This Week in Psychoactives - 8.30.19

CANNABIS

• DEA Says It Will Finally Let Others Grow Research-Grade Cannabis (Leafly)

• Mexican Marijuana Cartels Are Spraying a Lethal Pesticide Throughout California (MERRY JANE)

• Crime Rates Drop After Marijuana Dispensaries Open Nearby, Study Finds (Marijuana Moment)

• Weed May Put Women at Risk of Miscarriage, But Enhances Male Fertility (MERRY JANE)

• Marijuana Enhances Sex And Masturbation, Survey Finds (Marijuana Moment)

• Chicago to Clear Thousands of Cannabis Arrests During Legalization (Leafly)

• Washington State Bans CBD in Food and Beverages (Leafly)

• Americans View Marijuana As Far Less Harmful Than Alcohol And Tobacco, Survey Finds (Marijuana Moment)

• Global cannabis use grows 60% in a decade (Cannabis Ground)

• Green light: ten towns named for legalised cannabis-growing experiment (DutchNews.nl)

• Chocolate Complicates Marijuana Edibles Potency Testing, Scientists Find (Marijuana Moment)

• Researchers Unlock What Gives Cannabis Its Anti-Inflammatory Qualities (Yahoo! Finance)

• Medical cannabis at school? California Assembly OKs bill that would let students take prescription weed (Palm Springs Desert Sun)

• CBD Companies Positioning Themselves For Cannabis Legalization (Forbes)

• Weed-Infused Beer Is Coming to California BevMo! Stores This Fall (MERRY JANE)

• Company creates breath detector for pot and alcohol (WPVI-TV)

• Disneyland Busted Robert Downey Jr. For Smoking Marijuana, He Reveals While Accepting Disney Award (Marijuana Moment)

• NJ Governor Vetoes Cannabis Expungement, Calls for Stronger Bill (Leafly)

• Where Presidential Candidate Joe Walsh Stands On Marijuana (Marijuana Moment)

LSD

• The Detail: Modern-day LSD users inspiring a new wave of science (Stuff.co.nz)

MAGIC MUSHROOMS

• World-first trial investigating psilocybin psychotherapy for anorexia commencing in US (New Atlas)

• Harry Styles once got so high on magic mushrooms he bit part of his tongue off (Mirror)

• Do Canadians have a constitutional right to magic mushrooms? (Quartz)

• The Fight to Make Shroom Therapy Legal in Oregon (VICE)

MDMA

• MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy May Help Patients With Severe PTSD, Study Finds (Marijuana Moment)

• Socially Anxious People Are Taking MDMA and Other Psychedelics to Cope (VICE)

• Here are Some of the Toxic Chemicals Being Found in Australian Ecstasy (VICE)

• Four Deaths At Music Events In The UK This Weekend Spark Warning Over Super Strength Ecstasy (Your EDM)

• Teenager dies after suspected ecstasy overdose at nightclub (Metro)

DMT

• DMT’s Mind-Bending Science—An Interview with Dr Jimo Borjigin (Kahpi)

• DMT: Dead Man's Treasure (DMT Times)

AYAHUASCA

• Despite rising popularity, ayahuasca supplies not imperiled as yet, expert finds (NutraIngredients-usa.com)

• Is Ayahuasca a “Drug”? (Chacruna)

5-MEO-DMT

• Just One Puff Of Psychedelic Toad Slime Could Have Sustained Benefits For Well-Being (IFLScience)

• Watch Tony Robbins and Mike Tyson Share 5-MeO-DMT and Ayahuasca Stories (Psychedelic Times)

IBOGA

• Ibogaine Treatment And Its Effectiveness In Fighting Opiate Addiction (Longevity)

KETAMINE

• Trump Orders ‘a Lot’ of Ketamine for Depressed Veterans (The Atlantic)

PCP

• Uber driver, passenger killed by man high on PCP in Prince George's County, police say (WUSA9.com)

DXM

• Cough Medicine A Cheap, Easy Drug Teens can use Instead of LSD (Patch)

