Weekly Psychedelic Links, Monthly Psychedelic Recaps, Yearly Psychedelic Recaps, Announcements, Blog Information
David Wilder
The Roundups and Recaps Are Ending
The Roundups and Recaps Are Ending
Monthly Psychedelic Recaps
David Wilder
This Month in Psychedelics - December 2022
This Month in Psychedelics - December 2022
Weekly Psychedelic Links
David Wilder
Weekly Psychedelic Links - December 2022
Weekly Psychedelic Links - December 2022
Monthly Psychedelic Recaps
David Wilder
This Month in Psychedelics - November 2022
This Month in Psychedelics - November 2022
Weekly Psychedelic Links
David Wilder
Weekly Psychedelic Links - November 2022
Weekly Psychedelic Links - November 2022

paul stamets

Weekly Psychedelic Links - August 2022

8.5.22

Cannabis

  • Brittney Griner sentenced to 9 years in Russian prison for drug possession and smuggling (Leafly)

  • Another American Caught With Weed in Russia Sentenced to 14 Years in Prison (High Times)

  • Cannabis no more of a risk than tobacco and alcohol – study (Cannabis Health News)

  • Federal Marijuana Records Would Be Expunged Under New Bipartisan Congressional Bill (Marijuana Moment)

  • New Study Says Legalization Hasn’t Caused More Teens To Try Cannabis (Marijuana Moment)

  • Cannabis Cafes Emerge in Post-Legalization Thailand (High Times)

  • Study Shows Cannabis Users 55% Less Likely to Develop Common Liver Cancer (High Times)

  • Arkansas Marijuana Campaign Files Lawsuit To Put Legalization Measure On Ballot After State Board’s Rejection (Marijuana Moment)

  • US weed homegrowers produce 8x more than Colorado legal market, says new report (Leafly)

  • Feds Seek Contractor To Help Test Marijuana Compounds In People’s Breath (Marijuana Moment)

  • New 3D Structures of Cannabinoid Receptor Inform Safer Drug Design (Psychedelic Science Review)

  • New Report Recommends Tips for Successful Cannabis-Impaired Driving Campaigns (High Times)

  • Colleges In States That Legalize Marijuana See A Boost In Application Numbers, Study Finds (Marijuana Moment)

  • Brazilian Government’s Selective Blindness to Cannabis Evidence (TalkingDrugs)

  • Largest Federal Workers Union Calls For Ending Marijuana Tests For Most Government Employees In Legal States (Marijuana Moment)

LSD

Magic Mushrooms

  • Psilocybin Microdosing Shows No Benefit to Creativity, Cognition, Perception in New Scientific Study (Willamette Week)

  • Oregon Psilocybin Rules Set To Be Finalized in December (High Times)

  • Lead Plaintiff in Canadian Right To Try Lawsuit Shares His Psilocybin Story (Lucid News)

  • The Rise of Casual Shrooms (VICE)

MDMA

  • It’s Festival Season! How Should We Group Dose MDMA? (Lucid News)

DMT

Ayahuasca

Mescaline

  • Mescaline: A Neglected Tool for Psychotherapy (Sam Woolfe)

Peyote

  • The Peyote Plot: The Indigenous Fight to Conserve the Sacred Plant and the Spiritual Medicine it Contains (DoubleBlind)

Synthetic Cannabinoids

Ketamine

  • Double-action mechanism found that makes ketamine less addictive (New Atlas)

  • How ketamine chic became the new heroin chic (Dazed)

Miscellaneous

  • Poll States 28% of Americans Have Tried At Least One Psychedelic Substance (High Times)

  • The Need for 100,000 Psychedelic Facilitators is Real (LA Weekly)

  • Morgan Stanley Publishes Optimistic Report on Psychedelics (Psychedelic Alpha)

  • California Bills To Legalize Psychedelics Possession, Allow Interstate Marijuana Commerce And More Teed Up For Key Hurdle Next Week (Marijuana Moment)

  • MindMed Board of Directors Approves Reverse Share Split (Psychedelic Alpha)

  • Majority Of Americans Support Psychedelics Research For Military Members, New Poll Finds As Bipartisan Reform Advances In Congress (Marijuana Moment)

8.12.22

Cannabis

  • Report: Spike in Marijuana Positives Fueling Truck Driver Shortage, Supply Chain Disruptions (NORML)

  • Ottawa on track to spend $200M per year on cannabis for veterans (CBC)

  • Wisconsin Governor Pardons Several for Cannabis Offenses (High Times)

  • Missouri will vote on marijuana legalization in November (Leafly)

  • Arkansas Supreme Court Orders State To Put Marijuana Legalization Initiative On Ballot, But Votes May Not Be Counted (Marijuana Moment)

  • Colorado Marijuana Shops Are 98 Percent Compliant With ID Checks To Prevent Underage Sales, State Regulators Say (Marijuana Moment)

  • Cannabis And Lower COVID Hospitalizations: Is There A Connection? Here’s What A New Study Found (The Fresh Toast)

