smoking cessation

This Week in Psychedelics - 7.17.20

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Cannabis

  • Argentina To Allow Cannabis Sales In Pharmacies And Home Cultivation (Benzinga)

  • Idaho Medical Marijuana Activists Ask State For Electronic Signature Gathering Option Following Court Ruling (Marijuana Moment)

  • Missouri: Kansas City Council Eliminates Local Penalties for Marijuana Possession Offenses (NORML)

  • Israel passes Germany as world’s largest importer of medical cannabis flower (Marijuana Business Daily)

  • The World Health Organization Says Reschedule Cannabis: Will The UN Agree? (Forbes)

  • “Father of Cannabis Research” Identifies EPM301, a Cannabis Substance Stronger than THC or CBD (HealthMJ)

  • Study: Cumulative Use of Cannabis Not Associated with Heart Abnormalities at Middle Age (NORML)

  • CBD Is A ‘Promising’ Therapy In Treating Cocaine Misuse, Meta-Study Finds (Marijuana Moment)

  • Millions of Dollars in Cannabis Vape Product Inventory Remains in Quarantine in Massachusetts (Cannabis Business Times)

  • We got the inside story of the downfall of Civilized, a cannabis media startup that raised $7 million, then had to shut down after a takeover offer fell through (Business Insider)

  • Survey: Majority of Health Care Professionals Endorse Cannabis Use Instead of Opioids in Chronic Pain Patients (NORML)

  • The Cannabis Tax Experiment (Forbes)

  • Cannabis Use Rising Among Chronic Pain Patients (NORML)

LSD

Magic Mushrooms

  • New psychedelic research sheds light on why psilocybin-containing mushrooms have been consumed for centuries (PsyPost)

  • The Growing Evidence for Psilocybin-Facilitated Smoking Cessation (Psychedelic Science Review)

  • How to Harvest Magic Mushrooms (DoubleBlind)

  • Get to Know the Beta Carbolines – Newcomers to the Science of Magic Mushrooms (Psychedelic Science Review)

  • The legalization of psilocybin: Is it necessary? (Portland Tribune)

MDMA

  • I’m a Paraplegic Who Used to Smuggle Ecstasy in My Wheelchair (VICE)

  • How MDMA-assisted therapy could be the key to helping trauma patients (MEAWW)

  • Dave Franco Did MDMA With Alison Brie To Prepare For ‘The Rental’ (ET Canada)

5-MeO-DMT

  • Rains in Sonora bring with them the specimen bufo alvarius (Explica)

Iboga

  • Ibogaine Can Help Us Better Understand Addiction, but Will it Solve the Opioid Crisis? (DoubleBlind)

Ketamine

  • Anesthesiologist calls for 'national conversation' about forced ketamine use following McClain case (9News)

  • Cost-effectiveness of esketamine for depression (Science Daily)

Miscellaneous

  • It’s 2020 and White Men Still Dominate Psychedelic Conferences (Lucid News)

  • We Need to Talk About MAPS Supporting The Police, The Military, and Violent White Supremacism (Psymposia)

  • Lessons for Psychedelic Advocacy from the Front Lines of Cannabis Reform (Chacruna)

  • To Prevent Corruption, Psychedelics Researchers Call for Ethics Guidelines (Lucid News)

  • GOP Congressman Withdraws Amendment To Block D.C. Psychedelics Decriminalization (Marijuana Moment)

  • The Power of Psychedelics (Scientific American)

  • Magical (Psychedelic) Thinking in the Era of Climate Change and COVID-19 (Psymposia)

  • The Uptight Girl’s Guide To Psychedelics (Bustle)

  • AWAKN Life Sciences Partners with Drug Science in the UK (Psilocybin Alpha)

  • Psychedelic journeys brought peace to this Holocaust survivor. Now he’s helping others on their own journeys. (The Jewish News of Northern California)

  • How the dark web facilitates illicit drug trade across borders (MEAWW)

  • Psychedelics and Canada's Regulatory Landscape (Lexology)

  • The Psychedelic Renaissance: A Guide for College Students (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 catalogue how psychedelics are presented by the mass media, which includes everything from the latest scientific research to misinformation.

How Psychedelics Transformed Me Into A Better Person

I first encountered psychedelics in 2006. At that time, I was a much different person than I am today. Several issues had plagued my life for a long time, yet I remained unaware of them, caught up in the day-to-day dramas of life.