OPIOIDS

• Johnson & Johnson must pay over $572 million for its role in Oklahoma opioid crisis, judge rules (NBC News)

• Naloxone to be available at Washington state pharmacies (KIRO)

• You can now get naloxone online in Virginia — but it’ll cost you (The Virginian-Pilot)

• Middle school students in North Korea mobilized to harvest opium resin (Daily NK)

COCAINE

• Lupe Fiasco Wants You to Know the Medical Benefits of Cocaine (XXL Mag)

METHAMPHETAMINE

• US Customs mistakes honey for meth, man spends 82 days in jail (KCRG)

CAFFEINE

• Now You Can Get The Same Health Benefits From Coffee You Used To Get From Red Wine (Forbes)

• Caffeine does not influence stingless bees (Phys.org)

TOBACCO

• Vermonters must be 21 to buy tobacco, starting September 1 (Burlington Free Press)

• Arkansas increases legal age to buy tobacco products (WREG)

• Juul Commits $100 Million to New System to Help Retailers Block Sales to Minors (TIME)

• Wisconsin bill would set age at 21 to buy tobacco, nicotine (Wisconsin State Journal)

ALCOHOL

• Changing treatment practices for alcohol use disorder could save lives (Medical Xpress)

• Alcohol really is no excuse for bad behaviour – research reveals you’re still the same person after a drink (The Conversation)

KRATOM

• Kratom is linked with numerous deaths. But it won’t be easy for Pennsylvania to ban it. (The Philadelphia Inquirer)

• Why Kratom Is Becoming Performance Tool For Athletes (Kratom Guides)

KHAT

• In Ethiopia, a rehab centre takes on khat addiction (Medical Xpress)

DATURA

• Hyderabad: Family searched on Internet, found datura to kill dad (Deccan Chronicle)

MISCELLANEOUS

• CDC identifies a death potentially linked to vaping (Engadget)

• Why Psychedelics Look like the Next Billion-Dollar Business (Stockhouse)

• Psychedelic Treatments Are Ready to Tackle Alcoholism and Alzheimer's Disease (Folha de S.Paulo)

• Buttigieg Pledges To Decriminalize Possession Of All Drugs In First Term As President (Marijuana Moment)

• The Normalizing of Burning Man Culture (Forbes)

• Do Plants Have Something to Say? (The New York Times)

• Houston Narcotics Cop Who Instigated a Deadly Drug Raid Is Charged With Murder (Reason)

• Magic mushrooms for better health? Psychedelic drugs are having a moment across US (Medical Xpress)

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, which actually covers the past four weeks’ worth of news since I was away on vacation for a few weeks:

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This Week in Psychoactives - 6.14.19

CANNABIS

• Oldest evidence of cannabis smoking found in ancient Chinese cemetery (Ars Technica)

• Nevada bans employers from refusing to hire those who fail marijuana tests (CNN)

• Maryland Legalizes Medical Marijuana Edibles, With Caveats (Reason)

• Drivers With Common THC Limit Are Not More Likely To Cause Accidents, Study Finds (Marijuana Moment)

• Oregon: Governor Signs Law Prohibiting Landlords From Discriminating Against Medical Marijuana Patients (NORML)

• Texas governor signs law legalizing hemp, CBD products (The Hill)

• Court squashes Colombia’s ban on smoking pot and drinking beer in public (Colombia Reports)

• Coroner claims woman overdosed on cannabis, scientists call bullshit (The Next Web)

• Illinois Cancer Patient Sentenced to Four Years in Jail Over Cannabis Edibles (MERRY JANE)

• Study: Veterans Often Substitute Medical Cannabis for Alcohol, Prescription Drugs (NORML)

• U.S. Postal Services Unveils New Policy On Mailing Hemp-Derived CBD Products (Marijuana Moment)

• Recreational Weed Hurts Medical Cannabis Programs, Study Finds (MERRY JANE)

