthroughs (Beckley Psytech)

• Chacruna Launches Indigenous Reciprocity Initiative (Truffle Report)

• Psychedelics Can Help Mitigate Symptoms Of Racial Trauma For People Of Color, Study Finds (Marijuana Moment)

• Media Company DoubleBlind Is The Master Class Of Psychedelics (Forbes)

• Israeli team aims to treat neurological disorders with psychedelics (The Jerusalem Post)

• Washington Governor Unveils New Process To Commute Hundreds Of Drug Possession Sentences (Marijuana Moment)

• 9 Celebrities on Their Life-Changing Psychedelic Experiences (DoubleBlind)

• Whole-Body Effects of Psychedelics Part 2 – Blood and Immune System (Psychedelic Science Review)

• DEA Seizes Life Savings of New Orleans Grandfather Without Charging Him With a Crime (Reason)

• Can Harm Reduction Reform the Drug Courts? (Filter)

• Kathleen Harrison: Wisdom, Endurance, and Hope – Reflections from a Psychedelic Woman (Chacruna)

• Moving Deckchairs On The Titanic: Drug Policy Reform in the UK (TalkingDrugs)

• Post-Traumatic Growth With Psychedelics (Truffle Report)

• Psychedelics, Out Of Body Experiences, and Lucid Dreaming (Reality Sandwich)

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

This Week in Psychedelics - 8.13.21

Cannabis

• Native American tribe in North Carolina legalizes medical cannabis (Marijuana Business Daily)

• Marijuana Sales Increased In Multiple States During COVID, Study Finds (Marijuana Moment)

• Study suggests cannabis can induce a psychedelic-like “oceanic” experience (PsyPost)

• Weedmaps adds in-app cannabis purchasing for iPhone users (TechCrunch)

• Seattle-based online cannabis marketplace Leafly to go public (The Seattle Times)

• Senate Votes To Let Researchers Study Marijuana From Dispensaries (Marijuana Moment)

• Here’s where New York’s next governor stands on marijuana legalization (Leafly)

• California High Court: Recreational Cannabis Law Doesn’t Apply To Inmates In Prison (CBS SF BayArea)

• These States Possess the Highest Number of Cannabis Consumers Per Capita (NORML)

• Illinois Announces Cannabis Dispensary License Lottery Winners (Forbes)

• Wisconsin Lawmakers Unveil New Marijuana Legalization Bill—At A Cannabis Shop In Illinois (Marijuana Moment)

• Scientists Think Cannabinoids in Sativex Can Actually Beat Brain Cancer (MERRY JANE)

• Wyoming Officials Clear 2022 Marijuana Ballot Initiatives For Signature Gathering (Marijuana Moment)

• Oklahoma Activists Prepare 2022 Ballot Measures to Legalize Marijuana And Overhaul State’s Medical Cannabis System (Marijuana Moment)

• Nebraska Medical Marijuana Advocates Reveal Updated 2022 Ballot Strategy Featuring Two Separate Initiatives (Marijuana Moment)

Magic Mushrooms

• A 13th Century Fresco Might Feature a Psychedelic Mushroom (InsideHook)

• In Canada, End-of-Life Therapy May Be the Path to Legal Psilocybin (Filter)

• Canadian Groups Push For Legal Psilocybin: Survey Shows Support (Truffle Report)

• Myth Busting: Magic Mushroom Spores Have Little to do with Potency (Psychedelic Science Review)

• How magic mushroom ingredient psilocybin helps patients with depression or PTSD change how they feel, by rewiring the brain with more connections (South China Morning Post)

• Tryp Therapeutics Partners with Calvert Labs to Conduct Exploratory Studies for Proprietary Psilocybin Formulations (Psilocybin Alpha)

Ayahuasca

• An Exploration of Ayahuasca Art History (Reality Sandwich)

5-MeO-DMT

• Why Are Celebrities Smoking Toad Venom? (Yahoo!)

