This Week in Psychoactives - 5.3.19

CANNABIS

• Oregon Has So Much Weed It’s Temporarily Freezing Cannabis Production (MERRY JANE)

• 'Getting Worse, Not Better': Illegal Pot Market Booming in California Despite Legalization (The New York Times)

• Cannabis cafes may appear in Alaska this summer (KVTA)

• New Report Says an Adult-Use Cannabis Industry Could Provide $4 Billion for New York State (Leafly)

• North Dakota: Lawmakers Pass Language Reducing Marijuana Possession Penalties (NORML)

• Illegal Toronto Dispensary Finds Legal Loophole to Keep Doors Open (Leafly)

• Ontario Pharmacists Must Now Complete Mandatory Cannabis Education Course (High Times)

• In Florida, You Can Purchase Cannabis Through a Drive-Thru (Forbes)

• Las Vegas Will Finally Get Weed Bars and Consumption Lounges (MERRY JANE)

• Hawaii Legislature Sends Marijuana Decriminalization Bill To Governor’s Desk (Marijuana Moment)

• Iowa: Lawmakers Approve Medical Cannabis Expansion Legislation (NORML)

• The Feds Officially Banned CBD From Booze (MERRY JANE)

• Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick says Senate won't pass bill to lower penalties for marijuana (The Texas Tribune)

• Marijuana Decriminalization Bill Isn’t ‘Dead’ In Texas, Key Senate Chairman Clarifies (Marijuana Moment)

• Why medical cannabis is still out of patients’ reach—an essay by David Nutt (The BMJ)

• UK law on medicinal cannabis changed six months ago – what have we learned? (The Conversation)

• Massachusetts Gives Cannabis Delivery the Green Light (Leafly)

• Bills Allowing Marijuana Deliveries And Tasting Rooms Head Toward Colorado Governor’s Desk (Marijuana Moment)

• New Hampshire: Lawmakers Advance Legislation Permitting Patients to Home Cultivate (NORML)

• Washington: Lawmakers Pass Legislation Facilitating Expungement Of Past Marijuana Convictions (NORML)

• Wisconsin City Officials Trying to Stop Church From Distributing Cannabis (High Times)

• Trump Administration Opposes Bills On Medical Marijuana For Military Veterans (Marijuana Moment)

• Facebook's New A.I. Tech Can Distinguish Weed From Fried Broccoli (MERRY JANE)

• Florida Is the Nation's Fastest-Growing Medical Marijuana Market (Miami New Times)

• New Brunswick Considering Privatization After Cannabis NB Loss (Leafly)

• This Mom Entrepreneur Is Developing Medicinal Cannabis to Treat Kids With Autism (CT Post)

• Harvard and MIT Receive $9 Million Donation to Expand Cannabis Research (MERRY JANE)

• 7Investigates: Marijuana Anonymous (WHDH)

• Bill To Legalize Marijuana Sales Approved By Vermont House Committee (Marijuana Moment)

• Where Presidential Candidate Michael Bennet Stands On Marijuana (Marijuana Moment)

LSD

• Once An Alcoholic, I Lost My Desire To Drink After Taking LSD (Reset.me)

• Air station sailors facing LSD charges (Navy Times)

MAGIC MUSHROOMS

• Denver Could Decriminalize Magic Mushrooms on Tuesday (Leafly)

• Decriminalize Nature! Interview with Matthew Kahl about the Denver Psilocybin Ballot Measure (Psychedelic Times)

• 'It makes me enjoy playing with the kids': is microdosing mushrooms going mainstream? (The Guardian)

• A Growing Movement Wants To Loosen Laws Around Psilocybin, Treat Mushrooms As Medicine (KUNC)

• The First Psychedelic Mushroom Con Was a ’Shroom School for the Serious (Dallas Observer)

• The Magic of Mushrooms (Psychology Today)

• Psilocybin Helped Me Process The Sudden Deaths of My Mom and Close Friend (Reset.me)

MDMA

• Local Non-Profit Pushes for Medical Use of MDMA (KNWA)