  • Biden DOJ Says Medical Marijuana Patients Are Too ‘Dangerous To Trust’ In Motion To Dismiss Lawsuit On Gun Rights (Marijuana Moment)

  • Voters Across Wisconsin Will See Marijuana Questions On Their Ballots In November (Marijuana Moment)

  • ‘Very good for tourists’: Thailand aims for high season with U-turn on cannabis (The Guardian)

  • The (Possibly) Best and Worst Countries To Get Caught With Pot (Benzinga)

  • New Florida Marijuana Legalization Initiative Filed For 2024 Ballot, With Backing Of State’s Largest Medical Cannabis Company (Marijuana Moment)

  • Can memory loss be good? How cannabis can help with PTSD (Leafly)

  • Arresting illicit weed sellers repeats our drug war mistakes (NJ.com)

LSD

  • Neuroscience research suggests LSD might enhance learning and memory by promoting brain plasticity (PsyPost)

Magic Mushrooms

  • Psilocybin therapy is prompting states to reconsider laws about magic mushrooms (USA Today)

  • Many Oregonians will have to vote again on psilocybin (Oregon Capital Chronicle)

  • Buried Treasure: How Does Psilocybin Reduce Compulsivity? (Psychedelic Science Review)

  • Can Psilocybin Treat Obesity? New Evidence, Future Directions (Psychedelic Science Review)

  • Inside the lab that's creating enough psilocybin for everyone on Earth (Wisconsin Public Radio)

  • Phase 2 clinical trial to examine efficacy of psilocybin for anorexia nervosa (Healio)

  • Coos County cities move to ban psilocybin for medical use in their communities (KCBY)

  • Optimi Health To Launch Therapeutic Psilocybin Product In Partnership With Patient Advocate Thomas Hartle (Psychedelic Alpha)

MDMA

  • Las Vegas Wastewater Study Finds Absolutely Bonkers Spike In MDMA Levels During EDC (BroBible)

  • Where Ecstasy Meets Power: The Unique Risks of MDMA Therapy (Sam Woolfe)

Ayahuasca

  • Packers’ Aaron Rodgers Won’t Be Disciplined for Using Psychedelic Drug (Sports Illustrated)

  • Aaron Rodgers’ former Packers QB coach reacts to psychedelic drug revelation (New York Post)

Novel Psychoactive Substances

  • Psilera’s New Compounds Show Potential for Significant Treatment Improvement in Depression and Neurodegenerative Disorders (Psychedelic Alpha)

  • Majority of 'Bath Salt' Deaths Concentrated in Just Two States (Medpage Today)

  • Woman likely drowned after taking hallucinogenic drugs, coroner finds (Stuff.co.nz)

Synthetic Cannabinoids

  • States That Legalize Marijuana See ‘Significant Reductions’ In Synthetic Cannabinoid Poisonings, Study Finds (Marijuana Moment)

  • A 'very unpleasant time' - new synthetic drug in NZ (Radio New Zealand)

Nitrous Oxide

  • Urgent warning to parents over teens inhaling nitrous oxide after canisters found across Dublin (The Irish Sun)

Ketamine

  • How The Brain Changes In People With Chronic PTSD Following Ketamine Treatment (Healing Maps)

Miscellaneous

  • VR is as good as psychedelics at helping people reach transcendence (Technology Review)

  • The DARE Program Is Back in Some School Districts — Here’s What to Know (Teen Vogue)

  • Compass Pathways Sued for Stealing Trade Secrets (Psychedelic Spotlight)

  • An initiative to decriminalize most plant-based psychedelics is likely to fall short on signatures (Colorado Public Radio)

  • Colombia’s New President Wants to End the Drug War. Can He Succeed? (Filter)

  • Bear high on hallucinogenic 'mad honey' rescued in Turkey (Irish Mirror)

  • How Do We End the ‘War on Drugs’? Perhaps Scandinavia Has the Answer.. (Volteface)

  • Psychedelics are having a moment and women could be the ones to benefit (MIT Technology Review)

  • Over the counter culture: Are psychedelics coming to the corner shop? (The Independent)

  • Psychedelics researchers and investors should focus on delivering therapy, not drugs (STAT)

  • Muslims on Drugs: Psychedelics, Queerness, and Identity in the Post-9/11 Era (DoubleBlind)

  • What Role does Philosophy Play in the Future of Psychedelics? (TalkingDrugs)

  • First Reddit Community-Led Scientific Study to Launch on Quantified Citizen (Yahoo!)

