This Week in Psychedelics - 4.9.21

Cannabis

• Virginia Becomes First Southern State To Legalize Cannabis (HuffPost)

• How London Could Effectively Decriminalise Cannabis (VICE)

• Mexico Marijuana Legalization Bill Advances In Senate For Second Day In A Row (Marijuana Moment)

• Connecticut Lawmakers Approve Governor’s Marijuana Legalization Bill In Committee (Marijuana Moment)

• Delaware: Cannabis Activists Take on Corporate Marijuana, Patients Stage Boycott (NORML)

• Texas Lawmakers Tackle Marijuana Decriminalization, Medical Cannabis And Hemp In Committee Hearings (Marijuana Moment)

• Alabama House Committee Approves Medical Marijuana Legalization Bill Already Passed The Senate (Marijuana Moment)

• Montana Governor’s Marijuana Bill Revived After Initial Committee Defeat (Marijuana Moment)

LSD

• The History of LSD: From Hero to Villain & Back Again (The Third Wave)

• Legendary LSD Blotter Art: A Hidden Craftsmanship (Reality Sandwich)

Magic Mushrooms

• Denver dabbles with magic mushrooms, but using them to treat mental health disorders remains underground (Los Angeles Times)

• Oregon Health Authority advisory board discusses plan for legal psilocybin (Daily Emerald)

MDMA

• MindMed Announces the Publication of New Data on Personalized MDMA Dosing (Psilocybin Alpha)

5-MeO-DMT

• Hunter Biden says psychedelic toad venom kept him sober for a year (Washington Examiner)

Iboga

• Inside Ibogaine, One of the Most Promising and Perilous Psychedelics for Addiction (TIME)

Ketamine

• Ketamine normalizes hyperactivity in key brain region of depressed patients (PsyPost)

Miscellaneous

• Third Massachusetts City Approves Psychedelics Decriminalization Measure (Marijuana Moment)

• California Senators Approve Bill To Legalize Possession Of Psychedelics Like LSD, MDMA And Psilocybin (Marijuana Moment)

• Maine Unveils Legislation to Decriminalize Possession of All Drugs (Filter)

• Is it Possible to Create an Ethical Psychedelics Company? (VICE)

• Psychedelics As Therapeutic Treatments To Be Focus Of New UW-Madison Master's Program (WPR)

• Washington Lawmakers Hear Drug Decrim Bill After Supreme Court Strikes Down Prohibition (Marijuana Moment)

• Drugs Could Soon Be Decriminalised In The Australian Capital Territory. Here's Why That Would Be A Positive Step. (TalkingDrugs)

• Microdosing psychedelic drugs associated with increases in conscientiousness and reductions in neuroticism (PsyPost)

• Ancient cave painters may have been stoned, study says (Salon)

• The Third Wave’s Paul Austin Has Been Accused of Stealing Information For His Psychedelic Provider Directory (Psymposia)

• Can 12-Step Groups and Psychedelic Addiction Treatment Coexist? (VICE)

• Working with Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapy and Psychedelics: Everything You Need to Know (Psychedelics Today)

• Music is a ‘Hidden Therapist’ in Psilocybin Therapy (Psychedelic Science Review)

• UNDP Brazil Condones Forced Abstinence and Religious Pathologisation of People Who Use Drugs (TalkingDrugs)

• More People Are Self-medicating with Psychedelics, Says New Study (Green Entrepreneur)

• How Do People Even Find Drug Dealers? (VICE)

• ICSS for Assessing the Abuse Potential of Psychedelics (Psychedelic Science Review)

Think Wilder is reader-supported. If you enjoyed this week’s update, please consider helping out by becoming a patron, making a one-time donation, or sharing this post with a friend. Thank you for your support.

