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This Month in Psychedelics - March 2021

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March was yet another busy month in the world of psychedelics. There was plenty of news involving drug policy, scientific research, the emerging psychedelic industry, and more. So if you’re looking to learn more about what happened this month in psychedelics then you’re in the right place!

Here is a slimmed-down video recap version that is available for those who prefer an easier-to-digest option:

There’s a lot to get through this month, so without further ado, let’s jump into the news:

Drug Policy

New Laws

Kicking things off, two new decriminalization laws took effect in the United States this month.

Washington D.C. decriminalized natural psychedelics like ayahuasca and psilocybin mushrooms and the capital city isn’t stopping there. The Plant Medicine Coalition is pushing the District Council to enact more legislation that would provide worker and child protections related to the use of plant- and fungi-based substances, among other initiatives that the group is working on.

Baltimore did something a bit surprising by decriminalizing all drugs as well as prostitution and several other low-level offenses. This move is part of an overall experiment known as The Covid Criminal Justice Policies, and it’s a unique approach to crime that was developed with public health authorities and inspired by the global pandemic. Instead of prosecuting people arrested for minor crimes, the program looks at them as public health issues and partners with organizations in the community to help find solutions rather than punish offenders.

Wins

In last month’s recap I reported that both Virginia’s House and Senate voted to legalize cannabis, but what I didn’t realize at the time was that each one of them approved a separate bill. Now Virginia’s House and Senate have both approved the same bill, which is currently on Governor Ralph Northam’s desk awaiting a signature that would make cannabis legal in the state by 2024.

However, Northam has thrown around the idea of moving up the legalization date to this July 1st and the leaders of Virginia’s House have expressed their support for this idea, so it’s possible that weed will be legal in the Old Dominion this summer.

Cannabis reform bills made advances in several other states as well: Hawaii, Wyoming, New York, Connecticut, and Illinois. And south of the border, Mexico’s lawmakers advanced a bill to legalize recreational cannabis, bringing the country one step closer to becoming one of the world’s largest marijuana markets.

Losses

Not all drug policy reform efforts were successful, however. Mississippi’s House killed the state’s medical marijuana bill, although the Senate hasn’t given up yet and is attempting a last-ditch effort to revive the bill. And Maryland’s cannabis legalization effort officially threw in the towel, so residents of the Old Line State will need to wait for either a future federal- or state-level initiative to enjoy legal marijuana from the comfort of their own homes.

New Bills and Initiatives

And there’s plenty drug policy news on the horizon as well—a New York lawmaker filed a bill to decriminalize psilocybin mushrooms in the state, lawmakers in Vermont and Rhode Island proposed decriminalizing all drugs, and activists in Michigan launched a campaign to decriminalize natural psychedelics.

Psychedelic Industry

Following on the heels of last month’s news that COMPASS Pathways is attempting to patent basic, preexisting psychedelic therapy techniques like using soft furniture and holding hands, the debate about patenting various aspects involving psychedelics continued to rage on this month.

A few well-known investors and players in the psychedelic industry had something to say about patents, including Rick Doblin, Tim Ferriss, Christian Angermayer, and David Bronner. At the heart of the matter is the fact that COMPASS Pathways has submitted patent applications for so many things involving psilocybin that Psymposia put together an astounding article detailing them that’s definitely worth checking out.

This is an important area to keep an eye on because it will impact all sorts of things, including who will be able to legally access and use psychedelics and which companies will be able to turn a profit in the emerging psychedelic industry.

Psychedelic Research

Researchers at Imperial College London published results from a groundbreaking placebo-controlled LSD microdosing trial. The study found that while participants who microdosed with active LSD ended up experiencing beneficial psychological effects, the placebos also engendered the same result. In fact, there was no statistical significance between an LSD microdose and a placebo pill.

This could mean that the benefits of microdosing come down to the placebo effect rather than an actual effect, but this study is by no means a definitive confirmation of that hypothesis. The study’s limitations include a relatively small sample size of 191 volunteers and a unique (and potentially flawed) self-blinding protocol.

More microdosing research will need to be conducted before we have a solid idea about its efficacy, but until then I’m sure microdosers will keep microdosing and getting benefits out of their practice regardless of whether those benefits come down to the psychedelic substance itself or the placebo effect.