• Huge Cement Blocks Bar Access to Illicit Toronto Dispensaries (Leafly)

• Poll Reveals Top Reasons People Support Or Oppose Marijuana Legalization (Marijuana Moment)

• Nearly All Hospice Professionals Support Medical Marijuana Access, Study Finds (MERRY JANE)

• Las Vegas OK’d Cannabis Lounges but Nevada Just Said No (Leafly)

• Marijuana arrests target mostly blacks and Hispanics in region (Times Union)

• Baby Boomers Are Consuming Pot at Ten Times the Rate of Past Senior Generations (MERRY JANE)

• Ohio board rejects adding insomnia, depression as conditions for medical pot; tables autism, anxiety (WBNS)

• California Appeals Court Rules Cannabis Possession in Prison Legal (Courthouse News)

• Legal Cannabis May Not Lower Opioid Overdose Deaths After All (Gizmodo)

• Ontario Law Now Prevents Pot Shops From Showing Vape Pens to Customers (MERRY JANE)

• Oregon Is About to OK Cannabis Exports. What’s Next? (Leafly)

• Alabama Bucks Its History of Prohibition, Plants First Hemp Crop Since 1937 (MERRY JANE)

• Federal Employment Protections Demanded In Appropriations Bill (NORML)

• Oklahoma’s Medical Marijuana Industry Sold $23 Million Worth of Weed in May (MERRY JANE)

LSD

• The U.S. Army Once Kept $1 Billion Worth of LSD in a Maryland Office for Some Reason (Gizmodo)

• The Highs and Lows of LSD Literature (The New York Times)

MAGIC MUSHROOMS

• Magic mushrooms could replace antidepressants within five years, says new psychedelic research centre (The Independent)

• 'They broke my mental shackles': could magic mushrooms be the answer to depression? (The Guardian)

• I Took Magic Mushrooms To Treat The World’s Worst Headaches... And Got Arrested For It (HuffPost)

MDMA

• Ecstasy warning over high strength MDMA pills at Parklife (Daily Star)

• More than 2000 children need help to ditch ecstasy problem (Mirror)

DMT

• What’s DMT and why are techies and entrepreneurs secretly taking the drug? (The American Genius)

AYAHUASCA

• Psychedelics, dance steps and giant snakes: inside the ayahuasca show (The Guardian)

5-MEO-DMT

• Mike Tyson Says Smoking Toad Venom Cured His Addictions (Civilized)

SYNTHETIC CANNABINOIDS

• Synthetic Marijuana Is Making People Bleed From Their Eyes and Ears (Cosmopolitan)

• Milton teens found in medical distress didn't overdose on opioids, police say (CBC)

KETAMINE

• FDA Overlooked Red Flags In Testing of New Depression Drug (Daily Beast)

PCP

• 'It's an evil drug': Authorities see increase in demand of PCP (KTUL)

OPIOIDS

• Naloxone nasal spray is more available in Philly neighborhoods with more white residents, study finds (Philly Voice)

• Drug Users Armed With Naloxone Double As Medics On Streets Of San Francisco (California Healthline)

• Free heroin? Unusual clinic offers 'chance at being human again' (CBC)

• Insys, the Opioid Drug Maker, Files for Bankruptcy (The New York Times)

• Former champion MMA fighter describes battle with heroin addiction (WKRC)

COCAINE

• Michael Gove: Cocaine 'mistake' a 'deep regret' (BBC)

• Plumbers, builders and cabbies are doing it in the local pub – stop calling cocaine a middle class drug (The Sun)

• Why Peruvian wellness and a 'cocaine massage' could change your life (The Independent)

• Teens with prenatal cocaine exposure exhibit altered patterns of amygdala functional connectivity (PsyPost)

CAFFEINE

• Algorithm provides customized caffeine strategy for alertness (ScienceDaily)

• If We Wrote About Caffeine Like We Do Other Drugs… (Filter)

TOBACCO

• Texas Raises Age To Buy Tobacco To 21 (Inquisitr)