Salvia Divinorum

• atai Launches Revixia Life Sciences to Develop Salvinorin A for a Variety of Mental Health Conditions (Psilocybin Alpha)

Novel Psychoactive Substances

• Psilera Initiates Landmark Preclinical Studies with New Psychedelic Derivatives aimed at Reducing Alcohol Consumption (Psilocybin Alpha)

• Bexson Biomedical Launches New Project, Applying Subcutaneous Delivery Technology To Multiple Psychedelic Compounds For Therapeutic Use (Psilocybin Alpha)

Synthetic Cannabinoids

• Where Cannabis Synthetic Spice Came From and Is It Related To HHC? (CBD Testers)

Ketamine

• Could Ketamine Restore Child-like Brain Plasticity and Learning? (Lucid News)

• Will Ketamine Help Sleep? We Explain Any Benefits (Healing Maps)

• We Just Got Closer to Understanding Why Ketamine Is Such a Powerful Antidepressant (ScienceAlert)

• Study finds cognitive safety of ketamine and esketamine for patients with treatment-resistant depression (News-Medical.net)

• How Much Does A Ketamine Infusion Cost? (Healing Maps)

PCP

• Why Does The Psychedelic Scene Ignore PCP? [Part 1] (Psychedelics Today)

Miscellaneous

• These States Could Have Marijuana And Psychedelics Legalization On The Ballot In 2022 (Marijuana Moment)

• Fireside Project Expands Psychedelic Support Service with App Launch (Lucid News)

• Biden Exploring Clemency For People With Federal Drug Convictions, White House Says (Marijuana Moment)

• Wearable Psychedelics Could Soon Give Users Maximum Control Over Their Trip (VICE)

• Why Aren’t Psychedelic Drugs Prohibited in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics? (Psychedelic Science Review)

• Psychedelics May Inspire Healthier Habits, Survey Finds (Lucid News)

• Tripping Together (NEO.LIFE)

• Campaign will target middle-class drug users (The Times)

• Psychedelics As Medicine: Right To Try Case Versus DEA (JD Supra)

• Prisoners Sue After Drug Testing of Their Legal Mail Gave False Positives (Filter)

• Psychedelic Research Has a Racist Past (Mad in America)

• The Wonderful and Absurd Life of Rosemary Woodruff Leary: Fashion Icon, Fugitive, and Psychedelic Pioneer (Part Two: Freedom and Unfreedom) (Chacruna)

• Safely Exploring High Doses of Psychedelics (Maps of the Mind)

• The Cosmic Giggle: Laughter and Psychedelics (Reality Sandwich)

• Psychedelic Decriminalisation Only Scratches the Surface (VolteFace)

• In Awe: Psychedelic Assisted Psychotherapy and the Mystical Experience (Psychedelic Science Review)

• What Do I Need To Know About Tripping Alone In Nature? (Lucid News)

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

This Week in Psychedelics - 8.6.21

Cannabis

• Louisiana: Marijuana Decriminalization Law Takes Effect (NORML)

• Missouri Probation Officers Are Sending People Back to Prison for Legally Using Medical Cannabis (MERRY JANE)

• Trial to test if cannabis-based mouth spray can treat brain tumours (The Guardian)

• Wyoming Marijuana Decriminalization And Medical Cannabis Initiatives Clear First 2022 Ballot Hurdle (Marijuana Moment)

• Puerto Rico: Law Signed Protecting Medical Cannabis Patients from Employment Discrimination (NORML)

• Arkansas Marijuana Activists Push For Legalization Ballot Initiative In 2022 (Marijuana Moment)

LSD

• How the CIA used LSD to fight communism (Big Think)

Magic Mushrooms

• Canadians Overwhelmingly Support Legal Access to Psilocybin-Assisted Therapy, Poll Reveals (Psilocybin Alpha)

• COMPASS Pathways’ Psilocybin Patent Questioned By UK Patent Examiner (Psymposia)

• Does This Medieval Fresco Show A Hallucinogenic Mushroom in the Garden of Eden? (Atlas Obscura)

• Filament Health Is the First Public Company to Be Issued a Patent for Extraction of Natural Psilocybin (Psilocybin Alpha)

DMT

• Enzymes Responsible for DMT Synthesis Coexist in Mammalian Brain Cells (Psychedelic Science Review)

• PharmaDrug Forms Research Collaboration with Terasaki Institute for Novel Ocular Drug Formulation Program to Deliver DMT and Other Tryptamines to Treat Eye Disease (Psilocybin Alpha)

Ayahuasca

• Addiction Treatment: Ayahuasca May Help Addicts Stop Abusing Alcohol and Drugs (Gilmore Health News)

Mescaline

• Could Synthetic Mescaline Protect Declining Peyote Populations? (Chacruna)

Novel Psychoactive Substances

• Deadly drug 25B-NBOH sold as powdered LSD in Melbourne, spike in Victorian hospitalisations (News.com.au)

Synthetic Cannabinoids

• Lawsuit Filed Over Massachusetts Prisons’ Use of Faulty Drug Tests (Ganjapreneur)

