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David Wilder
Weekly Psychedelic Links - November 2022
Weekly Psychedelic Links - November 2022

delta-8 thc

Weekly Psychedelic Links - November 2022

11.4.22

Cannabis

  • Legal cannabis is America’s 6th biggest cash crop (Leafly)

  • Nevada Judge Orders Cannabis Removed From State’s List of Controlled Substances (High Times)

  • Delaware’s Democratic Governor Vetoes Bipartisan Bill To Protect Medical Marijuana Patients’ Gun Rights (Marijuana Moment)

  • Consumers embrace concentrates as falling flower prices lead to cheaper extracts (Marijuana Business Daily)

  • Legal Marijuana Access Tied To Lower Risk Of Lung Injuries From Contaminated Vapes, Study Indicates (Marijuana Moment)

  • Creator Explains Patented Process To Extract Cannabinoids From Smoke (High Times)

  • New Senate Bill Would Create Federal Marijuana Commission To Prepare For Legalization (Marijuana Moment)

  • Colorado Regulators Issue Recall for Moldy Weed (High Times)

  • Missouri Voters Back Marijuana Legalization Ballot Initiative In New Poll, But Support Is Tightening A Week Before Election Day (Marijuana Moment)

  • Arkansas Marijuana Legalization Initiative In Jeopardy, New Poll Shows Days Before Election (Marijuana Moment)

  • Only a Quarter of Virginia Drivers Said Driving on Pot is ‘Extremely Dangerous,’ Survey Shows (High Times)

Magic Mushrooms

  • Compass Pathways Phase 2 Psilocybin Results far from Spectacular (Psychedelic Spotlight)

  • North America’s First Take Home Psilocybin Trial Approved in Canada (High Times)

  • Colorado Psychedelics Legalization Ballot Initiative Still Trails But Picks Up Support From Previously Undecided Voters, New Poll Finds (Marijuana Moment)

  • Therapists who already incorporate psychedelics in their practice are mixed on Prop 122 (CPR News)

MDMA

Ayahuasca

  • Using Ayahuasca and Psychedelic Plants to Treat Racial Trauma (Psychology Today)

San Pedro

  • Nazca Human Sacrifice Victim Used Psychedelics Before Death (High Times)

Ketamine

  • New study provides insight into the cognitive mechanisms underlying ketamine’s rapid antidepressant effects (PsyPost)

  • Telehealth startups prescribing ketamine at home are stirring concern (STAT News)

  • Is Ketamine the Drug of the Moment? (VICE)

Miscellaneous

  • MAPS Prepares For Trial in Wrongful Death Lawsuit (Lucid News)

  • The Harms of Psychedelics Need to Be Put Into Context (WIRED)

  • US veterans with PTSD turn to psychedelic drugs overseas as VA frustration grows (Yahoo!)

  • Why San Francisco Didn’t (Really) Decriminalize Psychedelics (DoubleBlind)

  • Why Humans Have Always Been Fascinated by Snakes—From Ayahuasceros to Egyptians (DoubleBlind)

  • How Does Race and Ethnicity Influence Psychedelic Mental Health Outcomes? (Psychedelic Spotlight)

11.11.22

Cannabis

  • Maryland Becomes 20th State to Legalize Marijuana for Adult Use (NORML)

  • Missouri Becomes 21st State to Legalize Marijuana for Adult Use (NORML)

  • Ohio Voters Approve Marijuana Decriminalization Ballot Measures In Five Cities (Marijuana Moment)

  • Wisconsin Voters Approve Marijuana Ballot Questions In Cities And Counties Across The State (Marijuana Moment)

  • South Dakota Voters Reject Adult-Use Cannabis Second Time Around (High Times)

  • Arkansas Marijuana Legalization Initiative Defeated By Voters (Marijuana Moment)

  • North Dakota Rejects Bill To Legalize Adult-Use Cannabis (High Times)

  • Texas Voters In Five Cities Approve Marijuana Decriminalization Ballot Initiatives (Marijuana Moment)

  • Can cannabis help us win the war against antibiotic resistance? (Salon)

  • Czech Republic Plans To Legalize Cannabis In Coordination With Germany (Forbes)

  • Wisconsin Governor Pledges To Put Marijuana Legalization In Upcoming Budget After Voters Approve Reform On The Ballot (Marijuana Moment)

  • Minnesota Senators Signal Plans To Advance Marijuana Legalization In 2023 With New Democratic Majority (Marijuana Moment)

  • Arkansas Activists Plan Expanded 2024 Marijuana Ballot Initiative Following This Week’s Legalization Defeat (Marijuana Moment)

  • Judge Tosses Out Lawsuit on Rule Barring Medical Cannabis Users From Buying Guns (High Times)

  • FDA Finally Rejects Petition For Federal Exemption For Marijuana More Than A Decade After It Was Filed (Marijuana Moment)

  • ‘Cannabis Use Disorder’ Pill Clinical Trial To Begin (High Times)

  • Study Shows Smoking Weed Doesn’t Automatically Make You Cool (High Times)

  • New Survey Details The Growing Importance Of Cannabis For Thanksgiving Celebrations (Forbes)

  • Study Finds No Change in Cannabis Perception Among Youth in Adult-Use States (High Times)

LSD

  • LSD induces both an “afterglow” for memory performance and a cognitive “hangover,” study finds (PsyPost)

  • LSD Microdosing Yields Positive Outcomes In Phase 1 Study, More Trials On Depression & Existential Distress (Benzinga)

Magic Mushrooms

  • Several rural Oregon counties vote against therapeutic use of psilocybin (OPB)

  • There’s Now a Shroom Dispensary in the US (DoubleBlind)

  • The Heroic Dose: Navigating Powerful Mushroom Journeys (DoubleBlind)

MDMA

  • MDMA Therapy is Almost Legal—But Who Will Have Access? (DoubleBlind)

  • ‘Losing the Magic’: When MDMA Just Stops Working (VICE)

Ayahuasca

  • Ayahuasca to blame for Aaron Rodgers' struggles, ESPN's Robert Griffin III suggests (Fox News)