  • Red Wall Voters Want Drug Law Reform – New Polling Shows (Volteface)

  • Psychedelic Clinical Trials and the Michael Pollan Effect (Psychedelic Spotlight)

  • Young Psychedelic Philanthropist Blazes Path for the Psychedelic Future (Lucid News)

  • Rediscovering Our Ancestral Roots of Exploration (Chacruna)

  • What Happens when Psychedelics Meets Video Games? (Lucid News)

8.19.22

Cannabis

  • Brittney Griner Appeals Conviction in Russian Drug Case (High Times)

  • North Dakota will vote on cannabis legalization in November (Leafly)

  • Arkansas court orders recreational cannabis amendment put back on ballot (Marijuana Business Daily)

  • Pot-smoking tourists not welcome in Thailand, says health minister (Reuters)

  • South Dakota Reservation Bans Alcohol, Allows Cannabis (High Times)

  • Analysis: Racial Disparities in Marijuana Possession Arrests Becoming More Pronounced in Prohibition States (NORML)

  • ‘Clean weed’ is about to be everywhere in California. Here’s what you need to know (Los Angeles Times)

  • Ohio Voters In Seven More Cities Will Decide On Marijuana Decriminalization At The Ballot This November (Marijuana Moment)

  • Idaho Activists Launch Medical Marijuana Ballot Push For 2024 (Marijuana Moment)

  • Alberta cannabis sales slow to grow as online identity verification deters consumers, say retailers (CBC)

  • Gallup: Those with First-Hand Experience with Cannabis Likely to Perceive It Positively (NORML)

  • Majority Of Texas Voters Support Marijuana Legalization, Poll Finds (Marijuana Moment)

  • Most Wisconsin Voters—Including Republicans—Support Legalizing Marijuana, Poll Shows (Marijuana Moment)

Magic Mushrooms

  • Is Oregon Ready for the Coming Psilocybin-Fueled Mushroom Tourism Boom? (Portland Monthly)

  • Optimi Health Unveils Canada’s First Natural Therapeutic Psilocybin Product For Approved Patients (Psychedelic Alpha)

MDMA

  • Warnings over dangerously high-strength MDMA pills found at Boardmasters (Mixmag)

DMT

  • Small Pharma Receives Approval for DMT-Assisted Psychotherapy and SSRI Drug Interaction Study (Psychedelic Alpha)

Ayahuasca

  • The Misfortune of “Right Wing” Psychedelia” in Brazil (Chacruna)

  • Anonymous Letter to Conservative Masters of the UDV (Chacruna)

Novel Psychoactive Substances

Nitrous Oxide

  • Atlanta neighbors frustrated by nitrous oxide use outside Widespread Panic show (KMIZ)

Ketamine

  • We Asked the Experts: What Exactly is in Ketamine? (TalkingDrugs)

Miscellaneous

  • Video of a forester who found a drunken bear gorged on hallucinogenic honey became a hit on the Internet (The Saxon)

  • California Psychedelics Legalization Bill Gutted by Key Committee (DoubleBlind)

  • Psychedelics as a sacrament? Lawsuit says drugs are a religious right. (The Washington Post)

  • Integration of psychedelic experiences linked to self-actualization via improvements in personal development and self-insight (PsyPost)

  • Two In Five Americans Say They’ve Changed Their Mind On Drug Policy, With Most Becoming “More Liberal,” Poll Finds (Marijuana Moment)

8.26.22

Cannabis

  • Federal Trade Commission issues refunds to CBD buyers, here’s why (Leafly)

  • Nebraska Officials Will Take A Second Look At Signatures For Rejected Medical Marijuana Ballot Measures (Marijuana Moment)

  • New medical marijuana campaign launches in Idaho for 2024 ballot (Marijuana Business Daily)

  • Study Shows 20% Increase in Frequency of Cannabis Consumption in Recreational States (High Times)

  • FBI Says CBD Use Is An ‘Automatic Disqualifier’ For Employment Despite Federal Hemp Legalization (Marijuana Moment)

  • Oklahoma’s legalization initiative at risk due to state delay (Leafly)

  • The casualties of California legalizing pot: Growers who went legal (The Washington Post)

  • U.S. Forest Service Reminds Workers Of Federal Marijuana Ban And Warns Against CBD Use (Marijuana Moment)

  • Dennis Rodman Proposes To Negotiate Russia Brittney Griner Release (High Times)

  • Why The Legal Cannabis Industry Needs The Black Market (Forbes)

  • Legalization Opponents Sue To Block Initiative From Missouri Ballot (High Times)

  • Cannabis for Chronic Pain Linked to Slightly Increased Risk of Arrhythmia (Healthline)

LSD

  • First Patient Dosed in Trial of LSD for Generalized Anxiety Disorder (Psychiatric Times)

Magic Mushrooms

  • Psilocybin May Help Treat Alcohol Addiction, Study Shows (TIME)

  • Three Out Of Four Oregon Counties Will Vote On Banning Or Postponing Psilocybin Services This November (Marijuana Moment)

  • Inside Paul Stamets’ Massive Microdosing Study (DoubleBlind)

Ayahuasca

  • Mormon Bishop And Former GOP Utah Rep. Champions Ayahuasca After Faith-Affirming Psychedelic Experience (Marijuana Moment)

5-MeO-DMT

  • Trip Advisors: Group Promotes 5-MeO-DMT Harm Reduction By Exposing Shamanic Hustlers (Forbes)

