This Week in Psychoactives - 3.20.20

Cannabis

• Amid Coronavirus, San Francisco, New York, Deem Marijuana Businesses 'Essential' (NPR)

• Dutch queue for cannabis as coronavirus closes cafes (FRANCE 24)

• Cannabis cafes can offer takeaways to head off the return of street dealers (DutchNews.nl)

• 'The legal stuff is garbage': why Canada's cannabis black market keeps thriving (The Guardian)

• Colorado Just Issued The First Marijuana Delivery License In The State (Marijuana Moment)

• Medical Marijuana Doctors Can't Use Telemedicine During Virus Outbreak (Westword)

• Legalizing Marijuana Increases Housing Prices, Study Finds (Marijuana Moment)

• CBD Alone Can Treat Depression and Break Drug Addictions, Case Study Shows (MERRY JANE)

• Connecticut Residents Strongly Support Legalizing Marijuana, Poll Shows (Marijuana Moment)

Magic Mushrooms

• California Psilocybin Legalization Activists Request Online Signature Gathering Amid Coronavirus (Marijuana Moment)

• Study Indicates the Magic Mushroom Compound Baeocystin is Not Psychedelic (Psychedelic Science Review)

• Hawaii Lawmakers Introduce Plan To Study Psychedelic Mushrooms With Goal Of Legalizing Access (Marijuana Moment)

• Scientists Solve Another Crystal Structure of the Psilocybin Analog Miprocin, 4-HO-MiPT (Psychedelic Science Review)

• Study Shows Norpsilocin is More Potent Than Psilocin at 5-HT2A (Psychedelic Science Review)

• A Hockey Player Blamed Shrooms for His Brutal Attack on a Woman. It Worked (VICE)

Ayahuasca

• What Are the Coronavirus Risks with Ayahuasca Ceremonies? (EntheoNation)

Peyote

• Native American Churches Request that Peyote Not Be Included in Decriminalization Initiatives (Psymposia)

Opioids

• Coronavirus Is Leading to Shortages of Fentanyl And Meth (VICE)

Cocaine

• Fiona Apple quit cocaine after ‘excruciating’ night with Quentin Tarantino (Page Six)

Nicotine

• JUUL Tricks Its Customers Into Advocating for the Florida Flavor Ban (Vaping360)

• A Scientist Persuaded Italy to Exempt Vape Shops From COVID-19 Lockdown (Filter)

• Ireland bans menthol cigarettes and rolling tobacco starting May 20 (Euronews)

• Young adults don't know what's in nicotine products they vape, study finds (Medical Xpress)

• Minimum price for tobacco could boost health of poorer people, study suggests (BT)

• British American Tobacco circumventing ad ban, experts say (The Guardian)

Alcohol

• States Boost Hospitality Industry With Booze Delivery and Takeout Sales (U.S. News and World Report)

• So Alcoholics Anonymous Is “Proven” to Work After All? Not So Fast (Filter)

Kratom

• Kentucky Poison Control Center Officials Call Kratom A Drug of Concern (Kratom Guides)

Kava

• Kava consumption banned in all police premises (The Fiji Times)

Khat

• Governor Bans Sale of Miraa Over Coronavirus Fears (Kenyans.co.ke)

Miscellaneous

• Harm Reduction in the Time of Coronavirus (Medium)

• Baltimore To End Most Drug Prosecutions Amid Coronavirus Outbreak (Marijuana Moment)

• ‘Business Is Booming’ for Drug Dealers Who Deliver (The Daily Beast)

• 'Dosed' Review: The Case for Plant-Based Recovery (The New York Times)

• Myths and Realities About the Decriminalization of Psychedelics in the US (Chacruna)

• Safe injection sites: Coronavirus underlines why they make sense (New York Daily News)

• Microdosing or Using Psychedelics? How to Support Academic Research (Medium)

• Prohibition Partners Releases PSYCH: The Psychedelics as Medicine Report (Prohibition Partners)

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.

