This Week in Psychedelics - 8.17.18

Cannabis

• Study: Medical Cannabis Access Laws Associated With Fewer Workplace Fatalities (NORML)
• Massachusetts Cannabis Activists Warn Against Anti-Immigrant, Anti-Worker Behavior in Industry (Psychedelic Times)
• 5 Reasons Why Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Are Essential in the Cannabis Industry Business (Entrepreneur)
• Seed-To-Sale Tracking And Compliance: If Coffee Was Regulated Like Cannabis (Forbes)
• New UMass Medical School study on mice helps explain why cannabis reduces symptoms of inflammatory bowel disease (MassLive)
• UN Launches First-Ever Full Review Of Marijuana’s Status Under International Law (Marijuana Moment)
• Multiple sclerosis patient calls medical cannabis trial 'a miracle' (Montreal Gazette)
• Can Article V Federally Legalize Cannabis? (Forbes)
• Employers In Medical Marijuana States Can Still Drug Test Employees, Federal Judge Rule (Marijuana Moment)
• Trump Tariffs Set To Hit Cannabis Industry (Forbes)
• Marijuana Emerges As Key Issue In Nevada U.S. Senate Race (Marijuana Moment)
• Legalization Initiative Qualifies for November Ballot in North Dakota (NORML)
• More Americans want legal medical marijuana than legal alcohol or cigarettes, polls say (Rooster)
• Marijuana Policy Project Welcomes New Executive Director (Marijuana Moment)
• Texas Medical Marijuana Ad Launched (NORML)
• New Congressional Bill Would Automatically Seal Marijuana Records (Marijuana Moment)
• 'I don't think I look like a stoner': the women changing the face of the cannabis industry (The Guardian)
• Scientists Discover You Can Use Espresso Machines To Make Marijuana Extracts (Marijuana Moment)
• Working With Pot: Marijuana Job Searches Spike in Canada Ahead of National Legalization (Newsweek)
• Marijuana-Friendly Gubernatorial Candidates Win Big In Tuesday’s Primaries (Marijuana Moment)
• Cannabis Now Magazine CEO Eugenio Garcia Talks Marijuana, Publishing And The Future Of It All (Forbes)
• Anti-Marijuana Group Wants Campaign Finance Transparency, Kind Of (Marijuana Moment)
• Canadian Cannabis Debut Delayed In Ontario (Forbes)
• Marijuana Ballot Measures Could Affect Key U.S. Senate Election (Marijuana Moment)
• Utah’s medical marijuana ballot measure would violate Mormons’ religious beliefs, opponents say in new court filing, which initiative supporters call a ‘Hail Mary’ (The Salt Lake Tribune)
• One In Four Young Americans Consume Marijuana, Survey Finds (Marijuana Moment)
• A New Way of Getting High Is as Easy as Applying Deodorant (Tonic)
• Dogs With Arthritis Benefit From Cannabis Oil, Study Says (Marijuana Moment)
• Legal Weed: How Republicans Learned to Love Marijuana (Newsweek)
• DEA Wants More Marijuana Grown And Fewer Opioids Produced In 2019. Really. (Marijuana Moment)
• Policing of cannabis possession is largely accidental – and many officers don’t think it makes a difference (Policing Insight)
• Cypress Hill Rapper Who Opposed California Legalization Opens A Marijuana Store (Marijuana Moment)
• At Weed for Warriors, Military Veterans Harness the Healing Powers of Marijuana (MERRY JANE)
• South By Southwest Fans Choose From Dozens Of Marijuana-Themed Panels For 2019 (Marijuana Moment)
• Cannabis Mega Deal Sets Stage for Global Weed Empire (Bloomberg)
• The Company Behind Corona Beer Is Investing Nearly $4 Billion in Legal Pot (TIME)
• I’m Mandela not Al Capone — my cannabis speakeasy helps the sick (The Times)