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

This Week in Psychoactives - 3.8.19

CANNABIS

• Bipartisan Legislation To End Marijuana Prohibition Filed (NORML)

• As of 2019, Legal Cannabis Has Created 211,000 Full-Time Jobs in America (Leafly)

• Marijuana Decriminalization Bill Passes New Mexico Senate (Marijuana Moment)

• New Mexico House Passes Marijuana Legalization Bill (Marijuana Moment)

• Hawaii Lawmakers Approve Marijuana Decriminalization Bill (Marijuana Moment)

• Trump Administration Wants More Input On Marijuana Rescheduling (Forbes)

• North Dakota’s First Medical Cannabis Dispensary Is Open for Business (Leafly)

• Elon Musk Could Lose His Pentagon Security Clearance Over Video of Him Smoking Pot (TIME)

• Higher education: Colleges add cannabis to the curriculum (AP News)

• Liberal Hawaii Decides Again Not to Legalize Cannabis (Leafly)

• Cannabis conundrum: California researchers struggling to get their hands on it (The Mercury News)

• Why scientists are using yeast to make marijuana compounds (The Verge)

• Amazon Vet Joins Cannabis Site Leafly As New CEO (Forbes)

• Majority Of Americans Support Legalizing Marijuana And Expunging Records, Poll Finds (Marijuana Moment)

• Hawaii Dispensaries Can Now Serve Out-of-State Cannabis Patients (Leafly)

• Marijuana Use Before Sex Leads To More Satisfying Orgasms, Study Finds (Marijuana Moment)

• Regulations Are Choking Out California's Legal Weed Industry (VICE)

• Bernie Sanders Hits Campaign Trail With A Big Focus On Marijuana Reform (Marijuana Moment)

• Beto O’Rourke Rallies Support Around Marijuana Reform Ahead Of Potential 2020 Run (Marijuana Moment)

• Where Presidential Candidate John Hickenlooper Stands On Marijuana (Marijuana Moment)

• Where Presidential Candidate Jay Inslee Stands On Marijuana (Marijuana Moment)

• How I Use CBD to Treat Endometriosis (Civilized)

• Texas Lawmakers Hold Marijuana Decriminalization Hearing (Marijuana Moment)

• Texas Sheriffs Stand Against Marijuana Policy Reform (The Appeal)

• The DEA Wants Help Differentiating Marijuana From Hemp (Marijuana Moment)

• Facebook May Loosen Marijuana Restrictions, Internal Company Presentation Says (Marijuana Moment)

• Guns or cannabis? Ohio patients must choose. (Cincinnati.com)

• South Africa's Cannabis Policy is Wildly Confusing, Despite "Dagga" Being Part of the Culture for Centuries (Civilized)

• Florida Poised to Repeal State Ban on Smokable Cannabis (Leafly)

• Massachusetts dogs suffering from “cannabis toxicity” now that pot is legal (The Takeout)

• Meghan McCain Says Marijuana Might Have Extended Her Father’s Life (Marijuana Moment)

• Boulder company conducting study on effects of CBD on brain injury (Boulder Daily Camera)

• Where Do The Major North American Sports Leagues Stand On Cannabis? (Yahoo! Sports)

LSD

• Stanford admissions employee charged in LSD stabbing of girlfriend (Los Angeles Times)

• How LSD Makes Us Trip, and Why It Might Be Good for Us (Esquire)

• Taking LSD every morning ‘could be beneficial’, say scientists (Metro)

• Gaspar Noé provokes again, this time with LSD as lubricant, in 'Climax' (The Boston Globe)

• This sailor brought acid aboard his carrier (Navy Times)

MAGIC MUSHROOMS

• A single dose of psilocybin enhances creative thinking and empathy up to seven days after use, study finds (PsyPost)

• B.C. counsellor wants Health Canada to approve psilocybin to treat death anxiety (Vancouver Sun)

MDMA

• Israeli approves compassionate use of MDMA to treat PTSD patients (420 Intel)

• MDMA is purer, more readily available than ever in New Zealand (Newshub)

• Man died plunging into Amsterdam canal after taking MDMA (Rave Jungle)

• Schoolgirl, 15, collapsed and died on first day of summer holidays after experimenting with ecstasy (The Sun)

DMT

• Scientists Microdosed Rats With DMT, and It Was Both Good and "Concerning" (Inverse)

• The DMT Trip and the Mysteries of Hyperspace Travel (Chacruna)

• Meet the real-life people probing one part of an Alex Jones DMT conspiracy theory (Rooster Magazine)