  • What Mainstream Churches Can Learn from an Ayahuasca Church (Lucid News)

5-MeO-DMT

  • Feds Tell National Park Visitors To Stop Licking Psychedelic Toads (Marijuana Moment)

Novel Psychoactive Substances

Synthetic Cannabinoids

  • Two hospitalised due to dangerous batch of synthetic cannabinoids (Stuff.co.nz)

Nitrous Oxide

  • Home Office responds to call for retail sales ban on nitrous oxide (gasworld)

Ketamine

  • Mom of 5 died after ketamine injection by a paramedic, family alleges in wrongful death suit (NBC)

Miscellaneous

  • What a Trip: Coloradans Approve Landmark Psychedelics Measure (Westword)

  • Wonderland Miami Exposes Growing Rift in Psychedelic Community (Psychedelic Spotlight)

  • Psychedelic Training Provider Fluence Files Trademark for Common Phrase, Walks Back After Criticism (Psymposia)

  • Psychedelic drug research held back by UK rules and attitudes, say scientists (The Guardian)

  • Will the Psychedelic Revolution Be Medicalized? (Lucid News)

11.18.22

Cannabis

  • Kentucky Governor Signs Executive Orders Allowing Medical Marijuana Possession From Other States And Regulating Delta-8 THC (Marijuana Moment)

  • Congress Passes Landmark Cannabis Research Bill (High Times)

  • Half of Dentists Say Patients Arrive to Checkups Stoned, Survey Finds (High Times)

  • Nearly Seven In Ten Americans Back Marijuana Legalization, Including Majority Of Republicans, Latest Gallup Poll Finds (Marijuana Moment)

  • Cows Given Hemp Feed To Produce Milk With THC (High Times)

  • New York’s gray market cannabis crackdown begins in Brooklyn (Leafly)

  • Study Finds Link Between Cannabis Use, Greater Physical Activity in HIV+ Patients (High Times)

  • U.K. Researchers Launch Study Exploring Weed’s Effects on the Brain (High Times)

  • Study Examines If CBD Buffers THC’s Effects (High Times)

Magic Mushrooms

  • Nearly 70% of Oregon bans psilocybin, but clinics will still open next year (Leafly)

MDMA

  • Second MAPS-Sponsored Phase 3 Trial of MDMA-Assisted Therapy for PTSD Completed (MAPS)

  • Post-pandemic trends in the UK MDMA market and implications for harm reduction services (Volteface)

DMT

  • Algernon Pharmaceuticals begins screening of first subject in phase 1 DMT human stroke study (Pharmabiz)

Ayahuasca

  • Mind-altering South American brew causes adverse side effects, study says (UPI)

Novel Psychoactive Substances

  • VIC Health Warns of 'Chemical Similar to PCP' Sold as Ketamine (VICE)

Nitrous Oxide

  • Laughing Gas Is Being Banned In the Netherlands As Reports of Extreme Use Grow (VICE)

Ketamine

  • Online Ketamine Clinics Face Tougher Times After Covid-Era Boom (Bloomberg)

Miscellaneous

  • Bipartisan Lawmakers Form New Psychedelics Caucus In Congress (Marijuana Moment)

  • Drug testing makes festivals safer, new research finds (Mixmag)

  • Spiraling Down Wonderland’s Psychedelic Corporate Rabbit Hole (Lucid News)

  • ‘How to Change Your Mind’ and the Destigmatisation of Psychedelics (Sam Woolfe)

  • Elon Talks Psychedelics: Is he Helping or Hurting the Movement? (Microdose)

  • Psychedelic drugs may reopen critical learning periods in the brain (New Scientist)

  • Cory Booker And Rand Paul File Bill To Reschedule Psychedelic Breakthrough Therapies And Remove Research Barriers (Marijuana Moment)

  • Philadose conference highlights psychedelic therapies in Pennsylvania (The Philadelphia Inquirer)

  • Inside Detroit’s Trippy A-F “Psychedelic Healing Shack” (DoubleBlind)

  • Would you let your teenager try psychedelics? (Drug Science)

11.25.22

Cannabis

  • Krispy Kreme is paying to keep weed illegal (Leafly)

  • Rhode Island To Begin Adult-Use Cannabis Sales on Dec. 1 (High Times)

  • Oregon: Governor Announces Mass Pardons for Those with Low-Level Cannabis Convictions (NORML)

  • Colombian Senators Approve Marijuana Legalization Bill (Marijuana Moment)

  • North Carolina tribe begins first legal medical cannabis harvest in the state (Marijuana Business Daily)

  • Irish Lawmaker Files Bill To Legalize Marijuana Possession For Adults, Draws Early Criticism From Top Government Official (Marijuana Moment)

  • CBD did not help people who got too high, study finds (Leafly)

  • New York Cannabis Farms Have $750 Million of Weed — and Nowhere to Sell It (Bloomberg)

  • Just 10 Percent Of Americans Think Marijuana Should Be Totally Illegal, Pew Poll Finds (Marijuana Moment)

  • Cops May Soon Be Able To Scan Your Eyeballs To See if You’re Driving Stoned (High Times)

  • South Dakota Medical Marijuana Patients Won’t Be Denied Hunting Licenses, Official Says (Marijuana Moment)

  • The Nose Knows! Study Shows Aroma Drives Cannabis Consumer Appeal (High Times)

  • Federally Funded Study Shows Marijuana Legalization Is Not Associated With Increased Teen Use (Marijuana Moment)

  • Southern Illinois University Examining the Use of Cannabis for Ovarian Cancer (High Times)

  • No, marijuana is not more harmful than tobacco (Leafly)

  • Idaho Activists Launch Signature Drive To Put Medical Marijuana Legalization On 2024 Ballot (Marijuana Moment)

LSD

  • Beckley Foundation Announces LSD, Microdosing Research (High Times)

Magic Mushrooms

  • Oregon's Newly Legal Magic Mushroom Industry Could Be Strangled by Restrictive Zoning Regulations (Reason)

