This Week in Psychoactives - 6.7.19

CANNABIS

• Surprise! Illinois Becomes the 11th Cannabis Legalization State! (Leafly)

• Nevada: Governor Signs Measure Sealing Past Marijuana Convictions (NORML)

• Nevada: Governor Signs Medical Cannabis Expansion Measure (NORML)

• Oregon Bans Landlords From Denying Housing to Renters for Prior Weed Offenses (MERRY JANE)

• Oregon: Lawmakers Advance Marijuana Expungement Measure (NORML)

• 73% of Cancer Doctors See Cannabis as Medicine, Survey Says (MERRY JANE)

• JAMA: Most Doctors Know Nothing About Cannabis (Leafly)

• Congressional Report Raises Questions About Whether Marijuana Impairs Driving (Marijuana Moment)

• Transport Canada bars crews from consuming cannabis for 28 days before flying (CBC)

• Delaware Lawmakers Approve Marijuana Legalization Bill (Marijuana Moment)

• Woman with stage 4 cancer sues LARA over lack of access to medical marijuana (ClickOnDetroit)

• Cops Confiscate 10,000 Unlicensed Pot Plants in Massive Santa Cruz Sting (MERRY JANE)

• West Virginia Voters Reject Marijuana Decriminalization Measure (Marijuana Moment)

• Congressional Funding Bill Protects Cannabis Banking And Lets DC Legalize Marijuana Sales (Forbes)

• Massachusetts inches cautiously toward ‘cannabis cafes’ (Boston.com)

• Presidential Candidate Gillibrand Unveils Wide-Ranging Marijuana Legalization Plan (Marijuana Moment)

• RIP: New York Marijuana Activist Doug Greene (CelebStoner)

• Women Are Underrepresented In Clinical Research On Cannabis (Forbes)

• Can Cannabinoids Help Treat OCD? (PsychCentral)

LSD

• James Ketchum, Who Conducted LSD Experiments on Soldiers, Dies at 87 (The New York Times)

• Guy Banned From Festival After Posting Video Eating 20 Tabs of LSD (YourEDM)

MAGIC MUSHROOMS

• It is Time to Legalize Psilocybin Mushrooms (Psychedelic Times)

• Will Canada follow Denver’s lead in decriminalizing magic mushrooms? (The GrowthOp)

• Mayor indicates he'll stomp out Denver mushrooms, if re-elected (Rooster Magazine)

• Michael Hancock Re-Elected To Third And Final Term (CBS Denver)

MDMA

• Dutch officials launch perfume that smells like MDMA (Newshub)

• MDMA Erases PTSD Symptoms After Two Guided Therapy Sessions, Study Finds (MERRY JANE)

DMT

• Synthesized ‘Spirit Molecule’ Caters to Evolving Chile Drug Demand (InSight Crime)

AYAHUASCA

• As Ayahuasca Tourism Booms, Peru’s Traditional Healers Try to Regain Control (World Politics Review)

• Why LGBTQI+ Members are Creating Their Own Ayahuasca Circles (Chacruna)

• Katy Perry Trips on Ayahuasca in “Never Really Over” Video (W Magazine)

NOVEL PSYCHOACTIVE SUBSTANCES

• The Research Chemicals That You Can Purchase Legally (The Third Wave)

• 'Chinese Ecstasy' drug linked to 125 deaths has arrived in Britain, NCA warns festival goers (The Telegraph)

SYNTHETIC CANNABINOIDS

• What is Synthetic Weed and Why is it Hazardous? (WeedMaps)

KETAMINE

• New Ketamine Clinic Opens In Beverly Hills (Patch)

• Expert urges cautious approach to ketamine use (Medical Xpress)

OPIOIDS

• The Mysterious Consequences of Repeatedly Overdosing on Opioids (VICE)

• Congress Is Racing To Address a Fentanyl Problem That Fentanyl Experts Say Probably Doesn't Exist (Reason)

• Police said a trooper collapsed from an incidental overdose. Now they’re saying nothing. (VTDigger)

• Researchers pose as heroin users to find treatment gaps (AP News)

• Two friends shared heroin in a KFC bathroom. One died, one went to prison. Their families are picking up the pieces. (The Philadelphia Inquirer)

• As US cities decriminalize psychedelics, the focus may turn to opioid addiction (Newstrail)

• Sheriff who warned of fentanyl-laced weed says test erred (AP News)

COCAINE

• 'Cocaine call centres' set up across Europe, drugs agency says (BBC)

• Mother-of-three teacher, 42, died after swallowing $75 bag of cocaine in first class lounge before flight to Dubai (Fox News)

METHAMPHETAMINE

• Meth overdoses surpass heroin deaths in southern Colorado (The Denver Channel)

• Effectiveness of methamphetamine abuse treatment: Predictors of treatment completion and comparison of two residential treatment programs (ScienceDirect)

CAFFEINE

• Up to 25 cups of coffee a day safe for heart health, study finds (The Guardian)

• Study Suggests It's OK To Drink 25 Cups Of Coffee A Day. It's Not. (HuffPost)

• The secretive nonprofit that made millions suing companies over cancer warnings (Ars Technica)

• Nicotine and caffeine withdrawal may lead to unnecessary suffering and testing in intensive care patients (EurekAlert!)

