This Week in Psychedelics - 4.17.20

Cannabis

• Virginia: Governor Approves Bills to Decriminalize Marijuana and Legalize Medical Cannabis (NORML)

• DC Allows Medical Marijuana Delivery Under Coronavirus Emergency Order (Marijuana Moment)

• N.F.L. Bows to Marijuana’s New Status (The New York Times)

• Missouri Activists Officially End 2020 Marijuana Legalization Campaign Due To Coronavirus (Marijuana Moment)

• 420 Smoke-Out Is Officially Canceled in San Francisco Due to Coronavirus (MERRY JANE)

• UK’s First Virtual Cannabis Legalisation Rally to be Held on 4/20 (The Cannabis Exchange)

• How To Celebrate The 4/20 Marijuana Holiday Virtually This Year Amid COVID Social Distancing (Marijuana Moment)

• COVID-19 delays Maine’s recreational marijuana rollout (Leafly)

• House Democrats Working to Roll Cannabis Banking Into Coronavirus Relief Effort (MERRY JANE)

• No federal relief: Cannabis businesses cry for help as coronavirus batters industry (NBC News)

• Virginia Governor Urges Medical Marijuana Expansion As Amendment To Recently Approved Bill (Marijuana Moment)

• A.I. Suggests US Vaping Illness Case From Last Summer Was Actually COVID-19 (MERRY JANE)

• Montana Marijuana Activists File Lawsuit For Electronic Ballot Signature Gathering During COVID (Marijuana Moment)

• Rare cannabinoid shows early promise for diabetes (Leafly)

• Marijuana Use Reaches All-Time High Under Coronavirus Pandemic (The Fresh Toast)

• Hemp Farmers Make Double the Salary of Average Agricultural Workers, Study Says (MERRY JANE)

• Cannabis May Ease Opioid Withdrawal Symptoms, Johns Hopkins Study Finds (Marijuana Moment)

• Study suggests frequency and severity of negative reactions to cannabis (Medical News Today)

• DEA Seized More Marijuana Plants In 2019, But Arrests Fell (Marijuana Moment)

• ‘Cooked With Cannabis’ takes pot-infused cuisine to new highs (Chicago Sun Times)

• USDA Approves Hemp Plans For Florida, Kansas And Three Indian Tribes (Marijuana Moment)

• Medical Cannabis and Arthritis – Could it Help? (The Cannabis Exchange)

• Does cannabis make you poo? (Leafly)

LSD

• Indie Film ‘Debbie and Doug Drop Acid in the Desert’ is a Visual and Emotional Trip (Psymposia)

• Bicycle Day: Demons, Milk, and “Medicine for the Soul” (DoubleBlind)

Magic Mushrooms

• Neuroscientists uncover how magic mushrooms "rebalance" the brain (Inverse)

• Psychedelic compound from magic mushrooms produced in yeast (Phys.org)

• Science breakthrough: How ancient humans used magic mushrooms to grow brains exposed (Express)

• Orthogonal Thinker Files For Patent For Its Psilocybin Product, Psilly (Benzinga)

• Psilocybin Mushrooms Are Making A Comeback (Longevity Live)

• How to Make Mushroom Chocolates (DoubleBlind)

MDMA

• Scientists say MDMA could help treat mental health in a post-lockdown world (Dazed)

DMT

• What Is DMT "Changa" and How Do You Make This Form of the Psychedelic? (MERRY JANE)

Ayahuasca

• Coloradan Gets Stuck at Ayahuasca Retreat in Peru (Westword)

• How Ayahuasca, an Ancient Amazonian Hallucinogen, Became Hollywood's New Favorite Escape (Town & Country)

• The Virus, Ayahuasca, Grief, and Hope (Chacruna)

5-MeO-DMT

• Habitat Influences Psychoactive Toad Secretions (Psychedelic Science Review)

• Hamilton Morris on 5-MeO-DMT, the Entourage Effect, and Protecting Toads (Psychedelic Science Review)

Iboga

• What Is Ibogaine and Can the Psychedelic Plant Help Break Drug Addictions? (MERRY JANE)

Novel Psychoactive Substances

• MindMed Initiates Dosing in Human Safety Study of Novel Treatment for Opioid Addiction, 18-MC (The Salamanca Press)

