This Week in Psychedelics - 7.20.18

Cannabis

• Legalizing Marijuana Doesn’t Lead To Higher Youth Use, New Study Shows (Marijuana Moment)
• House Rules Committee Blocks FY19 Marijuana Amendments (NORML)
• Cuomo Administration Report Backs Marijuana Legalization In New York (Marijuana Moment)
• People Really Do Have A Marijuana “Jay-Dar,” New Study Finds (Marijuana Moment)
• Lebanon to consider legalizing cannabis growing (The Jerusalem Post)
• Legalizing Marijuana Helps Police Solve Other Crimes, New Study Shows (Marijuana Moment)
• Anti‐tumoural actions of cannabinoids (British Pharmacological Society)
• Cannabis Illicit Market Shrinking, New DEA, Homeland Security Numbers Suggest (High Times)
• Major Alcohol Association Endorses States’ Rights To Legalize Marijuana (Marijuana Moment)
• Police ‘decriminalising cannabis’ as prosecutions fall away (The Guardian)
• Why Congressional Democrats Deleted Their Anti-Marijuana Tweet (Marijuana Moment)
• British public backs legalisation of cannabis so it can be sold like cigarettes and alcohol, poll reveals (The Independent)
• Jury Acquits Marijuana Patient Who Admitted To Breaking Georgia Law (Marijuana Moment)
• Oklahoma: Attorney General Warns Regulators Acted Improperly When Amending Voter-Initiated Marijuana Measure (NORML)
• DoorDash CEO Says Company Not Quite Ready For Marijuana Delivery (Marijuana Moment)
• £3,655 fee for medicinal cannabis deters patients (The Sunday Times)
• County Officials From Across The U.S. Push Feds To Reform Marijuana Laws (Marijuana Moment)
• How Canada legalising recreational marijuana could vault country to forefront of cannabis research (South China Morning Post)
• Arizona Court Rules Cannabis Extracts Not Protected Under Medical Marijuana Act (High Times)
• Sen. Jeff Merkley “Disappointed” That Democrats Blocked His Marijuana Banking Amendment (Marijuana Moment)
• A Guide To Using Cannabis-Infused Tinctures And Topicals During That Time Of The Month (Forbes)
• Cannabis perfume 'set to become the scent of the summer' (The Telegraph)
• How Many Medical Marijuana States Are There? Advocates Disagree On The Number (Marijuana Moment)
• If You're Curious About Cannabis, Try Microdosing (Forbes)
• Republican politicians continue to screw over their own when it relates to marijuana (Rooster)
• Thailand Wants to Have Its (Hash) Cake and Eat It Too (Bloomberg)
• Voters In Key Congressional Districts Support Marijuana Legalization, Poll Says (Marijuana Moment)
• Marijuana Bills Increasingly Focus on Social Justice (The Pew Charitable Trusts)
• Cannabis Blockchain Solutions Make Sense in Growing Sector (Crypto Disrupt)
• Oregon Plans New Cannabis Harvest Regulations to Combat Illicit Market (High Times)
• Border Patrol Reflects On Feds’ Friendlier Historical Approach To Marijuana (Marijuana Moment)
• The Cannabis Branding Battle Ahead (Forbes)

Psilocybin/Magic Mushrooms

• Third Time’s A Charm? Denver Keeps Trying To Decriminalize Magic Mushrooms (The Fresh Toast)
• Brain scientists meet to share data on magic mushrooms and other matters (GeekWire)

MDMA/Ecstasy

• A Psychedelic Study In Connecticut Aims to Bridge the Racial Gap in MDMA Psychotherapy (Psychedelic Times)
• Ecstasy For PTSD: ‘It Gave Me My Life Back’ (CBS Denver)
• Young people 'plan to take drugs' at vigil for Shakira Pellow who died after taking MDMA (Cornwall Live)

Ayahuasca/DMT/5-MeO-DMT

• Australian Grass Got Kangaroos So High on DMT They Couldn't Walk Straight (Inverse)
• Statement on Ayahuasca (Chacruna)
• Man receives 10 years for DMT possession (Daily Chronicle)

Synthetic Cannabinoids/Psychoactive Research Chemicals

• Festival goers on molly tested, turns out most of them took bath salts (Rooster)

Dissociatives

• UA Clinical Trial to Repurpose Ketamine for Parkinson’s Patients (The University of Arizona Health Sciences)
• Low-dose ketamine may be an effective alternative to opioids (EurekAlert!)
• Man sues police over ketamine injection (KARE11)
• Keep up ketamine trial, mother pleads (Otago Daily Times)
• Boy, 13, collapsed after masked yobs 'forced him to drink ketamine' (Birmingham Live)

