This Week in Psychedelics - 11.12.21

Cannabis

• Top Mexican Senator Says There’s Agreement To Prioritize Marijuana Legalization Legislation This Session (Marijuana Moment)

• Germany’s Next Coalition Nears Deal on Legalizing Cannabis (Bloomberg)

• Texas judge allows legal sale of delta-8 products—for now (Leafly)

• New York adopts final rules banning delta-8 THC, smokable hemp (HempToday)

• Another Poll Shows Majority Support For Marijuana Legalization, Including Most Republicans (Marijuana Moment)

• Herbal Supplement Giant To Enter THC, Psychedelics Industries, Seeking To Become First Household Brand To Do So (Forbes)

• This MMA fighter is taking on cannabis stigma in sports (Leafly)

• What Happens When You Mix Cannabis With Psychedelics? (IFLScience)

• Marijuana Legalization In Canada Did Not Result In Increased Traffic Injuries, Study Finds (Marijuana Moment)

• Medical Cannabis for Epilepsy - Research Summary and Recommendations (Drug Science)

• Medical Cannabis Sales Finally Set to Begin in West Virginia (NORML)

• South Dakota Marijuana Activists Delay Legalization Signature Delivery After Missing Initial Deadline (Marijuana Moment)

• Cannabis requires more water than commodity crops, researchers say (Marijuana Business Times)

LSD

• Sweden Experimenting With Rats on LSD to Cure Depression, Addiction (Sputnik News)

• How Likely Are Bad Trips and Flashbacks from LSD? (Psychedelic Science Review)

• Blackhawk Growth's MindBio Therapeutics Completes Safety Milestone in its Phase 1 Clinical Trials (Yahoo!)

Magic Mushrooms

• Largest psychedelic therapy trial to date delivers mixed results (New Atlas)

• Nonprofit Hosts Canada’s First Legal Psilocybin Group Therapy (Truffle Report)

• Australian Therapists to Be Given Psilocybin to Better Understand Their Patients (VICE)

• Denver City Council Considers Expanding Psilocybin Decriminalization (Marijuana Moment)

• Psilocybin therapy boosts cognitive and neural flexibility in depressed patients, study finds (PsyPost)

• A Look at Connecticut’s Psilocybin Study Workgroup (Truffle Report)

MDMA

• Doctor takes bid to treat patient with MDMA to court, in first case of its kind in Australia (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

• The Story Behind the 'First Ever Ecstasy Song' (VICE)

• Expert: MDMA Is Very Likely to Be FDA-Approved for PTSD by the End of 2023 (Pharmacy Times)

• Veteran Who Cured PTSD with MDMA-Assisted Therapy Wows NBC ‘Today’ Show Anchors (Psychedelic Spotlight)

• Numinus to Host Extension of MAPS-Sponsored MDMA-Assisted Therapy for PTSD Trials (PR Newswire)

Ayahuasca

• A cancer doctor said doing ayahuasca saved his marriage and relationship with his 2 young children (Yahoo!)

Novel Psychoactive Substances

• Pre-Clinical Data Shows Cybin’s Novel Analog Could Have Advantages Over Psilocybin (Forbes)

• Forgotten Psychedelics: What Is 2C-B? (Psychedelic Spotlight)

Ketamine

• Baby Girl Died From 'Acute Ketamine Intoxication,' and Prosecutors Charge Washington Father With Murder (The Daily Chronicle)

• Single Infusion of Ketamine Rapidly Reduces Suicidal Thoughts (Medscape)

• Warning of ‘wild west’ in depression treatment as UK clinics offer ketamine (The Guardian)

• Psychedelics Wellness Scores Big Win With New Mainstream Deal (Forbes)

Miscellaneous

• DEA Boosts Psilocybin, MDMA And DMT Production Levels Again In Final Quotas For 2021 (Marijuana Moment)

• New Website Details Abuse Allegations Against German Psychedelic Practitioners (Psymposia)

• Big Tech's Psychedelics Grift (WIRED)

• Prosecutors seek 4+ years in prison for 'QAnon Shaman' in attempt to set example (CNN)

• Will the magic of psychedelics transform psychiatry? (The Guardian)

• Veterans Have Become Unlikely Lobbyists in Push to Legalize Psychedelic Drugs (The New York Times)

• Psychedelics Could Become Extractive Capitalism—Unless We Hold Stakeholders Accountable (DoubleBlind)

