acetaminophen

This Week in Psychoactives - 4.12.19

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CANNABIS

  • Israel Decriminalizes Adult Use Cannabis During CannaTech Conference In Tel Aviv (Forbes)

  • FDA Is Taking Public Comments On CBD. Here’s How To Make Your Voice Heard (Marijuana Moment)

  • Police across the UK are given green light to let cannabis users off scot-free and suggest they get treatment instead of punishment (Daily Mail)

  • Alex Berenson and the Last Anti-Cannabis Crusade (The New Republic)

  • Georgia: Lawmakers Advance Bill To Regulate Low-THC Oil Production (NORML)

  • Mother of girl with epilepsy has supply of medical cannabis confiscated (The Guardian)

  • New York City: Lawmakers Advance Bills Limiting Drug Testing for Cannabis as a Condition of Employment, Probation (NORML)

  • Nova Scotia Woman Plans Constitutional Challenge of Roadside Cannabis Test (Leafly)

  • Hawaii Senate Committee Approves Bill To Decriminalize Marijuana (Marijuana Moment)

  • Senate Bill Would Let Marijuana Businesses Store Profits In Banks (Forbes)

  • California bill to block home delivery of cannabis sidelined for year (Los Angeles Times)

  • Another Connecticut Committee Approves Marijuana Legalization (Marijuana Moment)

  • Will the European legal cannabis industry prosper? (Health Europa)

  • GOP Congressman’s Bill Would Let Medical Marijuana Patients Possess Guns (Marijuana Moment)

  • Mergers And Acquisitions Light Up The Cannabis Sector (Forbes)

  • Indiana Lawmakers Amend Hemp Bill To Allow Smokeable Flower (Marijuana Moment)

  • People of Color Were Targeted by the War on Drugs. They Must Benefit from Marijuana Legalization (Newsweek)

  • Can Cannabis Help You Get Off Adderall? (Civilized)

  • Where Presidential Candidate Tim Ryan Stands On Marijuana (Marijuana Moment)

  • Cannabis stocks lower as investors await the fate of the States Act (MarketWatch)

LSD

  • ‘SNL’ Introduces a Hilarious Film Critic Who Sees Movies on Acid So You Don’t Have To (IndieWire)

  • T.C. Boyle’s new novel takes a trip with LSD evangelist Timothy Leary (Los Angeles Times)

MAGIC MUSHROOMS

  • China Enters Magic Mushroom Industry – Wuhan, MJMedTech, and M2BIO (Psilocybin Technology)

  • Psilocybin-assisted mindfulness training modulates self-consciousness and brain default mode network connectivity with lasting effects (ScienceDirect)

  • Presidential Candidate Jay Inslee Is Open To Decriminalizing Psychedelic Mushrooms (Marijuana Moment)

  • Seth Rogen Talks About Taking Magic Mushrooms At Cirque du Soleil (Marijuana Moment)

  • I went to a chic fundraiser for Denver's psilocybin mushroom vote (Rooster Magazine)

  • The return of the 'stoned ape' theory (Big Think)

  • Sacred Mushrooms of the Mazatec Tradition: Transforming the Inner Landscape of the Human Psyche (Chacruna)

  • How Psilocybin Reset My Suicidal Thoughts And Taught Me To Love Myself (Reset.me)

MDMA

  • Inside an Innovative Study of MDMA Therapy for Alcohol Use Disorder (Filter)

  • MDMA helps adult mice socialize like their adolescent selves (Quartz)

  • Cate Faehrmann: Why a lawmaker admitted to taking MDMA (BBC)

  • Teenager dies after taking six times the 'safe' level of Ecstasy (Your EDM)

  • 'She didn't get the chance to learn from her mistake': Father's anguish after his daughter, 18, died from her first hit of liquid ecstasy - as he reveals the tragic final words she spoke to him (Daily Mail)

  • Illinois man dies after taking ecstasy; parents now educate others on dangers of drug (WTKR)