• Otago rates high on MDMA use (Otago Daily Times)

• Drug researcher says MDMA shouldn't be included in wastewater testing (Newstalk ZB)

• MDMA: Why it's 'impossible' to know how the drug affects you (BBC)

• Boy, 13, died after taking 'Donkey Kong' ecstasy tablets (Mirror)

AYAHUASCA

• Meet the Person Serving Ayahuasca to Inmates in Brazil: An Interview with Edilsom Fernandes (Kahpi)

• How the "Ayahuasca Diet" Can Maximize Your Psychedelic Experience (MERRY JANE)

MESCALINE

• 100 years of mescaline (Springer Link)

NOVEL PSYCHOACTIVE SUBSTANCES

• Acquired synaesthesia following 2C-B use (Springer Link)

SYNTHETIC CANNABINOIDS

• Illegal drug lab manufacturing synthetic cannabis explodes in Texas; four injured (The GrowthOp)

NITROUS OXIDE

• Researchers use nitrous oxide to unravel rapid function of antidepressant mechanisms (News-Medical.Net)

• Ohio University expels fraternity chapter after student's death (The Athens News)

• Whippits don’t belong in smoke shops (Los Angeles Times)

KETAMINE

• Team finds ketamine alleviates acute pain during ambulance rides (Medical Xpress)

• Visions to Heed: Ketamine’s Breakout In Psychedelic Therapy (Psychedelic Support)

• Costa Rica Sees Growing Demand for Ketamine, Synthetic Drugs (Insight Crime)

• Columbia Ketamine Program helps patients with treatment-resistant depression (Healio)

PCP

• Were Cast and Crew on the Film ‘Titanic’ Sickened by PCP-Laced Seafood Chowder? (Snopes)

• Man Allegedly High On PCP Attempts To Grab OKC Officer's Gun (KWTV)

• HPD: Man tosses PCP out car window while leading Houston police on chase (Chron)

OPIATES/OPIOIDS

• Fentanyl use could end the opium era in Mexico: 'the only crop that paid’ (The Guardian)

• NJ has naloxone 'deserts' in opioid hotspots (Futurity)

• UK online pharmacies accused of 'aggressive' tactics to sell opiates (The Guardian)

• Missouri students push for opioid overdose antidote in dorms (San Francisco Chronicle)

• “Liquid Handcuffs”—A Documentary to Free Methadone (Filter)

• Drug-Injection Sites Are Battleground in Fight Against Opioid Overdoses (The Wall Street Journal)

• Why Aren’t More People Taking Naloxone Overdose Reversal Training? (Observer)

• 5 things responsible for the opioid crisis — besides Big Pharma (Deseret News)

COCAINE

• Cocaine deaths up in US, and opioids are a big part of it (Lowell Sun)

METHAMPHETAMINE

• As Meth Use Surges, First Responders Struggle To Help Those In Crisis (NPR)

CAFFEINE

• Caffeine, an alternative for traditional solar cells (The Asian Age)

• Consumers are drinking more caffeinated beverages nationwide, study finds (Consumer Affairs)

• Why do people love coffee and beer? It's the buzz, not the taste, study finds (NBC News)

• Researchers study connection of adolescent caffeine consumption and substance abuse (Medical Xpress)

• This Portland Coffee Brand Is Creating Zero Waste Cafes (Forbes)

• Coffee Shops Build Employee Loyalty, According to Science (Inc)

• Ask the Pharmacist: Caffeine is a natural option for ADHD (Marco News)

TOBACCO

• A Device That Heats Tobacco, But Doesn't Burn It, Can Now Be Sold in the U.S. Here's What to Know About IQOS (TIME)

• Why Big Tobacco and Big Vape love comparing nicotine to caffeine (The Verge)

• US lawmakers push bipartisan bill to raise the federal minimum buying age for tobacco to 21 (CNBC)

• AHA backs federal efforts to raise tobacco sale age to 21 (Cardiovascular Business)

• Doctors Speak On Proposal to Raise Tobacco-Buying Age (Spectrum News 1)