LSD

• Pro jiu-jitsu fighter says LSD helps him whoop ass (Rooster)
• 9 Facts About LSD Everyone Should Know (Psychedelics Daily)
• Microdose Acid in 7 Easy Steps (Psychedelics Daily)
• Naked man high on LSD pees on security vehicle, fights officers in east Lincoln, police say (Beatrice Daily Sun)
• Student who took LSD, cocaine and alcohol before being found nude outside shopping centre 'mortified' at video, court hears (Independent.ie)

Psilocybin/Magic Mushrooms

• Microdose Mushrooms in 7 Easy Steps (Psychedelics Daily)

MDMA/Ecstasy

• Ecstasy dealer faces jail after selling deadly dose to schoolgirl, 14, who fell ill after taking two tablets (Mirror)

Ayahuasca/DMT/5-MeO-DMT

• DMT Models the Near-Death Experience (Frontiers)
• The Connection Between Ayahuasca, Your Stomach, and Your Mind (Tonic)
• Ayahuasca Healed My Autoimmune Disorder and Depression (Reset.me)
• The fatal thirst for Peru’s Ayahuasca drug (Channel 4 News)

Peyote/San Pedro/Mescaline

• Huachuma– The Healing Visionary Cactus From Peru (Reset.me)
• Carlos Castaneda Was Right: High Dose Peyote Initiation (Medium)

Salvia Divinorum

• 5 Important Tips For New Salvia Users (Psychedelics Daily)

Synthetic Cannabinoids/Psychoactive Research Chemicals

• The Truth About 'Monkey Dust', UK Media's Latest Drug Obsession (VICE)
• In hours, about 20 people overdosed in same park. Police say they found the culprit (Miami Herald)
• New batch of MDMA and ecstasy pills being made with potentially lethal chemical (Metro)
• Federal Drug Cops Conflate Synthetic Cannabinoids With Marijuana (Deliberately?) (Marijuana Moment)
• Microdose 4-AcO-DMT in 7 Easy Steps (Psychedelics Daily)

Dissociatives

• Ketamine shows potential in teens with treatment-resistant depression (Healio)
• Lufkin police: Man possibly high on PCP said white wolves chased him, his family (KTRE)

Opiates/Opioids

• Fentanyl Used to Execute Nebraska Inmate, in a First for U.S. (The New York Times)
• Does Smoking Heroin Really Cause Brain Damage? (Tonic)
• Norway to test free heroin for drug addicts (Channel NewsAsia)
• Bleak New Estimates in Drug Epidemic: A Record 72,000 Overdose Deaths in 2017 (The New York Times)
• Facebook cracks down on opioid dealers after years of neglect (TechCrunch)
• Sending Your Kid to College? Send Them With Fentanyl Testing Strips and Naloxone. (Slate)
• New report shows increasing trend of EMS-administered naloxone for overdoses (Medical Xpress)
• Nevada’s Opioid Task Force Continues to Explore Options (NORML)
• The Western War on Afghan Farmers (Beckley Foundation)
• Could a Name Change Increase Support for Safe Injection Sites? (Pacific Standard)
• Ignoring the benefits of supervised injection facilities isn’t just callous. It’s deadly (The Boston Globe)
• What the media gets wrong about opioids (Columbia Journalism Review)
• How law enforcement is taking action on the opioid crisis (The Boston Globe)
• Man dies after swallowing heroin following raid targeting gang with Chicago connections (Chicago Tribune)
• 81-year-old Woman Tried to Smuggle 92 Lbs. of Heroin Across US-Mexico Border: Police (People)

Kratom

• Kratom Association Calls FDA Review of Drug ‘Junk Science’ in Scathing Report (Rolling Stone)
• New Kratom Death Reports Still Leave More Questions Than Answers (HuffPost)
• How Often Can You Take Kratom (Kratom Guides)
• Salmonella scare prompts Kratom recall (Washington Examiner)
• Herbal supplement sold at gas stations and smoke shops kills Arvada man (9News)
• What Is Kratom? (Civilized)
• List of 5 Best Kratom Capsules: Benefits, Dosage & Legality (Kratom Guides)
• Who Sells The Best Kratom Capsules – 20 Top Kratom Vendors Online (Kratom Guides)