Novel Psychoactive Substances

  • The DEA is Attempting to Ban Two New Psychedelic Drugs (Psychedelic Spotlight)

  • Clearmind Medicine Announces Additional Positive Pre-Clinical Results for its Cocaine Addiction Treatment (Psychedelic Alpha)

  • BetterLife Lead Drug (BETR-001) Promotes Structural Neural Plasticity with Possible Nootropic Effects Similar to That of LSD Without Hallucinogenic Side Effects (Psychedelic Alpha)

Nitrous Oxide

  • Laughing Gas During Labor Is Becoming More Popular Among Women in the United States (People)

Ketamine

  • Ketamine’s upgrade to an employee benefit in US may hasten the legitimacy of psychedelics in SA (BizNews)

DXM

  • FDA Approves First, Only NMDA Receptor Antagonist for Major Depressive Disorder (Pharmacy Times)

Miscellaneous

  • Psychedelic Stocks: MindMed and atai Slash their Pipelines, Mydecine Collapses (Psychedelic Spotlight)

  • Psychedelics Use Increasing Among Adults, But Decreasing For Teens, New Federally Funded Studies Find (Marijuana Moment)

  • Psychedelic-occasioned mystical experiences linked to increased pro-environmental behaviors (PsyPost)

  • How near-death experiences and psychedelics alter attitudes about death (EurekAlert!)

  • Does Microdosing Actually Work? The Science Is Still Conflicted (VICE)

  • Issues of Patient Safety and Ethical Violations in Psychedelic Therapy (Psychedelic Science Review)

  • As Plant-Medicine Churches Grow, Legal Questions Linger (Lucid News)

  • This Psychedelic Theater Troupe Has Been Quietly Changing the World for Decades (DoubleBlind)

  • Do Psychedelic Trips Actually Start In The Gut Instead Of The Brain? (Healing Maps)

  • The Psychedelic Community Takes Itself Too Seriously (Psychedelic Alpha)

  • Ethics in Psychedelic Therapy: The Promises and Pitfalls of Increased Suggestibility (Sam Woolfe)

  • Do You Even Trip, Bro? On Psychedelic Masculinity (Psychedelic Spotlight)

  • How Long Can the Psychedelic Renaissance Last? (Psychedelic Spotlight)

  • The Legal Risks of Psychedelic Therapy and Coaching (EntheoNation)

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.

Disclaimer: "This Week in Psychedelics" does not censor or analyze the news links presented here. The purpose of this column is solely to catalog how psychedelics are presented by the mass media, which includes everything from the latest scientific research to misinformation.

This Week in Psychoactives - 12.27.19

ThisWeekInPsychoactives.jpeg

Cannabis

  • “Impermissible Levels of Lead” Found in Massachusetts' Legal Weed Vapes (MERRY JANE)

  • Travelers caught with weed in Chicago airports won’t be busted, police say (Chicago Sun-Times)

  • Federal CBD Regulations Are Finally Coming (MERRY JANE)

  • Peoria airport to allow recreational marijuana (CIProud)

  • Legal Marijuana Shops Refuse Sales To Underage Customers, Study Finds (Marijuana Moment)

  • Marijuana On The 2020 Ballot: These States Could Vote (Forbes)

  • South Dakota: Medical Cannabis Initiative Certified for 2020 Ballot (NORML)

  • Trump Says He Can Ignore Medical Marijuana Protections Passed By Congress (Forbes)

  • Alabama Legislature’s Study Commission Recommends Medical Marijuana Be Legalized (Marijuana Moment)

  • Hemp cleans toxic soil and produces clean CBD flower, study finds (Leafly)

  • Legalizing Cannabis Has Unexpected Impact on Food and Farming in Humboldt (KQED)

  • Three-Fourths Of New Mexico Voters Support Marijuana Legalization, State-Funded Poll Shows (Marijuana Moment)

LSD

  • Study reveals what happens to the brain on LSD (Inverse)

Magic Mushrooms

  • Denver's psilocybin mushroom policy review panel set to launch in January (9News.com)

  • Activists Take Next Step In Campaign To Legalize Psychedelic Mushrooms In California (Marijuana Moment)

  • Paul Stamets Tells Joe Rogan About the Future of Psilocybin Research (Psychedelic Science Review)

MDMA

  • More Patients Could Have Access to MDMA Therapy—Before the FDA Approves It (DoubleBlind)

  • How — and why — to legalize ecstasy (AlterNet)

Ayahuasca

  • Initial Trial of Ayahuasca for Depression Shows Promising Results (Mad in America)

  • More Evidence About Ayahuasca ‘Death Cult’ Emerges With Arrest of Lawyer Paul Sulla in Hawaii (Frank Report)

Iboga

  • For opioid addicts, African psychedelic ibogaine is last-resort detox drug. Research shows it works, but a legal grey area surrounds its use by clinics (South China Morning Post)

Opioids

  • Risk Factors for Opioid Overdose Similar for Teens and Adults (PsychCentral)

  • The opioid crisis shows why racism in health care is always harmful, never ‘protective’ (The Philadelphia Inquirer)

