This Week in Psychedelics - 10.20.17

Image by Dahtamnay, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Cannabis

• Study: Colorado's Adult Use Cannabis Access Law Associated With Reductions In Opioid Deaths (NORML)
• Colorado Made $1 Billion in Legal Marijuana Sales (ATTN:)
• After the smoke clears: What's next for Northern California's cannabis industry? (The Cannabist)
• ACLU Pennsylvania: Blacks Eight Times More Likely Than Whites To Be Arrested For Marijuana Possession (NORML)
• The Rise of 'Canna-Vlogging': What to Expect When Creating Cannabis Video Social Media (Leafly)
• Is Weed Legalization the Gateway Drug to Psychedelic Legalization? (Disinfo)
• Another country is getting ready to vote on legalizing cannabis (CNBC)
• Denver's Public Libraries Expand Cannabis Collections (High Times)
• A healing drug: Former NFL players advocate the use of cannabis (AZCentral)
• Michigan Update: Mad Dash for Licenses, NMU Launches Cannabis Program (Leafly)
• Weed Edibles and Cannabis Chefs Popping Up At Food Festivals (High Times)
• Medical Marijuana Can Help Pets (ATTN:)
• Ellementa Founders Educate Women About Cannabis But Face Funding Stigmas (Forbes)
• A Guide to Federal Drug Rescheduling (And What It Means for Cannabis) (Leafly)
• Marijuana industry gets back to business of cannabis (Fairbanks Daily News-Miner)
• 4 Best Practices When Designing Your Cannabis Business Website (Leafly)
• Meet the 24-year-old founder behind the career site for cannabis jobs (CNBC)
• The Home Grower's Guide to Simple Cannabis Breeding (Leafly)
• Feds Admit Their Prosecution of Medical Marijuana Users in Washington Was Illegal (Reason)
• What Makes a Medical Cannabis Program Succeed? (Leafly)
• A Michigan University Is Offering the First-Ever Degree in Marijuana Studies (TIME)
• Melissa Etheridge's Cannabis Mugshot Is Amazing (Leafly)
• Watch: Cannabis activists seek end to 'current wild west system' (Times of Malta)
• In California, Feinstein Challenger De León Seen as a Cannabis Progressive (Leafly)
• Cannabis Crunch – Weed May Fight Liver Disease, Burning Marijuana Farms and 12-Year-Old Justice Reformers (Psychedelic Times)
• How to Support Your Cannabis Garden with Trellising (Leafly)
• 'Never Share a Joint With a Stranger. Especially Bill Maher': This Week in Cannabis Quotes (Leafly)

LSD

• Here's What It's Like Taking LSD And Magic Mushrooms (BuzzFeed)
• Alicudi, Italy's LSD island (CNN)

Psilocybin/Magic Mushrooms

• Magic mushrooms might help depression by resetting the brain (The Verge)
• One Stoner Politician's Lonely Quest to Legalize Shrooms (VICE)
• The spore you know: As research into psilocybin's heath benefits grow, Californians face slim chance to legalize magic mushrooms (Sacramento News & Review)

MDMA/Ecstasy

• How MDMA Went From Club Drug to 'Breakthrough Therapy' (The Wall Street Journal)
• FDA Action On MDMA Gives New Hope To Researchers And Victims Of PTSD (Mint Press News)
• Ecstasy-related deaths are at a record high - but what can be done about it? (Mixmag)
• Calum Gill death: Student died after taking MDMA (BBC)

Synthetic Cannabinoids/Psychoactive Research Chemicals

• Potent drug disguised as ecstasy causes mass overdose in Newcastle (Lakes Mail)
• WARNING: 'Blue Superman' pills responsible for a mass overdose are not ecstasy! (Rave Jungle)
• Boy aged 15 was in life-threatening condition after taking what he thought was MDMA from drug dealer Joseph Pearce (Cornwall Live)

Dissociatives

• Ketamine: The Future of PTSD Treatment? (Texas Standard)
• Ketamine Not Associated With PTSD Development in Military Trauma Setting (Psychiatry Advisor)
• PC: Suspect high on PCP when he shot at ISP trooper, K-9 Apache (WRTV)