Opiates/Opioids

• Dutch cut overdose deaths by dispensing pure heroin (Cleveland.com)
• 'Potential game-changer:' Town of Cary will screen human waste to measure opioid use (WRAL)
• 'For Me, It's Personal.' CDC Chief Reveals Fentanyl Almost Killed His Son (TIME)
• How Naloxone Could Be Sold Over-The-Counter (Forbes)
• Evolving opioid epidemic poses challenge for public health officials (Politico)

Kratom

• Kratom Effects At Low Doses And High Doses (Kratom Guides)
• FDA cracks down on 'opioid-like' substance kratom (WBMF)

Kava

• Quality standards being developed for Pacific kava (Radio New Zealand)

Khat

• Ambulance driver arrested for transporting khat (Jamaica Observer)

Miscellaneous Psychedelics/Psychoactives/Drug Policy

• Can a Comedown Kill You? (VICE)
• Caves all the way down: Is psychedelics research closer to theology than to science? (Aeon)
• Senators Honor The DEA On Its 45th Birthday (Even Though They Lost The Drug War) (Marijuana Moment)
• Should We Loosen the Restrictions on Psychedelics? (Scientific American)
• For Babies, Life May Be a Trip (The Wall Street Journal)
• There’s No Rational Way to Justify America’s Drug Laws (VICE)
• White House Opposes Legalization Of All Drugs, Press Secretary Says (Marijuana Moment)
• British YouTubers on drugs film themselves taking heroin, LSD and ecstasy for "trip reports" kids as young as 12 watch (Mirror)
• One in three drug tests at HMP Nottingham positive (BBC)
• A Conversation about Intersectionality in the Psychedelic Community (Psymposia)
• Pill testing at festivals has hidden benefits that could reduce drug taking (ABC.net.au)
• The 5 drugs that feel the best, according to scientists (Rooster)
• Why Are Psychedelics Illegal (Medium)
• Sessions' Escalating Drug War Causing Cold Feet Over Safe Injection Centers (Reason)
• MADE Festival to provide drug testing in attempt to prevent deaths in Perry Barr (Birmingham Live)
• Judges Can Require Drug Users On Probation To Remain Drug-Free, Court Rules (WBUR)

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 - 4.27.18

Cannabis

• Top Democrats Embrace Marijuana Reform Ahead of Midterm Elections (Truthout)
• Dr. Sanjay Gupta to Jeff Sessions: Medical marijuana could save many addicted to opioids (CNN)
• NEW POLL: 63% of Americans Believe “Marijuana Should Be Made Legal” (NORML)
• Sessions Admits There ‘May Well Be Some Benefits From Medical Marijuana’ (Marijuana Moment)
• Marijuana Legalization Will Be on Michigan's Ballot in November (Reason)
• Cannabis is having its 'smartphone' moment (Engadget)
• How activists are fighting for full cannabis legalization in Washington, D.C. (Psymposia)
• The End of the Joint As We Know It (The Ringer)
• NORML Delivers Over 10,000 Citizen Comments To The FDA Calling For The Reconsideration of Cannabis Prohibition (NORML)
• The best way to fight illegal pot is with legal cannabis (The Hill)
• Why Are Marijuana Policies So Behind in 4/20-Heavy Places Like New York? (Rolling Stone)
• How Seniors Joined the Cannabis Craze (The New Yorker)
• Cannabis Flowers Are Legal in Italy. You Just Can’t Eat or Smoke Them. (The New York Times)
• How 'dank' became a compliment for both beer and marijuana (Detroit Free Press)
• Greens' cannabis plan could raise $3.6bn (9NEWS)
• Isle Of Man Could Be The First Place In The British Isles To Decriminalise Cannabis Possession (HuffPost)
• These Five States Lead the Nation in Marijuana Arrests (AlterNet)
• Miracle drug or the devil's lettuce? (The Washington Post)
• The Complicated History of Cannabis in the US (History)
• FDA Rejects Anti-Legalization Pharma Co’s Cannabis Drug Request (Marijuana Moment)
• Legalising marijuana is a lot more complex than you might think (The Age)
• 4/20 Special: How Advocates and Entrepreneurs of Color Are Fighting for Equity in the Legal Weed Business (Colorlines)
• Liberal party members overwhelmingly vote for decriminalizing drugs while Trudeau repeats opposition (The Georgia Straight)
• Assemblyman introduces bill that would allow vets to prescribe cannabis for pets (KABC-TV)
• Utah Medical Marijuana Measure Has Enough Signatures For Ballot (Marijuana Moment)
• Is marijuana decriminalization possible in the Middle East? (The Washington Post)
• Anxiety Relief Without The High? New Studies On CBD, A Cannabis Extract (NPR)
• YouTube Continues Its Cannabis Purge and Nobody Knows Why (Leafly)
• Facebook Has a Cannabis Problem That ‘Community Standards’ Don’t Solve (Leafly)
• Two Cannabis Entrepreneurs Share Their Secrets For Success (Forbes)
• Police Department Offers Prize For Possessing The Most Cannabis (High Times)
• Medical cannabis oil is legal in Texas, but epilepsy patients still struggle (The Texas Tribune)
• A Multibillion-Dollar Cannabis Company Has Announced Its Asia-Pacific Headquarters In Australia (BuzzFeed News)
• Senator Wants Jeff Sessions To Meet With Drug War Victims (Marijuana Moment)
• Psychedelic Rapper Challenges New Jersey's Cannabis Laws In New 420 Song (PR Newswire)
• 'The Truth About Cannabis': Inside New Pro-Pot Web Doc (Rolling Stone)
• Cannabis Cultivation Will Be A Race To The Bottom (Forbes)
• 'Women of Cannabis' Cultivate Ideas and Relationships (Seven Days)
• Cannabis and psychosis: what is the link and who is at risk? (The Conversation)
• Marijuana moguls optimistic about legalisation of recreational cannabis in Australia (ABC)
• Can Cannabis Make You Sick? (The Stranger)
• Is This The Most Expensive Marijuana In The World? (Forbes)
• Could 'one puff' of cannabis ease depression? (Medical News Today)
• Understanding Terpenes: Linalool (Cannabis Now)
• Harvard Medical Students Say Schools Need to Teach More About Medical Marijuana (Civilized)