Methamphetamine

  • Meth boom adds to Afghanistan's opium and heroin woes (Breitbart)

Nicotine

  • Federal Legal Age to Buy Tobacco Products Officially Raised to 21 (TIME)

Benzodiazepines

Alcohol

  • THC vs Alcohol Impaired Driving (DrugScience)

  • Ad stating alcohol is a drug blocked as ‘too political’ (Irish Examiner)

  • UNC researchers may have discovered why some casual drinkers develop an alcohol use disorder (WRAL Tech Wire)

Nootropics

Miscellaneous

  • Baba Ram Dass, Proponent of LSD Turned New Age Guru, Dies at 88 (The New York Times)

  • Say Hello to World’s First Psychedelic Microdosing Study Mobile App (Psychedelic Science Review)

  • Ireland's first supervised drug injection centre gets approved (The Irish Post)

  • The future of psychedelic science: What the next decade holds (New Atlas)

  • A New Way To Quit? Psychedelic Therapy Offers Promise For Smoking Cessation (NPR)

  • Portland Activists Begin Gathering Signatures For Psychedelics Decriminalization Measure (Marijuana Moment)

  • What Makes A Good Psychedelic Guide? (Maps of the Mind)

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

ThisWeekInPsychoactives.jpeg

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

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

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

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.

This Week in Psychoactives - 4.12.19

ThisWeekInPsychoactives.jpeg

CANNABIS

  • Israel Decriminalizes Adult Use Cannabis During CannaTech Conference In Tel Aviv (Forbes)

  • FDA Is Taking Public Comments On CBD. Here’s How To Make Your Voice Heard (Marijuana Moment)

  • Police across the UK are given green light to let cannabis users off scot-free and suggest they get treatment instead of punishment (Daily Mail)

  • Alex Berenson and the Last Anti-Cannabis Crusade (The New Republic)

  • Georgia: Lawmakers Advance Bill To Regulate Low-THC Oil Production (NORML)

  • Mother of girl with epilepsy has supply of medical cannabis confiscated (The Guardian)

  • New York City: Lawmakers Advance Bills Limiting Drug Testing for Cannabis as a Condition of Employment, Probation (NORML)

  • Nova Scotia Woman Plans Constitutional Challenge of Roadside Cannabis Test (Leafly)

  • Hawaii Senate Committee Approves Bill To Decriminalize Marijuana (Marijuana Moment)

  • Senate Bill Would Let Marijuana Businesses Store Profits In Banks (Forbes)

  • California bill to block home delivery of cannabis sidelined for year (Los Angeles Times)

  • Another Connecticut Committee Approves Marijuana Legalization (Marijuana Moment)

  • Will the European legal cannabis industry prosper? (Health Europa)

  • GOP Congressman’s Bill Would Let Medical Marijuana Patients Possess Guns (Marijuana Moment)

  • Mergers And Acquisitions Light Up The Cannabis Sector (Forbes)

  • Indiana Lawmakers Amend Hemp Bill To Allow Smokeable Flower (Marijuana Moment)

  • People of Color Were Targeted by the War on Drugs. They Must Benefit from Marijuana Legalization (Newsweek)

  • Can Cannabis Help You Get Off Adderall? (Civilized)

  • Where Presidential Candidate Tim Ryan Stands On Marijuana (Marijuana Moment)

  • Cannabis stocks lower as investors await the fate of the States Act (MarketWatch)

LSD

  • ‘SNL’ Introduces a Hilarious Film Critic Who Sees Movies on Acid So You Don’t Have To (IndieWire)

  • T.C. Boyle’s new novel takes a trip with LSD evangelist Timothy Leary (Los Angeles Times)

MAGIC MUSHROOMS

  • China Enters Magic Mushroom Industry – Wuhan, MJMedTech, and M2BIO (Psilocybin Technology)

  • Psilocybin-assisted mindfulness training modulates self-consciousness and brain default mode network connectivity with lasting effects (ScienceDirect)

  • Presidential Candidate Jay Inslee Is Open To Decriminalizing Psychedelic Mushrooms (Marijuana Moment)

  • Seth Rogen Talks About Taking Magic Mushrooms At Cirque du Soleil (Marijuana Moment)

  • I went to a chic fundraiser for Denver's psilocybin mushroom vote (Rooster Magazine)

  • The return of the 'stoned ape' theory (Big Think)

  • Sacred Mushrooms of the Mazatec Tradition: Transforming the Inner Landscape of the Human Psyche (Chacruna)

  • How Psilocybin Reset My Suicidal Thoughts And Taught Me To Love Myself (Reset.me)

MDMA

  • Inside an Innovative Study of MDMA Therapy for Alcohol Use Disorder (Filter)

  • MDMA helps adult mice socialize like their adolescent selves (Quartz)

  • Cate Faehrmann: Why a lawmaker admitted to taking MDMA (BBC)

  • Teenager dies after taking six times the 'safe' level of Ecstasy (Your EDM)