In another study, researchers analyzed data from more than 171,000 adults who responded to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health between 2015 and 2018 and found that the use of psychedelics is associated with better physical health.

Roughly 14% of the sample reported using a classical psychedelic like LSD, mescaline, psilocybin, or DMT at least one time, and after controlling for a number of variables the results showed that those who reported ever using psychedelics tended to have better health than people who had never used a psychedelic before. Psychedelic users also had significantly lower odds of being overweight or obese.

It’s important with a study like this to remember that correlation doesn’t equal causation, but it’s interesting to know that a study with such a large sample size and variable controls found physical health to be significantly better among psychedelic users than the psychedelically-naïve.

Miscellaneous

Although many people in the psychedelic and wider drug-using communities were hopeful about President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris’ approach to drug policy, so far things haven’t exactly gotten off on the right foot. In addition to the fact that the drug war is still going strong, several White House staffers were asked to resign, were suspended, or are being required to work remotely after revealing past cannabis use during their background checks, even if that use occurred in states where marijuana has been legalized. This isn’t too surprising though, considering that cannabis is still illegal at the federal level, which can make it challenging for government employees to get federal security clearance.

However, what makes this extra frustrating is that several staffers had been previously told by transition officials that past cannabis use would be overlooked, only to be told later that they would need to resign. This flip-flopping is par for the course when it comes to politicians and politics in general, but it’s still aggravating to see Biden’s administration pull a bait-and-switch here.

Hopefully in the future they’ll be able to relax a bit and not exclude people on the basis of prior drug use. I know a natural remedy that might help them chill out but something tells me they won’t be interested…

Last up this month is a story about why PCP users almost exclusively live in America. The linked VICE article explores the curious reasons behind why the drug never went global like crack cocaine or LSD.

That’s all for this month’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 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.

This Week in Psychedelics - 10.9.20

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Cannabis

  • Vermont legalizes marijuana sales (Vox)

  • Kamala Harris Promises To Decriminalize Marijuana and Expunge Records (Reason)

  • Maine: Adult Use Marijuana Sales to Begin on Friday (NORML)

  • THC May Help Treat Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome In Mice, Researchers Say (Forbes)

  • D.C. Expands Medical Marijuana Deliveries Amid Coronavirus And Shifts Regulatory Control To Alcohol Agency (Marijuana Moment)

  • Virginia: Legislation Bars Police from Using Marijuana Odor as a Pretext for a Search (NORML)

  • Pennsylvania Judge Just Ruled That Weed Odor No Longer Justifies Police Searches (MERRY JANE)

  • City Council Majority Backs Allowing Public Marijuana Use In Wisconsin State Capital (Marijuana Moment)

  • The latest cannabis beverage has a familiar name: Pabst Blue Ribbon (CNN)

  • People Who Use Cannabis Are Healthier and Less Likely to Get Cancer, Study Suggests (MERRY JANE)

  • Study Finds Older Adults Using Cannabis to Treat Common Health Conditions (UC San Diego Health)

  • Majority of Arizona Voters Are in Favor of Legalizing Adult-Use Weed, Poll Shows (MERRY JANE)

  • THC and the 5-HT2A Receptor: What’s Going On? (Psychedelic Science Review)

LSD

  • LSD Microdosing to Boost Attention: Too Soon to Tell? (Medscape)

  • Acid and Orgasms: Why LSD Failed to Sexually Liberate Women (Chacruna)

Magic Mushrooms

  • New TV Ads Urges Oregon Voters To Legalize Psilocybin Therapy (Marijuana Moment)

  • Mydecine Innovations Group Announces Filing of Provisional Patent for the Treatment of PTSD with Psilocybin (Psilocybin Alpha)

  • 17 Healthcare Professionals Wait Over 100 Days for Access to Psilocybin; Patients Who Urgently Need Psilocybin Therapy Without Qualified Help (Therapsil)

  • University of Toronto and Sansero Life Sciences join forces to study psychedelic medications (The GrowthOp)

Ayahuasca

  • Researchers claim that ayahuasca tea helps the formation of new neurons (Entrepreneur)