Kava

• Kava Business Launched In Canada (Fiji Sun)
• Kava Demand Creates Trade Opportunity Between Fiji, Madang (Fiji Sun)

Khat

• Farmers protest proposal to outlaw Khat (Kenya Broadcasting Corporation)
• Somali women divorce violent husbands addicted to chewing narcotic leaf Khat (Radio Ergo)

Miscellaneous Psychedelics/Psychoactives/Drug Policy

• How America Convinced the World to Demonize Drugs (VICE)
• These Psychedelic Drugs Show Promise for Treating Mental Health Disorders (Live Science)
• People With Depression and Anxiety Could Benefit From Hallucinogens (Teen Vogue)
• The Long Burn: A 30-Day Sananga Challenge (Psychedelic Times)
• The New Wave of Psychedelics in Buddhist Practice (Lion's Roar)
• Beyond Psychedelics 2018: Listening, Talking, Filming – Review Of A Psychedelic Forum in Prague (Maps Of The Mind)
• The War on Drugs Is Inseparable from US Imperialism (VICE)
• Psychedelic Drugs Shown To Promote Neural Plasticity (Psychedelics Daily)
• Psychedelics Reduce Violence Against Intimate Partners (Psychedelics Daily)
• Top 5 Myths About Psychedelics You Need To Know (Psychedelics Daily)

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.

Beyond Psychedelics 2018

I'd like to take a moment to show some support for a wonderful three-day psychedelic conference that is starting in Prague next week—Beyond Psychedelics 2018. This event is a global multidisciplinary forum on psychedelics held in the Czech Republic, a country with a longstanding history of psychedelic research. In their own words, the conference will “review current challenges and risks, explore the basis of safe use and sensible integration, and create new synergies.” Attendees can expect to be a part of a global conversation about “the potential of psychedelics, alternative states of consciousness, and technologies in the current social climate.” There will also be two days of Pre-Conference Workshops on the topics of Integrative HR Psychotherapy and Psychedelic Integration. Please click the links above to learn more about this excellent conference.

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This Week in Psychedelics - 4.20.18

Cannabis

• Trump To Support Major Marijuana Legislation (Marijuana Moment)
• Cannabis Component Found in Breast Milk, but Does It Harm Baby? (Medscape)
• Greens propose full legalisation of cannabis (The Guardian)
• Senator Sanders Co-Sponsors The Marijuana Justice Act (NORML)
• 'Cannabis strengthened our bond': can pot make you a better parent? (The Guardian)
• Cannabis harm to teenagers' brains 'overstated', finds study (The Independent)
• How Smoking Pot May Hurt the Teenage Brain (TIME)
• Marijuana-based seizure treatment gets positive review from FDA (Chicago Tribune)
• The Plan to Save California's Legendary Weed From 'Big Cannabis' (WIRED)
• Trump is backing off the marijuana fight. Jeff Sessions has not. (The Cannabist)
• Republicans eye getting in front of marijuana legalization (Michigan Radio)
• House GOP Blocks Another Marijuana Amendment (Marijuana Moment)
• Meta-analysis: Cannabis Exposure Not Associated With Residual Adverse Impact On Cognitive Performance (NORML)
• MassRoots reports net loss of $44 million in 2017 (The Cannabist)
• Here's Where Your Colorado Marijuana Tax Dollars Go (Westword)
• Meghan Markle's nephew developing special cannabis strain for royal wedding (The Independent)
• Oregon Grew More Cannabis Than Customers Can Smoke. Now Shops and Farmers Are Left With Mountains of Unwanted Bud. (Willamette Week)
• High Times Cannabis Cup 4/20 event rejected in Southern California (NBC)
• Australia's Medicinal Cannabis Patients Will Get 48-Hour Access...In A Few Months (BuzzFeed News)
• Legal highs: arguments for and against legalising cannabis in Australia (The Conversation)
• Bipartisan Legislation Introduced To Facilitate Medical Cannabis Trials For Veterans (NORML)
• Spliff, a film festival for stoners, by stoners (Boing Boing)
• Black and Indigenous people are overrepresented in Canada’s weed arrests (VICE)
• Exclusive analysis: Only one in seven California cities allow recreational marijuana stores (The Mercury-News)
• The Philosopher's Stoned: An Interview with Liber 420 Author Chris Bennett (Reality Sandwich)
• The new 4/20: Beyond legalizing it (CNN)
• Metric Coffee Unveils Cannabis Cold Brew on 4/20 (Eater)
• Why it can be okay to call it ‘marijuana’ instead of ‘cannabis’ (The Verge)
• What John Boehner's Pivot On Cannabis Tells Us About The Legal Weed Boom (NPR)
• Drug Made From Cannabis Plant Gets Backing From FDA Staff (Bloomberg)
• Medical cannabis treatment: Mother starts a petition for her child (Sunday Express)
• Pennsylvania to Make Whole-Plant Cannabis Flower Available to Patients (Leafly)
• Medical cannabis access simplified under unified state agreement (Small Caps)