Opiates/Opioids

• 14-Year Trend of Rising Opioid Deaths Reversed in Colorado After Marijuana Legalization (Reason)
• People Are Dying Because of Ignorance, not Because of Opioids (Scientific American)
• President Trump Is 'Looking Into' Report That His Drug Czar Pick Made the Opioid Crisis Worse (TIME)
• Naloxone giveaway participants help researchers gather lifesaving data (WTHR)
• The Pros and Cons of a Heroin Shortage (Reason)
• What is Opioid Use Disorder? (Pain News Network)
• The Terrifying New Trend in Heroin Addiction (VICE)
• Opioid Addiction Is a Mental Health Crisis, Not A Crime Wave (NBC)
• PBS Explores The Science of Opioid Addiction (The Fix)
• The Justice Department Is Now Going After Chinese Fentanyl Manufacturers (Reason)
• Why do we keep prescribing heroin to patients? (Medical Economics)
• With rules established, pharmacists can begin prescribing drug that can reverse opiate overdoses (Citizen Tribune)

Absinthe

• Absinthia Brings Organic Absinthe to Oakland (East Bay Express)

Kratom

• DEA Petitioned With Open-Records Request To Provide Details Of Ongoing "Shadow Campaign" Against The Botanical Kratom (PR Newswire)
• The Top 15 Health Benefits Of Kratom (Kratom Guides)
• Does Boiling Kratom Destroy The Alkaloids? (Kratom Guides)
• Natural kratom gains attention as a possible solution to opioid addiction, with science explaining how (The Georgia Straight)
• What Are Liquid Kratom Extracts? Benefits, Side-Effects, And Dosage (Kratom Guides)
• Opioid-mimicking substance becomes popular in Chattanooga area (WTVC)
• How To Get Most Out Of The Kratom Capsules? (Kratom Guides)

Kava

• Kava bar helps relax the stressed (Orlando Sentinel)
• Huge demands depleting Vanuatu kava, beef (One Papua New Guinea)

Khat

• Somalia's Bakool bans miraa consumption (The Standard)

Miscellaneous Psychedelics/Psychoactives/Drug Policy

• Want To Stop Climate Change? Science Suggests Psychedelics Will Help You Love Nature (Psychedelic Times)
• Psychedelic Compound Yields Therapeutic Effects on Miniature Human Brains (Seeker)
• Study Suggests Psychedelic Drugs Could Reduce Criminal Behavior (Newswise)
• E-cigs are being adapted to smoke heroin, crack cocaine and ecstasy to make detection harder (The Sun)
• The Importance of Using Reagent Test Kits (Psychedelic Times)
• Mainstreaming Psychedelics: Secularizing spirituality with the aid of Eastern religion (Rick Strassman MD)
• Can Underground Psychedelic Therapy Ever Go Mainstream? (Pacific Standard)
• President Trump Says Rep. Tom Marino Is Withdrawing His Name for Drug Czar (TIME)
• Breaking Boundaries in Berlin: Altered Conference 2017 Set to Revamp Drug Use (TalkingDrugs)
• Indonesia's Drug Czar is Threatening a Duterte-Style War on Drug Dealers (TIME) 
• Researchers Think Psychedelic Drugs Might Do More Than Get You High (Newsy)
• Kiwi MDMA, LSD users being conned (Newshub)

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.

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.

This Week in Psychedelics - 2.19.16

Image by Dahtamnay, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Cannabis

• Could Cannabis Help Stem the Heroin Overdose Crisis? (TakePart)
• The Science Is Clear: Marijuana Is Not A Gateway Drug (Reset.me)
• Bill Maher Smokes a Joint to Prove a Point About Marijuana Legalization (ATTN:)
• Legal Marijuana Sales Totaled $1 Billion in Colorado Last Year (Reason)
• California Nuns Illegally Grow Medical Cannabis, Sell It Online (Inquisitr)
• Meet the Marijuana Industry's Newest Customers: Dogs (Reason)
• Cannabis does not cause anxiety and depression, study finds (The Telegraph)
• Why Is Facebook Taking Down Marijuana Dispensary Pages? (TIME)
• Terminal brain cancer patient says cannabis oil saved his life (Sun Times National)
• Using Cannabis to Treat Depression (Leafly)
• Study: No Increase In Prevalence Of Cannabis Use Disorders (NORML)
• Where do Ireland's political parties stand on decriminalising cannabis? (The Journal)
• Albuquerque baby makes history with cannabis oil at Colorado hospital (KRQE)
• Using Cannabis For Sexual Health (Reset.me)
• Government's Cannabis ATM (SF Weekly)
• Will there be a 2016 Colorado Cannabis Cup? Permit denied (The Cannabist)
• Happy Presidents Day! The Founding Fathers and Cannabis (Leafly)
• Leafly Evolves Beyond Cannabis Strain Reviews (New Cannabis Ventures)
• 'Cannabis clubs' may be opening in four Swiss cities (The Independent)
• Step by Step, Pot-Legalizing States Free Their Marijuana Markets (Reason)
• Leafly Science Roundup: Can Cannabis Improve Your Workout? (Leafly)
• Ex-coach Ron McBride voices support for medical cannabis (KSL)
• Barcelona's Pot Boom and Bust (Reason)
• Adams County denies permit to 2016 Cannabis Cup at Denver Mart (The Denver Post)
• Beginner's Guide to Cannabis Breeding, Genetics, and Strain Variability (Leafly)
• Complex California Pot Act Created Unseen Problem (Reason)
• Snoop Dogg Invests In Canadian Cannabis With Smiths Falls Marijuana Deal (Inquisitr)
• The gene that puts cannabis users at risk of psychosis: Scientists discover why some smokers are more prone to mental illness (Daily Mail)

