This Week in Psychoactives - 3.6.20

Cannabis

• Malawi legalises cannabis amid hopes of fresh economic growth (The Guardian)

• Utah’s first medical marijuana dispensary is now open (Leafly)

• Mexican Senate Committees Advance Marijuana Legalization Bill To Floor Vote (Marijuana Moment)

• Ohio Activists Formally File Measure To Put Marijuana Legalization Before Voters This Year (Marijuana Moment)

• The Smell of Weed Does Not Justify Warrantless Searches, New Study Proves (MERRY JANE)

• UK Government Looks To Ease Barriers On Bulk Importation Of Medicinal Cannabis (Forbes)

• Impression Healthcare (ASX:IHL) to start cannabis trials for treatment of brain injury (The Market Herald)

• What Is CBM and What Does This Uncommon Cannabinoid Do? (MERRY JANE)

• Baseball Players Can Smoke Marijuana But Can’t Be Sponsored By Cannabis Companies, MLB Says (Marijuana Moment)

• Utah’s cannabis czar is leaving his job (The Salt Lake Tribune)

Magic Mushrooms

• The Capital That Ate Wellness Is Going to Eat Your Mushrooms (The New York Times)

• Beta-Carboline Alkaloids Found in Psilocybe Mushrooms (The Third Wave)

Ketamine

• Toronto Just Opened a Ketamine Clinic to Help People With Depression (VICE)

• IV Ketamine Shows Promise for Chronic Pain, But Doubts Remain (Filter)

• K-Holing: Why Ketamine Causes Wild Hallucinations (VICE)

Opioids

• Younger drug users moving away from injecting heroin (BBC)

• Study: Stopping Long-Term Opioid Prescriptions Associated With Veterans’ Deaths (Filter)

• Illegal opium cultivation on the rise in Bandarban (Dhaka Tribune)

Cocaine

• Colombia will have to restart aerial spraying to destroy coca: Trump (Reuters)

• United States and Colombian Officials Set Bilateral Agenda to Reduce Cocaine Supply (WhiteHouse.gov)

Methamphetamine

• California May Soon Pay People to Reduce Their Meth Use (Filter)

• A New Wave Of Meth Addiction Is Hitting Queer People Of Color. But The Help Is Not There. (BuzzFeed News)

Caffeine

• Truck drivers with high caffeine intake crash more often than others (Medical Xpress)

• Caffeine boosts problem-solving ability but not creativity, study indicates (ScienceDaily)

Nicotine

• House Lawmakers Vote to Ban All Flavored Tobacco (Convenience Store News)

• The UK Government Says What the US Won't: Vaping Is Safer Than Cigarettes (VICE)

• Starting July 1st you'll have to be 21 to purchase tobacco products in New Mexico (CBS4Local.com)

Benzodiazepines

• Bitter pill: Benzodiazepine medication by Irish over-65s in Ireland highest in OECD (Irish Examiner)

Kratom

• Oklahoma House passes bill to regulate drug called kratom (The Journal Record)

• Kratom in the crosshairs: Mississippi considers limit or ban on herbal drug (Jackson Clarion Ledger)

• Liver Experts Sound Alarm on Kratom (Pharmacy Practice News)

• Popular Kratom Vendor Shows How Kratom Is Manufactured (New Kerala)

• This New Johns Hopkins Kratom Survey Offers Insightful Takeaways (Kratom Guides)

Miscellaneous

• Psychedelic therapy is on the cusp of legalization—and plagued with sexual abuse allegations (Quartz)

• Hawaii Senate Approves Drug Defelonization Bill (Marijuana Moment)

• Oregon Activists Collect Enough Signatures For Drug Decriminalization And Treatment Measure (Marijuana Moment)

• Did the UN’s Anti-Narcotics Board Just Recommend Decriminalizing Drugs Globally? (MERRY JANE)

• DC Psychedelics Activists, Citing Coronavirus Concerns, Want Online Petition Gathering Option (Marijuana Moment)

• Therapists Are Unprepared to Talk to People About Taking Psychedelics (VICE)

• A Statement Regarding “The Emergence of a New Market: Psychedelic Science Conferences” (Psymposia)

• American teens are delaying first use of drugs, including tobacco and alcohol, study finds (MinnPost)

• Did Ancient Buddhists Use Psychedelics? (DoubleBlind)

• Psychedelics for Climate Action? (Psymposia)

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

Image by Psychedelic Astronaut.