  • Remembering an Ayahuasca Hero: Domingos Bernardo (1941-2020) (Chacruna)

Peyote

Iboga

  • Why People Are Microdosing Iboga — and What You Need To Know About It (High Times)

Salvia Divinorum

Synthetic Cannabinoids

  • Synthetically-Produced Cannabinoids Could Soon Become a New Normal (DOPE Magazine)

Nitrous Oxide

  • Humphry Davy had a way with nitrous oxide (Cosmos)

Miscellaneous

  • Field Trip Health Is The Latest Psychedelics Company To Go Public (Green Market Report)

  • Psychedelics in Group Therapy for HIV Survivors Shows Promising Results (Psych Congress Network)

  • Mark Zuckerberg Supports Drug Decriminalization With Half-Million Dollar Oregon Campaign Donation (Marijuana Moment)

  • Turn On, Tune In, Get Well (The New Yorker)

  • Set and Setting for Society’s 21st Century Trip (Lucid News)

  • Field Trip Adds Acclaimed Physician, Dr. Andrew Weil, to Medical Advisory Board (Psilocybin Alpha)

  • DC Democratic Party Endorses Psychedelics Decriminalization Ballot Initiative (Marijuana Moment)

  • Mind Cure Welcomes Award-Winning Journalist and Science Researcher Hamilton Morris to Advisory Board (Psilocybin Alpha)

  • Dave Chappelle’s Marijuana And Psychedelics Parties Don’t Concern Local Sheriff (Marijuana Moment)

  • Therapeutic Approaches for Lasting Change in Psychedelic Therapy (Psychedelics Today)

  • Trazodone and Psychedelics (Spirit Pharmacist)

  • How a Canadian Decriminalization Model Can Improve on Portugal (Filter)

  • MindMed Partners with NYU Langone Medical Center to Launch Groundbreaking Training Program for Psychedelic Therapies and Medicines (PR Newswire)

  • Horizons Conference Shifts to Year-Round Films, Forums and Classes (Lucid News)

  • Cannabis and Psychedelics: Vote and Change the Laws! (Chacruna)

  • HPPD: Visual Flashbacks are Still Possible After a Trip is Over—But It’s Unlikely (DoubleBlind)

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 catalogue how psychedelics are presented by the mass media, which includes everything from the latest scientific research to misinformation.

This Week in Psychedelics - 8.21.20

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Cannabis

  • Maine Marijuana Sales Can Finally Begin, Officials Announce Four Years After Voters Legalized It (Marijuana Moment)

  • Cannabis Customers Can Now Buy Marijuana From Vending Machines In Colorado (CBS Denver)

  • South Dakota Could Pass Two Marijuana Ballot Measures In November (Marijuana Moment)

  • Mexican President Says Marijuana Legalization Will Advance Through Congress As Session Approaches (Marijuana Moment)

  • Study: After-Hours Marijuana Use Doesn’t Negatively Impact Job Performance (NORML)

  • Federal Court Denies DEA Request To Dismiss Marijuana Rescheduling Case (Marijuana Moment)

  • The Future Is Here: Weed Vending Machines Are Coming to Massachusetts (MERRY JANE)

  • Local Marijuana Bans In California Keep Illicit Market Alive And Block Revenue, Study Shows (Marijuana Moment)

  • Vermont: Bicameral Committee Meets in Effort to Finalize Marijuana Sales Measure (NORML)

  • Marijuana Activists Ask Supreme Court To Hear Their Case Against DEA (Marijuana Moment)

  • Trump Voices Concern That Putting Marijuana On The Ballot Makes Republicans Lose (Marijuana Moment)

  • Poll: Republicans Like Marijuana Legalization, Too (Even If It’s Kamala Harris’s Idea) (Forbes)

  • Parents of toddler with severe epilepsy seek legal review of cannabis oil guidelines (The Guardian)

  • DEA Proposes Hemp And CBD Rules To Comply With Crop’s Legalization (Marijuana Moment)

  • That Study Linking Prenatal Weed Use to Autism Has a Few Serious Flaws (MERRY JANE)

  • This Is Weighing Down Multi-State Cannabis Operator Profitability (New Cannabis Ventures)

  • AAA gives grants to police, non-profits to combat marijuana-impaired driving (WAND-TV)