LSD

• 75 Years After First LSD Trip, Psychedelic Science is Making a Comeback (Seeker)
• What Do Blind People 'See' When They Take LSD? (Live Science)
• The Strange History of Bicycle Day (Slate)
• What was Project MKUltra? Inside the CIA's mind-control program (Big Think)

Psilocybin/Magic Mushrooms

• We talked with a researcher using psilocybin to treat cocaine addiction in Alabama (Psymposia)
• Would You Take Mushrooms With Your Mom? Meet One Woman Who Did and Made a Movie About It (PAPER)

MDMA/Ecstasy

• Alcoholics in Bristol are trialing MDMA therapy (The Bristol Cable)

Ayahuasca/DMT

• Can Drinking Ayahuasca Really Change Your Life? (Chacruna)
• Controversies Around the Toad Medicine (Chacruna)

Iboga/Ibogaine

• Treatment utilizing psychedelic drug ibogaine significantly reduces opioid withdrawal and cravings (PsyPost)
• Matthew Mellon was trying controversial addiction treatment before death (Page Six)

Dissociatives

• Ketamine has 'fast-acting benefits' for depression (BBC News)
• Ketamine Nasal Spray for Suicide Prevention Raises Serious Concerns (Inverse)

Opiates/Opioids

• It's legal to manufacture cocaine and heroin for medical use — and Britain is the world's biggest exporter (Business Insider)
• How France Cut Heroin Overdoses by 79 Percent in 4 Years (The Atlantic)
• Drug users to soon have all-hours access to syringes in Ballarat (The Courier)
• A Drug to End Addiction? Scientists Are Working on It. (The New York Times)
• The War on Opioids Probably Helped Kill Prince (Reason)
• U.S. has been quietly helping Mexico with new, high-tech ways to fight opium (Albuquerque Journal)
• Medicaid Is Helping to Combat the Opioid Crisis, Despite Trump's Attacks (Truthout)
• Did ancient Mesopotamians get high? Near Eastern rituals may have included opium, cannabis (Science Magazine)
• As Opioid Prescriptions Fall, Opioid Deaths Rise (Reason)
• Maine Lawmakers Clash With Governor Over Naloxone Access (The Wall Street Journal)
• Naloxone-access programs miss many opioid users (Reuters)
• The Surgeon General Wants More Naloxone, Now What (ModernMedicine)
• Public Defender Foils Prosecutor’s Murder Charge in Drug Overdose (Injustice Today)

Kratom

• Leading Fibromyalgia Doctor Says Wait on Kratom (National Pain Report)
• Kratom: Did I Lose My Sobriety and Not Even Know It? (The Fix)

Miscellaneous Psychedelics/Psychoactives/Drug Policy

• Canada's Liberal party considers decriminalization of all illicit drugs (The Guardian)
• Drug trafficking by Kiwis using dark web is booming - report (Newshub)
• These Teens Are Taking A Class On Drugs That Is Definitely Not What Trump Had In Mind (BuzzFeed News)
• Will psychedelics go corporate like cannabis? (Herb)
• Beyond Psychedelics 2018: Interview with Eva Césarová (Psychedelic Times)
• The case for decriminalizing drugs (The Star)
• Will El Chapo’s Arrest Make the Drug Trade More Deadly? (Reason)
• Tripping on drugs like ayahuasca and shrooms ‘might be cultural appropriation’ (Metro)
• An Audio Harm Reduction Guide For Psychedelic Psychotherapy (Chacruna)