This Week in Psychedelics - 12.4.15

Image by Dahtamnay, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Cannabis

• Recreational Pot Will Be Legal Just About Everywhere Soon (Reason)
• Lawmakers Question Postal Service About Marijuana Ad Threats to Newspapers (Marijuana.com)
• The Quantified Stoner (VICE's Motherboard)
• PTSD And Cannabis Study Seeks Veteran Participants (Reset.me)
• Why the Mexican Supreme Court Is Only Allowing 4 People to Grow Weed (ATTN:)
• No, The Feds Won't Pay You $3,000 Per Week to Smoke Marijuana (Marijuana.com)
• Study: Medical Marijuana Laws Associated With Decreased Obesity (NORML)
• A Modern Cannabis Retail Store Experience (PSFK)
• Clinical study at CAMH tests how cannabis affects volunteers' driving skills (The Hamilton Spectator)
• Colorado cannabis: As pot grows up, design enters the scene (The Denver Post)
• 7 Celebrities With Their Own Line of Cannabis Products (Leafly)
• Nebraska Sen. Tommy Garrett speaks about medical cannabis legalization (Siouxland News)
• HARDIN: On Cannabis Consciousness (Lost Coast Outpost)
• "This decision will save lives": Minnesota expand cannabis use to pain patients (Post-Bulletin)
• Cannabis crop larger than a football field set on fire by Aussie police (Mashable)
• Cannabis farms fuel human trafficking, report says (The Guardian)
• Cannabis cafes face first-of-the year shutdown or fine (KATU)
• 'Skunk-Like' Cannabis Associated With Brain Damage, Study Finds (Headlines & Global News)
• Trafficking victims forced to grow high-priced UK cannabis: police (Yahoo! News)

LSD

• LSD Microdosing: The New Job Enhancer In Silicon Valley And Beyond? (Forbes)
• Silicon Valley tech workers take microdoses of LSD drug to improve problem-solving (International Business Times)
• Acid Tests Turn 50: Wavy Gravy, Merry Prankster Ken Babbs Looks Back (Rolling Stone)
• When LSD Was Mainstream (Reason)
• Authorities Say LSD Killed A Man Cops Left Facedown And Hogtied (The Huffington Post)
• Small Doses of LSD Can Assuage Depression and Anxiety, Say Researcher (Counsel & Heal)
• LSD caused Goode's death, state autopsy says (The Commercial Appeal)
• Microdosing LSD: what is it? (The Age)
• Silicon Valley Has a Surprising New Source of Inspiration (Maxim)
• LSD Microdosing Deserves More Serious Research (Forbes)
• Man died of LSD toxicity after leaving Widespread Panic concert (FOX10 News)
• Just hit tab: why Silicon Valley techies are dropping LSD at work (The Guardian)
• John McAfee on the return of psychedelics, LSD in the work place (Yahoo! News)
• Silicon Valley Workers Take 'Microdoses' Of LSD To Boost Productivity (Tech Times)
• Why LSD is being used in workplaces in Silicon Valley (News.com.au)
• Silicon Valley Executives Microdosing LSD To Improve Productivity (Breitbart News)
• Speaking in Tech: Is the whole of Silicon Valley on LSD? (The Register)
• Autopsy finds man died of 'LSD toxicity' in police custody (Local 8 Now)

Psilocybin/Magic Mushrooms

• Could Psilocybin Be Used To Treat Terminally Ill Cancer Patients? (Collective Evolution)
• What Psilocybin Mushrooms Taught Me About Death And Rebirth (Reset.me)