But things have changed a lot since then, and psychedelics played a significant role in that process.

In this blog post I will share some of the ways that psychedelics helped me become a better person. I hope that sharing my story will help reduce the stigma surrounding these special medicines and show that they are capable of helping with many different things.

Improving My Mental Health

One of the biggest ways that psychedelics helped me was by alleviating a variety of mental health issues that I used to experience on a daily basis. For pretty much my whole life I suffered from depression and anxiety. There were times when I was unable to do anything, paralyzed by fear and hopelessness. It was miserable, to say the least.

I didn’t have much patience and tended to get angry and fly off the handle over the dumbest things. I wouldn’t say that I had a short fuse, but I definitely didn’t have much control over my anger in the past. Working with psychedelics helped me develop more patience and less anger.

While psychedelics haven’t completely eliminated my dark thoughts, they did help me learn how to love and embrace them instead of trying to run from them.

Quitting Bad Habits and Creating Better Ones

Another major benefit that I’ve experienced from working with psychedelics has been stopping the bad habits that weren’t serving me and creating new ones that actually do.

I’ve intentionally used psychedelics to help me work through addictions (tobacco, alcohol, and food) and to stop interrupting other people while they’re speaking.

In place of those bad habits I have created new ones—a daily yoga and meditation practice, weekly journaling sessions, eating a healthy diet, and just taking care of myself better in general. Although I put in a ton of work to get to the place I am now, I have psychedelics to thank for helping me get here.

Increasing My Appreciation for Nature

When I was younger I was always perplexed by people who found joy in simple things like sunsets, flowers, and walks on the beach. As a nerdy kid who just wanted to stay inside and play video games, I just didn’t get it.

It took just one psilocybin mushroom trip to change all that forever.

An hour after eating some mushrooms I found myself absolutely fascinated with the natural environment I was in. I remember being completely entranced by the birds chirping in the trees nearby, bugs whizzing by me, and the clouds floating through the sky.

This recognition of the natural environment has continued to this day. Psychedelics helped me develop an appreciation for nature that was missing prior to my experience with them, and I am eternally grateful to them for that.

Finding Joy in Life

Let’s not forget one of the most important aspects of psychedelics, one that is rarely mentioned due to the effort to legitimize them for the mainstream public—they can be fun too! A lot of folks in the movement try to downplay the recreational side of psychedelics but I think this is a huge mistake.

Just because psychedelics can be enjoyable doesn’t discount their potential for healing, spirituality, or productivity.

The beginning of the word “recreation” is “recreate”, and I have found that recreating myself through my recreational psychedelic trips has been just as transformational for me as the experiences that were intentionally created for healing or spiritual purposes.

And Tons of Other Things

Psychedelics have helped me with so many other things too. Here are some of the ones that made a big impact on my life:

  • Increased openness (especially with regard to spirituality)

  • More tolerance and acceptance

  • Enhanced creativity and ability to enter flow states

  • Increased compassion for myself and others

  • Understanding better how my actions affect others

  • An ability to see the bigger picture

  • Highlighting the people I should (and shouldn’t) keep in my life

  • Better life satisfaction

  • Improved social relationships

  • Increased confidence

  • Better at dealing with awkward or uncomfortable situations

  • Showed me what’s possible (although I still had to do the work to achieve it)

  • Helped me find my passions

  • Assisted with setting goals

  • Learning how to surrender

  • Keep my mind young and playful

After spending the last 14 years working with psychedelics, I think it’s fair to say that I’ve become a much better person than I used to be. I owe them a huge debt of gratitude, and I’m proud to be part of the growing movement to show the mainstream public that they have the potential to be agents of positive change in a world that is desperately needing just that.