• A Flurry of States Have Raised Their Smoking Ages. But Big Tobacco's Involvement Has Some Health Groups Uneasy (TIME)

• E-cig companies use cartoon characters as logos, and new study shows it works (The Conversation)

• FDA finalizes guidance for premarket tobacco product applications for electronic nicotine delivery systems as part of commitment to continuing a strong oversight of e-cigarettes (FDA)

• Tobacco 21 to take effect June 24 in Mankato (Mankato Free Press)

ALCOHOL

• A Ten-Year Plan To Reduce Global Alcohol Consumption Is Showing Results (Forbes)

• Prohibition worked better than you think (Vox)

• Alcohol main cause of substance-related deaths in hospital (CBC)

• Drinking alcohol at conception shown to harm rats – new study (The Conversation)

• We Drink Basically The Same Wine As Ancient Romans — And That's Not So Great (NPR)

NOOTROPICS

• The Truth About Nootropics and What They Do to Our Brains, According to a Neuroscientist (Good Housekeeping)

• 10 Modafinil Myths You Can’t Afford To Believe (Dreamland Magazine)

KRATOM

• Kratom: A Legal Drug That’s Dangerously Addictive (Child Mind Institute)

KAVA

• Australia’s discussion of kava imports reflects lack of cultural understanding (The Conversation)

• Crackdown on health standards at Vanuatu kava bars (Radio New Zealand)

DATURA

• Dentist Arrested for slow poisoning her brother, niece (Medical Dialogues)

MISCELLANEOUS

• AOC Pushes To Make It Easier To Study Shrooms And Other Psychedelic Drugs (Forbes)

• Seven Tory leadership candidates admit they’ve dabbled in drugs after Gove shock coke revelation (The Sun)

• Say "High" to the World's First Venture Fund Exclusively for Psychedelics (MERRY JANE)

• Drugs expert barred from policy panel after criticising Home Office (The Guardian)

• Rhode Island Senate Approves Bill Allowing Supervised Consumption Sites For Illegal Drugs (Marijuana Moment)

• Fashion is having a seriously psychedelic moment (Los Angeles Times)

• I Think I Hated This Tech Conference on Psychedelics (WIRED)

• New Government Estimates Offer Early Hope That Drug Overdose Deaths Are Waning (TIME)

• Harm Production: Ontario’s Brutal Cuts Add Fuel to the Overdose Fire (Filter)

• El Chapo: what the rise and fall of the kingpin reveals about the war on drugs (The Guardian)

• Dark Web Drug Sellers Dodge Police Crackdowns (The New York Times)

• Palm Beach County wants to start Florida’s second needle exchange program (The Palm Beach Post)

• What to do when your friend gets too high (The Tab)

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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This Week in Psychoactives - 4.12.19

CANNABIS

• Israel Decriminalizes Adult Use Cannabis During CannaTech Conference In Tel Aviv (Forbes)

• FDA Is Taking Public Comments On CBD. Here’s How To Make Your Voice Heard (Marijuana Moment)

• Police across the UK are given green light to let cannabis users off scot-free and suggest they get treatment instead of punishment (Daily Mail)

• Alex Berenson and the Last Anti-Cannabis Crusade (The New Republic)

• Georgia: Lawmakers Advance Bill To Regulate Low-THC Oil Production (NORML)

• Mother of girl with epilepsy has supply of medical cannabis confiscated (The Guardian)

• New York City: Lawmakers Advance Bills Limiting Drug Testing for Cannabis as a Condition of Employment, Probation (NORML)

• Nova Scotia Woman Plans Constitutional Challenge of Roadside Cannabis Test (Leafly)

• Hawaii Senate Committee Approves Bill To Decriminalize Marijuana (Marijuana Moment)

• Senate Bill Would Let Marijuana Businesses Store Profits In Banks (Forbes)

• California bill to block home delivery of cannabis sidelined for year (Los Angeles Times)

• Another Connecticut Committee Approves Marijuana Legalization (Marijuana Moment)