MDMA/Ecstasy

• A Clinical Trial Is Exploring How MDMA Could Help People With Autism (VICE's Motherboard)
• British Media Outlets Are Trying to Blame a Student's Suicide on an MDMA Comedown (VICE's Thump)
• Deep Web Bot Is Buying Ecstasy Online for Art (Food World News)
• MDMA Used in Clinical Trial To Help People With Autism (Tech Times)
• Chris Robinson Loves Jerry Garcia, Hates MDMA, Doesn't Believe in Voice Lessons (Los Angeles Weekly)
• Rainbow Serpent Festival wants to test ecstasy pills (The Age)
• Teen use of ecstasy troubles OPP (Sault Star)
• Stereosonic 2015: Woman dies after music festival at Sydney Olympic Park (The Daily Telegraph)
• Ex-Wesleyan student Eric Lonergan pleads guilty in MDMA overdose case (New Haven Register)
• Side Effects of Ecstasy Pill Led One Man To Experience Uncontrollable Shaking, Twitching, And Stuttering (Medical Daily)

Ayahuasca/DMT

• First legal ayahuasca retreat to open in the U.S. (Death and Taxes)
• New study from Beckley collaboration supports therapeutic potential of Ayahuasca by showing increased mindfulness (The Beckley Foundation)
• Watch a Freelance Journalist Writhe Through a Powerful DMT Trip for Research (VICE's Motherboard)
• The Mystery of DMT: A Talk with Graham St John (Reality Sandwich)
• I Went to an Ayahuasca Divorce Ceremony (VICE's Motherboard)
• For me, ayahuasca was as good as therapy. Here's what the science says (Global Post)

Peyote/San Pedro/Mescaline

• How Peyote Inspired Vanessa Carlton's New Album, 'Liberman' (The Huffington Post)

Salvia Divinorum

• WATCH: The Horrifying Effects of Smoking Salvia Is a Great Reason to Say No to Drugs (First to Know)

Synthetic Cannabinoids/Psychoactive Research Chemicals

• Five soldiers discharged from army after taking psychedelic drug 'N-Bomb' (Stuff.co.nz)
• Rise in Use of Hallucinogenic Drugs Spurs Authorities, UCSB to Warn of Risks and Ready Response (Noozhawk)
• Five soldiers booted from army after synthetic hallucinogen binge (TVNZ)

Dissociatives

• Ketamine, global health, and why China's push to pass international legislation will endanger millions of patients (The Huffington Post)
• Ketamine drug abuse detected earlier with new test (Bel Marra Health)
• Join the campaign to protect ketamine access (European Society of Anesthesiology)
• Police arrest one for suspected PCP; officer sniffs out "wet" cigarette (The Examiner)
• Man admits assaulting police officer while drunk and carrying ketamine at Gatwick (Crawley News)
• Springfield man on PCP admits brandishing gun with baby in apartment, violating restraining order (MassLive)
• Anesthesiologists Take Lead As Ketamine Clinics Proliferate (Anesthesiology News)

Opiates/Opioids

• Study: Cannabis Improves Outcomes In Opioid-Dependent Subjects Undergoing Treatment (NORML)
• Heroin Is Deadlier Than It Used To Be, Thanks To The War On Drugs (Forbes)
• Heroin epidemic seizes bipartisan attention in 2016 race (Fox News)
• Price drop for Narcan increases availability (Examiner)
• Opium poppy farmers seek help to end dependence (Myanmar Times)
• Memories Of A Heroin Head: "Heroin Has Given Me More Life Than It Has Taken Away" (Disinformation)
• Country Mulls Plan for Heroin Epidemic: Give Them Heroin (Yahoo! Health)
• From 'Mighty Opium' To Moral Crisis: Addiction As Cultural Cachet And Cautionary Tale (Cognoscenti)
• Norway mulls medical heroin, as it grapples with Western Europe's highest overdose rate (U.S. News & World Report)
• Naloxone to be distributed at event (York Daily Record)