  • Psychedelic Drug MDMA May Help Treat PTSD (Tech Times)

AYAHUASCA

  • Translating Ayahuasca Shamanism and Western Medicine (Kahpi)

  • Global Ayahuasca Community Joins Together to Defend Ceremony Leader (Talking Drugs)

5-MEO-DMT

  • Study: 5-MeO-DMT May Rapidly Improve Anxiety and Depression (Reset.me)

PEYOTE

IBOGA

  • Dutch natural healer gets 8 years for death of Swedish woman (NL Times)

NOVEL PSYCHOACTIVE SUBSTANCES

  • Ireland: Controversial ban on new psychoactive substances succeeds in reducing health problems (Scottish Legal News)

SYNTHETIC CANNABINOIDS

  • State forensics lab identifying new synthetic cannabinoids (WLOX)

  • A Bunch of Dutch People Smoked Fake Weed for Science (Civilized)

  • Leeds outreach workers devise revolutionary treatment for Spice addiction (Leeds Live)

NITROUS OXIDE

KETAMINE

  • Ketamine May Relieve Depression By Repairing Damaged Brain Circuits (NPR)

  • Thai boys trapped in cave were sedated with ketamine (The Independent)

  • Ketamine vs. Esketamine for Depression (Psychology Today)

  • Emily Atack reveals she was offered ketamine in a nightclub toilet...as she recalls losing her knickers after an all night romp after the BRIT Awards (Daily Mail)

OPIATES/OPIOIDS

  • DOJ Charges UK Firm With Conspiracy, Fraud Over Opioid Withdrawal Drug Suboxone Film (Gizmodo)

  • After three years of controversy, CDC clarifies its opioid prescribing guidelines (STAT)

  • More than 10,300 Canadians lost their lives to opioids in less than 3 years (CBC)

  • Poppy Cultivation and Potential Opium Production in Afghanistan (The White House)

  • In poll season, Punjab debates legalising poppy seed and opium farming (Down To Earth Magazine)

  • Public urged to keep free naloxone overdose kits on hand (The London Free Press)

  • Family Dog Survives Eating Five Bags of Heroin (The Epoch Times)

  • Naloxone available at UNT pharmacy without a prescription (North Texas Daily)

  • Alabama school staff trains to administer naloxone to reverse opioid overdoses (CBS News)

  • Forcing treatment and tying the hands of physicians won’t solve the opioid crisis (The Philadelphia Inquirer)

  • Big Pharma’s Millions Won’t Solve the Opioid Crisis (Tonic)

  • Rajasthan farmers caught in ‘opium crisis’ (The Times of India)

  • How eating four slices of multigrain bread at a airport lounge led a fly-in-fly-out miner to failing a drugs test - and him stood down from his job (Daily Mail)

  • Hanover deputy released from hospital following possible fentanyl exposure (WWBT)

COCAINE

  • The United States' 'War on Drugs' Really Did Make Things Worse, New Research Finds (ScienceAlert)

  • Heather Yakin: Cocaine making comeback with new, lethal forms (Times Herald-Record)

METHAMPHETAMINE

  • Meth Mania: From Biker Gangs to the Psych Ward, How Speed Came of Age in California (KQED)

  • Family's dog tests positive for meth, molly after walk in park (WKRG)

CAFFEINE

TOBACCO

  • Illinois Becomes First State in Midwest to Adopt 'Tobacco 21' (NBC Chicago)

  • Delaware House approves raising age to buy tobacco products (Delaware Online)

  • Iowa Senate bill would increase age to buy all tobacco, vape products from 18 to 21 (KGAN TV)

  • Temple University takes major step in becoming tobacco-free: 'It's incredibly important' (KYW Newsradio 1060)

  • Texas could soon increase the legal age to buy tobacco, though active military members might be exempt (The Texas Tribune)

ALCOHOL

  • Alcohol use disorder: Brain damage may progress despite sobriety (Medical News Today)

  • No, moderate drinking can't protect against stroke. It actually increases risk, study says (USA Today)