LSD

• LSD Provokes Synesthetic Hallucinations in a Congenitally Blind Man (Psychedelic Times)
• Couple drop LSD to see if it makes them better at assembling IKEA furniture (Metro)
• Psychedelic Cyclists – An Irishman’s Diary about Albert Hofmann and Flann O’Brien (The Irish Times)
• St. Pete man on LSD punches 13-year-old girl in face, knocks her out (WFLA)

Psilocybin/Magic Mushrooms

• The Man Who Treated His OCD with Magic Mushrooms (VICE)
• Inside Jamaica's magic mushroom retreat for women (The Independent)

MDMA/Ecstasy

• Can MDMA Treat Alcoholism? Scientists Begin First Clinical Trials (Newsweek)
• MDMA research meets Australian antipathy (Cosmos Magazine)
• An Amsterdam house had so much MDMA discovered inside it's been locked down (Mixmag)
• Teen dies after taking 'Netflix and Chill' ecstasy pills (New York Post)
• Melissa McCarthy Snorts Ecstasy With Sex Crazed Puppets in ‘Happytime Murders’ (Variety)
• Gardaí fear 'bad batch' of MDMA may have killed teen (17) (Independent.ie)

Ayahuasca/DMT

• Canadian Lynched by Mob After Being Accused of Killing Shaman at Ayahuasca Retreat (VICE)
• UN condemns murder of Peruvian indigenous leader (Andina)
• A Judge Has Ordered Arrests Over Killing of a Canadian in the Peruvian Amazon (TIME)
• Effects and risks of ayahuasca, the hallucinogen sought after by Canadians travelling to the Amazon (CBC)
• How Did Avicii Die? Details On The Artist's Sudden Passing (EDM Sauce)
• Doctor sees healing power in psychedelic plant as Peru investigates deaths (The Reminder)

Iboga/Ibogaine

• Why opioid addicts desperate to quit are turning to this risky treatment (New York Post)

Dissociatives

• Ketamine Nasal Spray May Help Reduce Depression Symptoms, Study Says (The Fix)
• Oral ketamine does not ease cancer-related neuropathic pain (medwireNews)
• Beneficial effects of ketamine in a chronic pain state with allodynia, possibly due to central sensitization (Science Direct)
• Document: Hagerstown man smoked PCP before shooting woman (Herald-Mail Media)
• Boyfriend of Morgan Freeman's slain kin knew what he was doing despite being in PCP haze (New York Daily News)

Opiates/Opioids

• New York Could Open the First Safe Injection Site in the US (The Nation)
• asha bandele: Prince could still be alive today if America didn’t shame people for using drugs (Mic)
• Google uses its search skills to help fight opioid addiction (Engadget)
• The New York Times Suggests Opioids Should Be Reserved for Terminal Patients (Reason)
• Will Getting Tough on Dealers Curb the Opioid Crisis? (The Crime Report)