Ayahuasca

  • Study Finds Benefits Outweigh Risks of Ayahuasca Use (High Times)

5-MeO-DMT

Iboga

  • I Tried Ibogaine, the Psychedelic Anti-Addiction Drug (VICE)

Synthetic Cannabinoids

  • Utah moves to ban synthetic cannabinoids in medical marijuana products (Fox 13)

Ketamine

  • Long-term Ketamine Treatment for Depression May Reduce Risk of Relapse (Lucid News)

  • At-Home Ketamine Treatments Could Be a Game-Changer—or a Big Problem (Gizmodo)

  • Amygdala connectivity predicts ketamine treatment response among patients with anxious depression (PsyPost)

  • atai Life Sciences and Massachusetts General Hospital Announce Initiation of Clinical Study Investigating Neuroplasticity Biomarkers in Treatment-Resistant Depression Patients Undergoing Ketamine Treatment (Psychedelic Alpha)

Miscellaneous

  • There’s a Worldwide Spike in Arrests of Plant Medicine Practitioners (DoubleBlind)

  • All Entheogens Welcome at this Post-Modern Oakland Church (Lucid News)

  • How To Stop A Psychedelic Trip: The Promise of Ketanserin (Psychedelic Science Review)

Think Wilder is reader-supported. If you enjoyed this month’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 Psychedelics" does not censor or analyze the news links presented here. The purpose of this column is solely to catalog how psychedelics are presented by the mass media, which includes everything from the latest scientific research to misinformation.

Weekly Psychedelic Links - May 2022

5.6.22

Cannabis

  • Would You Smoke ‘Nuclear Weed’? You Might Already: Why Irradiated Cannabis Is Common (And Safe) (Forbes)

  • How marijuana laws have progressed across the South so far this year (Clarion Ledger)

  • Stanford study links marijuana use to increased heart attack risk (New Atlas)

  • A look at the legal and illegal sides of California’s cannabis industry (The Press-Enterprise)

  • States that legalized marijuana now researching mental health risks of high-potency cannabis (NBC)

  • ‘There’s a real risk there’: Cannabis use exacerbates depression (Healio)

  • Missouri House Committee Approves Joint Resolution To Put Marijuana Legalization On The Ballot (Marijuana Moment)

  • New Jersey Lawmakers File Bills To Restrict Marijuana Use By Police And Other Workers (Marijuana Moment)

  • New Hampshire House Votes To Give Senate ‘Another Chance’ At Passing Marijuana Legalization (Marijuana Moment)

  • South Dakota Activists Turn In Signatures To Put Marijuana Legalization On The Ballot (Marijuana Moment)

  • Biden officials say Brittney Griner ‘wrongfully detained’ by Russia on cannabis charges (Leafly)

  • More Ohio Cities Set To Vote On Marijuana Decriminalization As Activists Pursue Statewide Reform Initiative (Marijuana Moment)

  • The Fight Over CBD Oil Continues in Germany (High Times)

  • A New Report Explains How California Screwed Up Marijuana Legalization (Reason)

  • Cannabis YouTuber Chrissy Harless’s Channel Deleted Without Explanation (High Times)

  • Delaware House Approves Marijuana Legalization Bill, Sending It To The Senate (Marijuana Moment)

  • Study Finds Cannabis Flower Useful to Decrease Fatigue (High Times)

  • South Carolina Medical Marijuana Bill Dies On House Floor Following Procedural Challenge (Marijuana Moment)

  • Malawi Joins Zimbabwe in Switching from Cultivating Tobacco to Cannabis (High Times)

  • New York Lawmakers Discuss Competing Psychedelics Reform Bills Ahead Of Key Deadline (Marijuana Moment)

  • FDA Sends Warning Letters to Businesses Improperly Selling Delta-8 (High Times)

  • Missouri Marijuana Activists Say They’ve Exceeded Signature Requirements For Legalization Ballot Measures As Prospects For Separate Reform Bills Dwindle (Marijuana Moment)

  • Argentina Makes Medical Cannabis Reform a National Priority (High Times)

  • Nebraska Activists Unveil Plan To Put Medical Marijuana On The Ballot After Losing Key Funders (Marijuana Moment)

LSD

  • LSD and salvia divinorum use linked to an increased likelihood of depression and suicidal thinking (PsyPost)

  • MindBio Therapeutics Completes World’s First Microdosing Trial (Microdose)

  • A Return Trip to Timothy Leary’s Psychedelic, Day-Glo Mexico (The New York Times)

  • In low doses, can LSD be beneficial for the brain? (Vents Magazine)

Magic Mushrooms

  • Large survey suggests psilocybin is a “relatively safe” drug, with serious reactions being rare and short-lived (PsyPost)

  • Compass Pathways Shares ‘Promising’ Data That Psilocybin May Treat Anorexia (Psychedelic Spotlight)

  • Canada to Fund Research on Psilocybin for Substance Use Disorder (Filter)

  • Could Magic Mushrooms Treat Overeating? New Clinical Trial Intends To Find Out (The Fresh Toast)

  • How to Shop For Magic Mushroom Grow Kits on Amazon (MEL Magazine)

  • 4-year-old overdoses after accidently getting into a bag of Psychedelic mushrooms (WSB-TV)

Peyote

  • Meet The Company Developing Innovative Peyote-Based Treatments For Addiction, Anxiety, And Depression (Benzinga)

Iboga

  • Lamar Odom ‘could probably’ take hallucinogenic drug again for treatment (Page Six)

Ketamine

  • Medical experts told grand jury ketamine caused Elijah McClain's death, records show (The Denver Gazette)

  • Ketamine Infusions Improve Symptoms of Depression and Pain (Psychiatry Advisor)

Miscellaneous

  • Elon Musk advocates for psychedelic drug use as alternative to antidepressants (MARCA)

  • Why Field Trip Health Is Dividing in Two — and What This Means for Investors (Psychedelic Spotlight)

  • Connecticut Lawmakers Send Psychedelic Treatment Program Proposal To Governor As Part Of Budget Bill (Marijuana Moment)