  • The FDA Is Now Hiring People to Study Thousands Cannabis Products (MERRY JANE)

  • Drive to Free Black Woman With Marijuana Life Sentence Exposes “Habitual Criminal” Laws (Filter)

  • Texas Ban On Selling Smokeable Hemp Temporarily Lifted By Judge (Marijuana Moment)

  • County Will Let Marijuana Offenders Off the Hook If They Get a Card After Arrest (Phoenix New Times)

LSD

  • Director Oliver Stone admits lacing 'up-tight' dad's drink with LSD to loosen him up (Mirror)

Magic Mushrooms

  • The Mystical Experience is Critical for the Therapeutic Effects of Psilocybin (Psychedelic Science Review)

  • Why the DEA Went After a Small-Time Mushroom Dealer in Denver (Lucid News)

  • Mydecine™ Launches World’s First Natural-Sourced cGMP Psilocybin for Global Research, Sales, and Distribution Enterprise (Psilocybin Alpha)

  • Investigation launched after Home Office psilocybin rescheduling response (Health Europa)

  • Johns Hopkins Wants To Hear About Your Psychedelic Journeys For New ‘Real-World’ Study (Marijuana Moment)

  • How to Make Shroom Tea: The Ultimate Mushroom Tea Guide (DoubleBlind)

  • Magic Mushrooms, Memory and Resistance in the Sierra Mazateca (Chacruna)

MDMA

  • Can Taking MDMA with LSD Help Prevent a ‘Bad Trip’? New Clinical Trial Investigates (Psilocybin Alpha)

  • Psychedelics Group Raises $30 Million From Execs At GoDaddy, SpaceX And Others For MDMA Study (Marijuana Moment)

  • Buddhist University Partners with MAPS to Offer MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy Training (Lucid News)

  • Police issue warning about Donald Trump-shaped ecstasy pills (The Guardian)

DMT

  • Reports of positive encounters with autonomous entities after taking DMT suggest drug may have therapeutic potential (PsyPost)

Ayahuasca

  • Remembering Dr. Jordi Riba, Ayahuasca Research Pioneer (1968–2020) (Chacruna)

  • Psychedelic brew ayahuasca produces therapeutic benefits lasting up to six months, study finds (PsyPost)

  • Russian Jailed for 11.5 Years Over Ayahuasca Bottle From Peru (The Moscow Times)

  • Tripping on Ayahuasca has always been fun, but now it might be good for you (GOOD)

Ketamine

  • Ketamine response biomarker may help tailor antidepressant treatments (Healio)

  • How Ketamine Infusions Helped Me (Pain News Network)

Miscellaneous

  • Plant Medicine Church in Oakland Gets Raided by Local Police Department (DoubleBlind)

  • Advocates Unveil Guide For Psychedelic Healing Ceremonies They Hope To Legalize In Oakland (Marijuana Moment)

  • This Dot-Com Guru is Asking Trump to Legalize Psychedelics (DoubleBlind)

  • After the pandemic, could psychedelic treatment help us heal? (Mic)

  • Psychedelics Could Help People with Addiction and Anxiety (CBS News)

  • Canada takes step to decriminalize drug possession amid opioid crisis (The Globe and Mail)

  • A plan to overhaul the UK’s unjust drugs policy is just around the corner (LabourList)

  • The Phoenix Effect: Reversing Mental Age With Psychedelics (qwerky science)

  • Field Trip Psychedelics Inc. Expands Stateside With Psychedelic-Enhanced Psychotherapy Clinic in New York City (Psilocybin Alpha)

  • Watch The First Ad For Oregon’s Drug Decriminalization Ballot Measure (Marijuana Moment)

  • Breaking Down a Model Bill to Decriminalize All Drugs (Filter)

  • From pot to shrooms: What's next for decriminalization? (Toronto Sun)

  • This is Your Brain on Ego Death (Psychedelic Science Review)

  • Beckley Psytech Reveals Scientific Advisory Board Consisting of Renowned Psychedelic Experts (Psilocybin Alpha)

  • Inside the Work of a New York Psychedelic Trip Guide (Filter)

  • What Psychedelics Could Mean for Eating Disorders (Lucid News)