Kratom

• Leading Scientists Say Salmonella Outbreak Tied To Kratom May Be Side-Effect Of FDA Crackdown & Underscores Need For Regulation … Not A Ban (PR Newswire)
• Kratom Products Recalled for Risk of Salmonella (Coherent Chronicle)
• Kratom Wars: FDA, Proponents Square Off on Controversial Opioid-Like Plant (Pain Medicine News)

Miscellaneous Psychedelics/Psychoactives/Drug Policy

• Lessons from Portugal: The Case for Drug Policy Reform (Beckley Foundation)
• Becoming a Psychedelic Researcher: Alan Kooi Davis (Psymposia)
• Are psychedelics the answer to depression and addiction? (Salon)
• Not all drug dealers are the same – it’s time to ditch outdated stereotypes (The Conversation)
• Harm Reduction: More than just clean needles (Julian Buchanan)
• A Survey Shows The Most Used Drugs At Music Festivals: Here’s What We Learned (Dance Music Northwest)
• Antidepressants and Withdrawal: Readers Tell Their Stories (Mad in America)
• A revolution in teen drug education (New York Daily News)
• Police chiefs studying decriminalizing drugs as possible solution to opioid crisis (CBC)
• Just Because You Can't Stop Taking Antidepressants Doesn't Mean You're Addicted (VICE)
• Pill-testing trial approved for Groovin the Moo festival in Canberra (ABC)
• Why we should test drugs for safety (Virgin)
• The Best Drug Documentaries On Netflix Right Now (HotNewHipHop)
• 'Archaic and harmful': report condemns strict handling of student drug takers (The Guardian)
• Psychedelic Scholar Robert Forte Talks Conspiracy Theories and Consciousness (Santa Barbara Independent)
• New Research Provides First Peek at Ancient Mesopotamian Drug Use (Ancient Origins)

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 - 12.22.17

Image by Dahtamnay, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Cannabis

• Legal Pot: Mexico to Sell Space Cakes, Cannabis Drinks and Marijuana Lipsticks (Newsweek)
• World Health Organization clashes with DEA on marijuana compound CBD (Ars Technica)
• The Safety of Dabbing: An Honest Terpene Story (Psychedelic Times)
• Bitcoin offers the cannabis industry an alternative to banks (CNBC)
• Cannabis ingredient holds promise as antipsychotic medicine (Reuters)
• Move Over California -- Canada's Opening Its Own $5B Cannabis Market In 2018 (Forbes)
• DEA Releases Report Citing No Deaths From Marijuana (ATTN:)
• Study: CBD Effective As Adjunctive Therapy For Psychosis (NORML)
• Mass. Recreational Pot Industry Won't Just Line Pockets Of Big Businesses, Regulators Say (WBUR)
• Cannabis as a Tool to Fight the Opioid Epidemic (Reality Sandwich)
• New Policy Lets V.A. Docs Talk to Veterans About Medical Marijuana Use (Reason)
• An 11-Year-Old Is Suing the Government Over Medical Marijuana Legalization (ATTN:)
• A marijuana salve won best in show at a cannabis convention this weekend (Boston Globe)
• Portland Companies are Fighting a Secret Plot to Monopolize Cannabis (The Potlander)
• Massachusetts May Leap Ahead on Cannabis Cafes (CT Post)
• Even Without the Rider That Protects Medical Marijuana, a Pot Crackdown Is Unlikely (Reason)
• These Kids Prove Marijuana Is Medicine (ATTN:)
• Cannabis and Mental Health: Cause, Cure, or It's Complicated? (Yes) (Leafly)
• Here's how marijuana does, and doesn't, affect your health (The Mercury News)
• Universities Are Offering Marijuana Business Classes (ATTN:)
• This cannabis-infused wine promises to prevent hangovers (Moneyish)
• A Utah Grandma Explains Why She Gave Her Grandson Medical Marijuana (ATTN:)
• Part 1, Leafly's Faves 2017: Our Strain, Product, and Brand Picks (Leafly)
• EnviroGrow expands reach in cannabis industry (CT Post)
• Jury Rejects Damages for Victims of Pot Raid Based on Wet Tea Leaves (Reason)
• How to Make the Most of Cannabis Plant Count Grow Limits (Leafly)
• Cannabis Regulators Busy Rolling Out the Rules for Legal Pot (U.S. News & World Report)
• NORML "Rolls Out" New Rolling Papers (NORML)
• Cannabis Crunch – Arizona MMJ Battle Ends, Denver Closes 26 Legal Dispensaries And WHO Ok With CBD (Psychedelic Times)