This Week in Psychoactives - 2.21.20

Cannabis

• Leafly investigation: Vape lung injuries date back to 2007 (Leafly)

• New Hampshire House Approves Marijuana Legalization Bill (Marijuana Moment)

• New Study Claims Americans See Marijuana as the “Safest” Party Drug (EDMTunes)

• Mike Bloomberg Attacks Marijuana Legalization In Controversial Resurfaced Recording (Marijuana Moment)

• Everyone Scared of Legal Weed Was Freaking Out Over Nothing: Report (VICE)

• Kentucky House Approves Medical Marijuana Legalization Bill (Marijuana Moment)

• Colorado Marijuana Money Funds Cleaner Highways And Anti-Bullying Programs (Marijuana Moment)

• There's a New Synthetic Weed Drug Coming That's Basically Marinol Chewing Gum (MERRY JANE)

• Medical Marijuana Patients With ADHD Use Fewer Prescription Drugs, Study Finds (Marijuana Moment)

• Alabama Lawmakers Approve Medical Marijuana Legalization Bill (Marijuana Moment)

• New Utah marijuana bill clarifies that private employers don’t need to allow its use (Deseret News)

• NFL Would End Marijuana Suspensions In Deal Approved By Team Owners (Forbes)

• Marijuana May Have Caused 12-Hour Erection, Doctors Say (Marijuana Moment)

• Pregnant Women with Anxiety or Depression More Likely to Smoke Weed, Study Finds (MERRY JANE)

• Flying high: Are cannabis drone deliveries the future or merely fantasy? (Leafly)

• Mike Bloomberg Calls For Marijuana Decriminalization And Expungements In New Plan (Marijuana Moment)

• The cannabis industry's next big threat: Hacks and fraud (CNN)

• New Arizona Bill Attempting to Limit Medical Marijuana to 2% THC (Arizona Marijuana)

• Hemp Is For Horses? New Study Examines CBD’s Calming And Painkilling Effects In Animals (Marijuana Moment)

Magic Mushrooms

• Mushroom Advocates Eyeing Boulder As Next Decriminalization Target (Westword)

• Man Magically Regains His Sense of Smell Using Psilocybin Mushrooms (DoubleBlind)

• DC mom leads effort to decriminalize magic mushrooms after treating postpartum depression (WJLA)

• Can A Legal Magic Mushroom Industry Avoid the Pitfalls of Recreational Weed? (East Bay Express)

• Therapists Are Fighting for Psilocybin Mushroom Legalization in Canada (Euro Weekly News)

DMT

• DMT and the Psychedelic Underground in Mainland China—An Insider’s Story (Kahpi)

Ketamine

• Use of ketamine among partygoers could be underreported (UPI)

• Ketamine Could Be Useful Alternative for Pain Relief, Sedation in ICU (MD Magazine)

• Ketamine use can prevent postanesthetic shivering without severe side effects (Medical Dialogues)

Opioids

• Insurance companies can’t penalize people with prescriptions for life-saving opioid overdose medication, state says (The Denver Post)

• Opioid vending machine opens in Vancouver (The Guardian)

• Johns Hopkins Will Test Epidiolex to See If It Can Help with Opioid Withdrawal (MERRY JANE)

• Naloxone Administration to Be Used as “Probable Cause” for Drug Charges in Indiana (Filter)

• Progress Slows In Massachusetts: Death Rates Flat In Opioid Crisis (WBUR)

• Police Scotland officers set to trial drug overdose spray (BBC)

• U.S. states reject $18 billion proposal to settle opioid lawsuits, discussions ongoing: sources (Reuters)

Methamphetamine

• Meth is back and flooding the streets of Ohio and Kentucky, and it's uglier than ever (Cincinnati.com)

Caffeine

• From khat to coffee: revitalising an age-old Yemeni crop (The Guardian)