  • Why Psychedelic Drugs May Become a Key Treatment for PTSD and Depression (Smithsonian Magazine)

  • New holistic healing, psychedelic therapy center launches in Austin (Fox 7 Austin)

  • DanceSafe have provided new guidance on how to test your drugs (Mixmag)

  • Numinus’s Acquisition of Novamind May Signal More Consolidation to Come (Lucid News)

  • Hallucinating Long After the Trip is Over: HPPD – Part 2 (Psychedelic Science Review)

  • Psychedelic Therapists Must Be Trained to Set Sexual Boundaries (Lucid News)

  • Real Reciprocity: The People Who Brought You Sacred Plant Medicine Need Your Support (Chacruna)

  • Are There Risks to Using Psychedelics If You Have Certain Mental Illnesses? (Lucid News)

  • Could a psychedelic retreat cure lifelong hang ups? (The Telegraph)

  • Chaplains Are Learning to Become Psychedelic Guides (Lucid News)

  • What Do Therapeutic Doses of Psychedelics Feel Like? (Psychology Today)

5.13.22

Cannabis

  • Austin, Texas Voters Approve Local Marijuana Decriminalization Ballot Initiative (Marijuana Moment)

  • Mexico’s Supreme Court rules personal marijuana possession legal, again (Leafly)

  • Cannabis confusion: Thousands of truckers taken off the job amid supply chain woes (Politico)

  • Sadiq Khan launches commission to examine cannabis legality (The Guardian)

  • Swiss City of Lausanne to Launch Recreational Cannabis Trial This Fall (High Times)

  • Thai high: Thailand to give away 1 million free marijuana plants (New York Post)

  • Delaware Senate Approves Marijuana Legalization Bill, Sending It To The Governor (Marijuana Moment)

  • Miami Finally Gives OK to Medical Cannabis Dispensaries (High Times)

  • Ohio Will Not Vote On Marijuana This November, But Lawsuit Settlement Puts Legalization Activists On Path For 2023 (Marijuana Moment)

  • Is weed the Chosen People’s drug of choice? These artifacts suggest it may be (The Times of Israel)

  • South Carolina Medical Marijuana Legalization Bill Suffers Another Procedural Defeat (Marijuana Moment)

  • New Hampshire Senate Rejects Marijuana Legalization Again As Part Of Amended Bill (Marijuana Moment)

  • Cannabis users expect cannabis-assisted therapy for depression to work as well as psilocybin-assisted therapy (PsyPost)

  • Working In Canada’s Marijuana Industry Does Not Make People Inadmissible To U.S., Border Patrol Document Confirms (Marijuana Moment)

  • Missouri Activists Submit Double The Signatures Needed For Marijuana Legalization Ballot Initiative (Marijuana Moment)

  • Inside one of the first licensed medical cannabis labs in Britain (The Guardian)

LSD

  • Promising early results from largest-ever trial testing LSD for anxiety (New Atlas)

  • Behind the Scenes on the First Study To Compare the Effects of LSD and Psilocybin (Technology Networks)

Magic Mushrooms

  • Psychedelics Activists Arrested at DEA Headquarters Amid Protest Over Psilocybin Access for Terminal Patients (DoubleBlind)

  • Shroom Dispensaries Operate Out in the Open in Vancouver (DoubleBlind)

  • Oregon Issues Draft of Magic Mushroom Cultivation Rules (Lucid News)

MDMA

  • MAPS Completes Enrollment, as Planned, for the Confirmatory Phase 3 Trial of MDMA-Assisted Therapy for PTSD (PR Newswire)

  • Drug policy group condemns psychedelic research association for response to B.C. sex assault claims (CBC)

  • Reducing MDMA Comedown and Risks (TalkingDrugs)

Ketamine

  • Inventor of Brain-Scan Helmet Takes Ketamine to Test His Technology (Bloomberg)

  • Suicidal Ideation Not Related With Psychological Pain After Receiving Ketamine (Psychiatry Advisor)

  • IV Ketamine: A Possible 'Trajectory of Improvement' in Severe Depression (Medpage Today)

Miscellaneous

  • Connecticut Governor Signs Bill Creating Psychedelic Treatment Program (Marijuana Moment)

  • Psychedelic Patents are Broken Because the Patent System Is Broken (VICE)

  • The Trials of Rick Doblin (The Cut)

  • Europe’s first psychedelic drug trial firm to open in London (The Guardian)

  • Novel nasal spray delivers psychedelic drugs for PTSD (Israel21c)

  • Colorado Activists Collect Tens Of Thousands Of Signatures To Put Psychedelics Reform On Ballot (Marijuana Moment)

  • Update on the Fight for Religious Liberties in Oregon (Psychedelics Today)

  • Psychedelic experiences and mindfulness linked to better psychological wellbeing (PsyPost)

  • Inside Illinois’ First Psychedelics Bill: How Advocates Are Breaking the Taboo (Psychedelic Spotlight)

  • Biotechs want to unlock the psychedelics market, but it isn’t simple (The Sydney Morning Herald)

  • First licence for service to test purity of illegal drugs. (The Times)

  • Altering Perceptions on Psychedelics (Harvard Medicine)

5.20.22

Cannabis

  • Rhode Island: Lawmakers Advance Adult-Use Legalization Bill (NORML)

  • Lawmakers strike the word ‘marijuana’ from all state laws, calling the term racist (Dark Matters)

  • Minnesota Republican Senators Block Marijuana Legalization Vote (Marijuana Moment)

  • Study: Young Adults’ Consumption of Alcohol, Cigarettes, Other Substances Fell Following Marijuana Legalization (NORML)

  • FDA Sounds Alarm About Cereal and Candy Edibles that Appeal to Children (High Times)

  • Delaware: House Members Pause Action on Marijuana Retail Bill Until After Legislative Break (NORML)

  • New Study Confirms Safety of CBD (High Times)

  • Congress might have inadvertently legalized a form of cannabis under Trump (San Francisco Chronicle)