  • There's new evidence for why we get the 'drunchies' after a night of heavy drinking (INSIDER)

  • Penn study finds genetic differences between heavy drinkers and alcoholics (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

  • A gene linked to alcohol habits may influence who you choose to marry (New Scientist)

  • Ethiopia passes tough law regulating alcohol sales, adverts (Africanews)

  • Proposed Federal Alcohol Labeling Revisions Retain Constitutionally Suspect Review Standards (Forbes)

  • The Big Number: 17.6 million Americans suffer from alcoholism (The Washington Post)

  • Australian Instagram personalities found to be under influence of alcohol industry (The Guardian)

  • First-Ever Female Libido Pill Gets Relief on Alcohol Warning (Bloomberg)

  • Lawmaker aims to lower blood alcohol limit (WIVB)

  • Does Red Wine Help You Live Longer? Here's What the Science Says (TIME)

  • April is National Alcohol Awareness Month (Marietta Daily Journal)

KRATOM

  • An Herbal Drug Called Kratom Has Been Linked to Almost 100 Overdose Deaths, the CDC Reports (TIME)

  • Castle Rock steps out front on regulating kratom, the popular but controversial herbal extract (The Denver Post)

  • Oregon Lawmakers Could Pass a Law Regulating Kratom (The Portland Mercury)

  • Kratom ban pushed by Pa. parents of son who fatally OD’d on ‘herbal heroin’ (PennLive.com)

  • FDA Report Finds Heavy Metals in Kratom – Is It Really That Bad? (Kratom Guides)

  • Northeast Mississippi counties continue conversation on Kratom (Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal)

  • 'Kratom literally saved my life' (WGRZ)

MISCELLANEOUS

  • The World’s Biggest Dark Net Market Has Shut – What Next? (VICE)

  • Sciencing the mystical: the trickery of the psychedelic trip report (Taylor and Francis)

  • California tests if addiction treatment can be incorporated into primary care (Politico)

  • Presidential Candidate Andrew Yang Walks Back Pledge To Pardon All Non-Violent Drug Offenders (Marijuana Moment)

  • Rejected Depression Drug Could Provide Relief For Opioid Withdrawal (The Fix)

  • Inside the Legal Struggle Over Safe Consumption Spaces (Filter)

  • The new science of psychedelics: How hallucinogens provide a tool for changing our minds (AlterNet)

  • Psychedelic Plants in a Time of Ecological Crisis (Adventures Through The Mind)

  • How drugs got on the metric system (Rooster Magazine)

  • To Address Addiction, Confront Racism in Our Health and Justice Systems (Filter)

  • Proposal to allow needle exchanges statewide heads to House floor (Tampa Bay Times)

  • How Helpful—Or Harmful—Are Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs? (Filter)

  • Overdose prevention sites can help cities like Philadelphia save lives (STAT)

  • Psychedelic Research and You. Well, Maybe, not You (Chacruna)

  • Vindictive Drug-Induced Homicide Charges Are Set to Surge in Chicago (Filter)

  • LSD, shrooms, and psychiatry: Penn summit highlights clinical applications of psychedelics (The Daily Pennsylvanian)

  • Law enforcement are not drug experts (AOD Media Watch)

  • Playlist for Psychedelic Restoration (Tam Integration)

  • How Open Relationships and Psychedelics Have Shaped This Entrepreneur's Mindset (Entrepreneur)

  • Acetaminophen crisis bigger than opioid epidemic? (Drug WarRant)

  • There’s a way to stem the increase in HIV infections (The Philadelphia Inquirer)

  • Microdosing psychedelics may improve mood and productivity (ZME Science)

  • Psychedelic club emphasizes benefits of shrooms (Rocky Mountain Collegian)


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.