  • 'She didn't get the chance to learn from her mistake': Father's anguish after his daughter, 18, died from her first hit of liquid ecstasy - as he reveals the tragic final words she spoke to him (Daily Mail)

  • Illinois man dies after taking ecstasy; parents now educate others on dangers of drug (WTKR)

  • Psychedelic Drug MDMA May Help Treat PTSD (Tech Times)

AYAHUASCA

  • Translating Ayahuasca Shamanism and Western Medicine (Kahpi)

  • Global Ayahuasca Community Joins Together to Defend Ceremony Leader (Talking Drugs)

5-MEO-DMT

  • Study: 5-MeO-DMT May Rapidly Improve Anxiety and Depression (Reset.me)

PEYOTE

IBOGA

  • Dutch natural healer gets 8 years for death of Swedish woman (NL Times)

NOVEL PSYCHOACTIVE SUBSTANCES

  • Ireland: Controversial ban on new psychoactive substances succeeds in reducing health problems (Scottish Legal News)

SYNTHETIC CANNABINOIDS

  • State forensics lab identifying new synthetic cannabinoids (WLOX)

  • A Bunch of Dutch People Smoked Fake Weed for Science (Civilized)

  • Leeds outreach workers devise revolutionary treatment for Spice addiction (Leeds Live)

NITROUS OXIDE

KETAMINE

  • Ketamine May Relieve Depression By Repairing Damaged Brain Circuits (NPR)

  • Thai boys trapped in cave were sedated with ketamine (The Independent)

  • Ketamine vs. Esketamine for Depression (Psychology Today)

  • Emily Atack reveals she was offered ketamine in a nightclub toilet...as she recalls losing her knickers after an all night romp after the BRIT Awards (Daily Mail)

OPIATES/OPIOIDS

  • DOJ Charges UK Firm With Conspiracy, Fraud Over Opioid Withdrawal Drug Suboxone Film (Gizmodo)

  • After three years of controversy, CDC clarifies its opioid prescribing guidelines (STAT)

  • More than 10,300 Canadians lost their lives to opioids in less than 3 years (CBC)

  • Poppy Cultivation and Potential Opium Production in Afghanistan (The White House)

  • In poll season, Punjab debates legalising poppy seed and opium farming (Down To Earth Magazine)

  • Public urged to keep free naloxone overdose kits on hand (The London Free Press)

  • Family Dog Survives Eating Five Bags of Heroin (The Epoch Times)

  • Naloxone available at UNT pharmacy without a prescription (North Texas Daily)

  • Alabama school staff trains to administer naloxone to reverse opioid overdoses (CBS News)

  • Forcing treatment and tying the hands of physicians won’t solve the opioid crisis (The Philadelphia Inquirer)

  • Big Pharma’s Millions Won’t Solve the Opioid Crisis (Tonic)

  • Rajasthan farmers caught in ‘opium crisis’ (The Times of India)

  • How eating four slices of multigrain bread at a airport lounge led a fly-in-fly-out miner to failing a drugs test - and him stood down from his job (Daily Mail)

  • Hanover deputy released from hospital following possible fentanyl exposure (WWBT)

COCAINE

  • The United States' 'War on Drugs' Really Did Make Things Worse, New Research Finds (ScienceAlert)

  • Heather Yakin: Cocaine making comeback with new, lethal forms (Times Herald-Record)

METHAMPHETAMINE

  • Meth Mania: From Biker Gangs to the Psych Ward, How Speed Came of Age in California (KQED)

  • Family's dog tests positive for meth, molly after walk in park (WKRG)

CAFFEINE

TOBACCO

  • Illinois Becomes First State in Midwest to Adopt 'Tobacco 21' (NBC Chicago)

  • Delaware House approves raising age to buy tobacco products (Delaware Online)

  • Iowa Senate bill would increase age to buy all tobacco, vape products from 18 to 21 (KGAN TV)

  • Temple University takes major step in becoming tobacco-free: 'It's incredibly important' (KYW Newsradio 1060)

  • Texas could soon increase the legal age to buy tobacco, though active military members might be exempt (The Texas Tribune)

ALCOHOL

  • Alcohol use disorder: Brain damage may progress despite sobriety (Medical News Today)

  • No, moderate drinking can't protect against stroke. It actually increases risk, study says (USA Today)

  • There's new evidence for why we get the 'drunchies' after a night of heavy drinking (INSIDER)

  • Penn study finds genetic differences between heavy drinkers and alcoholics (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

  • A gene linked to alcohol habits may influence who you choose to marry (New Scientist)

  • Ethiopia passes tough law regulating alcohol sales, adverts (Africanews)

  • Proposed Federal Alcohol Labeling Revisions Retain Constitutionally Suspect Review Standards (Forbes)

  • The Big Number: 17.6 million Americans suffer from alcoholism (The Washington Post)

  • Australian Instagram personalities found to be under influence of alcohol industry (The Guardian)

  • First-Ever Female Libido Pill Gets Relief on Alcohol Warning (Bloomberg)