  • The Role of the Claustrum in the Psychedelic Experience (Psychedelic Science Review)

  • IntelGenx Enters into Feasibility Agreement with ATAI Life Sciences to Develop Pharmaceutical-Grade Polymeric Film-Based Psychedelics (Psilocybin Alpha)

  • Higher Profile: Madison Margolin, Co-Founder, DoubleBlind Magazine (High Times)

  • Spiritual Politics with Ismail Lourido Ali (Chacruna)

  • CFN Enterprises Inc. Adds Cybin Corp. to Growing Psychedelics Client Roster (Yahoo! Finance)

  • Nutritional High Completes Acquisition of Psychedelic Science Corp (Psilocybin Alpha)

  • Psychedelic drugs heighten perception, but do they foster creativity and inspire art? (MEAWW)

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 catalogue how psychedelics are presented by the mass media, which includes everything from the latest scientific research to misinformation.

This Week in Psychedelics - 8.14.20

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Cannabis

  • Arizona Marijuana Legalization Initiative Officially Qualifies For November Ballot (Marijuana Moment)

  • Montana Will Vote On Two Marijuana Legalization Measures In November, State Confirms (Marijuana Moment)

  • Here are the new cannabis rules proposed for South Africa – including limits, penalties and criminal records (BusinessTech)

  • New research raises questions about the link between cannabis use and depression among adolescents (PsyPost)

  • New Initiative To Legalize Marijuana Sales Filed In D.C. (Marijuana Moment)

  • Spanish Cannabis Approved for Import to Germany (Cannabis Industry Journal)

  • Four More Ohio Cities Will Vote On Marijuana Decriminalization This November (Marijuana Moment)

  • Where Vice Presidential Candidate Kamala Harris Stands On Marijuana (Marijuana Moment)

  • Boomers Smoke Twice as Much Medical Cannabis as Millennials, New Survey Says (MERRY JANE)

  • New Jersey Now Allows Medical Marijuana Recommendations Via Telehealth Amid Coronavirus (Marijuana Moment)

  • Study: Most Americans in Legal States Express “Positive Perceptions” of the Cannabis Marketplace (NORML)

LSD

Magic Mushrooms

  • New company to put psilocybin on dissolvable sublingual strips to help treat depression (Leafly)

  • First-Of-Its-Kind Clinical Trial To Study Psychedelic Treatments For PTSD In Veterans (Forbes)

  • New Psychedelic Research Nonprofit Teams with Johns Hopkins University for Real-World Study on Use of Psilocybin Mushrooms (PR Newswire)

MDMA

  • MAPS And The Road To FDA Approval For MDMA (Benzinga)

DMT

Ayahuasca

  • New Study Shows Ayahuasca’s Benefits When Used in a Traditional Setting (Lucid News)

  • Mestre Irineu: A Black Man Who Changed the History of Ayahuasca (Chacruna)

  • A Response to “Early Reflections on Interviews with Palestinians and Israelis Drinking Ayahuasca Together” (Psymposia)

Iboga

  • Abuses and Lack of Safety in the Ibogaine Community (Chacruna)

Synthetic Cannabinoids

Ketamine

  • Coloradans Dosed With Ketamine During Police Confrontations Want Investigation (KUNC)

  • American Society of Ketamine Physicians, Psychotherapists and Practitioners Announces Standards of Practice in the Therapeutic Use of Subanesthetic Ketamine (PR Newswire)

  • Investigators Uncover Antidepressant Response Mediator to Ketamine (HCPLive)

Miscellaneous

  • Why Don’t More Black People Use Psychedelics? (Medium)

  • The Defund the Police Movement is Coming for the DEA (VICE)

  • What Are the Long-Term Effects of Microdosing Psychedelics? (DoubleBlind)

  • Psychedelic drugs reduce depressive symptoms by helping individuals accept their emotions, study suggests (PsyPost)

  • On Your Next Psychedelic Journey, Let an App Be Your Guide (WIRED)

  • How Would Dismantling the DHS Affect the War on Drugs? (Filter)

  • What is Psychedelic Therapy? Common Trends, Practices, and Foundations in the Field (Psychedelics Today)