• How natural caffeine compares to synthetic caffeine, according to health experts (MSN)

Nicotine

• Journal Retracts Study That Falsely Associated E-Cigarettes With Heart Attacks (Filter)

• Could tobacco cure coronavirus? Don’t laugh. (Politico)

• The great vape debate: are e-cigarettes saving smokers or creating new addicts? (The Guardian)

• Study Researches Whether Nicotine Patch Can Help People With Memory Loss (NBC4 Washington)

• Governor Cuomo Launches Campaign to Ban Flavored Nicotine Vaping Products and Restrict Vaping Ads Aimed at Youth (NY.gov)

• Why One of the World’s Largest Tobacco Companies Is Struggling (The Wall Street Journal)

• Teen vaping is bad. Nicotine makes it worse, says researcher (Science)

• Foods That Flush Nicotine Out of Your Body (Thrive Global)

Alcohol

• Higher alcohol taxes to fund NHS would benefit poor – study (The Guardian)

• Beer goggles: the truth about alcohol and romantic judgment (The Guardian)

• A Utah bill could prevent offenders from buying alcohol at state stores (The Salt Lake Tribune)

GHB

• New report shows illicit drug GHB deaths could be prevented (UNSW Newsroom)

Kratom

• Missouri House passes bill requiring more kratom regulation (KSDK)

• Michigan debates future of kratom, an herbal remedy linked to 9 state deaths (Bridge Michigan)

• Oregon House Moves to Ban Underage Sales Of Kratom, A Botanical Used For Pain Or Fun (The Lund Report)

• Popular Kratom Vendor Shows How Kratom Is Manufactured (Benzinga)

• Reports of Kratom Causing Acne: Is That True? (Kratom Guides)

Miscellaneous

• Ballot Language Approved For Washington, D.C. Psychedelics Decriminalization Measure (Marijuana Moment)

• A quarter of street drugs are fake and dangerous to users (The Guardian)

• Drug use will change significantly in the 2020s – here’s how (Dazed)

• #ThankYouPlantMedicine Creates Wave of Gratitude for Ayahuasca, LSD, and Mushrooms (The Third Wave)

• Business gets ready to trip: How psychedelic drugs may revolutionize mental health care (Fortune)

• Virtual Reality Can Replicate Mystical Psychedelic Experiences, Study Says (MERRY JANE)

• The influence of drugs on murder rates is being overstated (TalkingDrugs)

• Psychedelic drugs have lost their cool. Blame Gwyneth Paltrow and her Goop (The Guardian)

• Rampaging Vikings were fuelled by hallucinogenic herbal tea that made them feel less pain and become 'highly aggressive' say scientists (Daily Mail)

• First Psychedelics-Centered PR Agency Launches In Toronto (Benzinga)

• Psychedelics for systems change: could drugs help us save the planet? (openDemocracy)

• The Conservative Drug Policy Reform Group: driving reform in the UK (Health Europa)

• Study shows Dublin hospital has third highest number of drug-related medical emergencies (Irish Examiner)

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.

This Week in Psychoactives - 1.24.20

Cannabis

• Cannabis compound could be weapon in fight against superbugs (The Guardian)

• Mexican Lawmakers Plan To Pass Amended Marijuana Legalization Bill Before End Of April (Marijuana Moment)

• No, A Study Didn’t Say Cannabis Impairs Driving Once You’re Sober (Forbes)

• Joe Biden Again Says No To Marijuana Legalization Without More Studies (Marijuana Moment)

• Four-in-ten U.S. drug arrests in 2018 were for marijuana offenses – mostly possession (Pew Research Center)

• Michigan recalls 9,380 marijuana vaping products over vitamin E acetate concerns (MLive)

• Cannabis store burglaries on the rise in Denver (Marijuana Business Daily)

• Virginia Lawmakers Approve Marijuana Decriminalization Bill (Marijuana Moment)