ALCOHOL

• The Average Person In New York City Spends More Than $120000 On Alcohol In A Lifetime (The Daily Caller)

• Alcohol-Related Liver Disease Deaths Rise Sharply (KUNM)

• New York City bans alcohol ads on city property (ABC News)

• A Brewery in Peru Ran For Centuries, Then Burned After One Epic Ancient Party (Discover Magazine)

• More than 15 million Americans suffer from alcohol abuse (KMOX)

• Deprogramming From AA—When a Fellowship Resembles a Cult (Filter)

• State lawmaker pushing to ban powdered alcohol in Texas (KVII)

• Has new alcohol law changed drinking habits? (BBC News)

• Texas lawmakers consider earlier Sunday alcohol sales: “This is freedom” (The Takeout)

• No Amount Of Alcohol Is Safe During Pregnancy: Study (Tech Times)

• Hangover-free alcohol could be on store shelves in next 5 years (Fox 13 News)

• Yes, Buying Alcohol Is Still Illegal in Parts of the U.S. (The Daily Beast)

KRATOM

• Gov. Ducey signs bill regulating the sale of kratom products in Arizona (KTAR)

• Bill to Criminalize Kratom in Louisiana Under Consideration (Big Easy Magazine)

• Herbal supplement kratom is tied to more US deaths (Fox5NY)

KHAT

• Farmers raise concerns over high levies on khat transport (The Standard)

DATURA

• Scientists examine the ethnobotanical uses of stramonium (Phys.org)

MISCELLANEOUS

• Scientists want to give psychedelics to people in vegetative states (Rooster)

• Teens tune out zero tolerance of substance-use talk: UBC study (Vancouver Sun)

• Cocaine, ketamine and banned pesticides found in UK river wildlife, study reveals (The Independent)

• World-first Centre for Psychedelics Research launched in UK (New Atlas)

• Profound experiences linked to mental health benefits (The Hub at Johns Hopkins University)

• Australia's second pill testing trial in Canberra 'overwhelmingly successful' (SBS)

• New Study: Syringe Service Providers Could Have Prevented the Scott County HIV Outbreak (Filter)

• Police drug detection dogs encourage festivalgoers to preload, study finds (The Guardian)

• Former Philly officer sentenced to 9 years for selling drugs stolen by corrupt Baltimore police squad (Philadelphia Inquirer)

• 6 months old and still unauthorized, ‘Church of Safe Injection’ expands (Bangor Daily News)

• Make America Trip Again (Current Affairs)

• Getting 'California Sober' Showed Me a Kinder, Gentler Way to Do Drugs (Broadly)

• Why does the psychedelic community keep platforming abusers? (The Psychedelic Scientist)

• Sri Lanka President Uses Easter Attacks to Fuel Duterte-Inspired Drug War (Filter)

• El Paso County residents turn to Denver or Pueblo for clean syringes (Colorado Springs Independent)

• Teen drug-dealing convictions up two-thirds in five years in England and Wales (The Guardian)

• Life-saving needle exchange started with a UM med student. Now it’s legal statewide. (Miami Herald)

• How the World’s Oldest Drug Checking Service Makes High-Risk Pills “Unsellable” (Filter)

• A Guide to Starting a Community Psychedelic Integration Circle (Psychedelic Support)

• Why Worldwide Drug Policy Progress Is Driven From the Ground Up (Filter)

• Why 'Microdosing' LSD & Other Hallucinogens May Be The Saving Grace For People With Severe Depression & Anxiety (YourTango)

• Psychedelic Communities, Social Justice, and Kinship in the Capitalocene (Kahpi)

• The government won’t pay for research into psychedelic drugs. Cody Swift will. (KNKX)

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:

---

Weekend Thoughts - 5.12.18

Happy Saturday y'all! Below, I have rounded up some things for you to think about this weekend:

1. The sunny state of California may soon become the first U.S. state to require solar panels on nearly all new homes built after 2020. However, not all newly constructed homes would be affected—those that aren't big enough to fit solar panels and properties featuring taller buildings or trees that would throw shade would be exempt from the mandate. This (along with some additional proposed energy standards) would significantly increase the cost of building new homes, hiking it up by an estimated $25,000 to $30,000 per home. On the bright side, the energy savings is estimated to save homeowners between $50,000 to $60,000 over the lifespan of the solar system. Solar may be an effective type of renewable energy for California, but it might not perform as well in places like the midwest because of the less sun and lower home prices. Still, this is an exciting experiment—maybe it'll end up lowering prices in the solar market, enabling even more people to install solar power on their properties. Just maybe. Only time will tell.