Nitrous Oxide

• The Rise of Laughing Gas in the Delivery Room (The New York Times)

Ketamine

• Champignon Brands Acquires Ketamine Clinic Operator AltMed Capital (Benzinga)

• Can Ketamine-Induced Near-Death Experiences Expedite Healing? (Chacruna)

Miscellaneous

• Announcing the Launch of the World’s First Psychedelic Video Museum (The Daily Psychedelic Video)

• Coronavirus triggers UK shortage of illicit drugs (The Guardian)

• Mindset Pharma Begins Work with Leading R&D Contractor for Next-Generation Psychedelic Drugs (PR Newswire)

• Coronavirus pandemic could trigger a spike in mental illness — this organisation thinks psychedelic drugs will help (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

• Therapists See Benefits and Risks in Psychedelic Therapy During Covid-19 Crisis (Lucid News)

• How Psychedelic Drugs Can Help Us Overcome Crisis (Kahpi)

• Why 2020 is the Year of Psychedelics and Threesomes (DoubleBlind)

• Teens once again discover that nutmeg can get you high with the #NutmegChallenge (The Daily Dot)

• 5 Tips For Psychedelic Integration Providers (Maps of the Mind)

• Social Isolation Turns the World Inside Out. That’s Why Shamans Do It. (Kahpi)

• Ensuring Psychedelic Liberty in Black and Brown Communities: Questions to Ponder (Chacruna)

• The COVID 19 Journey is a Psychedelic Experience (Medium)

• UCSB Psychedelics Club Explores Psychedelic Usage and Research (The Bottom Line)

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 - 12.6.19

Cannabis

• Michigan celebrates first legal cannabis purchases (Leafly)

• DEA Finalizes Plan To Grow 3.2 Million Grams Of Marijuana In 2020 (Marijuana Moment)

• Cannabis Stocks Are Scrambling to Conserve Cash (Nasdaq)

• Illinois City Will Use Weed Taxes to Pay Reparations for Black Residents (MERRY JANE)

• Field test kits will help police distinguish between marijuana and hemp (Richmond-Times Dispatch)

• CBD could help doctors use lower doses of chemotherapy (Israel21c)

• Brazil approves medical marijuana rules, blocks cannabis cultivation (Reuters)

• Shoppers Drug Mart expands online medical cannabis retail into Saskatchewan (Saskatoon Star Phoenix)

• Minnesota OKs medical cannabis for chronic pain, eye disease (Minnesota Public Radio News)

• New Zealand Government Unveils Marijuana Legalization Bill Ahead Of 2020 Referendum (Marijuana Moment)

• Harborside got around a regulatory ban to open SoCal’s first drive-thru cannabis shop in Desert Hot Springs (Palm Springs Desert Sun)

• Clinical Trial: Transdermal Application of CBD Effective in Patients with Myofascial Pain (NORML)

• Willie Nelson Quit Smoking Weed, But He’s Still Eating It (MERRY JANE)

• Cannabis on the Tickets in the Coming UK Elections (New Frontier Data)

• North Dakota Activists Submit Measure To Legalize Marijuana In 2020 (Marijuana Moment)

• L.A.’s Cannabis Cafe Is Rebranding and Parting Ways with Lowell Herb Co. (LA Magazine)

• Men who regularly smoke cannabis have increased risk of developing testicular cancer, study claims (Yahoo! News)

• Michael Bloomberg Backs Decriminalization As Marijuana Views Evolve Amid Presidential Run (Marijuana Moment)

• Lil Wayne Just Launched His Own Cannabis Brand (Forbes)

LSD

• NASA prepped for alien communication with 'LSD dolphin sex' experiment (Daily Star)

Magic Mushrooms

• World’s first magic mushroom nasal spray for PTSD and depression (Health Europa)

• Scientists Finally Figured Out Why Magic Mushrooms Turn Blue (MERRY JANE)

• A Glimpse of Life After Magic Mushroom Legalization (Forbes)

• The Keys To Understanding Psilocybin's Medical Value, Market Potential (Benzinga)

MDMA

• How to Legalize MDMA, With the Help of Pharmacies and Nightlife Spaces (Filter)

Ketamine

• 'Bad' ketamine and ecstasy warning after Liverpool clubbers hospitalised (BBC)