• Will the European legal cannabis industry prosper? (Health Europa)

• GOP Congressman’s Bill Would Let Medical Marijuana Patients Possess Guns (Marijuana Moment)

• Mergers And Acquisitions Light Up The Cannabis Sector (Forbes)

• Indiana Lawmakers Amend Hemp Bill To Allow Smokeable Flower (Marijuana Moment)

• People of Color Were Targeted by the War on Drugs. They Must Benefit from Marijuana Legalization (Newsweek)

• Can Cannabis Help You Get Off Adderall? (Civilized)

• Where Presidential Candidate Tim Ryan Stands On Marijuana (Marijuana Moment)

• Cannabis stocks lower as investors await the fate of the States Act (MarketWatch)

LSD

• ‘SNL’ Introduces a Hilarious Film Critic Who Sees Movies on Acid So You Don’t Have To (IndieWire)

• T.C. Boyle’s new novel takes a trip with LSD evangelist Timothy Leary (Los Angeles Times)

MAGIC MUSHROOMS

• China Enters Magic Mushroom Industry – Wuhan, MJMedTech, and M2BIO (Psilocybin Technology)

• Psilocybin-assisted mindfulness training modulates self-consciousness and brain default mode network connectivity with lasting effects (ScienceDirect)

• Presidential Candidate Jay Inslee Is Open To Decriminalizing Psychedelic Mushrooms (Marijuana Moment)

• Seth Rogen Talks About Taking Magic Mushrooms At Cirque du Soleil (Marijuana Moment)

• I went to a chic fundraiser for Denver's psilocybin mushroom vote (Rooster Magazine)

• The return of the 'stoned ape' theory (Big Think)

• Sacred Mushrooms of the Mazatec Tradition: Transforming the Inner Landscape of the Human Psyche (Chacruna)

• How Psilocybin Reset My Suicidal Thoughts And Taught Me To Love Myself (Reset.me)

MDMA

• Inside an Innovative Study of MDMA Therapy for Alcohol Use Disorder (Filter)

• MDMA helps adult mice socialize like their adolescent selves (Quartz)

• Cate Faehrmann: Why a lawmaker admitted to taking MDMA (BBC)

• Teenager dies after taking six times the 'safe' level of Ecstasy (Your EDM)

• 'She didn't get the chance to learn from her mistake': Father's anguish after his daughter, 18, died from her first hit of liquid ecstasy - as he reveals the tragic final words she spoke to him (Daily Mail)

• Illinois man dies after taking ecstasy; parents now educate others on dangers of drug (WTKR)

• Psychedelic Drug MDMA May Help Treat PTSD (Tech Times)

AYAHUASCA

• Translating Ayahuasca Shamanism and Western Medicine (Kahpi)

• Global Ayahuasca Community Joins Together to Defend Ceremony Leader (Talking Drugs)

5-MEO-DMT

• Study: 5-MeO-DMT May Rapidly Improve Anxiety and Depression (Reset.me)

PEYOTE

• Why one cactus is being criminalized to death, and why it should be saved (The Massachusetts Daily Collegian)

IBOGA

• Dutch natural healer gets 8 years for death of Swedish woman (NL Times)

NOVEL PSYCHOACTIVE SUBSTANCES

• Ireland: Controversial ban on new psychoactive substances succeeds in reducing health problems (Scottish Legal News)

SYNTHETIC CANNABINOIDS

• State forensics lab identifying new synthetic cannabinoids (WLOX)

• A Bunch of Dutch People Smoked Fake Weed for Science (Civilized)

• Leeds outreach workers devise revolutionary treatment for Spice addiction (Leeds Live)

NITROUS OXIDE

• Melbourne researchers trial laughing gas to treat severe depression (The Sydney Morning Herald)

• Deadly risk of breathing in laughing gas for kicks (Express)

• Laughing gas found in car after Fountain Valley crash, police say (Los Angeles Times)