2. Uber announced plans to bring a flying taxi service to the market in 2023. The images of the "skyports"—the launchpads and landing sites that the flying taxis would use—are truly stunning. Imagining a world with flying taxis is quite a fun exercise; I invite you to try it.

3. Now that you're done with that daydream, check this out: the bipedal robot that Boston Dynamics has been developing can totally run and jump now. It's also able to maintain its balance when pushed and can pick itself up when it falls over. I'm not sure about this robot in particular, but judging from the other Boston Dynamics robots that I've seen, I imagine this bipedal robot is one tough cookie, too. I imagine that at some point in the relatively near future these robots will be virtually indefatigable, capable of outrunning and overpowering a human being with no problem at all. So if you want to try another mental exercise, try to imagine the fully polished 3.0 version of this robot working on the beat as a cop. 

That's all for this week's edition of Weekend Thoughts. Until next week, keep thinking wilder.

Image by GenesJourney, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Weekend Thoughts - 4.14.18

Happy Saturday y'all! Below, I have rounded up some things for you to think about this weekend:

1. Another week, another update on Facebook's Cambridge Analytica scandal. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified before Congress this week, apologizing and claiming that the company made a "big mistake". You can now click this link (while signed into your Facebook account) to see if your data was shared with the political consulting firm.

2. Ride-sharing app Uber purchased Jump, a dockless bike-sharing app. It's good to see that bike-sharing is becoming more and more common, because that means it'll be a whole lot easier to get around without needing to own a car or bike of your own.

3. Earlier this week, Apple announced that it is now powered by 100% renewable energy worldwide. That means the company's retail stores, offices, data centers, and more are powered by clean energy. It took a lot of investments in solar arrays, wind farms, and other energy storage technologies to get to this point, and I feel like Apple should be commended. Let's hope that other companies will follow suit—and soon.

That's all for this week's edition of Weekend Thoughts. Until next week, keep thinking wilder.

Image by sasint, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Weekend Thoughts - 1.20.18

Image by ntrief, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Happy Saturday y'all! Below, I have rounded up some things for you to think about this weekend:

1. According to NASA, 2017 was the second-hottest year on record since 1880—with 2016 being the hottest. In fact, the six warmest years on record for the planet have occurred since 2010. Hopefully humanity will figure out a way to reverse this trend, by doing things like converting to renewable energy sources and consuming less animal products (which contribute a TON to climate change). However, we as individuals do not have to wait for the rest of the world to make changes. You can make lifestyle changes on your own, and if enough people do the same then it will make a noticeable impact.

That's all for this week's edition of Weekend Thoughts. Until next week, keep thinking wilder.

Weekend Thoughts - 12.30.17

Image by Pexels, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Happy Saturday y'all! Below, I have rounded up some things for you to think about this weekend:

1. The UK has been attempting to significantly reduce its carbon emissions, and it had a series of successes in 2017. In April, the country went without coal-generated power for an entire day, which was the first time that had been accomplished in 135 years. By June, more than half of the UK's energy was being generated by renewable sources like solar, wind, hydropower, and biomass. And when looking back on the entire year, renewable energy sources outperformed coal plants on 315 days of the year (as of December 12th). Even with those successes, the country could still stand to use less natural gas, which was still used quite heavily throughout the year. Ultimately, the country is aiming to close down all of its coal plants by 2025, and it's doing a great job so far at getting there!

That's all for this week's edition of Weekend Thoughts. Until next week, keep thinking wilder.