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:


This Week in Psychoactives - 4.5.19

ThisWeekInPsychoactives.jpeg

CANNABIS

  • Guam Legalizes Marijuana Use By Adults (NORML)

  • New Mexico Governor Signs Marijuana Decriminalization Bill (Forbes)

  • Los Angeles to Erase 50,000 Criminal Cannabis Convictions (Leafly)

  • States With Legal Marijuana Would Be Protected From Feds Under Newly Filed Bill (Marijuana Moment)

  • Legalization Bill Clears New Hampshire House, but Veto Expected (Leafly)

  • Federally Produced Marijuana Is Closer To Hemp Than Commercial Cannabis, Study Shows (Marijuana Moment)

  • Street cannabis 'contains dangerous amount of faecal matter' (BBC)

  • Wisconsin Voters Approve Multiple Marijuana Ballot Questions (Marijuana Moment)

  • Science Says: Better Orgasms Through Cannabis! (The Stranger)

  • Texas removing hemp from controlled substance list (The State)

  • The EPA Is Funding Research On Using Hemp As A Sustainable Alternative To Concrete (Marijuana Moment)

  • Medicinal use of cannabis based products and cannabinoids (The BMJ)

  • Using Marijuana With Your Partner Increases The Likelihood Of Intimacy, Study Finds (Marijuana Moment)

  • Georgia on cusp of legalizing medical marijuana (CNN)

  • Medical Marijuana for Autism Law Approved on World Autism Day (The Fix)

  • Will Germany become the world's largest market for medicinal cannabis? (Deutsche Welle)

  • ‘Weed Dip’ Could Help Curb A Smokeless Tobacco Addiction (NowThis News)

  • The Unique Challenges to Recycling Vapes in the Cannabis Industry (Civilized)

  • Legalizing pot is the new Democratic litmus test (Politico)

  • New York Governor Cuomo Leaves Marijuana Legalization Out of State Budget (NORML)

  • Why Is the Cannabis Industry Struggling to Build Social Equity in the City of Angels? An Interview with Kristen Lovell of the Social Impact Center, Los Angeles (Psychedelic Times)

  • PGA Issues Warning To Golfers Using CBD Products (Marijuana Moment)

  • Can marijuana help end the opioids crisis? (The Guardian)

  • The Feds Are Looking To Hire A Professional Marijuana Joint Roller (Marijuana Moment)

  • Oklahoma Medical Cannabis Patients Can Hold Open-Carry Gun Permits (Leafly)

  • “Our lawmakers don’t talk to their constituents.” An Interview with New Mexico Activist Monique Chavez on Why Pot Legalization Failed In Her State (Psychedelic Times)

  • One county’s take on medical marijuana makes some users criminals (Arizona Capitol Times)

  • Hemp Is At The Center Of Fashion, Politics, And Sustainability (NYLON)

  • Florida Lawmakers Want to Limit Medical Marijuana Potency (Leafly)

  • Cannabis stocks mixed ahead of bill proposing protections for weed companies (MarketWatch)

LSD

  • Police suspect LSD contributed to death of Springfield teen (KEZI)

  • Explainer: Can you die from LSD? (The Register-Guard)

  • Man spiked his co-workers' water with LSD because they were ‘too uptight’ (Her)

  • Scary Combination: A Navy Nuclear Powered Aircraft Carrier and LSD (The National Interest)

  • Bizarre true story of the UK military testing LSD on Royal Marines revealed in incredible footage that shows high soldiers stumbling and climbing (The Sun)

  • The acid test: Here's what LSD does to your brain (The Sydney Morning Herald)

  • From Hollywood to Silicon Beach, L.A. Professionals Are Using LSD to Amp Up Their Careers (LAmag)

MAGIC MUSHROOMS

  • Why Stop at One Campaign to Legalize Psychedelic Mushrooms? Oregon Has Two—and They Don’t Get Along. (Willamette Week)

  • Denver Will See Whether Voters Favor Decriminalizing Psychedelic Mushrooms (Weedmaps)

MDMA

  • Psychedelic drug MDMA may reawaken 'critical period' in brain to help treat PTSD (ScienceDaily)

  • Ecstasy use by Australian high school students doubles over three years (Stuff.co.nz)