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 - 4.6.18

Cannabis

• Congress May Finally Be Ready to Legalize Hemp (Reason)
• Albuquerque City Council Votes to Decriminalize Marijuana Possession (Drug Policy Alliance)
• This State Could Allow Non-Residents Access to Medical Marijuana (High Times)
• CBD is cannabis that won't get you high. So why are so many people using it? (Chicago Tribune)
• Marijuana Dispensaries Are Keeping Cannabis Out Of The Hands Of Minors In Oregon (Forbes)
• Connecticut Legislative Committee Passes Recreational Marijuana Bill (Hartford Courant)
• California Today: In Oakland, a Clash of Artists vs. Big Cannabis (The New York Times)
• Terminal cancer patient claims cannabis has shrunk her brain tumours (Wales Online)
• Cannabinoids 101: What is CBG? (Real Stoned Times)
• Studies: Marijuana Legalization Associated With Reduced Opioid Prescribing Trends (NORML)
• Is it worth investing in Israel’s medical cannabis industry in view of the regulatory fluctuations? (The Times of Israel)
• Cannabis Investors Could Reap A Pot Of Gold, Says Analyst (Forbes)
• New Jersey cops search a man's anus, genitals for weed during traffic stop. See for yourself. (APP)
• Weedmaps: why 'Yelp for pot' is under fire for its Silicon Valley attitude (The Guardian)
• Most support Girl Scout’s right to sell cookies outside of legal marijuana dispensary (YouGov)
• Cheech and Chong get truthy about weed, LSD use 40 years after 'Up in Smoke' (Indianapolis Star)
• Binge Drinking Rates Drop In States With Recreational Marijuana Laws (Forbes)
• Australian cannabis companies are now allowed to export seeds, oil and raw material (Business Insider)
• Paediatricians call for medical marijuana trials for kids with autism, ADHD (The Advertiser)
• Hemp will save us from fire, cockroaches, heat, and microplastics (The Outline)
• Trio taking $5m bet on medicinal cannabis industry that doesn't exist yet (NZ Herald)
• Utah: Proponents Of 2018 Medical Cannabis Ballot Measure Achieve Signature Milestone (NORML)
• Canada’s Proposed Cannabis Packaging Regulations Could Help Move Entire Industry Forward (Cannabis Business Times)
• New Orleans: Marijuana Possession Arrests Plunge Following Enactment Of Decriminalization Ordinance (NORML)
• The Bumpy Road to Becoming the Martha Stewart of Cannabis (Entrepreneur)
• Plunging pot prices force black market growers into real jobs (Rooster)
• How To Treat Psoriasis With Cannabis (High Times)
• NORML Chapters Continue State-Level Push for Marijuana Law Reforms (NORML)
• Six arrested after £1.3m in cannabis seized in Northern Ireland (The Guardian)
• Lamar Odom Getting Into the Cannabis Business, Says Marijuana Helped With Rehab (The Blast)
• Tinley Produces Initial Batch of Cannabis Margarita and Provides Operational Update (GlobeNewswire)
• WeHo Rolls Out Licenses For Cannabis Consumption Lounges (Eater LA)
• Canadian Cannabis Producer Stocks Rise 0.8% in March (New Cannabis Ventures)
• State cannabis regulators to begin accepting commercial bids (WCVB)
• Ancillary carriers shy away from cannabis industry for fear of federal regulatory violations (Employee Benefit Advisor)
• State cannabis services to move into Times-Standard building (Eureka Times Standard)