• Tim Ferriss Funds Fellowships for Journalists Reporting On Psychedelics (Lucid News)

• 6 Ways the Psychedelic Space Can Divest From Whiteness (DoubleBlind)

• Is Microdosing a Placebo? Here’s what our Head of Research Says (The Third Wave)

• Countries not adequately addressing illegal drug use: Experts (The Straits Times)

• Startup offers psychedelic-assisted mental wellness therapies (Axios)

• The Masters of Bad Trips (Psymposia)

• Monash University announces establishment of the Neuromedicines Discovery Centre to Focus on Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies for the Treatment of Key Classes of Mental Illness (Mind Medicine Australia)

• Psychedelic Company Lists on NASDAQ as ‘DRUG’ (High Times)

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 Month in Psychedelics - March 2021

March was yet another busy month in the world of psychedelics. There was plenty of news involving drug policy, scientific research, the emerging psychedelic industry, and more. So if you’re looking to learn more about what happened this month in psychedelics then you’re in the right place!

Here is a slimmed-down video recap version that is available for those who prefer an easier-to-digest option:

There’s a lot to get through this month, so without further ado, let’s jump into the news:

Drug Policy

New Laws

Kicking things off, two new decriminalization laws took effect in the United States this month.

Washington D.C. decriminalized natural psychedelics like ayahuasca and psilocybin mushrooms and the capital city isn’t stopping there. The Plant Medicine Coalition is pushing the District Council to enact more legislation that would provide worker and child protections related to the use of plant- and fungi-based substances, among other initiatives that the group is working on.

Baltimore did something a bit surprising by decriminalizing all drugs as well as prostitution and several other low-level offenses. This move is part of an overall experiment known as The Covid Criminal Justice Policies, and it’s a unique approach to crime that was developed with public health authorities and inspired by the global pandemic. Instead of prosecuting people arrested for minor crimes, the program looks at them as public health issues and partners with organizations in the community to help find solutions rather than punish offenders.

Wins

In last month’s recap I reported that both Virginia’s House and Senate voted to legalize cannabis, but what I didn’t realize at the time was that each one of them approved a separate bill. Now Virginia’s House and Senate have both approved the same bill, which is currently on Governor Ralph Northam’s desk awaiting a signature that would make cannabis legal in the state by 2024.

However, Northam has thrown around the idea of moving up the legalization date to this July 1st and the leaders of Virginia’s House have expressed their support for this idea, so it’s possible that weed will be legal in the Old Dominion this summer.

Cannabis reform bills made advances in several other states as well: Hawaii, Wyoming, New York, Connecticut, and Illinois. And south of the border, Mexico’s lawmakers advanced a bill to legalize recreational cannabis, bringing the country one step closer to becoming one of the world’s largest marijuana markets.

Losses

Not all drug policy reform efforts were successful, however. Mississippi’s House killed the state’s medical marijuana bill, although the Senate hasn’t given up yet and is attempting a last-ditch effort to revive the bill. And Maryland’s cannabis legalization effort officially threw in the towel, so residents of the Old Line State will need to wait for either a future federal- or state-level initiative to enjoy legal marijuana from the comfort of their own homes.

New Bills and Initiatives

And there’s plenty drug policy news on the horizon as well—a New York lawmaker filed a bill to decriminalize psilocybin mushrooms in the state, lawmakers in Vermont and Rhode Island proposed decriminalizing all drugs, and activists in Michigan launched a campaign to decriminalize natural psychedelics.

Psychedelic Industry

Following on the heels of last month’s news that COMPASS Pathways is attempting to patent basic, preexisting psychedelic therapy techniques like using soft furniture and holding hands, the debate about patenting various aspects involving psychedelics continued to rage on this month.

A few well-known investors and players in the psychedelic industry had something to say about patents, including Rick Doblin, Tim Ferriss, Christian Angermayer, and David Bronner. At the heart of the matter is the fact that COMPASS Pathways has submitted patent applications for so many things involving psilocybin that Psymposia put together an astounding article detailing them that’s definitely worth checking out.

This is an important area to keep an eye on because it will impact all sorts of things, including who will be able to legally access and use psychedelics and which companies will be able to turn a profit in the emerging psychedelic industry.

Psychedelic Research

Researchers at Imperial College London published results from a groundbreaking placebo-controlled LSD microdosing trial. The study found that while participants who microdosed with active LSD ended up experiencing beneficial psychological effects, the placebos also engendered the same result. In fact, there was no statistical significance between an LSD microdose and a placebo pill.