Magic Mushrooms

  • First patient in Quebec gets approval from Health Canada for magic mushroom therapy (Global News)

MDMA

Ayahuasca

  • Tea and Ashes: How Ayahuasca Can Help You Quit Smoking (Chacruna)

Mescaline

  • Mescaline: A Neglected Tool for Psychotherapy (Chemical Collective)

  • Journey Colab Looks to Mescaline for Treating Alcohol Use Disorder (Lucid News)

Peyote

  • ‘Our way of healing’: Azee’ Bee Nahagha working to protect peyote from state decriminalization (Navajo Times)

  • What, Exactly, Is Peyote… And What Does It Do? (Rare)

Iboga

Novel Psychoactive Substances

  • MindMed Releases Phase 1 Trial Results For Opioid Addiction (Microdose)

Synthetic Cannabinoids

Ketamine

  • Ketamine, esketamine improve depression symptoms (Healio)

Datura

  • Compound found in Datura shows promise as antiviral agent against SARS-CoV-2 (News-Medical.net)

Miscellaneous

  • Inside the Dispute Over a High-Profile Psychedelic Study (VICE)

  • 50% of Microdosers Started During Pandemic, Survey Suggests (DoubleBlind)

  • Forget Burning Man — Psychedelic Shamans Now Heading to Davos (Bloomberg)

  • How Will The Psychedelic Industry Affect SSRI Treatment In The U.S.? (Healing Maps)

  • Psychedelics: how they act on the brain to relieve depression (The Conversation)

  • Getting Buzzed: The History of Hallucinogenic Mad Honey (Ancient Origins)

5.27.22

Cannabis

  • Rhode Island Becomes 19th State to Legalize Marijuana for Adults (NORML)

  • Kansas Lawmakers Plan To Work On Medical Marijuana Over Summer As 2022 Session Ends (Marijuana Moment)

  • New study finds cannabis effective for cancer pain (Leafly)

  • California Marijuana Retailers ‘100 Percent’ Compliant In Checking IDs To Prevent Youth Access, Study Finds (Marijuana Moment)

  • U.K. Caregiver Spared Jail Sentence After Cancer Patients Defend Him (High Times)

  • Marijuana ‘Strain’ Labels Often Mislead Consumers, Study Of Nearly 90,000 Samples Shows (Marijuana Moment)

  • North Carolina quietly moves toward full legalization of hemp (WRAL)

  • Louisiana Bill to Allow State Employees to Use Medical Cannabis Receives Unanimous Vote (High Times)

  • Delaware: Governor Vetoes Marijuana Depenalization Measure (NORML)

  • South Dakota Voters Will Decide On Marijuana Legalization Ballot Measure In November (Marijuana Moment)

  • North Carolina Lawmaker Introduces Legalization Bill (High Times)

  • Federal Marijuana Arrests Continue To Drop Amid Legalization Movement, New Justice Department Report Shows (Marijuana Moment)

  • Cannabis Reform Bill in South Africa Under Criticism from Unions and Rastas (High Times)

  • Legalised cannabis in Canada and US hasn’t killed illegal market (New Scientist)

  • Japanese Ministry of Health to Discuss Medical Cannabis Legalization (High Times)

  • Texas Activists Say They’ve Collected Enough Signatures To Put Marijuana Decriminalization On Another Local Ballot (Marijuana Moment)

  • What’s Up With Cannabis Legalization in Belgium? (High Times)

  • Georgia Voters Approve Marijuana Legalization Ballot Question (Marijuana Moment)

  • Australian Legalize Cannabis Party Runs Successful Grassroots Election Campaign (High Times)

  • New York Marijuana Regulators Ask TikTok To Stop Banning Cannabis Education Advertising (Marijuana Moment)

Magic Mushrooms

  • Psilocybin Causes ‘Significant Reduction’ in Symptoms of Depression, Largest of its Kind Study Shows (High Times)

  • Senator’s Wife Secretly Gave Him Psilocybin to Alleviate Depression (Psychedelic Spotlight)

  • Conflicting States of Consciousness: Exploring Psilocin and Sleep (Psychedelic Science Review)

  • Oregon, Measure 109, and Community Access: The Final Vote (Psychedelics Today)

MDMA

  • Diddy: Biggie's "Hypnotize" Video Shoot Was First Time We Tried Ecstasy (The Source)

  • I’m a Therapist Who Tried MDMA—Here’s How the Experience Shaped My Perspective on Psychedelic Therapy (Self)

  • Does Grapefruit Juice Make MDMA Stronger? (TalkingDrugs)

Ayahuasca

  • Will Smith Predicted Losing His Career During Ayahuasca Hallucination Before Oscars Slap (Entertainment Online)

  • Exploring the travel craze of Ayahuasca tripping to South America (Far Out Magazine)

  • How To Engage In Ethical Ayahuasca Tourism (Healing Maps)

Peyote

  • Legalizing peyote will 'detrimentally' affect religious practices, Navajo Nation says (12News)

Novel Psychoactive Substances

  • Research Chemicals Provide Dangerous, Experimental Highs to Desperate Users (High Times)

  • Psychedelic Treatment For Alcoholism? Clearmind Medicine And SciSparc Collaboration Yields Positive Results (Benzinga)

  • 5 Next-Generation Psychedelics Entering Clinical Trials This Year (Psychedelic Spotlight)

  • Fears over ‘worrying’ new drugs being sold at festivals (Independent.ie)

Ketamine

Miscellaneous

  • Local Michigan Lawmakers Reject Psychedelics Decriminalization Over Concerns About Possible Legal Liabilities (Marijuana Moment)

  • $2.7M Grant to UC Davis to Find New Addiction Treatments Related to Psychedelics (UC Davis)

  • Vermont Governor Vetoes Bill On ‘Reducing The Criminalization’ Of Drugs By Setting Personal Use Amounts (Marijuana Moment)

  • Colorado’s Two Psychedelic Ballot Efforts Present Competing Visions (Filter)

  • DEA Loses Parking Space for its Plane (Drug WarRant)

  • Psychedelic Therapy Training Programs Expand To Meet Demand (Lucid News)

  • Europe’s Leading Psychedelic Conference Returns to Amsterdam (GlobeNewswire)

  • Why “Drug-Induced Homicide” Doesn’t Have to be Prosecuted (Filter)

Think Wilder is reader-supported. If you enjoyed this month’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 Psychedelics" does not censor or analyze the news links presented here. The purpose of this column is solely to catalog how psychedelics are presented by the mass media, which includes everything from the latest scientific research to misinformation.