• Caffeine and Exercise Performance, HITT and Type 2 Diabetes, Physical Activity and Sedentary Time and More from the Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports & Science® (Newswise)

• The Side Effects Of Too Much Caffeine (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)

• California says those ominous warning signs about coffee being linked to cancer can be taken down (USA Today)

TOBACCO

• Beverly Hills becomes the first U.S. city to end most tobacco sales (Los Angeles Times)

• Tobacco 21 wins passage in Senate, heads to governor for signing (The CT Mirror)

• Senate Majority Leader McConnell Pushes To Raise Tobacco Sales Age To 21 (NPR)

ALCOHOL

• The media has a problem with alcoholism – and it's stopping people getting help (The Guardian)

• Southern comfort: SEC lifts booze ban at games (ESPN)

• Why Alcohol Companies Are Betting on Non-Alcoholic 'Booze' (TIME)

• Family Dollar Plans to Sell Alcohol at 1,000 Stores (The New York Times)

• Early farmers liked alcohol so much they invented two ways to brew it (New Scientist)

• The Search for the World’s Oldest Alcohol (Discover Magazine)

NOOTROPICS

• Combating Modern-Day Anxiety with Nootropic Supplements (Baltimore Post-Examiner)

KRATOM

• Castle Rock bans underage sales of kratom, the controversial herbal extract (The Denver Post)

• Council votes down ban on Kratom (KQ2)

• Kratomic Bomb: The highs and lows of kratom for pain (Augusta Free Press)

• Kratom Effects On Fitness, Pre-Workout & Bodybuilding (VENTS Magazine)

KAVA

• Australia urged to 'step up' kava allowance for travellers (Radio New Zealand)

MISCELLANEOUS

• Oakland Officials Decriminalize Psychedelics And Say They’ll Work To Legalize Sales Next (Marijuana Moment)

• Overdose crisis death toll would be more than double without harm reduction, study says (CBC)

• Psychedelics seem to alter social cognition by modifying facial emotion recognition (PsyPost)

• Dark net drug sales on the rise in England (BBC)

• Unsanctioned overdose-prevention site opens in Maple Ridge, renewing debate over drug use and homelessness (The Globe and Mail)

• Overdose Prevention Site Acceptability among Residents and Businesses Surrounding a Proposed Site in Philadelphia, USA (Springer Link)

• Psychedelic drugs: would you accept a prescription? It depends if you’ve tried them before (The Conversation)

• The stimulant epidemic: Why our worries should go beyond opioids (The Philadelphia Inquirer)

• The Mind’s Horizon II: The recreational world of psychedelics (Arizona Daily Sun)

• Operator of 'Silk Road 2.0' Likely Avoided Prison by Cooperating with Feds (Reason)

• The next battle in the War on Drugs will be fought over psychedelics (Quartz)

• Edir Da Costa died after bag of drugs became stuck in his airway (The Guardian)

• The Keeper of the Fire: Shamanic Initiation (Reality Sandwich)

• A year after Anthony Bourdain’s death, his story of recovery can still inspire. (Grub Street)

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.

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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:

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This Week in Psychoactives - 4.19.19

CANNABIS

• Study Finds Marijuana Motivates People To Exercise, Smashing Lazy Stoner Stereotype (Marijuana Moment)

• Report: Adult Use Legalization Associated With Increased Home Values (NORML)

• Dogs Treated With Cannabis Oil Experience Less Frequent Seizures, Study Finds (Marijuana Moment)

• In the age of legal marijuana, many employers drop ‘zero tolerance’ drug tests (Los Angeles Times)

• Georgia: Governor Signs Law Licensing Low-THC Oil Production (NORML)

• Another Federal Agency Wants You To Stop Calling About A Marijuana-Related Job (Marijuana Moment)

• Where the war on weed still rages (The Washington Post)

• Missouri Lawmakers Unanimously Approve Marijuana Decriminalization Bill In Committee (Marijuana Moment)

• Alabama Lawmakers Unanimously Approve Marijuana Decriminalization In Committee Vote (Marijuana Moment)

• Marijuana legalization is very popular (Vox)

• Alabama Police Ruined a Couple’s Lives Over $50 of Weed. Now the Charges Against Them Have Been Dropped (Reason)