  • GHB and MDMA are the best drugs for 'enhancing' sex, new study finds (Metro)

AYAHUASCA

  • Scientists studying psychedelic ayahuasca as a potential anti-depressant (CTV News)

  • Great Shamanic Deception: Using Ayahuasca as a Conduit for Sexual Fulfillment (Chacruna)

  • Am I a Sectarian Drug User? A Brief Legal Comment on the Religious Use of Ayahuasca in Brazil, Belgium and the Netherlands (Chacruna)

  • Catharsis through vomiting: My experiences with an ancient Amazonian drug at a Haryana farmhouse (Scroll.in)

  • Inside Chelsea Handler’s Shocking Psychedelic Drug Confession (Radar Online)

5-MEO-DMT

  • Could Bufo toad toxins be beneficial to humans? (NBC2 News)

NOVEL PSYCHOACTIVE SUBSTANCES

  • UAB research study finds that the majority of novel psychedelic drug users are white, college-educated men (Alabama Political Reporter)

SYNTHETIC CANNABINOIDS

NITROUS OXIDE

  • How Medical Researchers Used to Party (JSTOR Daily)

  • Red Bluff hospital first in Northstate to offer laughing gas for child birth (KRCRTV)

KETAMINE

  • Immunosuppressant May Extend Ketamine's Antidepressant Effects (Medscape)

  • When Nothing Seems to Help Your CRPS, Ketamine Pain Treatments May Bring Relief (Health Essentials from Cleveland Clinic)

  • Effect of Ketamine With Electroconvulsive Therapy for Depressive Symptoms (Psychiatry Advisor)

  • FDA Approves Ketamine-Derived Treatment for Depression, But How Are People Really Using It? A Conversation with Kellye Greene of New York DanceSafe (Psychedelic Times)

  • Esketamine and psychedelics will require restructuring mental health care visits (STAT)

  • Study: Alligators on ketamine and headphones to mimic dinosaurs (Digital Journal)

  • Boys rescued from Thai cave were sedated with ketamine (CNN)

OPIATES/OPIOIDS

  • China to Regulate All Fentanyl-Related Drugs as Controlled Substances (TIME)

  • “Nation’s Most Comprehensive Lawsuit”—Now NY Takes On Purdue and the Sacklers (Filter)

  • Fear, Loathing and Fentanyl Exposure (The New York Times)

  • “Tranq Dope”—The Heroin Combo That’s Been Putting Philly to Sleep (Filter)

  • Naloxone remains stable for at least 28 days after enduring extreme conditions: study (The Record)

  • As overdoses rise, New Jersey removes a barrier to treatment for opioid addiction (The Philadelphia Inquirer)

  • A single-dose antidote may help prevent fentanyl overdoses (Science News)

  • Philadelphia Department of Prisons will begin offering buprenorphine to male inmates again (WHYY)

  • How to stop the opioid crisis (The Washington Post)

  • Philly sees concerning increase in new HIV cases driven by opioid epidemic (The Philadelphia Inquirer)

  • Study Finds Vast Differences In Ease-Of-Use For Naloxone Delivery Methods (PR Newswire)

  • Is Xi Jinping the New El Chapo? (The Trumpet)

  • Opium farming goes unchecked, difficult to locate plantation sites (The Kathmandu Post)

  • Narcan-resistant drug linked to suspected fatal OD, Montgomery County coroner warns (WHIO)

  • How Atlantic City is rethinking addiction amid opioid epidemic (The Press of Atlantic City)

  • Baby Born Prematurely, Addicted to Heroin Gets Second Chance at Life Thanks to Rare Adoption (Clay Center Dispatch)

  • Heroin Is Not Your Friend (Psychology Today)

COCAINE

  • Why Cocaine Turns People into Jerks, a Simple Explanation (VICE)

  • War on drugs has helped cocaine traffickers conquer swathes of Central America, study suggests (The Independent)

  • Man faces multiple felonies after alleged cocaine-fueled melee during concert (Aspen Daily News)