This could mean that the benefits of microdosing come down to the placebo effect rather than an actual effect, but this study is by no means a definitive confirmation of that hypothesis. The study’s limitations include a relatively small sample size of 191 volunteers and a unique (and potentially flawed) self-blinding protocol.

More microdosing research will need to be conducted before we have a solid idea about its efficacy, but until then I’m sure microdosers will keep microdosing and getting benefits out of their practice regardless of whether those benefits come down to the psychedelic substance itself or the placebo effect.

In another study, researchers analyzed data from more than 171,000 adults who responded to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health between 2015 and 2018 and found that the use of psychedelics is associated with better physical health.

Roughly 14% of the sample reported using a classical psychedelic like LSD, mescaline, psilocybin, or DMT at least one time, and after controlling for a number of variables the results showed that those who reported ever using psychedelics tended to have better health than people who had never used a psychedelic before. Psychedelic users also had significantly lower odds of being overweight or obese.

It’s important with a study like this to remember that correlation doesn’t equal causation, but it’s interesting to know that a study with such a large sample size and variable controls found physical health to be significantly better among psychedelic users than the psychedelically-naïve.

Miscellaneous

Although many people in the psychedelic and wider drug-using communities were hopeful about President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris’ approach to drug policy, so far things haven’t exactly gotten off on the right foot. In addition to the fact that the drug war is still going strong, several White House staffers were asked to resign, were suspended, or are being required to work remotely after revealing past cannabis use during their background checks, even if that use occurred in states where marijuana has been legalized. This isn’t too surprising though, considering that cannabis is still illegal at the federal level, which can make it challenging for government employees to get federal security clearance.

However, what makes this extra frustrating is that several staffers had been previously told by transition officials that past cannabis use would be overlooked, only to be told later that they would need to resign. This flip-flopping is par for the course when it comes to politicians and politics in general, but it’s still aggravating to see Biden’s administration pull a bait-and-switch here.

Hopefully in the future they’ll be able to relax a bit and not exclude people on the basis of prior drug use. I know a natural remedy that might help them chill out but something tells me they won’t be interested…

Last up this month is a story about why PCP users almost exclusively live in America. The linked VICE article explores the curious reasons behind why the drug never went global like crack cocaine or LSD.

That’s all for this month’s update. Remember to always test and weigh your drugs and until next time—keep thinking wilder.

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.

This Week in Psychedelics - 3.12.21

Cannabis

• Mexican lawmakers advance bill to legalize recreational cannabis (Leafly)

• Hawaii Senate Approves Marijuana Legalization Bill And Separate Decriminalization Expansion Proposal (Marijuana Moment)

• Virginia Governor Considers Speeding Up Legal Marijuana Timeline (Marijuana Moment)

• South Dakota: Legislative Effort to Delay Implementation of Voter-Approved Medical Marijuana Law Fails (NORML)

• Mississippi House kills medical marijuana bill. Senate tries a hail Mary (Mississippi Today)

• Legislation Introduced To No Longer Deny Citizenship Based on Cannabis Consumption (NORML)

• Thai households now allowed to grow six cannabis plants a year (BusinessLIVE)

• New cannabis coalition wants to influence how — not if — weed is legalized (Politico)

• Rhode Island Senate Leaders Unveil Marijuana Legalization Bill As Governor Prepares Competing Plan (Marijuana Moment)

• Lawmakers In Several States Consider Enacting or Expanding Medical Cannabis Access (NORML)

• Nearly 30,000 Californians Just Had Felony Weed Offenses Reduced to Misdemeanors (MERRY JANE)

• Review: Cannabinoids Effective and Well-Tolerated in Patients with Post-Traumatic Stress (NORML)

• Plymouth Massachusetts Introduces a New Medical Research Website for Cannabis (PR Newswire)

• Indoor Weed Farms Are Hotboxing the Planet (Gizmodo)

• Vaping Weed May Actually Be Worse for Your Lungs Than Smoking Cigarettes, Study Says (MERRY JANE)

LSD

• Psychedelics research: Scientists zero in on the ideal dose of LSD to use in psychiatric treatment (PsyPost)

• LSD Brings Your Brain to the Edge of Chaos (VICE)

• When Acid Makes You Feel Like Jesus (DoubleBlind)