• Medical Marijuana Could Improve Sleep Quality for Chronic Pain Patients (MD Magazine)

• Yet Another Study Finds That Weed Helps with Endometriosis (MERRY JANE)

• Study: Cannabidiol may not ease sleep problems, especially for regular users (FOX40)

• Proposed 10% THC Limit in Washington Could Wreck Its Entire Weed Industry (MERRY JANE)

Magic Mushrooms

• Company Gets Trademark For The Word ‘Psilocybin,’ Frustrating Decriminalization Advocates (Marijuana Moment)

• Neuroscience study uncovers psilocybin-induced changes in brain connectivity (PsyPost)

• An American Psilocybin Marketplace Might Look Like This (PRØHBTD)

MDMA

• The FDA Just Expanded Access to MDMA as a Therapy for PTSD (VICE)

• Will MDMA Beat Cannabis to Gaining FDA Approval? (DoubleBlind)

• Gwyneth Paltrow reveals husband Brad Falchuk helped her through an 'emotional' MDMA trip in Mexico (Daily Mail)

Ayahuasca

• Drinking Ayahuasca Can Increase Mindfulness And Cognitive Flexibility For At Least 24 Hours (IFLScience)

• The Dangers of the Ayahuasca Tourism Boom (Kahpi)

Peyote

• Matthew McConaughey Reveals He Once Took Peyote In A Cage With A Mountain Lion (ET Canada)

Iboga

• A Hallucinogenic Root Is Pitched to Davos Set as Treatment for Opioid Addiction (Bloomberg)

Opioids

• Pharmaceutical Company Founder Gets 5 1/2 Years for Pushing Opioid (TIME)

• Just 2% of patients who need anti-opioid drug naloxone get it (UPI)

• People Rarely Die After Using Opioids Prescribed for Them (Reason)

• Why Harsher Fentanyl Penalties Will Exacerbate the Overdose Crisis (Filter)

Nicotine

• Nebraska only enforcing "Tobacco 19" amidst federal "Tobacco 21 Act" (KHGI)

• Vaping is still at least 95% lower risk than smoking - debunking a feeble and empty critique (The Counterfactual)

• Nebraska bill would move tobacco, nicotine use age to 21 (NTV)

• Bill raising Florida's legal tobacco age passes senate committee (WCTV)

Benzodiazepines

• Benzodiazepines might be a 'hidden element' of the US' overdose epidemic -- and doctor visits for prescriptions are increasing (CNN)

Alcohol

• Fewer Americans Are Binge Drinking, But Those Who Are, Are Drinking More (TIME)

Kratom

• Release the Kratom: Inside America's Hottest New Drug Culture (WIRED)

• Kratom set to be legalised in parts of the country (Bangkok Post)

• Benchmark for Kratom manufacturing and products in the US (News Anyway)

Khat

• The wild ride of East Africa's favorite stimulant (Washington Post)

Miscellaneous

• Tulsi Gabbard Endorses Legalizing Drugs (Forbes)

• New Vermont Bill Would Decriminalize Psychedelics And Kratom (Marijuana Moment)

• Psychedelics Can Be Used to Treat PTSD, Finds Yet Another Clinical Trial (VICE)

• Psychedelic Drugs Like LSD and Magic Mushrooms Linked to Transformative Experiences, Feeling Connected With Others (Newsweek)

• Idaho Senator Files Bill To Decriminalize Drug Possession (Marijuana Moment)

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.