KETAMINE

• Ketamine May Relieve Depression By Repairing Damaged Brain Circuits (NPR)

• Thai boys trapped in cave were sedated with ketamine (The Independent)

• Ketamine vs. Esketamine for Depression (Psychology Today)

• Emily Atack reveals she was offered ketamine in a nightclub toilet...as she recalls losing her knickers after an all night romp after the BRIT Awards (Daily Mail)

OPIATES/OPIOIDS

• DOJ Charges UK Firm With Conspiracy, Fraud Over Opioid Withdrawal Drug Suboxone Film (Gizmodo)

• After three years of controversy, CDC clarifies its opioid prescribing guidelines (STAT)

• More than 10,300 Canadians lost their lives to opioids in less than 3 years (CBC)

• Poppy Cultivation and Potential Opium Production in Afghanistan (The White House)

• In poll season, Punjab debates legalising poppy seed and opium farming (Down To Earth Magazine)

• Public urged to keep free naloxone overdose kits on hand (The London Free Press)

• Family Dog Survives Eating Five Bags of Heroin (The Epoch Times)

• Naloxone available at UNT pharmacy without a prescription (North Texas Daily)

• Alabama school staff trains to administer naloxone to reverse opioid overdoses (CBS News)

• Forcing treatment and tying the hands of physicians won’t solve the opioid crisis (The Philadelphia Inquirer)

• Big Pharma’s Millions Won’t Solve the Opioid Crisis (Tonic)

• Rajasthan farmers caught in ‘opium crisis’ (The Times of India)

• How eating four slices of multigrain bread at a airport lounge led a fly-in-fly-out miner to failing a drugs test - and him stood down from his job (Daily Mail)

• Hanover deputy released from hospital following possible fentanyl exposure (WWBT)

COCAINE

• The United States' 'War on Drugs' Really Did Make Things Worse, New Research Finds (ScienceAlert)

• Heather Yakin: Cocaine making comeback with new, lethal forms (Times Herald-Record)

METHAMPHETAMINE

• Meth Mania: From Biker Gangs to the Psych Ward, How Speed Came of Age in California (KQED)

• Family's dog tests positive for meth, molly after walk in park (WKRG)

CAFFEINE

• Caffeine could boost exercise performance (Reuters)

• TEEN SCENE: Vaping caffeine (The Guardian)

• Caffeine addicted? Just seeing coffee stimulates the brain (Digital Journal)

• Caffeine slows down water molecules (Physics Today)

TOBACCO

• Illinois Becomes First State in Midwest to Adopt 'Tobacco 21' (NBC Chicago)

• Delaware House approves raising age to buy tobacco products (Delaware Online)

• Iowa Senate bill would increase age to buy all tobacco, vape products from 18 to 21 (KGAN TV)

• Temple University takes major step in becoming tobacco-free: 'It's incredibly important' (KYW Newsradio 1060)

• Texas could soon increase the legal age to buy tobacco, though active military members might be exempt (The Texas Tribune)

ALCOHOL

• Alcohol use disorder: Brain damage may progress despite sobriety (Medical News Today)

• No, moderate drinking can't protect against stroke. It actually increases risk, study says (USA Today)

• There's new evidence for why we get the 'drunchies' after a night of heavy drinking (INSIDER)

• Penn study finds genetic differences between heavy drinkers and alcoholics (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

• A gene linked to alcohol habits may influence who you choose to marry (New Scientist)

• Ethiopia passes tough law regulating alcohol sales, adverts (Africanews)

• Proposed Federal Alcohol Labeling Revisions Retain Constitutionally Suspect Review Standards (Forbes)

• The Big Number: 17.6 million Americans suffer from alcoholism (The Washington Post)

• Australian Instagram personalities found to be under influence of alcohol industry (The Guardian)

• First-Ever Female Libido Pill Gets Relief on Alcohol Warning (Bloomberg)

• Lawmaker aims to lower blood alcohol limit (WIVB)

• Does Red Wine Help You Live Longer? Here's What the Science Says (TIME)