Magic Mushrooms

• New York Lawmaker Files Bill To Decriminalize Psilocybin Mushrooms (Marijuana Moment)

• DEA Sued By Doctor Who Wants Permission To Give Psilocybin Mushrooms To Patients (Marijuana Moment)

• Mind Medicine Australia urges TGA to reverse its Interim Decision on scientific and humanitarian grounds (Mind Medicine Australia)

• Psilocybin Therapy Could Help With Obesity (Baystreet)

• How Red Light Holland Is Bringing Psilocybin Truffles Mainstream (Benzinga)

MDMA

• The impact COVID-19 had on MDMA this festival season (Newshub)

DMT

• DMT and Stroke Research (Truffle Report)

Ayahuasca

• Best Ayahuasca Retreats: How to Choose the Right Ayahuasca Retreat For You (DoubleBlind)

5-MeO-DMT

• Three Friends Explore The Obscure And Potent Substance 5-MeO-DMT In This Existentially Intense Film Doc (Forbes)

Iboga

• Ibogaine Treatment for Trauma (PR Newswire)

Novel Psychoactive Substances

• Is 18-MC a Psychedelic Drug? (Psychedelic Science Review)

Ketamine

• Yes, Ketamine Addiction Is a Thing. Here’s What You Need to Know. (DoubleBlind)

• Intravenous ketamine appears safe, efficacious for adolescents with depression (Healio)

• Lower dose of ketamine is as effective as the standard dose to treat pain in adults (News-Medical.net)

• Best Ketamine Clinics and Therapists: What to Look for if You’re Seeking Ketamine Therapy, and How to Find Ketamine Clinics Near You (DoubleBlind)

Miscellaneous

• Investors Are Debating Who Should Own the Future of Psychedelics (VICE)

• The Race to Patent Psychedelics Is Just Getting Started (VICE)

• Vermont Lawmakers Propose Decriminalizing Drugs (Truffle Report)

• Michigan Activists Launch Statewide Campaign to Decriminalize Entheogenic Plants, Fungi (Truffle Report)

• Why mental health researchers are studying psychedelics all wrong (Salon)

• Report finds people use psychedelic drugs to self-medicate for depression, anxiety and trauma (TheJournal.ie)

• Some Thoughts on For-Profit Psychedelic Startups and Companies (Tim Ferriss)

• An open letter to Tim Ferriss about the value of patents in the psychedelic world (LinkedIn)

• How to Penetrate Clubhouse’s Psychedelic Underground (Lucid News)

• California May Ban Most Employers From Drug Testing People Upon Employment (MERRY JANE)

• Lifetime psychedelic use may reduce likelihood of hypertension (Healio)

• Psychedelic Speech: How Drugs Disorganize Normal Communication Patterns (Psychedelic Science Review)

• New Coalition Seeks Federal Psychedelic Research Funds (Truffle Report)

• The Outlaw Chemists Who Deserve a Cut of the Psychedelic Gold Rush (The New Republic)

• Gurus Behaving Badly: Anaïs Nin’s Diary & the Value of Gossip (Chacruna)

• The Pitfalls and Challenges of Psychedelic Medicine (Psychedelic Science Review)

• Psychedelics and Ancient Art: A History of Confirmation Bias (Truffle Report)

• The Shamanic Persona (Maps of the Mind)

• Psychedelic Science Holds Promise for Mainstream Medicine (UNLV)

• Seeking a True Shaman in the Sierra Mazateca (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 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 Month in Psychedelics - August 2020

There was a good mix of psychedelic news categories this month. Since 2020 is an election year there were naturally quite a few updates on ongoing efforts to reform drug policies, but in addition to that there was some increased access to psychedelic therapy in Canada, the announcement of an upcoming clinical trial looking at candyflipping, a successful MAPS fundraising campaign, and much more.

Here is a slimmed-down video recap version that is available for those who prefer an easier-to-digest option:

Without further ado, let’s jump into the news:

Four Dying Canadians Granted Exemption for Psilocybin Therapy

Starting things off this month, Canada granted a legal exemption to four terminal cancer patients that will allow them to access compassionate psilocybin therapy. This form of psychedelic-assisted therapy will be used to treat end-of-life stress and anxiety, making these four individuals the first-ever to receive a legal exemption from the Canadian Drugs and Substances Act.