AYAHUASCA

• Ritualistic ayahuasca users tend to have positive health and psychosocial well-being (PsyPost)

• Six Playful Lessons from a Transgender Journey Through Ayahuasca Integration (Chacruna)

• Shipibo Women Healers on the Challenges and Opportunities of the Ayahuasca Boom (Psymposia)

• What I Learned During 15 Years as an Ayahuasca Scientist (Kahpi)

5-MEO-DMT

• 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine (5-MeO-DMT) used in a naturalistic group setting is associated with unintended improvements in depression and anxiety (Taylor and Francis Online)

SALVIA DIVINORUM

• What It’s Like to Smoke Salvia for Science (Motherboard)

NOVEL PSYCHOACTIVE SUBSTANCES

• 2C-B Is the Drug Taking Over the UK's Clubs (VICE)

• What is party drug 2CP and what are the side-effects after first UK death? (Metro)

• Examining the Tragic Bestival Drug Death of Louella Fletcher-Michie (VICE)

SYNTHETIC CANNABINOIDS

• Synthetic cannabinoid use can affect psychological outcomes (Healio)

• Government moves to increase synthetic cannabinoids penalties (Radio New Zealand)

• Spice ‘zombies’ triggering NHS cost crisis (Metro)

NITROUS OXIDE

• Boca Regional Offering Nitrous Oxide Therapy For Patients In Childbirth (Boca Newspaper)

• Why ‘nos’, the nitrous oxide party drug, is no laughing matter (The Times)

KETAMINE

• A ketamine-like drug is the first new antidepressant to get FDA approval in years (Vox)

• Esketamine is not a breakthrough new drug: Why the nasal spray for depression is old news (KevinMD.com)

• How Is Taking Ketamine for Depression Different From Falling Into a K-Hole? (Gizmodo)

• Driver high on ketamine ploughed into woman walking in Kings Heath (Birmingham Live)

PCP

• Bryan police: Man charged after resisting arrest, assaulting officer (Bryan-College Station Eagle)

OPIATES/OPIOIDS

• Maryland to distribute fentanyl test strips to allow users to test drugs (The Baltimore Sun)

• How One Group Is Expanding Access to Overdose-Reversing Drugs Through the Mail  (Tonic)

• French poppy seed bread found to contain dangerous levels of morphine (The Telegraph)

• Good News: Opioid Prescribing Fell. The Bad? Pain Patients Suffer, Doctors Say. (The New York Times)

• Investigation: Where Are Naloxone Confiscations Happening the Most? (Filter)

• 'Opium-addicted' parrots terrorize Indian poppy farmers (The Jerusalem Post)

• The Opioid Dilemma: Saving Lives in the Long Run Can Take Lives in the Short Run (The New York Times)

• Naloxone kits will be added to 29 city-owned public buildings (CBC)

• Staten Island nonprofit will include naloxone training in CPR classes (SILive.com)

• Naloxone credited with decrease in overdose reports in Lima region (Lima Ohio)

• Scott Gottlieb was one of the few Trump officials taking on the opioid crisis. Now he’s out. (Vox)

• Fulton commission considering ban on synthetic opioids (MDJOnline.com)

• Report: Man overdosing on heroin crashes into restaurant (News 12 Westchester)

• Saira Khan: Stop doctors creating a nation of addicts (Mirror)

• Charges dropped in historic opium poppy bust in Catawba County (WCNC)

• Why aren’t slots for opioid treatment filled? City tries to turn the tide. (The Philadelphia Inquirer)

• Training Day: Naloxone indications and administration (EMS1.com)

• Naloxone saves lives and experts say it's easier to get than most people think (9News.com)

COCAINE

• Insta-gram: How British cocaine dealers got faster and better (Mixmag)

METHAMPHETAMINE

• Local dentists show dangers of meth (KRQE)

ALCOHOL

• Alcohol Reduces Fibromyalgia Pain (Pain News Network)

• Why You Can't Buy Alcohol on Election Days in Some Countries (VinePair)

• Drinking Alcohol Is More Harmful To Young People Than Previously Thought, According To Study (Bustle)

• Push to allow more alcohol in Utah beer hits stumbling block (Standard-Examiner)