Opioids

• Drugs Used to Replace Opioids Linked With Increase in Suicide Attempts Across U.S. (Newsweek)

• 7 Heroin Users Die From Flesh-Eating Bacteria in San Diego (The New York Times)

• MLB Wants Rehab Rather Than Suspension for Players Who Use Opioids (MERRY JANE)

• Congressman calls on airlines to carry naloxone, NARCAN to help fight opioid epidemic (NBC Montana)

• Iowa Organization Offers Free Access to Opioid Overdose Reversal Drug (WHO TV)

Cocaine

• Cocaine deaths in Wales 'quadruple in five years' (BBC)

• Europe becomes cocaine exporter as countries overflow with drug (The Telegraph)

Methamphetamine

• Meth is killing more Utahns than ever before (The Salt Lake Tribune)

Caffeine

• You're Using Caffeine the Wrong Way (Psychology Today)

• What Are Caffeine Pills—And Are They Safe? (Health.com)

Nicotine

• E-cigarettes do NOT increase pneumonia risks: Study suggests vapor does not weaken the immune system in the same way as cigarette smoke (Daily Mail)

• More than 6 million US middle and high schoolers used tobacco products in 2019, report says (CNN)

• Minnesota Is the Latest State to Sue E-Cigarette Maker Juul Over Youth Vaping (TIME)

• Marijuana and Nicotine Are Trading Places as Prohibitionists’ Target (Filter)

• Tobacco Companies Win Temporary Reprieve on Low-Nicotine Cigarettes (The Motley Fool)

Alcohol

• Prescription Alcohol Can Help Problem Drinkers (Elemental)

• A nimbler way to track alcohol use—by mining Twitter and Google searches (Medical Xpress)

• Alcohol death rates dropping in Scotland (BBC)

• Alcohol tolerance may have saved our ancestors from extinction (Phys.org)

Kratom

• Flying With Kratom – Can You Take Mitragyna Speciosa On A Plane? (Kratom Guides)

• Kratom vs. Nutmeg: Which Is More Dangerous? (Pain News Network)

Miscellaneous

• Scientist Talks Benefits Of Psychedelics At Federal Health Agency Event (Marijuana Moment)

• Renewed push for pill-testing in more Australian states following latest festival death (The Music Network)

• Study outlines concerns around natural psychoactive substances (Medical News Today)

• Orthogonal Thinker Launches First Psychedelics Lifestyle Brand PsillyLife to Promote Psychedelic Culture and Proprietary Research (Yahoo! Finance)

• Andrew Yang Calls For Investments In Safe Injection Sites For Illegal Drugs (Marijuana Moment)

• Julián Castro Open To Decriminalizing Drugs And Endorses Safe Consumption Sites (Marijuana Moment)

• The Ethical Quagmire of Conducting Drug Trials With Incarcerated People (Filter)

• Successful Alcohol And Drug Recovery Still Hindered By Stigma (Forbes)

• At Penn, people in recovery are helping more patients with addiction enter treatment (The Philadelphia Inquirer)

• The nautical beginnings of America’s war on drugs (NavyTimes)

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 - 3.29.19

CANNABIS

• Guam Becomes First U.S. Territory To Send Marijuana Legalization To Governor In 2019 (Marijuana Moment)

• House Will Vote To End Federal Marijuana Prohibition Within ‘Weeks,’ Key Chairman Says (Marijuana Moment)

• Cannabis Out! New York Drops Legalization From Budget Bill (Leafly)

• Marijuana Legalization Vote Cancelled Due To Lack of Support In New Jersey Senate (Marijuana Moment)

• Marijuana Banking Bill Approved By Congressional Committee (Forbes)

• Louisiana Takes a Step Toward Finally Delivering Medical Marijuana (Leafly)

• Marijuana Legalization Bill Clears Another Major Hurdle In New Hampshire (Marijuana Moment)

• Cannabis-related ER visits in Colorado jump threefold after legalization, study says (CNN)

• Mexican Government Launches Poll To Ask Citizens If Marijuana Should Be Legal (Marijuana Moment)

• Connecticut Lawmakers Approve Marijuana Legalization Bill In Key Committee (Marijuana Moment)