This Week in Psychoactives - 11.22.19

Cannabis

• Marijuana Legalization Bill Approved By Congressional Committee In Historic Vote (Marijuana Moment)

• Biden Says Marijuana Might Be A Gateway Drug (Forbes)

• Britons who legally smoke cannabis in the US 'risk being deported' (The Guardian)

• Pure CBD Does Not Trigger Positive Drug Tests for Weed, New Study Shows (MERRY JANE)

• Thailand Will Soon Allow Its Citizens To Grow Cannabis At Home To Sell To The Government. (Forbes)

• Colorado Supreme Court Rules Convicts Can Use Medical Weed While on Probation (MERRY JANE)

• Hemp-Derived CBD Helps Chronic Pain Patients Reduce Opioid Use, Study Finds (Marijuana Moment)

• Why Medical Cannabis Isn't Working in the UK (VICE)

• Access to Legal Cannabis Leads to a Decline in Sleep Aid Sales (MERRY JANE)

• NJ Lawmakers Plan to Put Legalization on 2020 Ballot (NORML)

• Virginia Marijuana Decriminalization Bill Filed For 2020 After Democrats Reclaim Legislature (Marijuana Moment)

• Why Are Doctors Still So Reluctant To Prescribe Medical Cannabis? (HuffPost)

LSD

• Silicon Valley's extreme new productivity hack: LSD (GQ)

Magic Mushrooms

• Are Magic Mushrooms The Next Frontier For The Cannabis Industry? (The Fresh Toast)

MDMA

• Dad pushes for drugs to be legalised after sons on MDMA die side-by-side (Mirror)

DMT

• Scientists Discover Psychedelic DMT Creates Waking Dream State in Brain (Newsweek)

Ayahuasca

• Can the psychedelic drug ayahuasca help fight suicide? (PsyPost)

Novel Psychoactive Substances

• Designer Drugs: My Addiction to Research Chemicals (The Fix)

Synthetic Cannabinoids

• Under the Radar: Synthetic Cannabinoids and Vaping-Related Lung Injuries (Project CBD)

Ketamine

• Ketamine’s potential to fight alcohol abuse has a major problem (Inverse)

• Side effects mild, brief with single antidepressant dose of intravenous ketamine (ScienceDaily)

Opioids

• Doctors Are Cutting Patients Off Opioid Medications Too Fast, Study Says (MERRY JANE)

• Surgeon General To Purdue Students: Carry Naloxone, Get Screened For Addiction Risk (WJCT)

Methamphetamine

• ‘Meth. We’re on It’: South Dakota’s Anti-Meth Campaign Raises Eyebrows (The New York Times)

Tobacco

• President Trump Backing Off Banning Vaping Flavors Popular With Teens (TIME)

• Bill Passed by Massachusetts House Would Allow Police to Seize Cars from Vapers who Possess DIY or Black Market E-Liquids (Tobacco Analysis)

• Juul Sued by Two States for Allegedly Marketing E-Cigs to Kids (MERRY JANE)

• American Medical Association Calls for Immediate Ban on All E-Cigarettes and Vaping Products (TIME)

• Philippines' Duterte Says He Will Ban E-Cigarettes, Threatens To Arrest Vapers (NPR)

• Apple to remove vaping apps from store (Axios)

• Influential U.S. doctors group calls for ban on vaping products (Reuters)

• How Wily Teens Outwit Bathroom Vape Detectors (WIRED)

• Smokers who switch to vaping rapidly boost heart health in trial (Yahoo! News)

Kratom

• What Causes Kratom Wobbles & How To Treat It? (Kratom Guides)

• Kratom and Diabetes: Everything You Need to Know (Diabetes Insider)

Khat

• Miraa, muguka crawling with germs, study says (Standard Media)

Miscellaneous

• Where US Psychedelic Decriminalization Efforts Stand Right Now (Filter)

• Take Part in the World's Biggest Anonymous Drugs Survey (VICE)

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.