• Locals reflect on first year of having Sunday alcohol sales (WTHI-TV)

• Is It More Difficult for Women to Quit Drinking Alcohol? (The Bold Italic)

• More than a dozen Clayton businesses caught selling alcohol to minors (WRAL)

KRATOM

• Kratom recalled after salmonella bacteria found in products sold by Oregon company (Statesman Journal)

• Chester County family sues kratom distributor in death of son (The Philadelphia Inquirer)

• US Poison Control Is Being Inundated With Calls About an Opioid-Like Herb (ScienceAlert)

• Two Parents' Kratom Stories: One Nightmare, One Miracle (Westword)

• Monroe County sheriff to ask for banning of Kratom (WCBI)

MISCELLANEOUS

• Psychedelics and Dying Care: A Historical Look at the Relationship between Psychedelics and Palliative Care (Taylor and Francis Online)

• The IRS Targets Drug Policy Reformers (Reason)

• Gwyneth Paltrow thinks psychedelics are the next big wellness trend (Quartz)

• Labour supports trials of consumption rooms to cut drug deaths (The Guardian)

• “Never Give Up”—State Commission Urges Mass. to Move for Supervised Consumption Sites (Filter)

• Leaving The Third Wave: Team Statement (The Psychedelic Scientist)

• Reframing Psychedelic Integration into a Continuum with Community (Psychedelic Support)

• Alex Jones Says Secret Government Program Uses Psychedelics To Communicate With Aliens (Marijuana Moment)

• Can We Quantify the Placebo Effect in Psychedelic Medicine? (Psychedelic Support)

• Wavepaths Conversations — Jon Hopkins (Medium)

• Record Number in US Dying From Alcohol, Drugs, Suicide (Newsmax)

• Teens Need the Truth About Drugs (The Wall Street Journal)

• Male drug-related deaths up 98% in Northern Ireland (BBC)

• Yale researchers bolster conversations on psychedelic science (Yale Daily News)

• Could Microdosing Psychedelics Treat Mood Disorders? (The Fix)

• Psychedelic Drugs Heal, Too (Washington Square News)

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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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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.

Help Clean Up the Planet on Global Psychedelic Earth Day: An Interview with Kwasi Adusei

Every year on April 22nd, various events are held all around the world to demonstrate support for environmental protection. Until now, there hasn’t been an Earth Day event that psychonauts could take part in to honor the Earth and bring attention to the concept of psychedelic plant medicine conservation. But that’s about to change.

That’s because Kwasi Adusei, the founder of the Psychedelic Society of Western New York, has organized a new psychedelic-focused Earth Day event named Global Psychedelic Earth Day that is taking place worldwide that will allow psychonauts to gather together and celebrate the preservation of our natural environment. I recently caught up with Kwasi to learn more about the history behind this innovative event and how people can get involved. 

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First of all, thank you for taking the time to chat with me about your event. To begin, could you tell me a little bit about what Global Psychedelic Earth Day is and how you came up with the idea?

In my personal psychedelic travels, the inward journey found three common themes: take better care of yourself, take better care of others, and take better care of the planet. These themes highlight for me a quintessential truth of life—that we are all one. Based on this philosophy, the psychedelic society I founded in Western New York placed a priority on community service. We began doing regular cleanups of city streets and parks, started a community garden open to the public to source fresh fruits and vegetables, and volunteered in soup kitchens and homeless shelters when help was needed.

Motivated by the practice of community service, I sought to encourage other groups to integrate this model. The encouragement presented itself through the Global Psychedelic Month of Service, which I led by reaching out to psychedelic group organizers around the world, and marketed to individuals through campaigns with The Third Wave, Psymposia, and Psychedelics Today.

The success of that project inspired me to revisit a topic which I was introduced to at Psychedelic Science 2017, the issue of psychedelic plant conservation. Mother Earth provides us with healing medicines that have impacted cultures and individuals for millennia, but due to the widespread use of psychedelics, some of these medicines are experiencing a conservation crisis, particularly with peyote and ibogaine. It was something I never truly considered. Issues of conservation are widespread in nature, even with potable water, so why wouldn’t this be the case with psychedelics?