• Unlicensed LA Dispensary Sold Pesticide-Tainted Cannabis, City Says (Leafly)

• Illinois: Cook County State’s Attorney To Expunge Thousands Of Low-Level Cannabis Convictions (NORML)

• Why Carl's Jr. is testing out a CBD burger (CNN)

• Joe Biden Applauds Anti-Marijuana Speech At Opioid Forum (Marijuana Moment)

• How Cannabis Prohibition Is Harming Veterans With PTSD (Forbes)

• Mitch McConnell Touts Hemp Legalization Achievement In Reelection Campaign Ad (Marijuana Moment)

• Doctors Have a Cannabis Problem, and It’s Harming Patients (Leafly)

• Mental illness implications of cannabis use must not be ignored (CALmatters)

• People Could Use Marijuana In Public Housing Under New Congressional Bill (Marijuana Moment)

• Roadside drug-testing flaws exposed in local court case (Echonetdaily)

• How to Be an Ethical Weed Consumer (Lifehacker)

• Can Cannabis Help You Get off Xanax? (Civilized)

• Where Presidential Candidate Eric Swalwell Stands On Marijuana (Marijuana Moment)

• Don't expect your doctor to prescribe CBD, says physicians' college (CBC)

• Meet the ‘Bliss Molecule’ Anandamide, a Cannabinoid Your Body Produces (Leafly)

LSD

• Study: Microdosing LSD for 1 month was followed by improved mood, productivity (Big Think)

MAGIC MUSHROOMS

• The First Vote To Decriminalize Psychedelic Mushrooms Is Happening Right Now (Marijuana Moment)

• What is Denver Initiative 301: Psilocybin mushroom decriminalization (The Denver Post)

MDMA

• Professor in western Japan allegedly made students produce MDMA (The Mainichi)

• The Push To Legalise MDMA In Australia (10 daily)

• MDMA Study Shows Promise In Fighting Brain Disease (EDMTunes)

• Psychedelic renaissance: could MDMA help with PTSD, depression and anxiety? (The Guardian)

• Teen who died at Kelowna festival last summer was given MDA instead of MDMA (Vancouver Sun)

• “I Think I Can Leave Afghanistan in the Past”: Interview with a Military Psychologist about MDMA Therapy for PTSD (Psychedelic Times)

• Liverpool teenager dies after suspected MDMA overdose (Milbank Monitor)

• Mum of schoolboy, 13, who died in park ‘after taking homemade ecstasy pill’ makes Facebook plea for help finding dealer ‘who sold my son these drugs’ (The Sun)

AYAHUASCA

• Do Ayahuasca Shamans See Microbial Worlds in Their Visions? (Kahpi)

• Eleven Otherworldly Visionary and Ayahuasca Artists You Probably Don’t Know (Kahpi)

• How Ayahuasca Taught Me Gratitude And Pulled My Life Together (Reset.me)

• Ayahuasca Spirits Are Special Because They Are Not Real (Kahpi)

5-MEO-DMT

• A single inhalation of vapor from dried toad secretion containing 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine (5-MeO-DMT) in a naturalistic setting is related to sustained enhancement of satisfaction with life, mindfulness-related capacities, and a decrement of psychopathological symptoms (Springer)

SYNTHETIC CANNABINOIDS

• New York launches new effort to fight synthetic cannabinoids (WNYT)

• The Study of “Synthetic Cannabinoids” Condemns Punitive Marijuana Laws (Filter)

• Flood of synthetic cannabinoids threatens to undermine CBD market, experts say (NutraIngredients-USA)

• Why Synthetic CBD Is (Probably) the Future of Cannabis Pharma  (Green Entrepreneur)

NITROUS OXIDE

• Laughing Gas to Be Used as Antidepressant in Australian Medical Trial (VICE)

KETAMINE

• J&J’s new ketamine-like depression drug Spravato off to ‘very, very strong start,’ company says (CNBC)

• Researchers Are Unraveling How Ketamine Works as an Antidepressant in the Brain (Discover Magazine)

• What Is Ketamine And Should It Be Used For Addiction? (Psychology Today)

PCP

• Lakewood man was high on PCP when he attacked man with ax before escaping police custody, police say (News 5 Cleveland)

• Six Onondaga County deputies treated for possible exposure to PCP (WSTM)

OPIATES/OPIOIDS

• Exclusive: DHS is considering classifying fentanyl as a 'weapon of mass destruction' (Task and Purpose)

• Andrew Yang’s plan to take on opioids: decriminalize heroin and fentanyl (Vox)

• Life-saving opioid addiction treatments get a negative slant (Columbia Journalism Review)

• "Narcansas" app developed to combat the opioid crisis (KATV)

• Maine Pursues Plan To Stock Schools With Naloxone And Expand Drug Prevention Efforts (Maine Public)