#ThankYouPlantMedicine

Image by johnhain, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

This Week in Psychoactives - 12.27.19

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Cannabis

  • “Impermissible Levels of Lead” Found in Massachusetts' Legal Weed Vapes (MERRY JANE)

  • Travelers caught with weed in Chicago airports won’t be busted, police say (Chicago Sun-Times)

  • Federal CBD Regulations Are Finally Coming (MERRY JANE)

  • Peoria airport to allow recreational marijuana (CIProud)

  • Legal Marijuana Shops Refuse Sales To Underage Customers, Study Finds (Marijuana Moment)

  • Marijuana On The 2020 Ballot: These States Could Vote (Forbes)

  • South Dakota: Medical Cannabis Initiative Certified for 2020 Ballot (NORML)

  • Trump Says He Can Ignore Medical Marijuana Protections Passed By Congress (Forbes)

  • Alabama Legislature’s Study Commission Recommends Medical Marijuana Be Legalized (Marijuana Moment)

  • Hemp cleans toxic soil and produces clean CBD flower, study finds (Leafly)

  • Legalizing Cannabis Has Unexpected Impact on Food and Farming in Humboldt (KQED)

  • Three-Fourths Of New Mexico Voters Support Marijuana Legalization, State-Funded Poll Shows (Marijuana Moment)

LSD

  • Study reveals what happens to the brain on LSD (Inverse)

Magic Mushrooms

  • Denver's psilocybin mushroom policy review panel set to launch in January (9News.com)

  • Activists Take Next Step In Campaign To Legalize Psychedelic Mushrooms In California (Marijuana Moment)

  • Paul Stamets Tells Joe Rogan About the Future of Psilocybin Research (Psychedelic Science Review)

MDMA

  • More Patients Could Have Access to MDMA Therapy—Before the FDA Approves It (DoubleBlind)

  • How — and why — to legalize ecstasy (AlterNet)

Ayahuasca

  • Initial Trial of Ayahuasca for Depression Shows Promising Results (Mad in America)

  • More Evidence About Ayahuasca ‘Death Cult’ Emerges With Arrest of Lawyer Paul Sulla in Hawaii (Frank Report)

Iboga

  • For opioid addicts, African psychedelic ibogaine is last-resort detox drug. Research shows it works, but a legal grey area surrounds its use by clinics (South China Morning Post)

Opioids

  • Risk Factors for Opioid Overdose Similar for Teens and Adults (PsychCentral)

  • The opioid crisis shows why racism in health care is always harmful, never ‘protective’ (The Philadelphia Inquirer)

Methamphetamine

  • Meth boom adds to Afghanistan's opium and heroin woes (Breitbart)

Nicotine

  • Federal Legal Age to Buy Tobacco Products Officially Raised to 21 (TIME)

Benzodiazepines

Alcohol

  • THC vs Alcohol Impaired Driving (DrugScience)

  • Ad stating alcohol is a drug blocked as ‘too political’ (Irish Examiner)

  • UNC researchers may have discovered why some casual drinkers develop an alcohol use disorder (WRAL Tech Wire)

Nootropics

Miscellaneous

  • Baba Ram Dass, Proponent of LSD Turned New Age Guru, Dies at 88 (The New York Times)

  • Say Hello to World’s First Psychedelic Microdosing Study Mobile App (Psychedelic Science Review)

  • Ireland's first supervised drug injection centre gets approved (The Irish Post)

  • The future of psychedelic science: What the next decade holds (New Atlas)

  • A New Way To Quit? Psychedelic Therapy Offers Promise For Smoking Cessation (NPR)

  • Portland Activists Begin Gathering Signatures For Psychedelics Decriminalization Measure (Marijuana Moment)

  • What Makes A Good Psychedelic Guide? (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 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 - 11.22.19

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Cannabis

  • Marijuana Legalization Bill Approved By Congressional Committee In Historic Vote (Marijuana Moment)

  • Biden Says Marijuana Might Be A Gateway Drug (Forbes)

  • Britons who legally smoke cannabis in the US 'risk being deported' (The Guardian)

  • Pure CBD Does Not Trigger Positive Drug Tests for Weed, New Study Shows (MERRY JANE)

  • Thailand Will Soon Allow Its Citizens To Grow Cannabis At Home To Sell To The Government. (Forbes)

  • Colorado Supreme Court Rules Convicts Can Use Medical Weed While on Probation (MERRY JANE)

  • Hemp-Derived CBD Helps Chronic Pain Patients Reduce Opioid Use, Study Finds (Marijuana Moment)

  • Why Medical Cannabis Isn't Working in the UK (VICE)

  • Access to Legal Cannabis Leads to a Decline in Sleep Aid Sales (MERRY JANE)

  • NJ Lawmakers Plan to Put Legalization on 2020 Ballot (NORML)

  • Virginia Marijuana Decriminalization Bill Filed For 2020 After Democrats Reclaim Legislature (Marijuana Moment)