• CVS Ignores DEA, Says It’s Already Selling CBD Products (Leafly)

• Texas: Marijuana Decriminalization Bill Advances Out Of Key Committee (NORML)

• San Diego Considers Cannabis Cafes (NBC Los Angeles)

• States With More Immigrants Are More Likely To Legalize Marijuana, Study Finds (Marijuana Moment)

• Seth Rogen launches weed company 'to make it easier for people to learn to love cannabis' (CNBC)

• FDA Chief Clarifies Enforcement Priorities For CBD Products (Marijuana Moment)

• Flood of products containing marijuana extract puts FDA in a bind (Politico)

• CBD for sport: legality and benefits (The Sports Daily)

• Where Presidential Candidate Pete Buttigieg Stands On Marijuana (Marijuana Moment)

LSD

• Missouri Man Spikes Coworkers' Drinks With LSD (KOLR)

• Stanford double checking applications following LSD and admissions scandals (Palo Alto Daily Post)

MAGIC MUSHROOMS

• Explorer’s Guide: Taking Magic Psilocybin Truffles in Amsterdam (& The Netherlands) (Maps of the Mind)

MDMA

• 'Popular' schoolgirl, 13, died at home after taking ecstasy (Mirror)

AYAHUASCA

• We Need to Talk About When People Feel Worse After Ayahuasca (Kahpi)

• Considerations for Engaging with Amazonian Ancestral Practices, People, and Places (Psymposia)

• How Ayahuasca Can Be Used to Build Cohesion and Better the World (Reset.me)

• Wade Davis on the Popularization of Ayahuasca and the Climate Crisis (Reality Sandwich)

• How Ayahuasca Connected Me To The Divinity Of The Universe (Reset.me)

5-MEO-DMT

• Study Finds 5-MeO-DMT Effective in Relieving Depression and Anxiety (Psychedelic Times)

NOVEL PSYCHOACTIVE SUBSTANCES

• Mice tripping on psychedelics help explain neural origins of hallucinations (New Atlas)

• The Dangers of Synthetic Drugs (The Fix)

SYNTHETIC CANNABINOIDS

• Researchers Gave People Synthetic Pot. Here's What Happened. (Live Science)

• GMO Brewer’s Yeast Used to Produce THC and CBD (Oregon Cannabis Connection)

NITROUS OXIDE

• No laughing matter – nitrous oxide helps to unravel rapid antidepressant mechanisms (Medical Xpress)

• Florida man was high on erotic-themed nitrous oxide when he killed lawyer, cops say (Miami Herald)

• Jim Nielsen’s bill to ban sale of nitrous oxide passes committee (Chico Enterprise-Record)

• Frat denies hazing claims in lawsuit over student's death (San Antonio Express-News)

KETAMINE

• From Popular Anesthetic to Antidepressant, Ketamine Isn’t the Drug You Think It Is (Discover Magazine)

• Ketamine: A Promising Novel Therapy for Anxiety and PTSD (Psychiatry Advisor)

• FDA Approves Ketamine Derivative as Depression Treatment for First Time (Discover Magazine)

• Ketamine IV Infusions Made Me Myself Again. Here’s Everything You Need To Know (High Times)

• Esketamine to become available for Yale students (Yale News)

• Ketamine: can it really be an antidepressant? (The Guardian)

OPIATES/OPIOIDS

• Purdue Pharma and Sacklers Reach $270 Million Settlement in Opioid Lawsuit (The New York Times)

• You can’t overdose on fentanyl by touching it (Vox)

• As They Profited From the Opioid Crisis, Sacklers Funded Anti-Muslim Network (Sludge)

• The White House And Federal Scientists Are Pushing The Myth That Marijuana Is Laced With Fentanyl (BuzzFeed News)

• New York State Sues Billionaire Sackler Family Behind OxyContin (TIME)

• Want to Reduce Opioid Deaths? Get People the Medications They Need (The New York Times)

• How I overcame my heroin addiction – and started to live (The Guardian)

• ‘Mistreatment’ centers shouldn’t be adding to the opioid crisis (Philadelphia Inquirer)

• Vt. committee approves bill decriminalizing drug (WCAX)

• What NJ is doing to take down unimaginable number of heroin mills (New Jersey 101.5)