Ketamine

• With a nudge from AI, ketamine emerges as a potential rare disease treatment (STAT)

• Ketamine May Combat Depression in Teens (Lucid News)

Miscellaneous

• Usona Institute Breaks Ground for Global Center in Psychedelic Science (The Joplin Globe)

• Drug deaths in England and Wales highest since 1993 (BBC)

• The Story of “El Chapo” and Why the Drug War Will Never End (The Nation)

• First-ever research centre for psychedelic drug therapy is opening in Australia (Mixmag)

• Fireside Project Releases App for Psychedelic Peer Support (Psilocybin Alpha)

• Modernization of Sacred Plant Medicine Traditions: At What Cost? (Psychedelics Today)

• The Wonderful and Absurd Adventures of Rosemary Woodruff Leary: Fashion Icon, Fugitive, and Psychedelic Pioneer (Part One) (Chacruna)

• Researchers Concerned About Whitewashing of Psychedelic-Assisted Mental Health Research (Mad in America)

• Awakn Life Sciences Announces Its Second Location in the UK for “Awakn Clinics London,” Providing Treatment to the Largest City in the UK (Psilocybin Alpha)

• Two Years After Oakland’s Psychedelic Decrim, What’s Been the Impact? (Filter)

• Improving Y/Our Relationship with Psychedelics (Maps of the Mind)

• Advancing the Psychedelic Renaissance (Reality Sandwich)

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

This Month in Psychedelics - July 2021

This month’s recap is shorter than normal because I am under the weather and have had too much going on to put as much energy into it as I normally have in the past. Also, I’m getting pretty burnt out on creating these roundups and recaps and I’m not sure if I’m going to continue creating them in the future. But for now I hope you enjoy this somewhat-abbreviated monthly recap of what happened in the world of psychedelics during July 2021.

Here’s a video version of this month’s recap if you’d prefer to watch the update instead:

Without further ado, let’s jump into the news.

Drug Policy

Wins

A new law in Colorado restricting the ability of paramedics to administer ketamine outside of the hospital and prohibiting police officers from influencing whether the drug is given to suspects was signed into law this month. Now paramedics will need to try to get a verbal order from a medical supervisor, obtain an accurate estimation of the person’s weight to determine the proper dosage, and have equipment on hand to monitor vital signs and transport patients to the hospital if needed. These changes come after a two-year investigation into the misuse of ketamine by officials in Colorado that turned up a handful of questionable cases, including the death of Elijah McClain in 2019.

Research

Historians have long thought that cannabis was first domesticated in Central Asia, but a study published last month found evidence that China is the more likely source. The plant was grown 12,000 years ago during the Neolithic period, and it was likely used for a variety of reasons including fibers, medicine, and food.

Miscellaneous

The Tokyo 2020 Olympics got off to a rough start when U.S. sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson was disqualified from competing in the 100-meter race because she failed a drug test. Sha’Carri used marijuana (in a state where it is legal, no less) to cope with the recent death of her mother. This prompted a conversation about whether athletes should be allowed to use cannabis prior to competing, and while Sha’Carri had to sit this one out, hopefully future olympians and athletes will be able to use non-performance-enhancing drugs without any issues.

That’s all for this month’s update. Remember to always test and weigh your drugs and until next time—keep thinking wilder.

Think Wilder is reader-supported. If you enjoyed this month’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.

This Week in Psychedelics - 7.30.21

Cannabis

• Barcelona cannabis clubs face closure in new legal setback (The Guardian)

• Black People in Colorado Are Still Arrested for Weed Twice as Much as Everyone Else (MERRY JANE)

• Epilepsy Patients Who Use ‘Artisanal CBD’ Have Higher Quality Of Life, Study Finds (Marijuana Moment)

• Is medical cannabis really a magic bullet? (The Guardian)

• New Study Finds California Cannabis Farms Irrigating with Groundwater May Affect Stream Flows (Sierra Sun Times)

• Ohio Lawmakers Officially File Marijuana Legalization Bill In Historic First For The State (Marijuana Moment)

• You Can Get a Free Eighth of Weed For Getting Vaccinated in SF (Broke Ass Stuart)

• California Senator Seeks Federal Clarification On Medical Marijuana Use In Hospitals (Marijuana Moment)

• How Mexico Has Legalized But Still Not Regulated Cannabis (Filter)

• Why cannabis is still a banned Olympics substance (BBC)

• Pop Star Lorde Smokes Weed Out of DIY Fennel Bulb Bong in New Music Video (MERRY JANE)