This Week in Psychoactives - 11.15.19

Cannabis

• CDC Identifies Vitamin E Oil Additive as a “Very Strong Culprit of Concern” in Vaping-Related Lung Injuries (NORML)

• First cannabis-based medicines approved for use on NHS (The Guardian)

• The Media Is Spinning the Latest Weed and Birth Defects Study All Wrong (MERRY JANE)

• Michigan Teen Receives Double Lung Transplant After 'Enormous' Damage From Vaping (TIME)

• Ohio bans vitamin E acetate from medical marijuana vapes after CDC links it to lung illnesses (Cincinnati Enquirer)

• Pew Poll: Two-Thirds of Americans Say “Marijuana Should Be Made Legal” (NORML)

• Bernie Sanders Wants To Legalize Medical Marijuana For Military Veterans (Marijuana Moment)

• Apple Removing Vaping-Related Apps From App Store Today Amid Public Health Concerns (MacRumors)

• From ‘Veronica Mars’ to toxic vapes: The rise and fall of Honey Cut (Leafly)

• You Can Get A Master's In Medical Cannabis In Maryland (NPR)

• Mass Lifts Ban on Medical Cannabis Flower Vapes, But Oil Carts Still Restricted (MERRY JANE)

• Marijuana Prohibition Is Delaying Federal Response To Vaping Crisis, CDC Says (Marijuana Moment)

• Surprise! Michigan adult-use cannabis sales begin Dec. 1 (Leafly)

• Young Americans Are Smoking More Weed and Less Tobacco, Study Finds (MERRY JANE)

• Millions of Brits using street cannabis to treat chronic health conditions (Health Europa)

• How Vietnam veterans expanded America’s cannabis strains (Leafly)

• Cannabis Is the Most Effective Treatment for Endometriosis, Study Finds (MERRY JANE)

• Neil Young says his US citizenship application is being held up because he uses marijuana (CNN)

• Illegal Pot Grows Are Poisoning Animals and the Environment in National Parks (MERRY JANE)

• Where Presidential Candidate Deval Patrick Stands On Marijuana (Marijuana Moment)

Magic Mushrooms

• What’s Lost When Psychedelic Mushrooms Become Synthetic Psilocybin (DoubleBlind)

• Taking a Deep Look at Psilocybin for Depression Research (Psychedelics Today)

• Explorer’s Guide: Microdosing Magic Psilocybin Truffles (Maps of the Mind)

MDMA

• DJ fell from cliff in Cornwall and died while on MDMA (Cornwall Live)

• ‘Beautiful’ girl, 15, died after taking MDMA that cost just £2.50 (The Sun)

• A Guide to Taking Ecstasy as Safely as Possible (VICE)

Ayahuasca

• Ayahuasca, Depression and Me (Chacruna)

5-MeO-DMT

• Meet 5-MeO-DMT, the 'powerful' psychedelic that improves depression in one hour (Big Think)

Synthetic Cannabinoids

• Project CBD releases special report on synthetic cannabinoids and vaping-related lung injuries (Project CBD)

• ‘Synthetic Marijuana’ Is A Dangerous Misnomer That People Need To Stop Using (The Fresh Toast)

Nitrous Oxide

• Amazon and eBay 'must block illicit nitrous oxide sales' (BBC)

Ketamine

• Why ketamine is so good against depression (ZME Science)

Opioids

• New fingerprinting technology will reveal whether someone has recently used heroin – even if they have washed their hands afterwards (Daily Mail)

• At-home naloxone kits have reversed over 50K opioid overdoses in B.C.: health authority (Global News)

• Vancouver pilots new fentanyl-patch program to combat opioid crisis (The Globe and Mail)

• Mass. Has The First Jail In The Country That's Also A Licensed Methadone Treatment Provider (WBUR)

• Bill Would Require Ohio Pharmacists Be Educated About Naloxone Law (Statehouse News Bureau)

• Pa. is treating more opioid overdoses as homicides. Defense lawyers are learning to fight back. (The Philadelphia Inquirer)

• Bill would let Florida schools keep, administer OD antidote naloxone (WPTV)

• Narcan carries heavy costs (The Salem News)

Cocaine

• A Pack of Feral Hogs Sniffed Out a Cocaine Stash in Italy (Rolling Stone)