• Mother charged in Mount Holly man's overdose death (The Sentinel)

• FINDING HOPE: Utah law allows librarians to distribute opioid reversal drug, Naloxone (KiviTV)

• Pharmacists Role in Providing Naloxone Is Expanding (Pharmacy Times)

COCAINE

• Here’s What a Legal Market for Cocaine Could Look Like (Filter)

• 'Special offers' on crack cocaine fuelling big rise in use in England (The Guardian)

• Deaths from cocaine and fentanyl mixtures a growing concern in Northeast Ohio: What you need to know (Cleveland.com)

• Cocaine making comeback amid opioid epidemic, officials say (WCVB)

METHAMPHETAMINE

• Florida Woman Faced 10 Years For 'Meth' That Was 'Just a Rock' (The Appeal)

CAFFEINE

• There's Evidence Coffee Acts on Your Brain Like Cannabis, But in Reverse (ScienceAlert)

• Myanmar to try growing, exporting more coffee as alternative to opium (Myanmar Times)

• Mouse Studies Suggest Protective Effects of Caffeine in Parkinson’s Disease (Parkinson's News Today)

• If you have a daily caffeine habit, do you know how much is too much? (WXYZ)

• Can Taking Caffeine During Your Workout Actually Be Dangerous? (Runners World)

• 10 health benefits of living caffeine-free (MDLinx)

TOBACCO

• As Pa. prisons ban tobacco, new informal currencies arise: chips, ice cream tickets, ramen (The Philadelphia Inquirer)

• How Big Tobacco uses Big Tech to hook new smokers (Fast Company)

• Washington State Legislature Votes to Raise Age for Buying Tobacco to 21 (KPQ)

• Two more Minnesota cities make 21 the legal age for tobacco purchases (MPR News)

• New Denver proposal would ban tobacco sales to people under 21 years of age (FOX31 Denver)

ALCOHOL

• Could ‘alcosynth’ provide all the joy of booze – without the dangers? (The Guardian)

• Scientists Have Cured Alcoholic Rats by Shooting Lasers at Their Brains (ScienceAlert)

• Utah's New Beer Law Isn't Lifting Many Spirits (Reason)

NOOTROPICS

• Could These Nootropics Help You Achieve Peak Mental Performance? (San Antonio Express-News)

• Improving brain health with nootropics (Personal Liberty)

• Is Modafinil the new Wonder Drug? (Thrive Global)

• Best Nootropics for Athletic Performance (The Sports Daily)

KRATOM

• Monroe County looking to ban Kratom drug (WTVA)

• Your Guide to Kratom (San Diego Entertainer)

MISCELLANEOUS

• Acid test: how psychedelic virtual reality can help end society's mass bad trip (The Guardian)

• Researchers examine classic versus novel psychedelic use in United States (University of Alabama at Birmingham)

• Ralph Metzner, Bay Area expert on hallucinogens, death and psychology, dies (San Francisco Chronicle)

• German biotech startup raises $43 million for psychedelic medicines (Axios)

• Stigma Is Barrier to Health Care for People Who Inject Drugs (Boston University School of Public Health)

• Schedule I Sacrament (Harvard Political Review)

• Going to Burning Man? The Feds Want You Searched for Drugs (Reason)

• A New Resource to Measure Good and Bad Drug Policies (Filter)

• Investors are starting to bet big on psychedelic medicine (CNBC)

• Wicked Ecstasy: Altered States in The Name of the Rose (The Oak Tree Review)

• Jump in antidepressant prescriptions in England (BBC)

• Houston police investigator probing failed drug raid relieved of duty (Chron)

• Legal Syringe Programs Could Finally Be Arriving in Iowa (Filter)

• Kensington neighbors angered by potential location of supervised injection site (WHYY)

• Psychedelic Integration: The Importance of Community and a Daily Practice (Psychedelics Today)

• Houston Narcs Implicated in Deadly Drug Raid Will Soon Be Receiving Pensions (Reason)

• Here are 6 psychedelic trips from legal drugs you probably didn’t know about (Raw Story)

• Could psychedelic medicine be the new cannabis? (Proactive Investors)

• Are psychedelics the new anti-depressants? (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

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:

---

This Week in Psychedelics - 12.16.16

Image by Dahtamnay, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Cannabis

• New DEA Rule Says CBD Oil is Really, Truly, No-Joke Illegal (Leafly)
• Federal Marijuana Protections Extended Through April, But Face an Uncertain Future (NORML)
• Marijuana Is Harder Than Ever for Younger Teens to Find (U.S. News and World Report)
• Six States That Could Legalize Marijuana Next (ATTN:)
• The Major Way Israel Is Putting America to Shame on Marijuana (ATTN:)
• Mexico's Senate Passes Medical Cannabis Bill in Landslide Vote (Leafly)
• Cannabis museum celebrates legal weed in Uruguay (AZ Central)
• Massachusetts: Over a Century Of Cannabis Criminalization Comes to an End (NORML)
• Do Animals Benefit From Medical Cannabis? (Weed News)
• How The Medical Cannabis Program Helps My PTSD (Weed News)
• What Happens When You Stop Smoking Weed (ATTN:)
• Seattle cannabis shop sells pet-friendly pot products (KOMO News)
• How Cannabis Incubators Help Budding Marijuana Startups Grow Into Booming Businesses (Los Angeles Weekly)
• Canadian Government's Legal Marijuana Task Force Releases Recommendations (NORML)
• Portland tries to make life easier for cannabis businesses (Portland Business Journal)
• Colorado Cannabis Shops Hit $1-Billion In Sales (Civilized)
• Pot task force recommends legal cannabis sales be limited to users 18 and over (CBC)
• The end of an era in cannabis prosecutions? (Arutz Sheva)
• Marijuana Side Effects: Regular Cannabis Use Affects Vision And Eye's Retina, Study Finds (Medical Daily)
• Cannabis used to alleviate pain (Isle of Man Today)

LSD

• A Productive Person's Guide to a Little Bit of LSD (Bloomberg)
• JOHN WILCOCK: The History of East Coast Academic Acid (Boing Boing)
• Listen To John Lennon Tell The Story Of His First Acid Trip (Live for Live Music)
• CIA controlling minds through drugs (DunyaNews Pakistan)
• A Naked Man on LSD Got Mauled by K-9 After Ignoring Police Orders. Now He's a Rich, Naked Man... (Independent Journal Review)
• Ranchi students run drug biz through 'acid stamps' (Times of India)

Psilocybin/Magic Mushrooms

• Renowned Clinical Pharmacologist Talks Magic Mushrooms & Their Therapeutic Value (Collective Evolution)
• Psilocybin Mushrooms Shown to Alleviate Both Depression & Anxiety in Cancer Patients (Dr. Axe)
• How Magic Mushrooms Affect Depression (ATTN:)

MDMA/Ecstasy

• The Altered State of Medicine: Pros and Cons of Treating PTSD With MDMA Psychotherapy (Psychedelic Times)
• FDA Approves Stage 3 Medical Trials For MDMA (Dance Music Northwest)
• Ecstasy sold in US is less pure and more dangerous than in Europe, experts warn (The Guardian)
• Nearly 60% of All Ecstasy Sold in the US is Not Pure (THUMP)
• MDMA criminalization delayed research on drug's benefits: Sal Rodriguez (Los Angeles Daily News)
• Number Of Ecstasy-Related Deaths In The UK At Highest Level In Ten Years (Your EDM)
• Ecstasy 'teddy bear' pills: Cops' DEADLY warning as teen dies after Warehouse Project (Daily Star)
• 'I woke up with wires and tubes everywhere' Ecstasy pill teen talks of drug hell which left her in coma (Scottish Daily Record)
• 'The world has lost one amazing girl': Rugby club boss' agony as his beautician daughter, 19, dies after taking 'teddy bear' Ecstasy pills at an all-night rave (Daily Mail)
• Teenager dies after taking ecstasy (The Independent)

Ayahuasca/DMT

• Why Ayahuasca Is a New Age Spiritual Scam (Highsnobiety)
• Sting takes powerful psychedelic to rehearse for death (New Magazine)