This Week in Psychedelics - 3.4.22

Cannabis

  • Maryland House Advances Cannabis Legalization Bills (High Times)

  • D.C. Lawmakers Approve Ban On Pre-Employment Marijuana Testing For Most Workers (Marijuana Moment)

  • Where does Biden’s Supreme Court nominee stand on marijuana legalization? Here’s what we found (Leafly)

  • Medicinal Cannabis Flower Sales Begin In Minnesota (High Times)

  • Virginia House Committee Kills Bill To Begin Marijuana Sales This Year (Marijuana Moment)

  • Rhode Island Lawmakers Introduce Cannabis Legalization Bill (High Times)

  • NCAA Moves To Lower Marijuana Penalties For Student Athletes And Increase THC Threshold In Drug Tests (Marijuana Moment)

  • Nebraska Medical Cannabis Bill Fizzles in Committee (High Times)

  • Get ready for the Northeast to become cannabis country (Politico)

  • France Moves to Begin Cultivating Medical Cannabis (High Times)

  • Virginia lawmakers cracking down on cannabis compound Delta-8 due to safety concerns (WAVY)

  • South Dakota House Rejects Marijuana Legalization Bill That Was Temporarily Revived In ‘Smoke Out’ Vote (Marijuana Moment)

  • Ecuador Kicks Off Medical Cannabis Production (High Times)

  • Washington state to require pesticide testing for adult-use cannabis products (Marijuana Business Daily)

  • Ohio Lawmakers Advance Bill To Allow Medical Cannabis for Autism (High Times)

  • Confusion over CBD for Children (Drug WarRant)

  • Pennsylvania Senate Committee Holds Second Marijuana Legalization Hearing As Reform Bill Is Drafted (Marijuana Moment)

  • Georgia Lawmakers Consider Bill to Expand Medical Pot Program (High Times)

LSD

  • Landmark trial compares LSD and psilocybin trips, finds few differences (New Atlas)

  • Mystical experiences might bridge the gap between LSD-induced “madness” and healing (PsyPost)

Magic Mushrooms

  • Colorado may be the next state to decriminalize ‘magic’ mushrooms (The Durango Herald)

  • Terminal cancer patient denied magic mushrooms after Health Canada rule change (CBC)

  • Psilocybin Leaps Ahead of Other Psychedelics in Trials and Studies (Lucid News)

  • The Plan to Reschedule Psilocybin at the UN (TalkingDrugs)

  • 'We need emergency access': 82 Canadian professionals request psilocybin for therapy training (Vancouver Sun)

  • Oregonians more interested in taking psilocybin for well-being than depression or anxiety (OPB)

  • How Will Oregon Teach and Train Psilocybin Healers? (Filter)

  • Magic mushrooms, psilocybin and microdosing: Growing trend draws e-vendors, scientists (CBC)

MDMA

5-MeO-DMT

  • Could 5-MeO-DMT Allow For More Affordable Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy? Beckley Psytech Thinks So (Forbes)

Iboga

  • MINDCURE Achieves Key Development Milestone for Novel Ibogaine Program (PR Newswire)

Novel Psychoactive Substances

  • PharmaDrug Receives Positive Results for DMT-Analogue Program to Treat Glaucoma (Psilocybin Alpha)

Synthetic Cannabinoids

Ketamine

  • Dr. Bronner’s to Provide Psychedelic-Therapy as Employee Healthcare Benefit (Dr. Bronner's)

  • Ketamine Could Treat Alcohol Use Disorder, Study Shows (Lucid News)

  • Dying to Stay Alive: A Ketamine Disaster (Mad in America)

  • Yale researchers study ketamine as a potential treatment for depression in patients with Parkinson’s disease (Yale Daily News)

  • Adding Lithium Might Enable Ketamine's Antidepressant Activity in Ketamine-Resistant Patients, Study Suggests (Brain and Behavior Research Foundation)

Miscellaneous

  • It’s Time to Start Studying the Downside of Psychedelics (VICE)

  • Utah Psychedelics And Mental Health Bill Heads To Governor’s Desk After Senate Approval (Marijuana Moment)

  • In Oregon, Psychedelics Regulators Confront Conflicts of Interest (VICE)

  • More People Are Microdosing for Mental Health. But Does It Work? (The New York Times)

  • The Need for an International Psychedelic Religious Survey (Psychedelics Today)

  • Psychedelic Therapeutics Market May Receive Federal Approval Before Marijuana Does (MarketWatch)

  • Staring into the Abyss: Examining Venezuela’s Drug Policies (TalkingDrugs)

  • Global Survey: Some Microdosing Individuals Have Altered Psychiatric Drug Dosage (Psychiatry Advisor)

  • How Psychedelics Will Impact Mainstream Product Development (Yahoo!)

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 Psychedelics" does not censor or analyze the news links presented here. The purpose of this column is solely to catalog how psychedelics are presented by the mass media, which includes everything from the latest scientific research to misinformation.