LSD

• How Dock Ellis, Player Who Pitched a No-Hitter on LSD, Is Misremembered (Rolling Stone)
• Errol Morris talks about teaming up with Netflix to delve into the LSD-laced mystery of a CIA scientist's death (Business Insider)
• Government staffer's LSD work 'pick-me-up' (NT News)

Psilocybin/Magic Mushrooms

• Santa Is a Psychedelic Mushroom (The New York Times)
• Are Modern Religions All Modeled Off Amanita Mushroom Trips? (Disinfo)
• After Cannabis is Legal, Could Magic Mushrooms be Next? (Good Times)
• 7 mind-bending facts about magic mushrooms (Brinkwire)

MDMA/Ecstasy

• Anonymous Bitcoin philanthropist donates $1m to prove health benefits of ecstasy (International Business Times)
• Can the use of MDMA to help treating alcohol addiction make an impact in psychiatric treatment methods? (MIMS)
• Flamefest raver Steven Graves 'took lethal MDMA dose' (BBC)

Ayahuasca/DMT

• Ayahuasca Retreats Offers Magical Healing Sessions Based on Sacred Plant Medicine (MilTech)
• 5-Methoxy-N,N-Dimethyltryptamine (5-MeO-DMT): Patterns of use, motives for consumption, and acute subjective effects (ResearchGate)
• 'HAMILTON'S PHARMACOPEIA' Digs into the Origins of DMT (VICE)

Peyote/San Pedro/Mescaline

• Huachuma: Healing Medicine For Modern Times (Reset.me)

Iboga/Ibogaine

• The Ibogaine Conversation Pt 7: Former underground provider, Dimitri Mugianis, on the regulation of ibogaine (Psymposia)
• The Ibogaine Conversation Pt 8: How Not to Do Ibogaine 101 with Juliana Mulligan (Psymposia)
• The Avante Institute Pioneers Ibogaine Plant-Based Therapy for Addiction in a Beautiful and Tropical Environment in the Bahamas (Digital Journal)
• Johnny Tabaie Explains How the Holistic Sanctuary Got a 90% Addiction Recovery Rate (Newswire)

Dissociatives

• Ketamine Relieved Suicidal Thoughts Within Hours in Hospital Study (Gizmodo)
• Who Laced The Titanic Cast's Chowder With The Hallucinogen, PCP? (Refinery29)
• Synthesis of methoxetamine, its metabolites and deuterium labelled analog as analytical standards and their HPLC and chiral capillary electrophoresis separation (Royal Society of Chemistry)
• Oklahoma City woman believed to have passed out on PCP arrested for child neglect (KFOR)

Opiates/Opioids

• Experimental Heroin Vaccine Triggers the Immune System So Mice Can't Get High (Gizmodo)
• Tech Alone Can't Solve the Opioid Crisis (Wired)
• Why is Big Pharma Raising Prices on Naloxone? (The Fix)
• What's the Difference Between Opiates and Opioids? (Pain News Network)
• Afghanistan has Reached a Record on the Production of Opium Poppy (Novinite)
• The Opium Wars still shape China's view of the west (The Economist)
• Vermont's U.S. Attorney Says Injection Sites Encourage Illegal Drug Use. The Research Shows She's Wrong. (Reason)

Kratom

• Findings suggest kratom's potential to treat opioid addiction (Medical Xpress)
• Kratom: An old plant sparks a new challenge (Capital Gazette)
• Why Banning Kratom May Make the Opioid Epidemic Even Worse (MSN)
• Polis asks FDA to lift public health warning on Kratom (Jared Polis)

Kava

• Stressed New Yorkers Take to Kava, 'Nature's Xanax' (The New York Times)

Miscellaneous Psychedelics/Psychoactives/Drug Policy

• Gordon Wasson's Hidden Ties to the Vatican: Interview with Jerry Brown (Psychedelic Times)
• Ben Carson Admits War on Drugs Conflicts with War on Poverty (Reason)
• Microdosing LSD and Mushrooms: Guide To A Better Life (Psychedelics Daily)
• These Ten Foods Can Trigger Hallucinations if Over-Consumed (Netralnews)