• Study: Marijuana Legalization Laws Don’t Undermine Tobacco Smoking Prevention Efforts (NORML)

LSD

• New study sheds light on how LSD’s entropic effects on the brain impact language production (PsyPost)

Magic Mushrooms

• Oregon State Board Says Psilocybin Is Effective At Treating Certain Mental Health Condition (Marijuana Moment)

• Psilocybin appears to alter how the brain integrates tactile sensory inputs (PsyPost)

• TheraPsil Launches New Campaign for Psilocybin Access (Truffle Report)

• Why Don’t Magic Mushroom Spores Contain Psilocybin? (Psychedelic Science Review)

• Psilocybe Cyanescens: A Mycologist’s Guide to Wavy Caps (DoubleBlind)

• Health Canada dragging feet on approving magic mushrooms for therapeutic use, patients and advocates say (CBC)

• More Details on the Psilocybin Mushroom Bluing Reaction (Psychedelic Science Review)

• Florida researchers work to understand power of psychedelics to treat mental illness (ABC7 Southwest Florida)

MDMA

• MDMA-assisted cognitive-behavioral therapy may help couples overcome PTSD (PsyPost)

• MDMA might be able to improve your already loving relationship, suggests Yale ethicist (KCRW)

• 'You Can Forgive Yourself:' Molly Helps Vets with PTSD, New Study Says (Military.com)

• How to reduce your risk of harm when taking MDMA and ecstasy (Metro)

• 2 Music Playlists For Therapeutic MDMA Sessions (Maps of the Mind)

DMT

• MindMed Announces Initiation of Phase 1 Clinical Trial of Intravenous DMT (Psilocybin Alpha)

Ayahuasca

• Psychedelics, Religion, and the DEA’s Quest for Soul (Psychedelics Today)

• Drinking Psychedelic Brew Ayahuasca May Help Drug And Alcohol Addicts Quit (IFLScience)

• Joe Rogan And Comedian Ari Shaffir Discuss Tripping Balls On Ayahuasca (BroBible)

Iboga

• Gabon’s government is tripping for a psychedelic plant (Financial Times)

• Ibogaine: The Psychedelic Drug That Could Fight Addiction (Discover Magazine)

• MINDCURE Launches Second Stage of Manufacturing Synthetic Ibogaine for Use in Psychedelic Clinical Research (Psilocybin Alpha)

Synthetic Cannabinoids

• Synthetic cannabis warning: Second death from 'dangerous' batch in Taranaki (New Zealand Herald)

Nitrous Oxide

• Mindful Use of Nitrous Oxide: How to be a Connoisseur of Getting High (Maps of the Mind)

Ketamine

• Tucson wrongful death lawsuit questions ketamine usage (ABC15 Arizona)

• Ketamine Therapy and Addiction Risk Management: Part III (Truffle Report)

• Understanding Where Ketamine Comes From (Healing Maps)

Miscellaneous

• House Rejects AOC Amendment To Promote Research Into Psychedelics’ Medical Benefits (Marijuana Moment)

• $40m psychedelic medicine institute launches in Melbourne (The Sydney Morning Herald)

• Psychedelic trips could soon be part of therapy — here’s what those sessions will look like (CNBC)

• How TikTok's Viral Psychedelic Water Might Affect Your Mood (Mashed)

• Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte Is About to Be Investigated for All the Drug Dealers He's Killed (MERRY JANE)

• Controversies Around California’s Psychedelic Decriminalization Law Senate Bill 519 (Chacruna)

• Judaism’s Psychedelic Renaissance (Tablet Magazine)

• Grandparents of Psychedelics Ann and Sasha Shulgin Honored by Friends and Fellow Researchers (Lucid News)

• Corrections to Misinformation Being Spread about MAPS and IPCI (Dr. Bronner's)

• “Undoing Drugs”—Maia Szalavitz’s Profound History of Harm Reduction (Filter)

• The Graeme Carl Scale: 5 Levels of a Psychedelic Experience (Maps of the Mind)

• Mestizo Identity and Decolonial Psychedelic Futures (Chacruna)

• Fireside Project for Psychedelic Peer Support: An Update (Truffle Report)

• Veteran Psychedelics Advocate/Attorney Launches New Venture Capital Firm (Forbes)

• Highlight on Life Clips, AI, and Speech Based Technology in Psychedelic Science (Dark Matters)

• The Lilly Psychonautic Centre – A Vision from the Future (Maps of the Mind)

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