This Week in Psychedelics - 2.4.22

Cannabis

  • Mississippi governor signs law allowing medical marijuana (Leafly)

  • The NFL is throwing $1 million into cannabinoid research (Leafly)

  • House Officially Approves Marijuana Banking Amendment To Large-Scale Bill Set For Final Passage Friday (Marijuana Moment)

  • Delta-8 Debate: The 2018 Farm Bill gave rise to an unlikely intoxicant (Marijuana Business Daily)

  • House Advances SAFE Banking Act as Part of the America COMPETES Act (NORML)

  • Driving Performance and Cannabis Users’ Perception of Safety - Review (Drug Science)

  • Minnesota: Patients’ Access to Herbal Cannabis Products Begins March 1 (NORML)

  • Claim of Fentanyl-Laced Cannabis Overdoses in Connecticut was False (High Times)

  • Cannabis being used to treat symptoms of Long Covid in new landmark trial (Mirror)

  • ‘The science about the benefits of cannabis is limited’: Does legalizing marijuana lead to an increase in tobacco use? (MarketWatch)

  • Utah Lawmakers Pass Bill To Protect Medical Cannabis Patients (High Times)

  • A Cannabis Monopoly Asteroid is Coming (Marijuana Moment)

  • Petition Forces Ohio Lawmakers into Action on Cannabis Legalization (High Times)

  • Marijuana legalization push increasingly unites unlikely political bedfellows (Marijuana Business Daily)

  • 2021: A Year In Review For The Cannabis Industry (Forbes)

  • Top Maryland Lawmaker Files Marijuana Legalization Bill In Anticipation Of Ballot Referendum Passing (Marijuana Moment)

  • Pennsylvania Issues Mandatory Recall for Hundreds of Cannabis Products (New Cannabis Ventures)

  • Wisconsin Governor Vetoes GOP Bill To Increase Marijuana Extraction Penalties (Marijuana Moment)

  • Republican Lawmakers in Virginia Have Drafted New Cannabis Legislation (High Times)

  • Marijuana Banking Reform Cleared For House Floor (Again) Following Committee Action On Large-Scale Bill (Marijuana Moment)

  • Can Cannabinoids Unlock a Better Understanding of Our Bodies and Brains? (Discover Magazine)

  • Nearly One In Ten New Missouri Jobs Came From Medical Marijuana Industry In 2021, Trade Group Report Finds (Marijuana Moment)

  • Jackson seeks cannabis exemption as part of shock comeback at age 40 (The Sydney Morning Herald)

LSD

Magic Mushrooms

  • Virginia Psilocybin Decriminalization Bill Defeated In Senate Committee After Top GOP Lawmaker Flips Support (Marijuana Moment)

  • Religious Practice Under Oregon Measure 109 (Psychedelics Today)

  • Maine Lawmakers Hear Testimonies For and Against Psilocybin Bill (Truffle Report)

  • Seattle Doctor Files DEA Petition To Reschedule Psilocybin For Medical Use (Marijuana Moment)

  • America’s only psychedelic mushroom store is a church in Oakland. We observed the sacrament (Leafly)

  • Federal Appeals Court Dismisses Cancer Patients’ Case To Use Psilocybin Under Right-To-Try Laws (Marijuana Moment)

  • Psyched Wellness Announces Additional Positive Results from the 14-day Oral Toxicity Study of AME-1 (Psilocybin Alpha)

  • Health Canada Grants Private Company Approval for Healthcare Professionals to Take Psilocybin, Prove Safety (Truffle Report)

MDMA

  • Couple Takes MDMA Right Before Grandfather Dies, Trips in Front of Family (Newsweek)

DMT

  • Entheon Biomedical Announces the Approval of DMT Clinical Trial (Psilocybin Alpha)

Ayahuasca

  • Yaminawa Women and Ayahuasca: Shamanism, Gender, and History in the Peruvian Amazon (Chacruna)

  • Women Who Heal: Musicians in the Urban Ayahuasca Scene (Chacruna)

  • Madrinha Rita: Brazilian matriarch of ayahuasca (Chacruna)

5-MeO-DMT

  • Inside a 5-MeO-DMT Retreat: Who Should and Shouldn’t Embark on This ‘Hero’s Journey’ (Psychedelic Spotlight)

Peyote

Ketamine

  • Testimony: Minneapolis police trained to ignore city's civil rights report on ketamine and excited delirium (StarTribune)

  • Can Ketamine and A.I. Improve Wellness? (Inc)

  • PharmaTher Granted FDA Orphan Drug Designation for Ketamine to Treat Status Epilepticus (Psilocybin Alpha)

Miscellaneous

  • Who Will Control the Future of Psychedelics in Colorado? (Westword)

  • Utah Lawmakers Vote To Study Benefits Of Psychedelics In Treating Mental Health Disorders (Marijuana Moment)

  • Psychedelics Decriminalization Ballot Proposal Filed in Michigan (Truffle Report)

  • I Read Every Neuroscience Study On Psychedelics Published Since 2017. Here’s What I Learned (Healing Maps)

  • Researchers use linguistic analysis to uncover differences between psychedelic drug experiences (PsyPost)

  • Psychedelic therapy effective in reducing suicidality, more trials needed (Healio)

  • Psychedelic or Not: Of Mice, 5-HT2A Agonists, and Head Shakes (Psychedelic Science Review)

  • One Year on, Oregon Drug Decriminalization Is Boosting Harm Reduction and Housing (Filter)

  • Looking Ahead to a Psychedelic 2022 (Psilocybin Alpha)

  • The Tortured Double Think of the New Drug Strategy (Transform)

  • What Happens When Psychedelic Treatment for PTSD Turns Into a Bad Trip (Slate)

  • Are Double-Blind Studies Holding Back Psychedelic Research? (The Dales Report)

  • What Research Doesn’t Tell Us About Older Psychedelic Users (Lucid News)

  • Jeering Psychedelics: A Critique of Jacques Mabit’s Criticism of Queering Psychedelics (Chacruna)

  • Are psychedelics dangerous? - What the research says (Drug Science)

  • Psychedelics Without the Trip Could Be 'Healing Magic' for Mental Health (Singularity Hub)

  • Clinical study of psychedelic drugs for cancer patients could be a ‘game changer’ (The Salt Lake Tribune)

  • Sensible policy on psychedelic drugs is growing more common (The Economist)

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 Psychedelics" does not censor or analyze the news links presented here. The purpose of this column is solely to catalog how psychedelics are presented by the mass media, which includes everything from the latest scientific research to misinformation.