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 - 8.11.17

Image by Dahtamnay, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Cannabis

• Bill To Exclude Hemp From The Controlled Substances Act (NORML)
• NFL Owners Agree To Consider Letting Players Use Medical Marijuana (Reason)
• Study: History Of Marijuana Use Associated With Decreased In-Hospital Mortality In Trauma Patients (NORML)
• Poll: Nearly Six In Ten Voters Say Legalizing Marijuana "Makes Societies Better" (NORML)
• First dispensary approved to begin sales of medical cannabis for Hawaii patients (KHON2)
• After 2015 legalization, Texans may be able to buy medical cannabis oil by January (The Texas Tribune)
• More Evidence That Jeff Sessions' Cannabis Crackdown May Never Materialize (Reason)
• Study Shows that Heavy Pot Smokers Are In Fact Outrageously Chill (Disinfo)
• State Lawmaker's Group Urges Feds to Deschedule Cannabis (Leafly)
• Rastafarian pot farm shootout sparks religious-use debate (Religion News Service)
• Cannabis Withdrawal Syndrome: How to Ease the Symptoms (Leafly)
• Poll: Americans' Support For Marijuana Law Reform At All Time High (NORML)
• Fentanyl-Laced Cannabis: Forever Feared, Not Yet Found (Leafly)
• Cannabis Shows Great Promise in Treating Cancer—Let's Not Wreck It With Hyperbole (Leafly)
• Is cannabis too lucrative to be illegal? (CBS)
• Sessions Attacks Washington's Cannabis Laws in Letter to Governor (Leafly)
• The Justice Department Is Asking Legal Marijuana States to Do the Impossible (Reason)
• Massachusetts Governor Names Five to Cannabis Advisory Board (Leafly)
• Nevada Regulators Could Scrap Home Cannabis Delivery (Leafly)
• California's Toxic Pot Problem (ATTN:)
• The Ultimate Cannabis Road Trip Through California (Leafly)
• Las Vegas Welcomes Marijuana Buyers but Not Marijuana Consumers (Reason)
• Company Plans to Turn Desert Town Into Cannabis Paradise (Leafly)
• 10 Best Cannabis Hair And Skin Products For Women (Green Rush Daily)

LSD

• Microdosing LSD Is Safer Than Taking Antidepressants, Says Neurobiologist (Inverse)
• The Plan to Prove Microdosing Makes You Smarter (Inverse)
• Can Someone Really Die From An 'LSD Overdose'? (DanceSafe)
• LSD could help with depression and anxiety (Pharmacy News)
• How Silicon Valley rediscovered LSD (Financial Times)
• Turn On, Tune In, Drop By The Office (The Economist)
• REPORT: Lightning in a Bottle Death Ruled Accidental Overdose by LSD Toxicity (YourEDM)

Psilocybin/Magic Mushrooms

• Oregon's Psilocybin Society Drafts Framework For Legal Mushroom Therapy (Psychedelic Times)

MDMA/Ecstasy

• Pentylone: What is it, why should we care and how can Multi Agency Safety Testing help? (Volteface)
• MAPS to Accept Altcoins for Research on MDMA Psychedelic Medicine (Bitcoin News)
• French EasyJet pilot convicted for flying 'while suffering the after-effects of ecstasy' (The Telegraph)
• Fired Up: Why Are Ecstasy-Related Deaths Rising In The UK? (Volteface)
• How MDMA Could Affect Romantic Relationships, A PhD Candidate Weighs In (Collective Evolution)
• Tastes Like Tesla: How Tesla Ecstasy Pills Became The Hot Way To Get High (Forbes)
• Lubbock Sheriff's Office warns about 'extra strong' IKEA-stamped ecstasy (Amarillo Globe-News)

Ayahuasca/DMT

• First Time Ayahuasca Drinkers: A Primer (Eagle Condor Alliance)
• Is The Use Of Ayahuasca Helping To Raise Our Global Environmental Consciousness? (Collective Evolution)
• How An Ayahuasca Trip Changed Me For The Better (Refinery29)
• John Simpson to get high in the jungle again: BBC journalist to take hallucinogenic drug for a second time while filming documentary in the Amazon (Daily Mail)
• Experts warn of dangers 'trippy' tea as popularity rises in NL (DutchNews.nl)

Peyote/San Pedro/Mescaline

• Clash of Liberties (Sojourners)

Salvia Divinorum

• Neuropathic and inflammatory antinociceptive effects and electrocortical changes produced by Salvia divinorum in rats (PubMed)

Synthetic Cannabinoids/Psychoactive Research Chemicals

• Health officials issue warnings of using 'bath salts' and 'cloud nine' (Observer-Tribune)
• 'LSD Dipped In Spice' Warning To Wrexham Drug Users – Guardian Features Wrexham (Wrexham)

Dissociatives

• Ketamine Use in Electroconvulsive Therapy for Depression: Does it Help? (Medical News Bulletin)
• Ketamine Could Be the Answer to Treatment-Resistant Depression (Vital Updates)
• Man charged in fatal crash tells police he smoked PCP, court documents say (The Washington Post)