The exemption only applies to these four people, at least for now. And since there isn’t a way for them to legally receive psilocybin therapy from the government or healthcare system, it the patients will be responsible for procuring their own supply of magic mushrooms and finding an underground therapist. Still, this is a progressive move by the Canadian government.

Study: Candyflipping to Avoid Bad Trips

Taking a page from the underground community, the psychedelic company known as MindMed is planning to put candyflipping to the test in a Phase 1 clinical trial later this year. That’s right—MindMed is planning to explore the subjective effects of combining MDMA with LSD, in an attempt to reduce the chance that patients will have a bad acid trip.

The rationale behind the study is that MDMA’s ability to induce feelings of well-being might reduce any potential negative effects that can occur after taking LSD, which would hopefully improve the overall outcomes for psychedelic therapy.

While it does stand to reason that candyflipping might have the potential of reducing anxiety in some people, I have seen firsthand that the unskillful combination of multiple drugs (including MDMA+LSD specifically) can result in the complete opposite experience. However, set, setting, and dosage play a large role in the outcome of mixing drugs and it’s same to assume that a clinical trial will pay close attention to these factors when designing the study and any future treatment protocols.

MAPS Raises $30 Million for MDMA Study

In yet another sign that big money has entered the world of psychedelics, the Capstone Challenge raised $30 million in non-profit donations to the Multidimensional Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) that will enable the organization to conduct a Phase 3 study looking at using MDMA-assisted psychotherapy to treat PTSD.

About 2500 individual donors helped MAPS meet its fundraising goal within six months, which included several notable business leaders from outside the drug policy space, such as David Bronner (CEO of Dr. Bronner’s), Bob Parsons (founder of GoDaddy), Blake Mycoskie (founder of TOMS Shoes) and Tim Ferriss (author and podcaster).

MAPS has spearheaded psychedelic research in this area for decades and is hoping to gain FDA approval for MDMA-assisted psychotherapy by 2022. If successful, this treatment protocol would be the first-ever psychedelic option to gain approval.

Plant Medicine Church in Oakland Gets Raided

Although the city council in Oakland, CA voted to decriminalize natural psychedelic plants and fungi last year, a local plant medicine church named Zide Door was raided by Oakland police this month. At first glance this doesn’t seem to make much sense—why would a local police raid happen if the church was operating in Oakland, where psychedelic plants and fungi were recently decriminalized?

Well, since Zide Door was using cannabis and psilocybin as its religious sacraments, and last year’s Decriminalize Nature resolution didn’t cover cannabis, which was already handled by a different set of state and local regulations, the entheogenic church was accused of operating a marijuana dispensary without a permit. This scenario, combined with an uptick of shootings in the area, prompted local police to force their way into Zide Door’s front door and shut the place down.

All that we’re left with now are questions. Will Zide Door be forced to permanently cancel its religious services or will the church be allowed to open back up in the future? Will there be additional raids on other entheogenic churches in Oakland? Only time will tell.

Prolific Ayahuasca Researcher Passes Away

Unfortunately there has been another death in the psychedelic community, as the world lost one of the most prolific ayahuasca researchers in the field this month.

Dr. Jordi Riba spent more than two decades of his life studying the jungle brew. He published almost 80 scientific articles and was an active speaker at conferences around the world. In fact, Dr. Riba conducted the world’s first clinical trial with ayahuasca as well as the first neuroimaging studies involving the brew. And he didn’t exclusively study ayahuasca—he also investigated other psychedelics, including 5-MeO-DMT, salvia divinorum, and cannabis.

Dr. Riba will be greatly missed, no doubt, but the work that he contributed to the psychedelic community will live on forever. Thank you for your service, and may you rest in peace.

Microdosing LSD for Pain Study Reports Remarkable Results

If you’re not familiar with the first wave of psychedelic research, then the idea of using psychedelics to treat pain may strike you as a bit fantastical, but a new clinical trial that took a look at treating pain with microdoses of LSD found the treatment to be “remarkably” effective.

The study picked up a previously retired line of research that first started—and later came to its untimely end—in the 1960s. Whereas the studies conducted more than 50 years ago focused on large doses of LSD, this recent double-blind placebo-controlled trial put sub-perceptual, low doses to the test instead.

The authors of this month’s study found that microdoses of 20 micrograms significantly reduced the perception of pain when compared with lower doses or a placebo. But before you start microdosing for pain, bear in mind that this is a preliminary study and its sample size was small—only 24 people—and more research needs to be conducted before we can definitively say whether microdosing LSD can treat acute pain.

