This Week in Psychedelics - 5.19.17

Image by Dahtamnay, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Cannabis

• Israel Decriminalizes Pot Possession (Reason)
• Social Consumption of Marijuana off to a Slow Start in Colorado (NORML)
• One million hours of police time a year 'wasted enforcing cannabis prohibition' (The Independent)
• Iowa Expands Medical Marijuana Access; Looks to Strike Deal With Minnesota for Quicker Access (Reason)
• PayPal Executive Ditches Mainstream Life For The Cannabis Industry (Forbes)
• New Jersey Looks Towards Recreational Marijuana Legalization (Psychedelic Times)
• Study: Racial Disparity in Marijuana Arrest Rates Increasing (NORML)
• Portland backs cannabis lounge bill, envisions 'craft' tourism boost (Portland Business Journal)
• Rick Doblin of MAPS Talks Medical Cannabis Trials and a Possible Legalization Timeline (Leafly)
• Cannabis Experts on Medical Marijuana in Arkansas (ArkansasMatters.com)
• Study: Inhaled Cannabis Controls Tics In Patients With Tourette's Syndrome (NORML)
• Why Cannabis Reform Crashed in Texas (Leafly)
• 5 Things to Know Before Using Medical Cannabis for Your Pets (Leafly)
• Cannabis yoga retreat now allowed in California (Blasting News)
• Florida Halts Sales of New Cannabis Product (Leafly)
• California's Cannabis Rules Are Here, Reminding That Legalization Was Never Going To Be Easy (East Bay Express)
• 10-year-old boy overdoses on cannabis-infused sour candy (KTRK-TV)
• Cannabis Flower Crowns: The Perfect DIY Smokeable Accessory (Leafly)
• Recipe: Cannabis-Infused Simple Syrup (Leafly)
• Lib Dems pledge to legalise cannabis so it can be sold in high street shops (The Telegraph)

LSD

• Designers on acid: the tripping Californians who paved the way to our touchscreen world (The Guardian)
• Nicholas Sand, Chemist Who Sought to Bring LSD to the World, Dies at 75 (The New York Times)
• 'Everyone should try this': Cary Grant's relationship with controversial LSD therapy doctor and the '100 acid trips that changed his life' are explored in new documentary to be screened at Cannes (Daily Mail)

Psilocybin/Magic Mushrooms

• Magic Mushrooms Are Shaping the Future of Psychiatric Treatment (Inverse)
• Clinical review: Psilocybin therapy could be significantly better than current psychiatric treatments (PsyPost)

MDMA/Ecstasy

• Can This Drug Cure MDMA Overdoses? (Everfest)
• A neuroscientist explains why we need ecstasy and ketamine in place of Prozac and Xanax (Raw Story)
• Could new, natural MDMA change the rave scene? (Techno Moves)
• MDMA Moves One Step Closer to Phase 3 Clinical Trial (Reason)
• Could MDMA cure PTSD? Scientists believe ecstasy could be the key to helping war veterans battling mental health issues (Daily Mail)
• Medical examiner: Ecstasy, pre-existing condition killed University of Iowa student Sean Wu (The Gazette)
• Robert Spencer Apparently "Spiked" With Ecstasy While In Iceland (The Reykjavík Grapevine)

Ayahuasca/DMT

• The Medicine is the Teacher: A Conversation with Dennis McKenna about Ayahuasca, Shamanism, and Psychotherapy (Psychedelic Times)
• Ayahuasca: A Cautionary Tale For Tourists Eager To Try This Shamanic Brew (Collective Evolution)
• What is ayahuasca, the shaman's brew? (Mother Nature Network)
• 'The Last Shaman' follows a young man's Peruvian journey in search of mental health (Los Angeles Times)
• James Freeman's journey to find cure for depression (News.com.au)

Iboga/Ibogaine

• The Hallucinogenic Tree That Cures Addiction in One Dose (Inverse)
• Psychedelic Drug Banned In The U.S. May Help Battle Addiction (CBS San Francisco Bay Area)
• Diego Novella experienced eight-hour 'dream-like state' after taking ibogaine (The Citizen)

Morning Glory Seeds

• These Radiation-Proof Flower Seeds Could Help Spark Life on Exoplanets (Science Alert)

Synthetic Cannabinoids/Psychoactive Research Chemicals

• Sources: Times Square driver was apparently high on synthetic marijuana (K2) at time of pedestrian crash (WABC-TV)