Absinthe

• Wiggle gets in the holiday spirits with its first grappa and absinthe (Pittsburgh City Paper)

Kratom

• A Step in the Right Direction in Wisconsin (Satellite PR News)
• I did Kratom so you don't have to (Montana Kaimin)
• 'There's no scientific basis for it': Wisconsin may stop treating kratom like a dangerous drug (Wisconsin Watchdog)

Kava

• 5 O'Clock Somewhere: The Mouth-Numbing Chill-Out Elixir that's Better than Booze (The Huffington Post)
• Only noble kava, guard the market: Ambassador (Vanuatu Daily Post)

Khat

• From Qat to Captagon (Reason)
• High miraa intake lowers men's sexual performance, sperm quality - study (The Star)
• Miraa crusader dismisses research warning on men's sexual performance (The Star)
• Miraa consumers in Kibera refute claims of side effects (Hivisasa)
• Khat worth €26,000 seized at Dublin airport (UTV Ireland)

Miscellaneous Psychedelics/Psychoactives/Drug Policy

• Big Think: Rick Doblin on Making Psychedelics Legal and Mainstream (KQED)
• People Are Taking Microdoses of Psychedelics to Perform Better At Work (NOISEPRN)
• Psychedelic 'Antibiotic' Therapy for Mental-Micro-Organisms (Psychedelic Press UK)
• Can testing make drugs safer for those who ignore calls not to take them? (Sydney Morning Herald)
• Small really is beautiful: Psychedelic images show the inner workings of cells in stunning detail (Daily Mail)
• Janis Joplin's psychedelic Porsche 356SC up for sale (The Australian)

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.

Why You Should Keep A Journal

Image by Joel Montes de Oca, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

In today's busier-than-ever world, it is common to experience weeks, months, or years of life without realizing that time is flying by. The practice of keeping a journal can provide a log of your events throughout life as well as offer a cathartic release that comes from the act of recording your thoughts. Today's post will cover the benefits of journaling, various types of journals, journaling mediums, and how to start a journal.

I have kept a journal off and on since elementary school, although it wasn't until my years at university that I developed a more focused approach and found the inspiration to keep a regular journaling practice. I have found that my practice has generated many benefits for me, and no obvious negative side effects. In a sense, Think Wilder is an extension of my own personal journal in blog form. Without further ado, let's jump right into the main subject matter.

The Benefits of Journaling

Keep a record of life experiences and track your development: Writing about events that have already occurred gives you the chance to process them and find closure when it is needed. It's easy to get to the end of a month or year and have trouble recalling the events that happened. While it may be possible to look through photographs or another medium of record-keeping, I have found that writing a journal means that I will always have a record of the most important events that have occurred in my life. An additional benefit of record-keeping is that it is easier to identify the improvements that you have made over time.

Improve mental clarity, more effectively solve problems, and increase focus: It's easy to get caught up in thinking that has nothing to do with what you are trying to focus on, but it can be difficult to send those thoughts packing. By recording your thoughts in a journal, you are effectively transferring them from your head to the page. This helps clear the mind so that you can focus on the things that are important in your life, whether they are outstanding problems that need to be solved or a time-sensitive task at hand.

Inspire personal growth: If you are feeling stuck in a rut, finding it difficult to progress in life, I would highly recommend taking up a journaling practice. Consistently writing down our thoughts encourages self-development, because it gives us an opportunity to review our previous entries and identify times that we made mistakes. Once you identify a mistake, you are less likely to make that mistake in the future, and you can brainstorm alternative behaviors that more honestly reflect the person you want to become.

More fully connect with your values, emotions, and goals: It can be hard to be honest with ourselves concerning how we feel about relationships, work, or our true passions in life. Yet over time, you will find out what is truly important to you through your writing. It took many journal entries about my desire to keep up a regular writing practice before this blog was born, but through my experience with journaling I finally realized that I needed to get started with my writing projects instead of procrastinating any longer. I am sure that there are things that you want to improve on in your life, or work through your feelings on a tough issue, and journaling is a great way to facilitate that work.