• April is National Alcohol Awareness Month (Marietta Daily Journal)

KRATOM

• An Herbal Drug Called Kratom Has Been Linked to Almost 100 Overdose Deaths, the CDC Reports (TIME)

• Castle Rock steps out front on regulating kratom, the popular but controversial herbal extract (The Denver Post)

• Oregon Lawmakers Could Pass a Law Regulating Kratom (The Portland Mercury)

• Kratom ban pushed by Pa. parents of son who fatally OD’d on ‘herbal heroin’ (PennLive.com)

• FDA Report Finds Heavy Metals in Kratom – Is It Really That Bad? (Kratom Guides)

• Northeast Mississippi counties continue conversation on Kratom (Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal)

• 'Kratom literally saved my life' (WGRZ)

MISCELLANEOUS

• The World’s Biggest Dark Net Market Has Shut – What Next? (VICE)

• Sciencing the mystical: the trickery of the psychedelic trip report (Taylor and Francis)

• California tests if addiction treatment can be incorporated into primary care (Politico)

• Presidential Candidate Andrew Yang Walks Back Pledge To Pardon All Non-Violent Drug Offenders (Marijuana Moment)

• Rejected Depression Drug Could Provide Relief For Opioid Withdrawal (The Fix)

• Inside the Legal Struggle Over Safe Consumption Spaces (Filter)

• The new science of psychedelics: How hallucinogens provide a tool for changing our minds (AlterNet)

• Psychedelic Plants in a Time of Ecological Crisis (Adventures Through The Mind)

• How drugs got on the metric system (Rooster Magazine)

• To Address Addiction, Confront Racism in Our Health and Justice Systems (Filter)

• Proposal to allow needle exchanges statewide heads to House floor (Tampa Bay Times)

• How Helpful—Or Harmful—Are Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs? (Filter)

• Overdose prevention sites can help cities like Philadelphia save lives (STAT)

• Psychedelic Research and You. Well, Maybe, not You (Chacruna)

• Vindictive Drug-Induced Homicide Charges Are Set to Surge in Chicago (Filter)

• LSD, shrooms, and psychiatry: Penn summit highlights clinical applications of psychedelics (The Daily Pennsylvanian)

• Law enforcement are not drug experts (AOD Media Watch)

• Playlist for Psychedelic Restoration (Tam Integration)

• How Open Relationships and Psychedelics Have Shaped This Entrepreneur's Mindset (Entrepreneur)

• Acetaminophen crisis bigger than opioid epidemic? (Drug WarRant)

• There’s a way to stem the increase in HIV infections (The Philadelphia Inquirer)

• Microdosing psychedelics may improve mood and productivity (ZME Science)

• Psychedelic club emphasizes benefits of shrooms (Rocky Mountain Collegian)

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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.

---

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:

---

This Week in Psychoactives - 2.15.19

CANNABIS

• Senator Files '420' Marijuana Bill To Legalize It Federally (Forbes)

• Mexican Senate Report Lays Out Marijuana Legalization Considerations (Marijuana Moment)

• New Mexico Lawmakers Approve Marijuana Legalization Bill At Committee Hearing (Marijuana Moment)

• Oregon has more legal cannabis than the state can consume in six years (Quartz)

• States With Legal Medical Marijuana Have Lower Teen Use Rates, Large-Scale Study Finds (Marijuana Moment)

• Why CBD Works Better With a Little THC (Even If You Don’t Want to Get High) (Leafly)

• Study Shows How Marijuana Component CBD Can Help People With Substance Use Disorders (Marijuana Moment)

• Veterans Medical Marijuana Access Legislation Introduced In House and Senate (NORML)

• European Parliament Approves Medical Marijuana Resolution (Marijuana Moment)

• Bill to Provide Greater Access for Virginia Medical Cannabis Patients Succeeds (NORML)

• Missouri Lawmakers Approve Marijuana Expungement Bill For Medical Cannabis Patients (Marijuana Moment)