Dissociatives

• FDA Data Support Ketamine as Depression Therapy (MedPage Today)
• Remembering When the 'Titanic' Crew Ate PCP-Spiked Clam Chowder (VICE)
• New Jersey Minivan Driver Stops Rush Hour Traffic To Masturbate While On PCP (Jalopnik)
• Dude has a hilarious reaction to a strong painkiller (Mashable)

Opiates/Opioids

• Heroin epidemic pushing up hepatitis C infections in US (WBRC)
• What You Need to Know About 'Gray Death' (ATTN:)
• Inside Myanmar's Surprisingly Harsh Heroin Rehab Centers (VICE)
• Pet Rat In Vancouver Overdoses On Heroin, Saved By Narcan (NPR)
• An Experiment Helps Heroin Users Test Their Street Drugs For Fentanyl (KUNC)
• Seattle heroin injection site plan faces new problems from voters (KVI)
• The Best and Worst States For Naloxone Access (The Fix)
• The US and Mexico may be teaming up to fight heroin, but the enemy is tougher than it appears (Stamford Advocate)
• The way we talk about opioid addiction hasn't really changed (Macleans)
• The Scary Reason Some Are Calling This Drug a 'Weapon of Mass Destruction' (ATTN:)
• Party drugs increasingly being laced with fentanyl (CTV News)
• Heroin Deaths Spike as Pills Harder to Find (NBC6 Miami)
• Why Jeff Sessions' Memo Won't Fix the Opioid Epidemic (ATTN:)

Kratom

• Police worried about herbal product that can be used to achieve opiate-like high (CTV News)
• WKRN Nashville Kratom Scare Story Sourced From Scientology Propaganda (Inquisitr)
• Man Arrested For Selling Herb Some Opioid Addicts Call A Lifesaver (Vocativ)

Khat

• Man charged after illegal khat, tobacco seized at Edmonton business (CBC News)

Miscellaneous Psychedelics/Psychoactives/Drug Policy

• Jeff Sessions Re-Escalates the Drug War By Ordering Prosecutors to Seek Maximum Sentences (Reason)
• Georgia PD: Our Drug Recognition Experts Are More Accurate Than Drug Tests (Reason)
• Trained "Drug Recognition Expert" Cop Wrongly Arrested Innocent Woman for Weed (ATTN:)
• These Women Are Fighting Sexism in Psychedelic Research (VICE)
• More Workers Are Testing Positive for Drugs Than in the Last 12 Years (TIME)
• What if the Other Part of Immersive VR is Psychedelic Drugs? (Edgy Labs)
• Sex workers who use psychedelic drugs have lower suicide risk, study finds (The Globe and Mail)
• The Legendary Psychedelic Symposium Returns at ESPD50: Interview with Dennis McKenna (Psychedelic Times)
• President Donald Trump and Colombia's President Just Clashed on Drug Policy (ATTN:)
• Could psychedelics become an accepted treatment for mental health problems? (The Telegraph)
• Neural changes after taking psychedelic drugs may reflect "heightened consciousness" (The British Psychological Society)
• Kids Urged to Watch Our for Sugary Candies That Have Been Laced with Drugs (TIME)
• Rand Paul: Sessions Misled Me on Drug Sentencing (Reason)
• Psychedelics in The Lab and Clinic – Making Up For Lost Time (Neuroscience News)
• California Senate Passes Bill Easing Up on Some Drug Sentencing (Reason)
• Chris Christie Has Zero Credibility on Drug Policy (NORML)

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 - 3.10.17

Image by Dahtamnay, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Cannabis

• Israel makes it official: Cannabis is not a crime (CNN)
• George Rohrbacher: Trump Administration Plans To Ramp Up Government Regulation and Stifle New Marijuana Businesses (NORML)
• Why Trump Could Be Good For The Cannabis Industry (Forbes)
• The US government grants cannabis patents even though weed is illegal (Quartz)
• Make drugs dull: legalising cannabis the Canadian way (The Spectator)
• Does Cannabis Use Lower Your IQ? (Leafly)
• Pennsylvania Auditor Wants to Close Budget Gap by Legalizing Marijuana (TIME)
• Cannabis boosts risk of stroke and heart attack, independent of tobacco, new study finds (The Telegraph)
• A "cannabis gym" is opening in San Francisco (A.V. Club)
• Pot for pets: Owners treat sick animals with cannabis (ABC News)
• Dancing but no dank: fed threat means toned-down Cannabis Cup (The Cannabist)
• Epilepsy patients turning to medicinal cannabis, survey shows (The Guardian)
• Growing Hemp Legally in Kentucky (Reason)
• Where to Find the Best Legal Cannabis Lounges (Leafly)