  • Lawmaker aims to lower blood alcohol limit (WIVB)

  • Does Red Wine Help You Live Longer? Here's What the Science Says (TIME)

  • April is National Alcohol Awareness Month (Marietta Daily Journal)

KRATOM

  • An Herbal Drug Called Kratom Has Been Linked to Almost 100 Overdose Deaths, the CDC Reports (TIME)

  • Castle Rock steps out front on regulating kratom, the popular but controversial herbal extract (The Denver Post)

  • Oregon Lawmakers Could Pass a Law Regulating Kratom (The Portland Mercury)

  • Kratom ban pushed by Pa. parents of son who fatally OD’d on ‘herbal heroin’ (PennLive.com)

  • FDA Report Finds Heavy Metals in Kratom – Is It Really That Bad? (Kratom Guides)

  • Northeast Mississippi counties continue conversation on Kratom (Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal)

  • 'Kratom literally saved my life' (WGRZ)

MISCELLANEOUS

  • The World’s Biggest Dark Net Market Has Shut – What Next? (VICE)

  • Sciencing the mystical: the trickery of the psychedelic trip report (Taylor and Francis)

  • California tests if addiction treatment can be incorporated into primary care (Politico)

  • Presidential Candidate Andrew Yang Walks Back Pledge To Pardon All Non-Violent Drug Offenders (Marijuana Moment)

  • Rejected Depression Drug Could Provide Relief For Opioid Withdrawal (The Fix)

  • Inside the Legal Struggle Over Safe Consumption Spaces (Filter)

  • The new science of psychedelics: How hallucinogens provide a tool for changing our minds (AlterNet)

  • Psychedelic Plants in a Time of Ecological Crisis (Adventures Through The Mind)

  • How drugs got on the metric system (Rooster Magazine)

  • To Address Addiction, Confront Racism in Our Health and Justice Systems (Filter)

  • Proposal to allow needle exchanges statewide heads to House floor (Tampa Bay Times)

  • How Helpful—Or Harmful—Are Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs? (Filter)

  • Overdose prevention sites can help cities like Philadelphia save lives (STAT)

  • Psychedelic Research and You. Well, Maybe, not You (Chacruna)

  • Vindictive Drug-Induced Homicide Charges Are Set to Surge in Chicago (Filter)

  • LSD, shrooms, and psychiatry: Penn summit highlights clinical applications of psychedelics (The Daily Pennsylvanian)

  • Law enforcement are not drug experts (AOD Media Watch)

  • Playlist for Psychedelic Restoration (Tam Integration)

  • How Open Relationships and Psychedelics Have Shaped This Entrepreneur's Mindset (Entrepreneur)

  • Acetaminophen crisis bigger than opioid epidemic? (Drug WarRant)

  • There’s a way to stem the increase in HIV infections (The Philadelphia Inquirer)

  • Microdosing psychedelics may improve mood and productivity (ZME Science)

  • Psychedelic club emphasizes benefits of shrooms (Rocky Mountain Collegian)

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:

, ,

Psychedelic History, Shamanic Exploration, and Palenque: An Interview with Matthew Pallamary

, ,
Palenque.jpg

Earlier this month I talked with author Matthew Pallamary about his new book, shamanic exploration, and what things were like during the birth of today's modern psychedelic community. Without further ado, here is our conversation:

Thanks for taking the time to speak with me today. Your most recent book, The Center of the Universe Is Right Between Your Eyes But Home Is Where the Heart Is, came out last November and it covers a lot of ground. How would you summarize it to give the Think Wilder audience an idea of what it’s all about?

Ultimately it’s a study of objective perception. You can’t necessarily control your external environment, which is all the stimulus that comes into you from the world around you, but you are in control of how you choose to create reality with that input. In the book, I explore shamanism and visionary states—primarily with ayahuasca, but also with other substances—to show how you decide to show up, create in the world, and interpret your reality. And I backed it up with a lot of science. Some people say it was a little bit too much, but I was going after the atheists and the intellectuals. From the shamanic perspective, everything is energy. We perceive visually through lightwaves, we listen through sound waves… our brain is filled with multitudes of different waves. Everything around us is composed of vibration in one form or another. When you spend extended time in the jungle, you really tune your brain by altering your consciousness to other realms of perception.

The book is definitely chock full of science, and I can see why you would want to include it. It is written in the same language that atheists and scientific materialists use, which probably makes it easier for them to understand.

One guy who bought the ebook told me that he followed every reference that I included. Every reference. It was a bit crazy!

It's good that they're available, and if people want to explore them then they certainly can. You must’ve worked on the book for quite a while. How long did it take you to do research and write the book?