LSD

• What Happens When a Blind Person Takes LSD? (Discover)
• Is LSD the new middle-class dinner party treat? (The Times)
• Forthcoming Microdosing Study Will Investigate How LSD Affects Insight (Psychedelic Times)
• Anxiety and Acid Flashbacks Made '2001: A Space Odyssey' the Masterpiece for Me (Thrillist)
• LSD, Sade, and more: Kacey Musgraves on the inspirations behind Golden Hour (Entertainment Weekly)
• Omaha Police: 12-year-old hospitalized after admitting to using LSD (KETV)

Psilocybin/Magic Mushrooms

• Are psychedelic mushrooms the next legalization frontier after cannabis? (Herb)
• A Beaverton Couple Is About to Gather Signatures to Legalize the Therapeutic Use of Psychedelic Mushrooms in Oregon (Willamette Week)
• Individual Experiences in Four Cancer Patients Following Psilocybin-Assisted Psychotherapy (Frontiers)
• Here’s How Magic Mushrooms Probably Became Psychedelic (Seeker)

MDMA/Ecstasy

• The Long Strange Trip to Turn 'Molly' Into a $100 Million Pharmaceutical Medicine (Inc.)
• The 'war on drugs' is not working, says mum whose son died after taking ecstasy (ITV News)
• Instagram model and ex-boyfriend busted over 'MDMA drug-trafficking ring' (Mirror)
• Essex University student collapsed and died at uni party after taking MDMA (The Sun)

Ayahuasca/DMT

• Scientists seeking people with 'encounters' while taking DMT (Spectrum News)
• Ayahuasca, Human Suffering and Our US veterans (Thrive Global)
• Scary, hot new drug called 'spirit molecule' (WND)

Dissociatives

• What Does It All Ketamine? (Discover)
• Man allegedly bit deputy after running away while presumably high on PCP (KVUE)

Opiates/Opioids

• Addiction Rehab is Broken. Can Technology Help? (WIRED)
• The Surgeon General Urges More Americans to Carry Overdose Antidote to Prevent Opioid Deaths (TIME)
• Tackling The Opioid Epidemic: Lessons From Portugal (NPR)
• FDA wants Facebook and Twitter to crack down on opioid sales (Engadget)
• People with Chronic Pain Will Protest the CDC’s Crackdown on Opioids (Tonic)
• Patients in 6 States to Get Free Overdose Antidote (U.S. News & World Report)
• Two Men Convicted in Multi-million Dollar Heroin Smuggling Ring Tied to the Taliban (Newsweek)
• Battling Heroin With A Hearse And A Prayer (NPR)

Kratom

• FDA Orders Mandatory Recall of Kratom-Based Herbal Supplements Over Salmonella Outbreak (TIME)
• Top 10 Reasons Why Kratom Should Be Legalized (Kratom Guides)
• Reader: Kratom Saved My Life From a Heroin Addiction (Westword)

Kava

• This murky tea is nature's Xanax (New York Post)
• Dumpling Duo: We put the the kava tea hype to the test (Daily Titan)

Miscellaneous Psychedelics/Psychoactives/Drug Policy

• Why the fuck is fentanyl showing up in LSD, meth and cocaine? (Rooster)
• What It's Like for an American Drug Reformer to Go to a Country with a Compassionate System (AlterNet)
• Author Michael Pollan Is Coming to Portland to Speak About Psychedelics (Willamette Week)
• The Hairy Problem With Drug Testing (WIRED)
• Public housing ban on people with drug records likely to do more harm than good, research tell us (The Conversation)
• Former undercover officer on why police should 'declare peace' in war on drugs (ITV News)
• Drug use can have social benefits, and acknowledging this could improve rehabilitation (The Conversation)
• Drug checking: a harm reduction strategy (Alcohol and Drug Foundation)
• Psychedelic Chaos by Rita Kočárová - Beyond Psychedelics (Psychedelic Press)
• Does MoMA Downplay the Influence of Psychedelic Drugs on Adrian Piper’s Work? (Observer)
• We now call ‘bad trips’ ‘challenging experiences’. Here’s why that’s misguided. (Psymposia)
• ACT government, Groovin The Moo promoter in stalemate over pill testing (The Canberra Times)

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.