LSD

• LSD doesn't just treat mental illness, 'it could actually heal the brain' (WIRED)
• LSD 'microdosing' is trending in Silicon Valley – but can it make you more creative? (The Memo)

Psilocybin/Magic Mushrooms

• The Psilocybin Solution: The Role of Sacred Mushrooms in the Quest for Meaning (Serge De Vrindt)

MDMA/Ecstasy

• MDMA Overdose Prevention Drug to be Available at all Insomniac Events (EDM Chicago)
• Local therapists' success treating PTSD with psychedelic drug puts FDA a step closer to approving it (Charleston Post Courier)
• Chemical used to make MDMA dumped in Surrey pond (The Now)
• Four schoolgirls aged 13 taken to hospital after 'taking teddy bear ecstasy pills' (The Sun)
• Colchester student died after taking MDMA on night out (Essex Live)
• Jordan Duffy fined for supplying MDMA before death of girlfriend Janie Roberts (Bellingen Courier Sun)

Ayahuasca/DMT

• Why I Quit Ayahuasca Shamanism (Uplift Connect)

Salvia Divinorum

• Getting high on salvia (Brantford Expositor)

Synthetic Cannabinoids/Psychoactive Research Chemicals

• After Alex 'N Bomb' tragedy, drug education can prevent more deaths (Irish Independent)

Dissociatives

• Can Ketamine Be Used For Treatment Resistant Depression? (Delray Newspaper)
• Ketamine no 'wonder drug' for depression (Medical Xpress)
• Cops say man high on PCP pointed cellphone at drivers like a gun (NJ.com)

Opiates/Opioids

• NYC Area Heroin Epidemic Is Worst In Years If Not Ever, DEA Says (CBS New York)
• America's heroin epidemic starts in Mexico (The Spokesman-Review)
• Durham police will give addicts heroin to inject in 'shooting galleries' (The Guardian)
• CVS to dispense naloxone prescription-free in four more states (Drug Store News)
• Dozens accused of dealing fentanyl-laced heroin on Chicago's West Side (Chicago Tribune)
• Surge in opium cultivation posing threat to security (Himalayan Times)
• This Community's New Plan to Fight the Opioid Epidemic Started a Debate About Criminal Justice (ATTN:)
• Mysteries at the Museum: The Elixir of Opium (Jacksonville Daily Progress)

Absinthe

• 5 Things You Should Know About Absinthe (Paste)

Kratom

• Kratom: Is the US trying to ban a drug helping heroin addicts beat their habit? (The Independent)
• How to Make Kratom Tea From Crushed Leaves? (Kratom Guides)
• Which Kratom is Best for Sleep and Insomnia? (Kratom Guides)

Kava

• Vanuatu kava producers look to reap rewards of growing world market (ABC Online)
• Government encouraging kava quality control (Vanuatu Daily Post)
• Kava shortage pushes up prices in Fiji (Radio New Zealand)

Khat

• East African khat leaf is traded and chewed mostly by men, but it's a global business because of women (Quartz)

Miscellaneous Psychedelics/Psychoactives/Drug Policy

• What If Psychedelic Therapy Was Required to Enter Public Service? (Psychedelic Times)
• What Psychedelics Really Do to Your Brain (Rolling Stone)
• Psychedelic Science 2017: Interview with MAPS Communications Director Brad Burge (Psychedelic Times)
• Why Jeff Sessions Is Worrying Drug Policy Experts (ATTN:)
• Integrating a Psychedelic Experience: Two Meditations to Ease Anxiety and Prevent Panic Attacks (Psychedelic Times)
• Horrors of Duterte's Drug War Exposed in New National Geographic Film (TIME)
• Tobacco or No Tobacco? Choosing the Right Rapé Snuff Blend for Your Ceremony (Psychedelic Times)
• 7 myths about psychedelic drugs like LSD that are doing more harm than good (Business Insider)
• From College Dropout To Shaman Apprentice: A Story of Becoming A Leader Of The Secoya And Protecting The Vanishing Amazon (High Existence)
• In a Traumatised World, is Psychedelic Therapy our Best Hope? (Mad in America)
• Tim Ferriss on suffering, psychedelics, and spirituality (Vox)
• Bolivia Doubles Area Allowed for the Legal Planting of Coca (TIME)

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.