METHAMPHETAMINE

  • Messier Than Opioids, Meth Is Asia's Worst Narcotics Threat (Bloomberg)

  • Do you live near a meth lab? This interactive map will show you (KGUN)

  • Cheap, Nasty, Near You. How Crystal Meth Is Spreading (Bloomberg)

  • 'Completely preventable': 50 young people killed by stroke after using meth, MDMA (The Sydney Morning Herald)

CAFFEINE

TOBACCO

  • Maryland approves raising age to 21 to buy tobacco (The Washington Post)

  • State lawmakers raise age to buy tobacco products, e-cigarettes to 21 (The Buffalo News)

  • Olmsted County raises tobacco age to 21 (Med City Beat)

  • With vaping under fire for potential links to seizures, tobacco-free snuff latest alternative to help smokers quit (USA Today)

  • Alabama Congressman aims to raise the age someone can buy tobacco (ABC 33/40)

  • Could smokers under 21 be barred from buying tobacco products? Texas takes a step closer to raising the age (Dallas News)

ALCOHOL

  • Alcohol, caffeine are common triggers of irregular heart rhythm (Reuters)

  • More adults seeking support for alcoholic parents (BBC)

  • To Combat Binge Drinking, a Search for Chemical Solutions (Undark)

  • Don’t Call Jessica Lareau an Alcoholic. To Her, Words Matter (Boston University)

  • Even low alcohol consumption is bad news for strokes – study (The Guardian)

  • Brain damage from alcohol lasts up to six weeks after quitting (New York Post)

  • Millennials Are Sick of Drinking (The Atlantic)

  • Hangover free alcohol? Scientist claims he’s created magic recipe (FOX 8)

ABSINTHE

NOOTROPICS

KRATOM

  • FDA Confirms 'Dangerous' Levels of Heavy Metals in Some Kratom Products (Medscape)

  • Drug task force lobbies county to ban sale of opioid-like Kratom (The St. Augustine Record)

  • Commissioners postpone move to ban kratom in St. Johns County (WJXT)

KAVA

KHAT

MISCELLANEOUS

  • D.E.A. Secretly Collected Bulk Records of Money-Counter Purchases (The New York Times)

  • People who ‘microdose’ psychedelic drugs for a month say it increases positive emotions and productivity (PsyPost)

  • Drugs before sex more common in UK than in Europe or US – study (The Guardian)

  • Ralph Metzner, LSD and Consciousness Researcher, Dies at 82 (The New York Times)

  • Philly Councilman Mark Squilla moves to block supervised injection site (WHYY)

  • What Could a Conscious, Psychedelic #MeToo Look Like? (Chacruna)

  • Acetaminophen's Surprising Psychoactive Effects (RealClearScience)

  • On the Eve of the Great Psychedelic Debate (Quillette)

  • Drug Paraphernalia Laws: The “Swiss Army Knife” of the Drug War (Filter)

  • But The Drugs Keep Me Sober (The Small Bow)

  • Philippine Supreme Court Orders Release of Evidence From Duterte’s Drug War (TIME)

  • Supervised injection site supporters countersue feds, saying their Philly mission comes from religious and medical imperatives (The Philadelphia Inquirer)

  • Presidential Candidate Andrew Yang Pledges To Pardon All Non-Violent Drug Offenders On 4/20 (Marijuana Moment)

  • Let’s Address Four Common Myths About Harm Reduction (Filter)

  • Drug trips, not broken hips: let later life be the age of irresponsibility (The Guardian)

  • In the Space of One Minute, Joe Biden Defends the Death Penalty for Drug Dealers, Asset Forfeiture, and Mandatory Minimums (Reason)

  • The New Science of Psychedelics: A Tool for Changing Our Minds (SingularityHub)

  • Two SOM students explore psychedelic investment opportunities (Yale Daily News)

  • Psychedelic therapy for depression (The Naked Scientists)

  • What's the deal with microdosing? (Stuff.co.nz)

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.


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: