This Week in Psychoactives - 4.26.19

CANNABIS

• CBS Poll: Nationwide Support For Marijuana Legalization At All-Time High (NORML)

• All the Top Democrats Running for President Favor Legalizing Marijuana (Reason)

• Marijuana Legalization Not Linked To Increased Traffic Deaths, Study Finds (Marijuana Moment)

• Years After Legalization, Maine Releases First Cannabis Industry Rules (Leafly)

• Mexican Lawmakers Plan To Tackle Marijuana Legalization This Summer (Marijuana Moment)

• The Clean Slate Act's Record-Sealing Provisions Go Further Than Cory Booker's Marijuana Justice Act (Reason)

• North Dakota: Governor Signs Medical Cannabis Expansion Laws (NORML)

• Alabama Lawmakers Approve Medical Marijuana Bill (Marijuana Moment)

• CBD reduces impairment caused by cannabis (EurekAlert!)

• Homeland Security Says Cannabis Users Lack ‘Good Moral Character’ (Leafly)

• USDA Clarifies That Farmers Can Import Hemp Seeds From Other Countries (Marijuana Moment)

• Texas House Votes To Legalize The Farming Of Industrial Hemp (Marijuana Moment)

• Wisconsin Legalization Would Save Lives, Bring $1.1B Benefit, Study Says (Leafly)

• Utah is allowing only 10 cannabis farms. Will that be enough to supply the state’s new medical marijuana program? (Salt Lake Tribune)

• Denver City Council to vote on allowing cannabis clubs to operate closer to daycare and rec centers (KDVR)

• Cannabis websites in US and Canada crash on biggest 4/20 day (The Guardian)

• Lawmakers Want Legal Protections For Universities That Research Marijuana (Marijuana Moment)

• SFPD Spread Misinformation about Fentanyl-Laced Marijuana (SF Weekly)

• The Weed Industry Is Burning Millions on DC Lobbyists and Getting Nowhere (VICE)

• Earth Day Begs The Question: Is Cannabis Farming Sustainable? (Forbes)

• USDA Accepting Applications For Hemp Intellectual Property Protection (Marijuana Moment)

• Cannabis, Marijuana, Weed, Pot? Just Call It a Job Machine (The New York Times)

• How Israel Became the Global Leader in Cannabis Research (Green Entrepreneur)

• Cannabis Hyperemesis Syndrome, Without the Hype (Filter)

• Where Presidential Candidate Joe Biden Stands On Marijuana (Marijuana Moment)

• Where Presidential Candidate Seth Moulton Stands On Marijuana (Marijuana Moment)

• Keeping Score: Major League Sports’ Stance on Cannabis (Leafly)

• Can Cannabis Replace Wellbutrin? (Civilized)

• The Indica vs. Sativa Distinction Isn’t Real (Slate)

• Did a Cannabis Company Just Patent the Spliff? (Leafly)

• Quitting Cigarettes? Joints Rolled With CBD Might Help (Marijuana Moment)

• The Paradoxical Power of Medicinal Microdosing (Psychology Today)

• Uplifting a New Face & Voice of Cannabis: A Happy 4/20 with Safon Floyd of EstroHaze (Psychedelic Times)

LSD

• “Discover who you truly are.” Albert Hofmann’s Bicycle Day and A Critical Look at LSD (Psychedelic Times)

• Here's Why You Don't Mix LSD and Nuclear-Powered Aircraft Carriers (The National Interest)

• Is microdosing LSD a solution to the 'crisis of meaning' in modern life? (Montreal Gazette)

MAGIC MUSHROOMS

• Award Winning Filmmaker Brings Psilocybin Documentary To Denver Prior To Decriminalization Vote (Prime Time News)

• Research shows psilocybin — a Schedule I narcotic — to be of great help to patients with end-of-life problems (Anchorage Press)

MDMA

• "Japanese Walter White” Accused Of Teaching Students To Make Ecstasy (The Fix)

• Study Suggests MDMA Could Help People With PTSD, Autism (The Swaddle)

• War, Morality, and MDMA: A Conversation with an Anonymous Military Psychologist (Psychedelic Times)

• To Unravel PTSD, She Took MDMA. A Promising Therapy Offers Hope (KJZZ)

AYAHUASCA

• Do Ayahuasca Shamans See Microbial Worlds in Their Visions? (Kahpi)

• Police intervene in 'healing ceremony' after death: report (NL Times)

• Ayahuasca Spirits Are Special Because They Are Not Real (Kahpi)

• Ayahuasca: the alternative antidepressant (The Vermont Cynic)

5-MEO-DMT

• Psychedelic Toad Venom Relieves Depression, Anxiety And Stress, Studies Find (Marijuana Moment)

PEYOTE

• Stanislaw Ignacy Witkiewicz (Witkacy) on Taking Peyote (Reality Sandwich)

IBOGA

• The Future of Medical Ibogaine (Psychedelics Today)

• Serotonin transporter–ibogaine complexes illuminate mechanisms of inhibition and transport (Nature)

SYNTHETIC CANNABINOIDS

• Spice-related overdoses on the rise in Alabama - again; feds warn about ‘disturbing’ trend (AL.com)

NITROUS OXIDE

• Arctic Laughing Gas Emissions Could Accelerate Global Warming (EcoWatch)

• Hippy crack is no laughing matter (GQ)

KETAMINE

• Robust Evidence Supports Analgesic, Antihyperalgesic Properties of Ketamine (Clinical Pain Advisor)

• How ketamine can change the brain to fight depression (Medical News Today)

PCP

• Man accused of PCP-crazed shotgun killing of Chinese missionary pleads guilty in KC (The Kansas City Star)

• Driver was high on PCP in crash that split car in half, cops say (Lehigh Valley Live)

OPIATES/OPIOIDS

• The FDA Just Approved the First Generic Nasal Spray to Reverse Opioid Overdoses (TIME)

• After Leaving Thousands in Agony, the CDC Is Finally Clarifying Its Painkiller Restrictions (Tonic)

• Demystifying buprenorphine misuse: Has fear of diversion gotten in the way of addressing the opioid crisis? (Taylor and Francis)

• FDA clears Psychemedics hair test for fentanyl (Seeking Alpha)

• Do Electronic Health Record Prompts Increase Take‐Home Naloxone Administration for Emergency Department Patients After an Opioid Overdose? (Wiley Online Library)

• Fentanyl Speedballs Are the Latest Disturbing Trend in America's Opioid Crisis (VICE)

• Narcan is just the start of fighting the opioid overdose epidemic (The Philadelphia Inquirer)

• Heroin used to pass through South Africa en route to Europe. Now much of it stays, with devastating effects (Los Angeles Times)

• Vancouver pot king hopes to brew opium tea to help drug addicts (The Chronicle Herald)

• How the US military's opium war in Afghanistan was lost (BBC)

• New “Generic” Naloxone: Expect More Big-Pharma Sleight of Hand (Filter)

• Fentanyl killed a Penn physician’s son. Now she works to save other families from the same pain. (The Philadelphia Inquirer)

• Life after a life of addiction (Cincinnati Enquirer)

METHAMPHETAMINE

• Use of meth on the rise, officials say (The Indiana Gazette)

CAFFEINE

• Beverages containing caffeine more harmful to liver than alcohol? (The Asian Age)

• Unless we act now, scientists warn, that coffee so many of us love could become extinct (WCPO)

• Wholesale coffee is cheaper than it’s been in years. That’s not good news. (Vox)

• Experts Find Out How Many Cups of Coffee Are Needed to Enhance Your Workout (Inverse)

• Coca-Cola is making a big push into coffee (CNBC)

• Leading expert warns of dangers after man (34) dies from caffeine toxicity (Irish Independent)

• SC could ban kids from buying caffeine-packed energy drinks, but not this year (Charleston Post Courier)

• Is Kombucha Environmentally Friendly? Here’s The Real Tea (Bustle)

• Dear Pharmacist: Caffeine is a natural option for ADHD (The Gainesville Sun)

• The One Thing I Gave Up That Made A Massive Difference In My Anxiety (mindbodygreen)

• 9 Benefits Of Matcha Tea That Will Make You Want To Drink It Every Day (Woman's Health)

TOBACCO

• Walgreens, Rite Aid to Raise Tobacco Buying Age to 21 and Older (The Wall Street Journal)

• Vermont House Gives Final Approval To Tobacco 21 Bill (WAMC)

• 21 and older: Proposal to raise tobacco-buying age nationwide drawing mixed feelings (WEAR)

• New Evidence of Smoking Disparities Underlines That Tobacco Harm Reduction Is Social Justice (Filter)

• ‘Tobacco 21’ Proposal Draws Debate In Florida (WLRN)

• Vaping teens exposed to as much nicotine as tobacco smokers but don't know it (NBC News)

ALCOHOL

• Why faking positive emotions at work can lead to heavier alcohol consumption (Quartz)

• Illinois Senate approves statewide rule for alcohol delivery (WQAD)

• 5 Reasons You're Depressed After Drinking too Much Alcohol (Mens Health)

• Anne Hathaway doubles down on giving up alcohol until her son is 18, but says she'll spend the 'back half of my life completely sloshed' (INSIDER)

NOOTROPICS

• An Experiment With Smart Drugs – What I Learned From Modafinil (The Quint)

KRATOM

• Kratom Craze: After wife’s death, Franklin County man seeks ban on popular substance (KMOV)

• What is kratom? ‘Controversial’ herbal supplement leads to overdoses in the U.S. (Global News)

• Kratom: Castle Rock Deciding What to Do About Controversial Substance (Westword)

• When pregnant women take kratom, their babies may suffer (Medical Xpress)

MISCELLANEOUS

• Another dark web marketplace bites the dust --Wall Street Market (ZDNet)

• Joe Biden’s long record supporting the war on drugs and mass incarceration, explained (Vox)

• Survey of subjective "God encounter experiences": Comparisons among naturally occurring experiences and those occasioned by the classic psychedelics psilocybin, LSD, ayahuasca, or DMT (PLOS)

• Imperial launches world’s first Centre for Psychedelics Research (Imperial College London)

• Psychedelics as a treatment for disorders of consciousness (Neuroscience of Consciousness)

• How a drug gang devastated our helpless family (The Guardian)

• America’s Only Publicly Traded Addiction Treatment Chain Makes Millions Off Patients. What Could Go Wrong? (Mother Jones)

• Trump Justice Department Goes After Overdose Prevention Sites as ‘Crack Houses’ (The Daily Beast)

• Psychedelic therapy: The patients paying $2k to get high with their doctor (news.com.au)

• B.C.’s chief health officer calls for decriminalization of illicit drugs (The Globe and Mail)

• British Police Are Raising Their Voices Against the Drug War (Filter)

• Confronting Sexual Misconduct in the Psychedelic Community: An Interview with Daniel Pinchbeck (Chacruna)

• Trump has been... good?... for psychedelic drugs???... (The Outline)

• What Politicians Daring Each Other to Be Drug Tested Reveals (Filter)

• Building a Psychedelic Community During the War on Drugs (Chacruna)

• Psychedelics to treat mental illness? Australian researchers are giving it a go (The Conversation)

• Psychedelics as a Path to Social Learning (The Wall Street Journal)

• Shades of Sobriety: Life Shows That Recovery Needn’t Mean Abstinence (Filter)

• The Five Phases of Psychedelic Initiation (Chacruna)

• How drug decriminalization could help stem an epidemic of drug overdoses (The Globe and Mail)

• Trump Praises China for Killing Drug Traffickers (Reason)

• Young People of Color As Leaders in The Movement To End the War on Drugs (Psymposia)

• Prison For Forced Addiction Treatment? A Parent's 'Last Resort' Has Consequences (NPR)

• The Psychedelic State of South Texas (Texas Monthly)

• Drug Use in Music Festivals Across the United States (One EDM)

• Your Guide to Microdosing for Anxiety and Depression (Allure)

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Disclaimer: "This Week in Psychoactives" 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 Psychedelic Astronaut.

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On the Monday following each edition of “This Week in Psychoactives,” I post a “Last Week in Psychoactives” video recap to my YouTube channel. After that is done, I retroactively add the video to the corresponding blog post. Here is this week’s video recap:

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Help Clean Up the Planet on Global Psychedelic Earth Day: An Interview with Kwasi Adusei

Every year on April 22nd, various events are held all around the world to demonstrate support for environmental protection. Until now, there hasn’t been an Earth Day event that psychonauts could take part in to honor the Earth and bring attention to the concept of psychedelic plant medicine conservation. But that’s about to change.

That’s because Kwasi Adusei, the founder of the Psychedelic Society of Western New York, has organized a new psychedelic-focused Earth Day event named Global Psychedelic Earth Day that is taking place worldwide that will allow psychonauts to gather together and celebrate the preservation of our natural environment. I recently caught up with Kwasi to learn more about the history behind this innovative event and how people can get involved. 

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First of all, thank you for taking the time to chat with me about your event. To begin, could you tell me a little bit about what Global Psychedelic Earth Day is and how you came up with the idea?

In my personal psychedelic travels, the inward journey found three common themes: take better care of yourself, take better care of others, and take better care of the planet. These themes highlight for me a quintessential truth of life—that we are all one. Based on this philosophy, the psychedelic society I founded in Western New York placed a priority on community service. We began doing regular cleanups of city streets and parks, started a community garden open to the public to source fresh fruits and vegetables, and volunteered in soup kitchens and homeless shelters when help was needed.

Motivated by the practice of community service, I sought to encourage other groups to integrate this model. The encouragement presented itself through the Global Psychedelic Month of Service, which I led by reaching out to psychedelic group organizers around the world, and marketed to individuals through campaigns with The Third Wave, Psymposia, and Psychedelics Today.