  • Yield Growth Announces Name Change and Provides Corporate Update (Psilocybin Alpha)

  • Field Trip Psychedelics Inc. Expands Stateside With Psychedelic-Enhanced Psychotherapy Clinic in New York City (PR Newswire)

  • Eleusis sheds light on psychedelics that relieve asthma in rats with no mental effects (Fierce Biotech)

  • Meet the Woman Who Wants to Sell Psychedelic Drugs to Scientists (Futurism)

  • The Political Value of Psychedelics (Reality Sandwich)

  • Mind Medicine (MindMed) Inc. Announces Q2 2020 Financial Results (Psilocybin Alpha)

  • How to Embrace the Effects of Psychedelics Without the Drugs (Elemental)

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 catalogue how psychedelics are presented by the mass media, which includes everything from the latest scientific research to misinformation.

This Week in Psychoactives - 7.19.19

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CANNABIS

  • California Claims the Crown for the Nation’s First Recreational Pot Cafes (MERRY JANE)

  • Australian Researchers Say You Can Treat Cannabis Dependency with... Cannabis? (MERRY JANE)

  • Senate Schedules Hearing On Marijuana Business Banking Access (Forbes)

  • That Alarming CBD Liver Damage Study Is Bunk—And the Media Should Know Better (Leafly)

  • Were Vikings POTHEADS? Archaeologists uncover evidence of cannabis at 1,000-year-old settlement (The Sun)

  • Legalizing Marijuana Leads To Fewer Illegal Grow Sites In National Forests, Study Finds (Marijuana Moment)

  • Pennsylvania Adds Anxiety as Medical Marijuana Qualifying Condition (MERRY JANE)

  • New Roadside Cannabis Test Approved for Use in Canada (Leafly)

  • Marijuana Legalization Associated With Decreased Interest In Alcohol, Study Finds (Marijuana Moment)

  • New Hampshire: Governor Signs Marijuana Annulment Measure (NORML)

  • As More States Legalize, DEA Chops Down Fewer Marijuana Plants, Federal Data Shows (Marijuana Moment)

  • Pot-smoking parents are harsher with discipline: study (New York Post)

  • Marijuana Legalization Could Be On The Horizon For British Virgin Islands (Marijuana Moment)

  • Recent cannabis use tied to memory deficits, slowed mental processing (Reuters)

  • Kamala Harris Evolved Slowly on Legalization, but She’s All About It Now (Leafly)

  • Thousands Of Comments Urge FDA To Allow CBD In Foods And Supplements (Marijuana Moment)

  • Three Republicans Stand in the Way of Federal Weed Legalization (Rolling Stone)

  • Medical cannabis is gaining momentum in Asia (CNBC)

  • THC Testing is Bullshit and You're Getting Screwed (Beard Bros Pharms)

  • Sound Garden owners plan Maryland’s first medical cannabis lounge in Fells Point (The Baltimore Sun)

LSD

  • Kid Cudi reveals iconic Coachella jam was the result of an LSD trip (Dancing Astronaut)

  • Everything We Know About The YouTube Engineer Who Injured 8 People On LSD Rampage (YourTango)

MAGIC MUSHROOMS

MDMA

  • REPORT: First MDMA/Psychotherapy Trial Successful In Combatting Alcoholism (Your EDM)

  • Breakthrough PTSD treatment using party drug MDMA coming soon to Philly region (PhillyVoice)

  • Hamilton schoolboy dies after ‘ecstasy’ horror as three more teens rushed to hospital (The Scottish Sun)

  • Will MDMA Show Up On a Drug Test? (VICE)

  • Mum's unusual pledge after daughter dies from MDMA overdose at festival (Yahoo! News)

AYAHUASCA

  • Olivia Newton-John proposed to boyfriend after taking hallucinogen drug! (All4Women)

Yopo

  • An Introduction to Yopo in the Venezuelan Piaroan Tradition (DMT Times)

5-MEO-DMT

  • Upcoming World Bufo Alvarius Congress Looks to Nurture Global 5-MeO-DMT Community (Psychedelic Times)

SAN PEDRO

  • Man selling giant hallucinogenic cactus says he's not a drug dealer (Newshub)