The notion inspired the Global Psychedelic Earth Day Cleanup, where we encourage psychedelic groups around the world to honor Mother Earth by organizing a community cleanup on Earth Day. In doing so, the project will draw attention to, and support for, the issue of psychedelic plant conservation.

Part of the focus of this event is on psychedelic plant medicine conservation. What is this concept and why should psychonauts know about it?

Using the attention from the cleanup, our website provides brief information and resources for follow up on psychedelic plant conservation issues. We have also created an avenue to receive donations that will support organizations working on the problem.

Peyote's natural range of distribution is located in the Chihuahuan Desert. Native people in and around this region have used peyote for at least 6000 years for its rich alkaloid content, including mescaline. With as many as 57 alkaloids present in any given specimen, peyote has been a staple used medicinally as a panacea by natives. It is a “free medicine” Native Americans have traditionally used because it grows wild and is a rich source of many beneficial alkaloids. The market for peyote has expanded dramatically in recent years and the “free medicine” has been exploited on an industrial scale. As a result, peyote has been over-harvested and is now on the vulnerable species list with the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Follow for more information, visit the Cactus Conservation Institute webpage.

And now, on to iboga. Ibogaine is the naturally occurring psychoactive substance found in a number of plants, principally in a member of the Apocynaceae family known as iboga. The primary method of production of ibogaine is through extraction from this plant source, which is endemic to the tropical rainforests of the Congo Basin in Equatorial Africa, principally Gabon. Recently there have been reports that iboga may be threatened in this natural habitat, and that access has decreased for traditional knowledge holders. If these reports are verified, the ramifications could be far-reaching, including considerations for the future availability of some aspects of ibogaine therapy, as well as for Gabonese culture.

In your opinion, what do you think makes environmentally-friendly events like this one especially important in today’s day and age?

Participating in events like this increases our awareness of our behavior. Increased awareness can lead to a shift in habits. For example, after organizing cigarette butt cleanups on one of our downtown streets, one of the participants mentioned that ever since, he no longer throws his cigarette butts on the ground. The state of our home is progressively declining. Our government has put this issue to the back burner, but we as individuals can step up and do our part.

Is this the first-ever Global Psychedelic Earth Day? Do you plan to continue organizing it in the future?

As far as I know, this is the first, but I intend to make this an annual event. My hope is to have every habitable continent represented as the years go by.

Organizing an event like this must be a lot of work! Could you go into detail about what your team has done to turn your vision into a reality?

Including me, the team consists of 6 people. Chase Conatser is a graphic designer based in New York City who developed images for social media marketing. Eugene Zollinger is a student at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry and runs the Facebook page, sharing articles about conservation issues, psychedelic and more, to educate the people. Jason Palevsky designed the website, and manages submissions for events so organizations that participate will be seen on the map located on our website. Prudence Haze is a psychedelic artist and has been helping to spread the project to individuals in psychedelic oriented groups on social media sites. Duane David, who was influential in the carrying the initiative forward, is founder of an Atlanta based group called the Society for the Exploration of Altered States. He has been helping to get the word out on the project to psychedelic group organizers around the world. In leading this project, I’ve been doing a little bit of everything!

Some people may want to create a cleanup in their own area but may not know where to start. Do you have any suggestions that someone could use when brainstorming what type of cleanup effort to focus on?

If anyone wants to start a cleanup of their own, talk to friends who might be interested in being a part of it, find a street, park, or river that might need some care and attention, create an event through Facebook or Meetup.com, and see who may be interested in joining. Recommended supplies are bags of different colors, one for recycling and one for garbage, gloves, and a small plastic bin in the event that needles are found, something that we’ve run into at a past cleanup.

Where can people go to learn more about Global Psychedelic Earth Day and how can they help support this project?

If people want to get involved, visit our website. There, you will see a link to donate, find a cleanup near you, host one, and learn more about the problem of psychedelic conservation. Also, you can check out our Facebook page.

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I am very grateful to Kwasi for speaking with me about this exciting event. To learn more or get involved, check out the Global Psychedelic Earth Day website. You can also donate via Bitcoin or Paypal to help support the cause.

Image by jplenio, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.