Dissociatives

• Party Drug/Cat Tranquilizer Ketamine Is a Great Antidepressant (Motherboard)
• Ketamine trial led by Melbourne doctors key to cut lingering pain (Herald Sun)
• PCP's powerful cousin: 3 things cops need to know about TCP (PoliceOne.com)
• Down the K-hole: How Ketamine Became Tel Aviv's Drug of Choice (Harretz)
• My Ketamine Journeys, or Ketamine and the Enchantment of Other Worlds (Reality Sandwich)
• Dr. Steven Reichbach Opens Only Ketamine Infusion Therapy Center In Sarasota-Manatee Area (Sarasota Post)
• Philadelphia Ketamine Clinic Offers New Depression Treatment That Works in Hours! (Digital Journal)
• Bridgeport man on PCP who shouted 'I love ISIS' gets prison for injuring others in crashes (The Times Herald)
• Man high on PCP punches cop: Police (PennLive)

Opiates/Opioids

• America risks losing the war on terror in Afghanistan unless it legalizes the opium trade (Quartz)
• Heroin Overdoses Now Kill More in US Than Gun Homicides, CDC Says (Voice of America)
• Heroin-Related Deaths Rise As Heroin Use Falls (Reason)
• Make heroin available on prescription, official UK drug advisers say (The Guardian)
• Fentanyl is not a problem. Drug laws are the problem. (American Thinker)
• Mexican army faces uphill battle against opium poppies (MSN)
• Naloxone is now mandatory in all B.C. rehab centres (CBC News)
• DEA: Heroin Haul Largest Ever in Afghanistan, 'if Not the World' (ABC News)
• Drug in the times of demonetisation: Chocolate spiked opium is cashless city's new high (India Today)
• Problems Associated with the Rising Costs of Naloxone and Plausible Solutions (Pharmacy Times)
• Lethal synthetic 'super heroin' triggers 1st Cook County overdose death (Chicago Tribune)
• Digging Deeper Into North Carolina's Statewide Standing Order Of Naloxone (WFMY)
• Utah pharmacists can now dispense naloxone without a prescription (Gephardt Daily)
• The rising price of naloxone -- risks to efforts to stem overdose deaths (American Pharmacists Association)
• Sharp Rise in Drug Withdrawal Symptoms in Rural-Born Babies (TIME)

Kambô

• How the Social Aspect of Traditional Kambo Ceremonies Creates Bonding and Helps Treat Addiction (Psychedelic Times)
• Kambo In the West: Balancing Western Applications With Tribal Knowledge (Psychedelic Times)

Kratom

• DEA Looks to Ban Kratom, a Drug that Could Lessen Addiction (Interesting Engineering)
• Is Kratom a Deadly Drug or a Life-Saving Medicine? (Bloomberg)

Kava

• Kava could help in cancer fight (Radio New Zealand)
• Kava maker (The Fiji Times)

Khat

• Oman crime: ROP personnel foil bid to smuggle khat (Times of Oman)
• Norwegian drug mule caught at Dublin Airport with suitcases of khat (Sunday World)

Miscellaneous Psychedelics/Psychoactives/Drug Policy

• What Are The Medical Benefits of Psychedelics? (VICE)
• For the Health Seeker, Micro-Dosing Psychedelics May be the Secret (EcoSalon)
• Cliff Roth's OG viral video: The Reagans Speak Out on Drugs (Boing Boing)
• These Harmless-Looking Patches Reveal a Problem With Our Police Culture (ATTN:)
• Colombia's President Urges Drug Peace While Accepting Nobel Peace Prize (Reason)
• This Hallucinogenic Honey from Nepal Costs Hundreds of Dollars per Pound (The Daily Meal)
• Mexico quietly marks 10 years of drug war (Inquirer.net)
• White Americans Are Twice as Likely to Take Psychiatric Drugs as Other Racial Groups (TIME)
• Ending journalism's bad trip – why it's important to communicate responsibly about the health effects of psychedelic drugs (Health News Review)
• How to Get High on the Nutmeg You Bought for Eggnog (Inverse)
• These are the European cities that use the most drugs (based on their toilet water) (TheJournal.ie)
• The psychedelic era goes modern (The Daily Aztec)
• The Fighter: How Leila de Lima Ended Up Leading the Opposition to Rodrigo Duterte's Drug War (TIME)
• Tripping the comedy fantastic this weekend (The Daily Iowan)

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 (and other psychoactives) are presented by the mass media, which includes everything from the latest scientific research to misinformation.