SYNTHETIC CANNABINOIDS

  • Kids thought this was 'natural cannabis' vape juice... it was Spice. Nine people who ended up in hospital could have died (Manchester Evening News)

KETAMINE

  • Ketamine-like drug for depression could get UK licence within the year (The Guardian)

  • Ketamine for Depression: Clinical Evidence and Concerns (Psychiatry Advisor)

OPIOIDS

  • "We Didn't Cause the Crisis": David Sackler Pleads His Case on the Opioid Epidemic (Vanity Fair)

  • Delta to carry Narcan on planes after passenger ‘carried out in body bag’ following overdose (The Independent)

  • Media Frame: Fentanyl Panic is Worsening the Overdose Crisis (The Appeal)

  • The Louvre Removed the Name of OxyContin-Linked Sackler Family From Its Walls (TIME)

  • States Are Making Progress on Opioids. Now the Money That's Helping Them May Dry Up (The New York Times)

  • Opioid Shipments Increased by Over 50% as Addiction Crisis Grew, Federal Data Shows (TIME)

  • What to call someone who uses heroin? (ScienceDaily)

COCAINE

  • Passenger from Colombia fails to fool Spanish police with his cocaine-under-the-toupee trick (CBS News)

  • What Does Cocaine Do to the Heart? (VICE)

METHAMPHETAMINE

  • Asia's meth trade is worth an estimated $61B as region becomes 'playground' for drug gangs (CNN)

  • How Myanmar Became A Global Center For Meth & Other Synthetic Drugs (The Fix)

  • Police Warn Flushing Drugs Could Create Terrifying 'Meth Gators' (People)

CAFFEINE

  • Under 16s set to be 'banned' from buying caffeine-filled energy drinks (Edinburgh Live)

  • Hot coffee or iced? Study says higher temp provides more health benefits (KABC)

  • Daily coffee doesn't affect cancer risk (Medical Xpress)

TOBACCO

  • New York Raises Statewide Smoking Age to 21 (TIME)

  • Raising tobacco sales age to 21: Ohio becomes latest state in national trend (Cincinnati.com)

  • Tobacco Plants Made to Produce Useful Compounds (Scientific American)

ALCOHOL

KRATOM

  • Drug Researchers Raise Concern Over "Misleading" Evidence in Kratom Studies (Inverse)

  • What to know about kratom for depression (Medical News Today)

  • Kratom Ban Back on the Table in Oxford (Hotty Toddy)

KHAT

  • Miraa farmers mull tough sanitary laws with eyes fixed on new export markets (The Star)

MISCELLANEOUS

  • Berkeley City Council Considers Decriminalizing Psychedelics This Week (Marijuana Moment)

  • Science of microdosing psychedelics 'remains patchy and anecdotal', says review (Imperial College London)

  • El Chapo, the Notorious Drug Kingpin, Has Been Sentenced to Life in Prison in the U.S. (TIME)

  • New data shows drug overdose deaths fell in 2018. But there’s a big catch. (Vox)

  • Scotland drug deaths – 1,200 deaths recorded in 2018 as worst ever figures released (The Sun)

  • People who microdose psychedelic substances report improved mood and focus (Medical Xpress)

  • New Bill Ensures Some Retroactive Drug War Justice for New Hampshire (High Times)

  • Future of drug-sniffing dogs uncertain after Colorado Supreme Court ruling (The Coloradoan)

  • Microdosing has a critic — one of its pioneers (Rooster Magazine)

  • Police Thought They Beat the Darknet Drug Markets – They Didn't (VICE)

  • Nutrition Is an Overlooked Aspect of Harm Reduction (Filter)

  • Framing addiction as a disease: Research shows that message might backfire (The Philadelphia Inquirer)

  • Survey reveals extent of music festival drug use (The Australian)

  • The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Problematic Process for Religious Exemption for Use of Prohibited Psychoactive Substances (Chacruna)

  • The Risky Business of Psychedelic Therapy (Medium)

  • How Congress can expand access to addiction treatment — immediately (The Hill)

  • Inside the Philippines Prison That Sparked Duterte’s Murderous Drug War (Filter)

  • Mother of festival drug death victim says Gladys Berejiklian needs to show courage (The Guardian)

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 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.


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: