CANNABIS
Marijuana’s Ten Biggest Victories Of 2019 (Forbes)
Illinois cannabis dispensaries open New Year’s Day for adult-use sales (Leafly)
New Jersey: Governor Signs Marijuana Expungement Bill into Law (NORML)
Italy legalizes 'cannabis light' (The Local)
Opioid Prescriptions Down In States With Legal Marijuana, Study Finds (Marijuana Moment)
New Jersey Lawmakers Pass Marijuana Referendum to Send to Voters in 2020 (TIME)
Kids Aren't Buying Weed From Legal Pot Shops, Study Finds (MERRY JANE)
Majority Of Americans Support Marijuana Legalization, Two More New Polls Show (Marijuana Moment)
State recalls cannabis vape cartridges tainted with deadly vitamin E acetate (Detroit Metro Times)
Survey shows boom in marijuana vaping among school kids (WHDH)
Regular Cannabis Use Linked to Changes in Heart Structure, Study Finds (MERRY JANE)
EPA Approves Pesticides For Hemp In Time For 2020 Growing Season (Marijuana Moment)
Zenabis recalls mislabeled CBD gelcaps that actually contained THC (Leafly)
Millions of Americans are driving under the influence of marijuana, CDC says (CNN)
Atlanta Will Seal Records for Minor Weed Offenses by February (MERRY JANE)
Oklahoma Activists Take First Step To Put Marijuana Legalization On State’s 2020 Ballot (Marijuana Moment)
Indiana resists legalization, but it’ll be a hot issue in 2020 state elections (Leafly)
Medical Marijuana Legalization Measure Officially Qualifies For South Dakota 2020 Ballot (Marijuana Moment)
Elizabeth Warren Files Marijuana Bills For Veterans And Immigrants (Marijuana Moment)
Patients rally in Ecuador for legal use of medical cannabis (San Francisco Chronicle)
LSD
Microdosing LSD for Alzheimer’s proves safe in early human trial (New Atlas)
Paul McCartney Disturbing Teen Drug Claim Revealed (Alternative Nation)
MAGIC MUSHROOMS
Andrew Yang Says He’s ‘Very Open’ To Legalizing Magic Mushrooms (The Inquisitr)
'Magic mushroom' ingredient could be used to treat depression, study says (CNN)
E. coli Could Produce a Popular Psychedelic for Therapeutic Use (Scientific American)
Psilocybin: Four Important Takeaways from a Clinical Trial (Psychology Today)
5 Fast Facts About Magic Mushroom Compounds (Psychedelic Science Review)
MDMA
MDMA Is Inches Away From Getting FDA Approval (MERRY JANE)
Why MDMA must be reclassified as a Schedule 2 drug (Health Europa)
MDMA-assisted couples therapy: How a psychedelic is enhancing intimacy and healing PTSD (The Conversation)
5-MEO-DMT
Psychedelic drug 5-MeO-DMT induces rapid changes in inflammatory markers (PsyPost)
Psychedelic Toad Makes People More Accepting and Less Depressed, Study Shows (MERRY JANE)
Is the Juice Worth the Squeeze: The Impact of Climate Change, Development, and Psychonauts on the Sonoran Desert Toad (Psychedelics Today)
SYNTHETIC CANNABINOIDS
More than a dozen children collapse after vaping fake cannabis oil laced with ‘spice’ (The Independent)
DEA approves synthetic marijuana for big pharma company against legalization (Stock Daily Dish)
NITROUS OXIDE
Doctors issue warning after 'whippits' misuse lands B.C. woman in hospital (CTV News)
KETAMINE
Ketamine-like drug for depression gets UK licence (The Guardian)
In 2019, a ketamine-based antidepressant raised hopes and concerns (ScienceNews)
OPIOIDS
We have a solution for the opioid epidemic. It’s dramatically underused. (Vox)
Purdue's Payments to the Sackler Family Grew Amid Scrutiny Over the Opioid Epidemic, Court Filing Shows (TIME)
Naloxone Dispensing Sees Major Increase In Last Two Years (Indiana Public Media)
METHAMPHETAMINE
A New Drug Scourge: Deaths Involving Meth Are Rising Fast (The New York Times)
CAFFEINE
New insights into anti-obesity mechanisms of caffeine (New Atlas)
NICOTINE
Congress Approves Raising Age to 21 for E-Cigarette and Tobacco Sales (The New York Times)
Vaping Damages Your Lungs, But Is Still Safer Than Smoking, a Long-Term Study Suggests (TIME)
WHO launches new report on global tobacco use trends (World Health Organization)
Instagram bans influencers from getting paid to promote vaping and guns (CNBC)
Plan to ban tobacco sales to anyone under 21 will hit the military too (Military Times)
Addictive nicotine in Juul nearly identical to a Marlboro: study (Reuters)
US permits sale of cigarettes with 95% less nicotine (The Seattle Times)
Why is Texas throwing high schoolers in jail just for vaping? (Washington Examiner)
BENZODIAZEPINES
Benzodiazepine Overdose Rates Increasing in Teens (MD Magazine)
Problem Drinking Linked to Higher Benzo Use (Sleep Review)
Are benzodiazepines the new opioids? (Medical Xpress)
ALCOHOL
Two standard alcoholic drinks a day no longer safe, health officials say (The Guardian)
The sale of alcohol at the University of South Carolina athletic events has been approved (ABC News 4)
My Friends Serve Underage Kids Alcohol. Should I Speak Up? (The New York Times)
NOOTROPICS
People Tell Us About Using ‘Smart Drugs’ to Max out Their Productivity (VICE)
KRATOM
Justice minister says he’ll speed up kratom decriminalisation (The Thaiger)
Five uses of mitragyna speciosa (The Leaf Online)
Kratom for Chronic Pain? (WholeFoods Magazine)
KANNA
Kanna: The Soothing Succulent of the San People (World of Lucid Dreaming)
KAVA
Kava and anxiety: What science says about the popular plant supplement (Inverse)
Increased Import Of Kava For Personal Consumption Allowed Into Australia (Fiji Sun)
Welcome to Kava Culture: A Spreading Alternative to Reduce Anxiety (Filter)
DATURA
Vet on call: Watch out for datura plant, an animal killer (Daily Nation)
MISCELLANEOUS
Drug Prohibition Makes Illegal Drugs Cheaper and More Lethal, New Report Finds (MERRY JANE)
On Drug Decriminalization in the United States (Playboy)
The Vaping-Related Lung Disease Outbreak May Be Coming to an End (TIME)
More Americans Facing Murder Charges in Drug Deaths (Truthdig)
Call for pill tests as more than 50% of music festivalgoers say they take drugs (The Guardian)
How to Rethink Drug Dealing and Punishment (The Appeal)
Why Chronic Microdosing Might Break Your Heart (Chacruna)
“The state only detains, beats and kills us”: Testimonies from women who use drugs in Mexico (Talking Drugs)
How to Trip Sit (DoubleBlind)
Why Doctors Are Turning to Psychedelics to Treat Depression and Addiction (Men's Journal)
Could Micro-Dosing Psychedelics Lift Depression? (Psychology Today)
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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.