A Brief Update on 2020’s Policy Reform Efforts

There have been a few changes since last month’s roundup of psychedelic policy reform efforts, and in an attempt to get through all of them without boring you to ego death, I’m going to keep this section of news as brief as possible.

Kicking things off at the federal level, the United States House of Representatives will vote on a cannabis legalization bill next month and the President of Mexico plans to approve a marijuana legalization law that Congress is expected to pass when it reconvenes next month.

Meanwhile, Canada—as usual—is taking things one step further. After a petition to decriminalize psychedelics received nearly 15,000 signatures, it will be formally read in the House of Commons next month. The Canadian government will then have 45 days to issue a response.

At the state level, Arizona and Montana will vote on legalizing cannabis, Nebraska will weigh in on medical marijuana, and an initiative to decriminalize psychedelics in Washington D.C. officially qualified for the ballot.

Rounding things out at the local level, advocates in Oakland unveiled guidelines for a framework that would legalize psychedelic healing ceremonies and four more cities in Ohio will be voting on local measures to decriminalize cannabis this November.

Cybin Corp Is Putting Psilocybin on Dissolvable Sublingual Strips for Depression

The psychedelic industry has given birth to all sorts of innovative routes of administration for psychedelic drugs (some of which are questionable). Some of the recent ROA concepts have included nasal sprays and wearable microdosing technology.

Cybin Corporation is gunning to become the latest company to jump in the game with its new contribution: cherry-flavored dissolvable sublingual strips containing psilocybin. They will be similar to minty breath strips made by companies like Listerine and Equate.

The theory behind the dissolvable strips is that they will be capable of delivering the active ingredient directly into the bloodstream, bypassing the GI system and the liver, with the possibility of being stronger at a lower dose. We should know more about how well this ROA will work after Cybin Corp. conducts its initial clinical trial to find the optimal dose for psilocybin strips.

It’s great to see innovation like this coming out of the psychedelic industry, but the part of me that is an old school psychonaut wonders if it would be better for most people to just eat the actual mushrooms in their whole form (or make tea) instead.

Native American Tribes Take Cannabis Laws Into Their Own Hands

Rounding out this month’s recap are two stories about Native American tribes forging their own way when it comes to cannabis.

White Earth Nation, the largest reservation in Minnesota, became the second tribe in the state to legalize medical marijuana. They plan to grow their own cannabis for medicinal purposes. This is in opposition to Minnesota’s existing medical marijuana framework, which does not allow for cultivation.

A few states to the East, the Bay Mills Indian Community in Michigan is going to develop its own tribal cannabis market outside of the state’s regulated market. This will allow them to avoid paying taxes as well as state licensing, application, and renewal fees.

That’s all for this month’s update. Remember to always test and weigh your drugs and until next time—keep thinking wilder.

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.

This Week in Psychoactives - 9.6.19

CANNABIS

• Vitamin E Suspected In Serious Lung Problems Among People Who Vaped Cannabis (NPR)

• The Mysterious Vaping-Induced Lung Illness Has Officially Killed Two People (MERRY JANE)

• Mexican Senator Files Marijuana Legalization Bill Ahead Of Supreme Court Deadline (Marijuana Moment)

• Vape Pen Lung Disease Has Insiders Eyeing Misuse of New Additives (Leafly)

• Thailand Includes Low Level Cannabis And Hemp Extracts On Its Approved Medical Marijuana list (Forbes)

• Three million Americans tried weed for the first time last year (Rooster Magazine)

• Hemp Farming Quadrupled In The U.S. This Year, New Report Shows (Forbes)

• Medical marijuana laws impact use among sexual minorities differently than heterosexuals (Science Daily)

• Body Cameras for Cannabis Delivery Raise Concerns About Privacy in Mass. (Leafly)

• Oakland says big pot grow in homeless encampment is illegal — but leaves it alone (San Francisco Chronicle)

• Cannabis may hold promise to treat PTSD but evidence lags behind use (Science Daily)

LSD

• Meet the doctor behind historic New Zealand LSD microdosing experiment (Newshub)

MAGIC MUSHROOMS

• A multi-million dollar donation just created a bonanza of magic mushroom research (Quartz)

• Oregon Psychedelics Activists Clash Over Changes To Psilocybin Mushroom Ballot Measure (Marijuana Moment)

• Why Do Magic Mushrooms Cause Nausea? (Psychedelic Science Review)

MDMA

• MDMA for Racial Trauma (DoubleBlind)

• Several Polk County high school students hospitalized after being exposed to MDMA (ABC Action News)

• Man who took MDMA had 300 mini-seizures and parents twice told to say goodbye (Mirror)

AYAHUASCA

• The 21 Best Scientific Papers About Ayahuasca (Chacruna)

• Ayahuasca and the Problems of the World (Kahpi)

• Woman, 34, dies after taking psychedelic drug during ‘spiritual cleansing’ ceremony in Cyprus (ItzaGoal365)

5-MEO-DMT

• Inhaling Powdered Toad Secretions Just Once Is Linked to Feeling Happier For a Month (ScienceAlert)

KETAMINE

• Ketamine Use in New York Skyrockets (Leader Bulletin)

• Mum's heartbreaking plea to families after son, 25, found dead in bath (Birmingham Live)

PCP

• Casper PD: Man on PCP Left Teeth Marks in Patrol Car Door (K2 Radio)

OPIOIDS

• OxyContin maker prepares 'free-fall' bankruptcy as settlement talks stall (Reuters)

• Man Charged By Federal Prosecutors In Connection With Mac Miller's Death (NPR)

• DC is offering the overdose reversing drug Naloxone for free at these select pharmacies (WJLA)

• Researchers find alarming risk for people coming off opioids (UW Medicine)

• Treat the fentanyl crisis like a poisoning outbreak (Los Angeles Times)

• Liverpool's 40-year battle with heroin is reaching terrifying new levels (Liverpool Echo)

• Hidden History: Humans Have Been Using Opium For Millennia (WGBH)

• How Britain's opium trade impoverished Indians (BBC)

• Ben Westhoff's 'Fentanyl, Inc.' confronts horrible truths about America's opioid epidemic (USA Today)

• Law enforcement seizes enough fentanyl to kill 14 million people (WCVB)

COCAINE

• Chronic cocaine use modifies gene expression (Medical Xpress)

• Exercise can help beat cocaine addiction: Study (Times Now)

METHAMPHETAMINE

• NYC Meth Deaths Up Sharply in Recent Years (GayCityNews.com)

CAFFEINE

• Drinking This Much Coffee Could Protect Against Gallstones (Newsweek)

• Caffeine Headaches: Telltale Signs And Symptoms (Medical Daily)

TOBACCO

• Michigan becomes first state to ban flavored e-cigarettes (The Washington Post)

• Walgreens raises minimum age to buy tobacco products to 21 (WILX)

ALCOHOL

• A Rat Study Finds that Acupuncture Can Treat Alcohol Addiction... in Rats (Gizmodo)

• In Europe, people continue to consume more alcohol than in any other place in the world (World Health Organization)

• Daybreak app more than halves alcohol use in three months (Medical Xpress)

KRATOM

• Franklin becomes first municipality in state to ban sale of kratom (WMUR)

• Legislation filed that would regulate sale of kratom and CBD products in Pa. (The Indiana Gazette)

• Can Kratom be beneficial for MMA fighters and athletes? (Pro MMA Now)

• Organic Kratom can Improve Mental and Physical Health for an Active Lifestyle (Big Time Daily)

KAVA

• World's first kava tissue lab opens in Fiji (Radio New Zealand)

• Is kava legal in Australia? (Better Homes and Gardens)

MISCELLANEOUS

• Johns Hopkins Opens New Center for Psychedelic Research (The New York Times)

• Psychedelic Drugs Draw Some Investor Attention—and Much Skepticism (The Wall Street Journal)

• 'Treatment Facilities' Aren't What You Think They Are (The New York Times)

• And a million of us tried psychedelics last year, too (Rooster Magazine)

• Vaping May Hamper the Lungs' Ability to Fend off Infections (WIRED)

• Mexico’s new drug war may be worse than old one (Associated Press)

• How I Infiltrated a Chinese Drug Lab (VICE)

• U of M Medical School to host first Psychedelic Symposium (Detroit Metro Times)

• She spent more than $110,000 on drug rehab. Her son still died. (Vox)

• Tim Ferriss, the Man Who Put His Money Behind Psychedelic Medicine (The New York Times)

• The Science and Healing Benefits of Psychedelics (Chronogram)

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.