Interestingly enough, the book kind of wrote itself. But it’s based on a lifetime of research. My first experiences with altered states involved getting dizzy and hyperventilating as a kid. I was about fourteen when I first smoked weed and around that time I was sniffing glue, which was my basic training for altered states. A couple years after that I was turned on to megadose LSD—this was back in like ‘71 or ‘72. I’ve been fascinated with altered states and shamanism for years, and I’ve also been writing about it for years. This book in particular took on a life of its own. It’s always the best when that happens. A lot of this last book was stitched-together research that I found over the course of several months. Years ago, I took an honors course in anthropology called “A Forest of Symbols: Orientation and Meaning to South American Indian Religions”. I started tying that in with my psychedelic experience and the fact that there could be spirituality in psychedelics. In my earlier years that was a totally foreign concept to me. But Terence McKenna’s book Food of the Gods opened my eyes. It was a big influence. When it comes to this book, I was actually getting ready to write another novel and all of a sudden this one started pushing its way to the surface, so I just kind of rolled with it. Next thing you know, I was into the book. And it’s done really well. I’m happy with how it came out.

One of the questions that the reader confronts in the book's introduction is, “Who or what are we really?” How do you define yourself?

In this day and age, I consider myself to be a cosmic citizen. A lot of people over the years have called me a shaman. In the past, I’ve gotten indignant about that and I actually went off one time and felt really bad about it. Are you familiar with the C-Realm Podcast?

Yes—I’ve been a listener for a long time.

One time many years ago, the host called me a shaman, and I went off a bit too much. I actually felt bad afterwards, but I don’t refer to myself as a shaman. There are so many people running around like, “Hey I’m a shaman, here’s my business card,” you know? What I’ve finally come to terms with now is that when I get asked, especially in public, I like to say that everybody is a shaman. Most people just don’t know it and don’t realize it. I studied ayahuasca for 10 years before I found it, and now I’ve been going into the Amazon for close to 20. In my humble opinion, we are far more than we imagine ourselves to be, and we can limit ourselves by our perception. There’s an old American Indian saying that goes, “You really don’t know what another man’s life is like until you walk a mile in his moccasins.” So to me, to be a good writer—and even a good human—you have to have empathy and you have to realize that people have different perspectives and formative influences in their lives. They don’t see things in the same way. At this point in my life I’ve gone beyond that. I’d like to think that my perspective has shifted so I’m not caught in the polarities. The truth is always somewhere in the center, and I’ve worked my entire life to try to find it. When you find the center you transcend duality. You see things from the other guy’s point of view and then you have more compassion and you’re more open. As soon as you start defining things, you’re limiting yourself. The cosmos and reality as we know it is far more complex and multidimensional than most people realize. I spent years pushing the limits as far as I could, in a lot of different directions, to discover the nature of who and what we think we really are. I think that from the perspective of ultimate cosmic reality, we’re a lot more than we give ourselves credit for.

It’s a way bigger world out there than most people imagine and can suppose.

Absolutely. I think that ayahuasca, more than anything else, has shown me that. I’ve done tons of other things too, over the years, but that’s really the one that’s been talking to me the most.

So you studied ayahuasca for 10 years before you started working with it. What was that period of time like for you?

After the honors course in anthropology, I discovered the story of The Land Without Evil, which is my historical novel. It’s about first contact between the Jesuits and the Indians in South America, and it’s told from the Indians’ point of view, so it was all about shamanism. I did a lot of research at the UCSD library. This was before the Internet, so I would log into the UCSD library card catalog via modem and download pages of psychedelic content. A lot of this real groundbreaking stuff that you couldn’t find anywhere back in 1988. I spent $30 on a copy card, gathered books to copy on the machine, and took all the articles home with me. I wasn’t getting high at that time because I took a break for a while, but a few months after that I went into a headshop and there was High Times magazine. I said to myself, “Fucking High Times—that’s still around!?” I had read it back in the ‘70s, when it first came out. When I flipped open the page, there was an ad for the Entheobotany Seminars in Palenque Chiapas.

And that was the origin for the Palenque Norte visionary lecture series, right?

That’s correct. So I opened the magazine, and there were all these people that I had been researching independently on my own. They were going to be presenting! I ended up going to the first event in San Francisco in ‘96, where I met Sasha and Ann Shulgin, Jonathan Ott, Charles Grob, Wade Davis, and several other people. From that point I started going to the Entheobotany Seminars regularly. I went to one in Uxmal in ‘98 and then the next few were at Palenque, which is where I got to meet and hang out with Terence McKenna, Paul Stamets, and Christian Rätsch. I started recorded all the lectures on cassettes, and when Lorenzo Hagerty decided to start the Psychedelic Salon, I gave him a bunch of the lectures that I had recorded to help him get started. I had a lot of good friendships over the years, including one with Terence. He actually got the very first book from the initial hardcover printing of The Land Without Evil. So yeah, I’ve been steeped in this stuff for years.

It sounds like those early experiences played a big role in shaping who you have become. Thank you again for speaking with me.

You're welcome brother—we’ll talk again soon.

I am very grateful to Matt for sharing his insights and experience. Be sure to check out his website and new book here. If you liked this interview, you might also enjoy reading my review of The Center of the Universe and an excerpt from it that explores the ways that shamanistic cultures revere elemental spirits like the wind.

Image by k_tzito, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.