Cultivate your creativity: Just like anything else, a journaling practice becomes better with time. In addition to becoming a better writer, you may also improve your abilities to process and communicate complex ideas, memorize important information, and brainstorm more effectively. I find that writing, or even thinking about what I will write later, helps me think of new ideas and projects to work on.

Types of Journals

There are several types of journals, which are not limited to those listed below. Use your imagination and think of specific types of journals that could help you on your path!

Food journal: Many of us are unaware of our dietary lifestyles. I know that I was before I started a food journal several years ago, and I was shocked to see what I was eating (and drinking!) on a regular basis. Keeping a food journal can be as simple as compiling a daily list of foods in a Fields Notes memo book, or you can take a more advanced approach, like using an application like MyFitnessPal to get a more thorough breakdown of your daily nutritional intake.

Work journal: A written record of your work performance can be a very useful thing. How often does a yearly performance review come around and leave you wondering, "What exactly did I do the past 12 months?" By keeping track of the day's events at the office, you will have a log of the things that went well, mistakes you made and how you addressed them, and successes worth highlighting in your next performance review or job interview. By recording your mistakes, you will be able to adapt so that you won't make the same mistake twice.

Dream journal: This type of journal is designed around capturing as many details about your dreams as you can remember upon first waking up. You can use the dream contents to look into their imagery and suggested meanings, or you could use them as inspiration for a new work of fiction! By writing down the contents of your dreams, you can review them later and see if there are any patterns that reoccur.

Gratitude journal: Sometimes we are so busy with all the things in our lives that we forget the good things that happen every day. A gratitude journal helps you focus on the positive aspects of life, which will shift your focus away from negative things and allow you to start appreciating even more positive things that you are grateful to have in your life.

Miscellaneous activities: All sorts of activities can benefit from keeping a log of their progress. Fitness, gardening, traveling, reading, meditation, and yoga are just a few to get you started. It can be helpful and extremely rewarding to see where you are headed and how far along you have come.

Journal Mediums

Journals were traditionally written on paper, but today's technologies have allowed additional mediums for you to record your thoughts. Some mediums will appeal to certain types of people, and other mediums will be attractive for the rest. I have firsthand experience with myriad journaling mediums, and will explore some of the options below.

Paper journals: If you like the feeling of physically writing down your thoughts, like I do, then a paper notebook may be the most appealing option for you. There's nothing quite like setting pen to paper, which gives you physical control over your writing, and there is no chance that your journal will disappear or be leaked when an online service shuts down or is compromised. However, there are no backups of paper journals, and it is possible that someone will find your journal in its hiding place and read it without your permission.

Digital journaling: Using a computer, tablet, or mobile phone to write your journal may appeal to you. Something as simple as Apple's Pages or Microsoft Word can be used, or you can try your hand at many journaling apps found online. Digital journals have the benefit of password protection, and people typically type faster on a keyboard than they can write by hand. I have tried many journaling apps and have come to the conclusion that I prefer paper journals, but your experience may be different.

Blogging: An extension of journaling, blogging is essentially a published online journal medium. This is a great option to reap the benefits of journaling, while providing an opportunity to make yourself heard all around the world. Keeping a public blog means that you have a wide audience, but this comes with the sacrifice of privacy. There are many different blogging platforms to choose from, but they all have one thing in common—the ability to share your message with the world.

How to Start A Journal

Getting started with journaling is pretty easy. You just need to pick a medium and journal type, and start writing! I would advise starting as soon as possible—even if you're not completely sure what you want to write about. One of the things that writing for many years has taught me is that you will gradually find your voice in your writing over time, but you will never find it if you don't get started. Now that you know the basics of journaling, I encourage you to start one as soon as possible!