Opiates/Opioids

• President Trump Just Declared a National Emergency Over the Opioid Epidemic (TIME)
• An Underground Safe Haven for Drug Users Has Been Operating in the U.S. for Years (TIME)
• Trump Wants to Arrest His Way Out of the Opioid Overdose Crisis (Reason)
• Researchers Highlight the Government's Complicity in Heroin Deaths (Reason)
• No ID? For the homeless on heroin, treatment can be elusive (The Morning Call)
• Calgary EDM Festival Chasing Summer Criticized for Banning Naloxone Kits (Exclaim!)
• Where Your Doctor Went To School Could Change How They Prescribe Opioids (ATTN:)
• In North Carolina, "heroin is more accessible and cheaper than alcohol" (Salon)
• Dying From an Opioid Overdose Is More Common Than You Think (TIME)
• Naloxone should be the last resort for opioid overdoses (Toronto Star)

Kava

• In praise of kava (The Spinoff)
• Herbal Remedies And Natural Solutions For ADHD (Health Thoroughfare)

Miscellaneous Psychedelics/Psychoactives/Drug Policy

• What China's Growing Role in Illegal Drug Production Tells Us About the Future of the Drug War (Reason)
• What a Shaman Sees in a Mental Hospital (Educate Inspire Change)
• Psychedelic Book Suggestions: Classics & Beyond (Psychedelic Times)
• THE FUTURE OF PSYCHEDELICS: Are LSD and Mushrooms The New Prozac? (Dope Magazine)
• Nootropic Effects of Psychedelic and Addictive Substances (Brain Blogger)
• Psychedelic drugs saved my life, So why aren't they prescribed? (Wired)
• Man trying to bring psychedelic religion to Nova Scotia (The Chronicle Herald)
• 'Ego-dissolving' psychedelic drugs could assist with mental health (EurekAlert!)
• The latest piece on psychedelic science in the New York Times is dead wrong (Psymposia)
• These foods can make you test positive for drugs (BBC)
• Psychedelic Press journal Volume XXI is now available (Psychedelic Press UK)
• Tripping For Knowledge: The Psychedelic Epidemiologist (3:AM Magazine)

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 - 8.4.17

Image by Dahtamnay, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Cannabis

• Sen. Cory Booker just introduced a bill that could legalize marijuana nationwide (Vox)
• Yet Another Study Finds That Cannabis Use Is Not Independently Linked With IQ Decline (NORML)
• Study: Nearly Half Of People Who Use Cannabidiol Products Stop Taking Traditional Medicines (Forbes)
• NORML Chapters Hope to Bring Marijuana Discussion To Congressional Town Hall Meetings (NORML)
• Could a legal quirk bring cannabis tourism to Switzerland? (The Telegraph)
• A Beginner's Guide to Mindful Cannabis Consumption (Leafly)
• Colombia's Cannabis Scene Is Currently the Best in the World. Visit Before That Changes (Leafly)
• 2028 LA Olympics to Be First Ever With Legal Cannabis (Leafly)
• 80 Years Ago Today: President Signs First Federal Anti-Marijuana Law (NORML)
• Missouri: Marijuana Medicalization Effort Reaches Signature Milestone (NORML)
• 5 Best Practices for Using Cannabis Topicals (Leafly)
• Marijuana Is the New Moneymaker for Wedding Planners (TIME)
• Cannabis and Meditation: Best Practices for an Elevated Mind (Leafly)
• What every cannabis investor should be paranoid about (MarketWatch)
• How to Prepare for a Cannabis Tolerance Break (Leafly)
• Cannabis Grower Buys California Town to Build Pot-Friendly Outpost (Bloomberg)
• Washington's Top Cannabis Lab Hit with Suspension (Leafly)
• Inside a Nerve-Rattling Trip to Pay Cannabis Taxes in Los Angeles (Leafly)
• Which Types of Packing Are Best for Different Cannabis Products? (Leafly)
• Chuck Rifici: The Problem-Solving Cannabis Financier (Leafly)

LSD

• MTA officers punch man high on LSD repeatedly in the head (Daily Mail)
• Spokane Valley Deputies searching for naked man 'high on LSD' accused of stabbing woman in the neck (KHQ)
• LSD Overdose Blamed for Death of Music Festival Attendee (U.S. News & World Report)

MDMA/Ecstasy

• New scheme that allows festival-goers to test their drugs finds ecstasy pills containing CONCRETE (The Sun)
• Legal MDMA Therapy Could Be Just a Few Years Away (VICE)
• Drug Deaths In England And Wales Hit Record High As Heroin, Cocaine And MDMA Kill More Than Ever (The Huffington Post)
• LSO issues warning about dangerous ecstasy pills seen in Lubbock (KCBD)

Ayahuasca/DMT

• 'I assumed I'd died': What it's like taking the hallucinogenic DMT (The Tab)
• Hyderabad drug bust: Not LSD, Dutch national was smoking DMT (The New Indian Express)
• I wanted ayahuasca to teach me how to love the world despite its violence, destruction, and greed (Psymposia)
• Tour and cure: "The Last Shaman" (Santa Fe New Mexican)

Peyote/San Pedro/Mescaline

• Life After Death: Vilca and the Most Sacred Psychedelic Ritual in the World (High Existence)

Salvia Divinorum

• Salvia on the rise in Lebanon, experts sound the alarm (The Daily Star)

Dissociatives

• Ketamine May Aid in Prehospital Management of Severe Asthma (Journal of Emergency Medical Services)
• Scientists Have Positive New Results For Using Ketamine to Treat Severe Depression (ScienceAlert)
• Ketamine: miracle drug or latest fad? (Future Medicine)
• Safety questions remains [sic] over ketamine use for depression (The West Australian)

Opiates/Opioids

• Opioid Addiction Report Uses Panic to Sell More Federal Spending (Reason)
• Most People Who Misuse Opioids Don't Have a Prescription (TIME)
• Drug-related deaths are at their highest level in 25 years – here's why (Medical Xpress)
• Donald Trump Called New Hampshire a 'Drug-Infested Den' in Call With Mexican President (TIME)
• Opium poppy head thefts spike in Tasmania, worrying industry and police (ABC)
• Police give naloxone to dog that got into owner's oxycodone (PoliceOne)
• U.S. Revives Anti-Heroin Efforts in Afghanistan: Opium Seizures, Eradication Up (Breitbart)
• Naloxone recommended for friends and family to prevent opioid overdose (NBC Right Now)
• 6 Facts About Naloxone, the Drug That Reverses Overdoses (Health.com)
• Homeless and on Heroin, but Turned Away From Treatment (U.S. News & World Report)
• Police Are Spreading a Dangerous Rumor About 'Narcan Parties' (ATTN:)
• How Profits From Opium Shaped 19th-Century Boston (WBUR)
• Opium threat from China: A new danger to India (The New Indian Express)
• Britain faces an 'apocalyptic' future if it does not tackle horror drug fentanyl that is FIFTY times stronger than heroin and has killed 60 people (The Sun)
• Inside the deadly 'badlands' heroin market on disused Philadelphia train tracks where junkies inject on mountains of used needles and where 900 died last year (The Sun)

Kratom

• Kratom: Legal and booming (The Daily Astorian)
• Kratom, Legal or Illegal Drug? (Juniper Publishers)

Kava

• Commission Approves Work On A Regional Standard For Kava (The Fiji Sun)
• Drink-driving kava study results hazy for Waikato University (Stuff.co.nz)

Miscellaneous Psychedelics/Psychoactives/Drug Policy

• The D.A.R.E. Jeff Sessions Wants Is Better Than The D.A.R.E. You Remember (TIME)
• Should Physicians Decide Who Gets to Use Psychedelics? (Reason)
• Why Oregon Is Right to Decriminalize Cocaine, Meth and Heroin (Psychedelic Times)
• UK festival offers to test partygoers' drugs for safe use (RT)
• How on-site drug testing at festivals can help save lives (FACT)
• Baltimore Drops Dozens of Criminal Cases over Allegations of Planted Drugs (Reason)
• Meditating on Psychedelics: What Camp Are You In? (Medium: Buddhist Geeks)
• We already know how to stop people dying from drugs – but the Government refuses to do it (The Independent)
• Another Philippine Mayor Accused of Drug Ties Has Been Killed in a Police Raid (TIME)
• Neuropsychopharmacologist David Nutt on Alcohol, LSD, and Getting Sacked for His Findings (Reason)
• Modern psychedelic science is reviving lost research and finding new cures (The Plaid Zebra)
• The Benefits of Going to Rehab Abroad (Ocean Recovery Centre)
• A Victory Over Some Illegal "Drug Courier Profile" Traffic Stops in Illinois (NORML)
• NYPD Is Getting Dragged Over This 'Drug Bust' (ATTN:)
• An American History: On Drinking, Driving, and the Law (Disinfo)
• I had my first psychedelic experiences as a teenager. Now I'm a physician. (Psymposia)
• When lab tests fail to detect drug use (The Hindu)
• Drug racket appears to have Moscow connection (NYOOOZ)
• Doctors Caution Festival Goers About Drug Overdose (Middle East North Africa Financial Network)

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.