  • Why Are Doctors Still So Reluctant To Prescribe Medical Cannabis? (HuffPost)

LSD

  • Silicon Valley's extreme new productivity hack: LSD (GQ)

Magic Mushrooms

  • Are Magic Mushrooms The Next Frontier For The Cannabis Industry? (The Fresh Toast)

MDMA

  • Dad pushes for drugs to be legalised after sons on MDMA die side-by-side (Mirror)

DMT

  • Scientists Discover Psychedelic DMT Creates Waking Dream State in Brain (Newsweek)

Ayahuasca

  • Can the psychedelic drug ayahuasca help fight suicide? (PsyPost)

Novel Psychoactive Substances

  • Designer Drugs: My Addiction to Research Chemicals (The Fix)

Synthetic Cannabinoids

  • Under the Radar: Synthetic Cannabinoids and Vaping-Related Lung Injuries (Project CBD)

Ketamine

  • Ketamine’s potential to fight alcohol abuse has a major problem (Inverse)

  • Side effects mild, brief with single antidepressant dose of intravenous ketamine (ScienceDaily)

Opioids

  • Doctors Are Cutting Patients Off Opioid Medications Too Fast, Study Says (MERRY JANE)

  • Surgeon General To Purdue Students: Carry Naloxone, Get Screened For Addiction Risk (WJCT)

Methamphetamine

  • ‘Meth. We’re on It’: South Dakota’s Anti-Meth Campaign Raises Eyebrows (The New York Times)

Tobacco

  • President Trump Backing Off Banning Vaping Flavors Popular With Teens (TIME)

  • Bill Passed by Massachusetts House Would Allow Police to Seize Cars from Vapers who Possess DIY or Black Market E-Liquids (Tobacco Analysis)

  • Juul Sued by Two States for Allegedly Marketing E-Cigs to Kids (MERRY JANE)

  • American Medical Association Calls for Immediate Ban on All E-Cigarettes and Vaping Products (TIME)

  • Philippines' Duterte Says He Will Ban E-Cigarettes, Threatens To Arrest Vapers (NPR)

  • Apple to remove vaping apps from store (Axios)

  • Influential U.S. doctors group calls for ban on vaping products (Reuters)

  • How Wily Teens Outwit Bathroom Vape Detectors (WIRED)

  • Smokers who switch to vaping rapidly boost heart health in trial (Yahoo! News)

Kratom

Khat

Miscellaneous

  • Where US Psychedelic Decriminalization Efforts Stand Right Now (Filter)

  • Take Part in the World's Biggest Anonymous Drugs Survey (VICE)

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 - 10.18.19

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CANNABIS

  • Study finds endocannabinoid system regulates sperm development (Leafly)

  • Canada Sold $1.1 Billion of Legal Weed in the First Year of Adult-Use Sales (MERRY JANE)

  • Mexican Senate Committees Will Introduce Marijuana Legalization Bill Next Week (Marijuana Moment)

  • Heavy Metal Poisoning May Be Causing the Vaping Illness Epidemic, Lab Suggests (MERRY JANE)

  • How mainstream media botched the vape lung story (Leafly)

  • New California Law Legalizes Medical Marijuana Use at K-12 Public Schools (MERRY JANE)

  • Two More Studies Show Patients Are Replacing Prescription Painkillers With Marijuana (Marijuana Moment)

  • Colorado Issues a Massive Statewide Recall for Moldy Weed (MERRY JANE)

  • Grading cannabis strength ‘will improve mental health of users’ (The Guardian)

  • Parkinson's patients to receive cannabis oil in 'pioneering' trial to test drug's effectiveness (iNews)

  • Weed Edibles Are Finally Legal in Canada, But They’re Still Not for Sale (MERRY JANE)

  • Cannabis extract may work as a treatment for cannabis addiction (New Scientist)

  • Thailand Plans Inaugural “World Ganja Festival” for 2020 (MERRY JANE)

  • CBD or THC? Common Drug Test Can't Tell the Difference (The New York Times)

  • Recreational Marijuana Would Create More Than 100,000 Jobs in Florida, Study Says (Miami New Times)

  • UK Government Approves the Country's First Legit Weed Grow for Medical Research (MERRY JANE)

  • Presidential Candidate Wants To Let Americans Legalize Marijuana Through National Referendum (Marijuana Moment)