The success of that project inspired me to revisit a topic which I was introduced to at Psychedelic Science 2017, the issue of psychedelic plant conservation. Mother Earth provides us with healing medicines that have impacted cultures and individuals for millennia, but due to the widespread use of psychedelics, some of these medicines are experiencing a conservation crisis, particularly with peyote and ibogaine. It was something I never truly considered. Issues of conservation are widespread in nature, even with potable water, so why wouldn’t this be the case with psychedelics?

The notion inspired the Global Psychedelic Earth Day Cleanup, where we encourage psychedelic groups around the world to honor Mother Earth by organizing a community cleanup on Earth Day. In doing so, the project will draw attention to, and support for, the issue of psychedelic plant conservation.

Part of the focus of this event is on psychedelic plant medicine conservation. What is this concept and why should psychonauts know about it?

Using the attention from the cleanup, our website provides brief information and resources for follow up on psychedelic plant conservation issues. We have also created an avenue to receive donations that will support organizations working on the problem.

Peyote's natural range of distribution is located in the Chihuahuan Desert. Native people in and around this region have used peyote for at least 6000 years for its rich alkaloid content, including mescaline. With as many as 57 alkaloids present in any given specimen, peyote has been a staple used medicinally as a panacea by natives. It is a “free medicine” Native Americans have traditionally used because it grows wild and is a rich source of many beneficial alkaloids. The market for peyote has expanded dramatically in recent years and the “free medicine” has been exploited on an industrial scale. As a result, peyote has been over-harvested and is now on the vulnerable species list with the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Follow for more information, visit the Cactus Conservation Institute webpage.

And now, on to iboga. Ibogaine is the naturally occurring psychoactive substance found in a number of plants, principally in a member of the Apocynaceae family known as iboga. The primary method of production of ibogaine is through extraction from this plant source, which is endemic to the tropical rainforests of the Congo Basin in Equatorial Africa, principally Gabon. Recently there have been reports that iboga may be threatened in this natural habitat, and that access has decreased for traditional knowledge holders. If these reports are verified, the ramifications could be far-reaching, including considerations for the future availability of some aspects of ibogaine therapy, as well as for Gabonese culture.

In your opinion, what do you think makes environmentally-friendly events like this one especially important in today’s day and age?

Participating in events like this increases our awareness of our behavior. Increased awareness can lead to a shift in habits. For example, after organizing cigarette butt cleanups on one of our downtown streets, one of the participants mentioned that ever since, he no longer throws his cigarette butts on the ground. The state of our home is progressively declining. Our government has put this issue to the back burner, but we as individuals can step up and do our part.

Is this the first-ever Global Psychedelic Earth Day? Do you plan to continue organizing it in the future?

As far as I know, this is the first, but I intend to make this an annual event. My hope is to have every habitable continent represented as the years go by.

Organizing an event like this must be a lot of work! Could you go into detail about what your team has done to turn your vision into a reality?

Including me, the team consists of 6 people. Chase Conatser is a graphic designer based in New York City who developed images for social media marketing. Eugene Zollinger is a student at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry and runs the Facebook page, sharing articles about conservation issues, psychedelic and more, to educate the people. Jason Palevsky designed the website, and manages submissions for events so organizations that participate will be seen on the map located on our website. Prudence Haze is a psychedelic artist and has been helping to spread the project to individuals in psychedelic oriented groups on social media sites. Duane David, who was influential in the carrying the initiative forward, is founder of an Atlanta based group called the Society for the Exploration of Altered States. He has been helping to get the word out on the project to psychedelic group organizers around the world. In leading this project, I’ve been doing a little bit of everything!

Some people may want to create a cleanup in their own area but may not know where to start. Do you have any suggestions that someone could use when brainstorming what type of cleanup effort to focus on?

If anyone wants to start a cleanup of their own, talk to friends who might be interested in being a part of it, find a street, park, or river that might need some care and attention, create an event through Facebook or Meetup.com, and see who may be interested in joining. Recommended supplies are bags of different colors, one for recycling and one for garbage, gloves, and a small plastic bin in the event that needles are found, something that we’ve run into at a past cleanup.

Where can people go to learn more about Global Psychedelic Earth Day and how can they help support this project?

If people want to get involved, visit our website. There, you will see a link to donate, find a cleanup near you, host one, and learn more about the problem of psychedelic conservation. Also, you can check out our Facebook page.

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I am very grateful to Kwasi for speaking with me about this exciting event. To learn more or get involved, check out the Global Psychedelic Earth Day website. You can also donate via Bitcoin or Paypal to help support the cause.

Image by jplenio, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.