LSD

• Inside the LSD Museum That the DEA Somehow Hasn't Torn to the Ground (WIRED)
• The Strange Way LSD Both Mimics Psychosis And Improves Mental Health (The Huffington Post)
• LSD research making a comeback says U of S historian (CBC News)
• Study: LSD could lead to long-term psychological well-being (Palm Beach Post)
• Always Wanted to Do LSD With Philip K. Dick? You'll Love Playing Californium (WIRED)
• LSD research rebounding during 'psychedelic renaissance' (Saskatoon StarPhoenix)
• Society may have changed enough to warrant a retrial of LSD: expert (Global News)
• 2 students charged after 3 LSD overdoses at Villanova University (6abc)
• Williams Sentenced to Probation for LSD Possession (KOWB)

Psilocybin/Magic Mushrooms

• Magic Mushrooms in North America: Before the Wassons (Reality Sandwich)

MDMA/Ecstasy

• Could MDMA Save Your Relationship? (Complex)
• Want to Legalize Medical MDMA? Attend a 'Psychedelic Dinner' (US News)
• Government urged to consider pill testing as number of ecstasy users appearing at NSW hospitals doubles (ABC)
• MDMA: Using Safely (The Bottom Line)
• 'Deplorable' Kids Company psychologist is banned from practising for 12 months after taking MDMA with a vulnerable client in a nightclub toilet (Daily Mail)
• MDMA, Purest Form Of Ecstasy, Often Contaminated With 'Bath Salts' (Medical Daily)
• Death At HARD Summer Ruled Ecstasy "Intoxication" By Coroner (Your EDM)
• Florida man says he was jailed after police mistook aspiring for Ecstasy (WFTV)
• Teen Raver Died From Ecstasy Intoxication, Coroner Says (L.A. Weekly)
• Delivery results in felony charges for Oglesby man (LaSalle News Tribune)
• Teen accused of distributing ecstasy in Canberra faces court (ABC)
• A man and woman arrested for possession of Ecstasy: Parma Heights Police Blotter (Cleveland.com)
• Valdosta man arrested on MDMA, cocaine charges (Valdosta Today)
• Eugene man, allegedly high on ecstasy, arrested on felony assault charge (The Register-Guard)
• Teen rushed to hospital after taking ecstasy tablet at Coatbridge fast-food restaurant (Scottish Daily Record)
• Couple celebrated birth of child by taking Ecstasy and pot: West York police (PennLive)

Ayahuasca/DMT

• DMT Cook Burned & Busted (Crime Voice)
• Services Are Now in Session for Church Offering Hallucinogens (The Chronicle)
• Aidan Reid: How a Peru drug experience made me quit a life of partying (Belfast Telegraph)
• Police stumble upon suspected drug lab (The Davis Enterprise)
• De La Vina Resident Burned in Drug Lab Fire (Santa Barbara Independent)

Peyote/San Pedro/Mescaline

• National Council Does Not Condone Faux Native American Churches or Marijuana Use (Indian Country Today Media Network)
• First Amendment: Justice Scalia's disastrous decision on religious freedom (Janesville Gazette)
• Scalia And Lewin: From Harvard To The High Court (The Jewish Week)

Iboga/Ibogaine

• What's the Difference between Iboga and Ibogaine? Identifying the Right Treatment for You (Psychedelic Times)
• Psychedelic Research with Ibogaine and 5-MeO-DMT: An Interview with Dr. Joseph Barsuglia (Psychedelic Times)
• Sunshine Coast alternative therapist calls on Government to research iboga plant to treat drug addiction (ABC)
• My First Iboga Experience: An Interview with Dr. Joseph Barsuglia (Psychedelic Times)