This Year in Psychedelics - 2021

Before we get into this recap of the biggest psychedelic news stories from 2021, I’d like to address the fact that this blog post is coming out a month late. Normally I strive to publish my yearly recaps on New Year’s Eve, but things have been really hectic on my end lately and I’ve been barely keeping up with putting out the weekly link roundups, much less creating monthly and yearly recaps or other types of content.

So I apologize for not getting this out into the world sooner. I’ve started to realize that I bit off way more than I can chew over the last year and fell behind on things here at Think Wilder. Here’s hoping 2022 will be a little more focused so I can meet my deadlines and get my work out in a timely manner for y’all to enjoy!

Just like last month’s recap, there is no video recap of this year’s psychedelic news recap up on YouTube. I’ll have another update about some changes coming to my YouTube channel that should hopefully be out later this week on my channel, so make sure you subscribe there if you’d like to be informed about things on that front.

Moving on to the main show, there was a ton of huge news in 2021. Without further ado, let’s jump into the news.

Policy

Wins

Nine U.S. cities decriminalized psychedelics:

When it comes to cannabis policies there were several successes at the state level, even though attempts to change things at the federal level were unsuccessful. Four states legalized weed:

In addition, Alabama legalized medical marijuana and New Jersey and Louisiana decriminalized cannabis.

Taking things a bit further, Baltimore, MD and Scotland decriminalized the use of all drugs.

The governors of Connecticut and Texas signed legislation that will enable the states to study the therapeutic potential of psychedelics. And New Zealand legalized drug checking, becoming the world’s first country to do so.

Industry

One of the biggest stories in the psychedelic industry involved the fight over patenting various aspects involving psychedelics. The one that probably stirred up the most discontent was when COMPASS Pathways submitted a patent application that attempted to claim the right to common, preexisting psychedelic therapy techniques. This prompted a discussion about patents in psychedelia, with many people wondering if companies should own the future of the field. COMPASS Pathways has five U.S. patents and a total of ten worldwide, so they are quickly claiming rights to a lot of intellectual property in the space. But not without a fight—last month a non-profit known as Freedom to Operate submitted a new legal filing that argues against COMPASS Pathways’ patent on its form of synthetic psilocybin based on the idea that it is not a novel invention. The results from this case will set a precedent for not just COMPASS Pathways but for other psychedelic companies as well.

Psychedelic companies started making waves on the stock markets around the world, with five companies joining the Nasdaq (Mindmed, atai Life Sciences, Field Trip Health, Enveric Biosciences, and Bright Minds Biosciences) and Cybin joining the New York Stock Exchange.

Psychedelic companies secured a historic amount of funding, estimated at a cool $2 billion.

A few other interesting stories in the realm of psychedelic industry from 2021:

Research

Published Studies

Several studies came out:

Future Studies

Looking ahead:

  • A study looking to treat tobacco addiction with psilocybin will receive federal funding

  • The NIH granted Yale nearly $200k to fund the studying of psilocybin for depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder

  • The Australian government earmarked $15 million for psychedelic research

  • The DEA has proposed a dramatic increase in the production of cannabis and psychedelics for research in 2022

Research Centers

A record-breaking number of psychedelic research centers were announced or opened:

In addition to these new psychedelic research centers, Harvard Law School’s Project on Psychedelics Law and Regulation will contribute to the effort to create evidence-based laws and policies involving psychedelics.

Harm Reduction

The FDA and CDC issued warnings to consumers about potential risks involving delta-8 THC, a relatively new psychoactive cannabinoid that has grown in popularity due to its widespread legality but remains essentially unregulated at this time. Apparently there has been a significant increase in reported adverse health effects from people using this drug.

However, before you go ahead and toss any of these products you may already own out of the window, it may be helpful to know that it’s not like people are getting poisoned. In fact, it’s far more likely that they are unintentionally getting high after using delta-8 THC because of misunderstandings, bad labeling, and a lack of experience.

The Fireside Project has been helping people process psychedelic experiences via its free peer support phone line since it launched last April, but the organization took things to the next level by releasing a psychedelic peer support app. Now psychonauts in need of support can find help on either the phone or via chat, which may be helpful for people who prefer one form of communication over another.

Drug checking is an essential practice for any responsible psychonaut, and new technologies are coming out that will ensure more innovative and accurate results than ever before. The popular harm reduction organization known as DanceSafe released a new ketamine test kit (called the Morris reagent) that was engineered to identify the difference between ketamine and common analogues like DCK and 2FDCK. And a startup called Miraculix took things one step further by creating rapid at-home test kits that can assess the potency of various psychoactive drugs, including MDMA, LSD, and psilocybin.

Harm reductionists have yet another tool that can be used to help psychonauts use drugs as safely as possible; a new app called Pill-iD lets users scan pills to see what they contain.

However, it’s not a perfect option because rather than find out what’s actually inside a pill, the app instead uses machine learning to cross-check the user’s image against a large database of scanned pills to provide details about what drug is actually contained within, the risk level from taking it, and any potential side effects.

So while it’s not advisable to rely solely on this new app to find out what’s inside your pill, it could help inform naïve users that there is a possibility they might have bought an adulterated drug. As I’ve tried to hammer home over and over again, it’s always advisable to use a reagent test kit to further rule out the possibility that your pills contain unwanted drugs and to properly weigh your substances before you take them.

Miscellaneous

What a year! Tons of new psychedelic research studies, a streak of drug policy reform wins, the growing psychedelic industry, and several important developments in psychedelic culture… last year was certainly a lot to take in.

Now that you’ve read my recap of the biggest psychedelic news from 2021, I’d like to recommend the following highlights from other publications that you might enjoy:

And lastly, I will leave you with the links to the annual psychedelic news recaps I’ve published over the last six years. I hope you have a wonderful 2022 and make sure you subscribe to my monthly newsletter to keep up-to-date with all the latest psychedelic news.

Previous Years in Psychedelics

That’s all for this year’s update. Remember to always test and weigh your drugs and until next time—keep thinking wilder.

Think Wilder is reader-supported. If you enjoyed this year’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.