• Startling number of senior citizens abusing cocaine in the UK (New York Post)

Methamphetamine

• Why Meth Is Making a Big Comeback (VICE)

• Meth Has Many Medical Benefits. Stigma Holds Them Back. (Filter)

• Her baby was stillborn because of meth, police say. Now she’s charged with murder (Los Angeles Times)

Caffeine

• This influencer is trying to make coffee vaping sexy (New York Post)

• What to know about caffeine withdrawal headaches (Medical News Today)

• What are the health benefits of yerba maté tea? (Medical News Today)

Tobacco

• The Vaping Industry Is Furious at President Trump — Could it Cost Him the Election? (Rolling Stone)

• Pending Ban on Flavored E-Cigarettes in Massachusetts Authorizes Forfeiture of Vapers' Cars (Reason)

• Vaping May Be Worse for Heart Health Than Tobacco Cigarettes, New Study Finds (TIME)

• New York will raise the age to purchase tobacco starting Wednesday (Rochester Democrat and Chronicle)

• House votes to ban flavored tobacco, heavily tax vaping products (Boston Herald)

• Cardiologists warn vaping is so dangerous and addictive it should be banned (Sky News)

• With vape curbs pending, White House questions FDA tobacco role (Chicago Tribune)

• More vapers are making their own juice, but not without risks (CNN)

• What The U.S.-China Trade War Has Meant For North Carolina Tobacco Farmers (WUNC)

• Minnesota was winning the war on teen tobacco use. Then vaping became popular. (TwinCities.com)

Alcohol

• Denver Wants to Test Out Public Drinking Zones in 2020 (MERRY JANE)

• Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder: The 'heartbreaking' reality (BBC)

Kratom

• Kratom products may cause liver injury, new analysis led by Philadelphia physician finds (The Philadelphia Inquirer)

• DEA Kratom Ban Update 2019 (Kratom Guides)

• Inside Plan to Bring Kratom Consumer Protection Act to Colorado (Westword)

• Hundreds told Clearwater not to ban kratom. Officials were baffled. (Tampa Bay Times)

• Kratom may be effective, but not entirely safe to treat alcohol use disorder (News-Medical.net)

• Kratom And Your Blood Pressure (Kratom Guides)

• Kratom Tea for Improved Sleep (My MMA News)

• Kratom Packaging – Right Kind Of Packaging For Kratom (Kratom Guides)

• Can You Buy Kratom In San Diego? (Kratom Guides)

Khat

• Experts Now Warn Chewing Khat Increases Chronic Liver Disease Risk (Newswire)

Miscellaneous

• Paul Stamets Announces the Launch of First-Ever Microdosing App (The Third Wave)

• Santa Cruz Will Consider Decriminalizing Psychedelics This Week (Marijuana Moment)

• Snapchat, Facebook and Instagram are the newest dark alleyways dealers use to sell drugs (Rooster Magazine)

• Psychedelics as Anti-Inflammatory Agents (Psychedelic Science Review)

• Festival-goers in Victoria could be subject to pill testing in 2020 under new bill (The New Daily)

• Study: How Punitive Policies Harm Pregnant Drug Users (Filter)

• Cincinnati-area high school announces mandatory drug tests for all students beginning in 2020 (WIS TV)

• Postal Service Unveils ‘Drug Free USA Forever’ Stamp Commemorating 1980s Anti-Drug Program (Marijuana Moment)

• The Drug Policy Reform Movement Debates Its Next Moves (Filter)

• The Sydney students synthesising psychedelics for health research (The University of Sydney)

• CSSDP to provide free drug-testing kits to students (The McGill Tribune)

• Drug policies used to criminalise the LGBTQIA+ community in Uganda (Talking Drugs)

• How psychedelics could reduce existential distress for end-of-life patients (The Varsity)

• What is Psychedelic Microdosing? (News-Medical.net)

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.