Image by Humphrey King, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.
Happy Saturday y'all! Below, I have rounded up some things for you to think about this weekend:
1. Best-selling author Don Winslow purchased a full-page ad in the Washington Post as an excellent open letter to Congress and President Obama titled "It's Time to Legalize Drugs" that advises putting an end to the drug war and legalizing drugs. Well worth your time to give this one a read.
2. MAPS' Zendo Project has an Indiegogo campaign right now to raise money to further expand its psychedelic harm reduction services. The Zendo Project provides an incredibly valuable service that helps reduce potential negative incidents that can occur with the use (often irresponsible) of psychedelics.
3. My girlfriend is currently reading Sweetening the Pill: or How We Got Hooked on Hormonal Birth Control by Holly Grigg-Spall, and I thought an article published this week on Reset.me that describes why the pill is bad medicine was timely and great information to share. The article discusses the various ways that the pill actually harms the bodies and minds of women, and may be shocking to someone who is unfamiliar with the material.
4. At last weekend's Electric Forest festival, the harm-reduction DanceSafe tent was shut down. This article explains the festival's given reasoning for shutting down the tent and expresses the need to address this issue in our community.
5. From The Conversation, an article about why meditation should be taught in schools:
"New research in the fields of psychology, education and neuroscience shows teaching meditation in schools is having positive effects on students' well-being, social skills and academic skills."
6. A new scientific review shows that fluoridation may not prevent cavities and can actually increase the chance of developing fluorosis, which can cause white flecks, structural damage, brown stains, and mottling to the teeth. This makes me grateful for having drank well water for the vast majority of my life, unlike two-thirds of Americans who regularly drink tap water.
7. Carl Force, the undercover DEA Agent who investigated Silk Road, faces up to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to charges of extortion, money-laundering, and obstruction of justice, and was involved in stealing more than $700,000 in Bitcoin. First of all, shocker. Second, shouldn't this require rethinking the life sentence that Ross Ulbricht received?
That's all for this week's edition of Weekend Thoughts. Until next week, keep thinking wilder.