• New York Heroin Use Figures Higher Than US Average (Tech Times)

• One Doctor’s Answer to Drug Deaths: Opioid Vending Machines (WIRED)

• Vermont State Police issue update on trooper who experienced serious medical event (Vermont Biz)

• 60 People Charged For Roles in Illegal Prescription Opioid Crackdown (TIME)

• The DEA announces new strategy to fight against opioid and heroin abuse (WGNO)

• Southern States Slowly Embracing Harm Reduction to Curb Opioid Epidemic (The Pew Charitable Trusts)

• HUHS Rejects Student Proposal to Make Naloxone Publicly Available on Campus (Harvard Crimson)

• Indivior Case: Don’t Throw Out the Buprenorphine With the Bathwater (Filter)

• Saving lives with Naloxone shouldn’t cost you life insurance (The Philadelphia Inquirer)

COCAINE

• Study: US Cocaine Interdiction Efforts Just Spread More Cocaine Around (Observer)

CAFFEINE

• Switzerland to reconsider emergency coffee stockpiles, says it’s not 'vital' for survival (Fox News)

• Does Caffeine Help A Headache Or Not? Here's What Experts Say. (HuffPost)

• Caffeine content of different types of coffee (Medical News Today)

TOBACCO

• FDA threatens to fine Walmart, Kroger and convenience store chains for selling tobacco to minors (CNBC)

• Sacramento city council bans flavored tobacco products (KCRA)

• American Cancer Society opposes Iowa bill to raise tobacco use age (WQAD)

• The Percentage of Americans Who Understand That Vaping Is Less Dangerous Than Smoking Continues to Fall (Reason)

• In Approaching Nicotine, Let’s Learn From Past Harm Reduction Victories (Filter)

• House Dems unveil legislation aimed at curbing youth tobacco use (The Hill)

• Snowmass Village set to raise tobacco age limit (Aspen Daily News)

• Mitch McConnell Wants to Raise Tobacco Purchasing Age From 18 to 21, Including for Vaping Devices (TIME)

• How Changing Tobacco Laws Can Save Thousands Of Lives, Billions Of Tax Dollars (Forbes)

• Ohio could raise tobacco, e-cigarette and vape purchase age to 21: Five things to know (Cincinnati Enquirer)

ALCOHOL

• Heavy drinkers consuming more than half of all alcohol (Medical Xpress)

• Child and Adolescent Anxiety May Be Associated With Later Alcohol Use (Psychiatry Advisor)

• Can you drink alcohol with antibiotics? (Medical News Today)

• 10% of 8th graders in U.S drank alcohol in the past 30 days (WICS)

NOOTROPICS

• This Powerful Nootropic Is the Perfect Start to Your Morning (and Afternoon, And…) (Inverse)

• Are Silicon Valley’s brain-boosting 'smart drinks' as clever as they seem? (The Telegraph)

KRATOM

• Opioid Users Call Kratom a Godsend. The F.D.A. Says It’s a Menace. (The New York Times)

• Kratom is all the rage, but this natural supplement can be dangerous (Popular Science)

KAVA

• Abuse of Kava at workplaces an issue: Minister (FBC News)

• CBD Vs. Kava Kava: Two More Natural Remedies Compared (Ministry of Hemp)

MISCELLANEOUS

• Silk Road 2 founder sentenced five years after the site was shut down (Engadget)

• An algorithm is attempting to block drug deals at UK WiFi kiosks (Engadget)

• Chemsex: a dangerous shortcut to intimacy (The Independent)

• Can the Psychedelic Movement Learn from the Movement for End of Life Liberty? (Chacruna)

• Locking Up Drug “Dealers” to Save Users Doesn’t Make Anyone Safer (Truthout)

• Why block the promise of a psychedelic renaissance? (openDemocracy)

• Proposal for decriminalizing drugs could be tabled for debate in Saeima (LSM.lv)

• Our Irrational Cruelty to Pregnant or Parenting People Who Use Drugs (Filter)

• Hallucinogenic Healing: Could Psychedelics Cure Toxic Masculinity? (Playboy)

• Dark Web Drug Seller Sinmed Goes Down—Thanks to ATM Withdrawals (WIRED)

• Don’t Have a Bad Trip with the Police: Know your Rights with Police and Psychedelics (Chacruna)

• What Is Psychedelic Integration? (Maps Of The Mind)

• My Life in Two Parts of Texas Illustrates Our One War on Drugs (Filter)

• Needle exchange program pioneered in Miami-Dade may soon grow to other Florida counties (Miami Herald)

• Plant medicines in indigenous cultures (The Psychedelic Scientist)

• Why We’re Starting the Conversation Around Queerness and Psychedelics (Chacruna)

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:

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