LSD

  • Kacey Musgraves reveals she penned two songs while tripping and praises LSD for 'opening your mind' (Daily Mail)

MAGIC MUSHROOMS

  • Scientists Want to Try Using Shrooms to Revive People in Vegetative States (VICE)

  • DEA Tracks Down Alleged Denver Mushroom Dealer Using News Articles (Westword)

  • Magic mushrooms are a powerful way to treat depression, addiction, and anxiety (GOOD Magazine)

  • How Magic Mushrooms Can Help Smokers Kick The Habit (NPR)

  • Psilocybin: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know (Heavy.com)

MDMA

DMT

AYAHUASCA

  • Taking Ayahuasca When You’re a Senior Citizen (The New York Times)

  • Is Ayahuasca Made in the Laboratory or with Foreign Plants Just as Good? Enter Pharmahuasca. (Kahpi)

  • The Commodification of Ayahuasca: How Can we do Better? (Chacruna)

  • What's all the buzz about? Montreal woman seeks to demystify ayahuasca (Montreal Gazette)

5-MEO-DMT

MESCALINE

PEYOTE

KETAMINE

OPIOIDS

  • Combat troops at higher risk for opioid, heroin addiction, study says (Military Times)

  • The Opioid Crisis Cost the US Over $600 Billion in Just 4 Years (MERRY JANE)

  • Mindfulness May Benefit People on Methadone (Futurity)

  • The Democratic candidates are calling for locking up opioid executives (Vox)

  • Narcan, a life-saving anti-overdose drug, is now sold online in Tennessee (The Tennessean)

  • The US could learn from how Italy tackled its own opioid problem (Quartz)

  • Philadelphia high school students receive training on how to administer Naloxone (6ABC)

COCAINE

  • Revealed: How much cocaine Londoners are taking every day (Sky News)

  • The treatment of cocaine use disorder (Science Advances)

  • Man Who Was Sentenced to 15 Years for Cocaine Released After it Turned Out to Be Powdered Milk (People)

METHAMPHETAMINE

  • While millions are spent to fight the opioid epidemic, a meth crisis quietly grows in Wisconsin (MinnPost)

CAFFEINE

  • Study: Caffeine use may increase risk of miscarriage (KWWL)

  • Is mixing caffeine and alcohol bad? (Mic)

  • Could coffee byproducts fight inflammation? (Medical News Today)

TOBACCO

  • Judge puts Michigan’s ban on flavored nicotine vaping on hold (Detroit Metro Times)

  • Ohio “Tobacco 21” law goes into effect today (WHIO)

BENZODIAZEPINES

  • Lil Peep’s Mom Alleges His Manager Pressured Him to Abuse Xanax; They Deny It (Vulture)

ALCOHOL

  • National focus on overdose prevention should include alcohol too, study suggests (Medical Xpress)

  • Alcohol industry 'puts pregnant women at risk', researchers say (The Guardian)

KRATOM

  • What is kratom? The popular herbal supplement has caught flak from the FDA (NBC News)

  • Kratom In Indiana – The Legality, Effort, & Recent Update (Kratom Guides)

KAVA

MISCELLANEOUS

  • Scotland’s Ruling Party Unanimously Backs Drug Decriminalization Measure (Marijuana Moment)

  • '60 Minutes' segment explores psychedelics research at Johns Hopkins (The Hub)

  • Two Presidential Candidates Voice Support For Drug Decriminalization At Democratic Debate (Marijuana Moment)

  • How Psychedelic Exceptionalism Harms Drug Users (Filter)

  • Building the Infrastructure for Legal Psychedelic Therapy: Interview with Ronan Levy of Field Trip Psychedelics (Psychedelic Times)

  • People of Color Making a Difference in Psychedelic Healing (Chacruna)

  • Investors hope psychedelics are the new cannabis. Are they high? (The Economist)

  • Portugal Mayor Supports Recriminalizing Public Drug Use (Filter)

  • Stop teaching drug abstinence: Just say no to the era of ‘just say no’ (New York Daily News)

  • How psychedelic drugs treat mental illness differently than traditional medicine (Mic)

  • 10 Calls to Action: Toward an LGBTQ-Affirmative Psychedelic Therapy (Chacruna)

  • My Years in the Florida Shuffle of Drug Addiction (The New Yorker)

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.