Synthetic Cannabinoids/Psychoactive Research Chemicals

• NYU Research: Hair Sampling Shows Unintended "Bath Salt" Use (New York University)
• Soldier dismissed from army for supplying N-bomb (Stuff.co.nz)

Dissociatives

• Ketamine treatments working wonders on local girl (WOAI)
• Drug holds promise to fight acute depression (Palm Beach Daily News)
• Parklife Festival drug dealer told he could have killed someone with ketamine horse tranquiliser (Liverpool Echo)
• Man dies after falling from fifth-floor flat window while trying to perform a PULL-UP (Mirror)
• Inquest heard in ketamine addiction case (Barnsley Chronicle)
• Woman groped, suspect later found on PCP | POLICE BLOTTER (Renton Reporter)
• Police: PCP arrest made during traffic stop in Md. (WJLA)
• NJ man arrested for possession of PCP (Mid-Hudson News)
• Youth faces court over ketamine haul (The Standard)

Opiates/Opioids

• Kroger to make naloxone available over the counter (Sandusky Register)
• How snail venom may help end the heroin crisis (KING5)
• Penetrating Every Stage of Afghan Opium Chain, Taliban Become a Cartel (The New York Times)
• Cruz, Trump want to secure the border to keep out heroin. But will it work? (The Washington Post)
• China busts 35 restaurants using opium poppies as seasoning (WFXT)
• Walgreens to sell Naloxone without a Prescription (MyTechBits)
• Heroin-Addicted Identical Twins Reveal Shocking Ways They Say The Get Money For Drugs (The Huffington Post)
• Tasked With Combating Opium, Afghan Officials Profit From It (The New York Times)
• Overdose prevention pills don't cure opioid problem (Business Insurance)
• Poppy farmer thought it was a herb (Bangalore Mirror)
• 'Tea lady' inspires people to give up opium cultivation in Arunachal (The Statesman)
• Myanmar, a country rich in jade and gems, and OPIUM (The Northeast Today)
• Opium smugglers evade capture in Jordan (Al Bawaba)
• Myanmar Activists Say Destruction of Opium Fields Blocked (ABC)
• Broadway man charged with trafficking opium (The Sanford Herald)
• Opium Prohibition in Afghanistan (Cato Institute)

Absinthe

• Man wakes up after a night of drinking of absinthe in Magaluf and discovers a tattoo of a huge penis inked on his leg (Daily Mail)

Kratom

• Oxford police say selling Kratom is now illegal in city (Alabama's News Leader)
• Grateful Toad fined $12000 (Plattsburgh Press Republican)
• Herb Linked to Multiple Ark. Deaths (ArkansasMatters)
• Investigators seize illegal drug from 3 local businesses (4029tv)
• Oxford police warn against sale of new synthetic drug Kratom (The Anniston Star)

Kava

• New kava legal challenge in Germany over drugs institute ruling (Asia Pacific Report)
• New Kava Challenge (Vanuatu Daily Post)
• Two New Kava Bars Chill out the Bay Area With a Calming, Natural Concoction (7x7)
• One year mellow at Berkeley's MeloMelo Kava Bar (Berkeleyside)
• Divisadero's Long-Awaited Kava Lounge Softly Opens This Thursday (Hoodline)

Khat

• Madagascar flirts with food crisis as Khat fields replace staple crops (AfricaNews)
• Of Juja's JKUAT students and miraa chewing (Hivisasa)

Miscellaneous Psychedelics/Psychoactives/Drug Policy

• New Report Finds Drugs Bought On the Dark Net Have Higher Levels of Purity (Thump)
• Is Meth as Safe to Consume as Adderall? (ATTN:)
• Here are 10 fascinating drugs that our ancient ancestors used to get high (Raw Story)
• WATCH: Lana Del Rey Gets High on Psychedelics in New 11-Minute Video for 'Freak' (First to Know)
• Combat PTSD with psychedelic drugs? The VA or nonprofit organizations must fund more research now (New York Daily News)
• Why deaths won't stop the party: Drug test kits gain popularity as festival overdoses soar (Geelong Advertiser)
• Scalia's Mixed Drug War Record (Forbes)
• North Carolina's Welfare Drug Testing Program Is a Complete Failure (ATTN:)
• COLUMN: Psychedelic drug safety (Indiana Daily Student)
• Don't Punish All Drug Offenders for the Crimes of One (Reason)
• Pope Francis: Mexico Must Confront Drug Trade, Corruption (TIME)
• Effort made at CU-Boulder to ensure safe recreational drug use (Boulder Daily Camera)

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 (and other psychoactives) are presented by the mass media, which includes everything from the latest scientific research to misinformation.