• Kamala Harris Got So High Smoking Weed in College She Thought She Was Listening To Snoop Dogg and Tupac (Reason)

• Where Presidential Candidate Amy Klobuchar Stands On Marijuana (Marijuana Moment)

• Michigan’s First Cannabis Lounge Is the Chill Alternative to Bars (Leafly)

• Marijuana possession bill reintroduced in state Senate (Winston-Salem Journal)

• Maury Povich Smoked A Marijuana Strain Named After His Wife, Journalist Connie Chung (Marijuana Moment)

• Dan Bilzerian's Weed Company Is Keeping Sexist Cannabis Ads Alive (VICE)

• If you support marijuana legalization, you should support safe injection sites (The Philadelphia Inquirer)

• Here's How New Mothers are Using CBD to Combat Baby Brain (Civilized)

• Aurora Cannabis earnings show big growth in pot sales, but worrisome profit trend (MarketWatch)

LSD

• The Man who Mapped LSD (OUPblog)

• Microdoses of LSD change how you perceive time (Big Think)

• Amanda Feilding: ‘LSD can get deep down and reset the brain – like shaking up a snow globe’ (The Guardian)

MAGIC MUSHROOMS

• $1m kicked into campaign for magic mushroom therapy (The Sydney Morning Herald)

• Push to legalize psychedelic mushrooms gains traction in Eugene (KEZI)

• Hallucinogenic Mushrooms Are Having a Moment. Here's What It's All About. (Cheddar)

• Magic Mushrooms Show Promising Results for Treating PTSD and Depression (San Diego Entertainer Magazine)

MDMA

• MDMA Users May Have a Social Advantage Over People Who Use Other Drugs (Inverse)

• Israel's Health Ministry Approves Compassionate Use of MDMA to Treat PTSD (Haaretz)

• MDMA Expanded Access is almost here. What’s it all about? (Psymposia)

• Use of Ecstasy spreading in Cebu: PDEA 7 (Sun.Star)

• Police issue a warning for yellow octopus ecstasy pills (Mixmag)

• Daniel Eades, 19, took MDMA at Halo and Wetherspoon (Bournemouth Echo)

• Young dad dies after taking ecstasy on New Year's Eve (Derbyshire Live)

AYAHUASCA

• The First Indigenous Ayahuasca Conference (Yubaka Hayrá) in Acre Demonstrates Political, Cultural and Spiritual Resistance (Chacruna)

• Ayahuasca Shows Huge Potential As a Treatment For Severe Depression (Reset.me)

• What Ayahuasca is Trying to Teach Us: An Interview with Dennis McKenna (Reality Sandwich)

• Mindful Eating as a support for Ayahuasca Dieta (Tam Integration)

SYNTHETIC CANNABINOIDS

• Severe bleeding associated with use of tainted synthetic cannabinoids (AAP News)

• Colorectal cancer: Scientists halt growth with cannabinoid compounds (Medical News Today)

• Children as young as THREE are treated in hospital after taking Spice as Britain's synthetic drug crisis deepens (Daily Mail)

NITROUS OXIDE

• Laughing gas now an option for women giving birth (Everything Lubbock)

• Residents 'disgusted' after piles of 'hippy crack' canisters dumped outside Cambridge home (Cambridgeshire Live)

• Everything you need to know about nangs, the worrying craze growing amongst Aussie teens. (Mamamia)

KETAMINE

• Taking Ketamine Can Feel a Lot Like a Near-Death Experience (Tonic)

• F.D.A. Panel Recommends New Depression Treatment (The New York Times)

• Ketamine Clinics of Los Angeles Commemorates Five Years of Patient Success Stories (New Kerala)

PCP

• Man who killed USA Today reporter in PCP-fueled crash sentenced to six years in prison (The Washington Post)

OPIATES/OPIOIDS

• When the Cure Is Worse Than the Disease (The New York Times)

• Mapping the Opioid Epidemic (New America)

• Overdose remedy naloxone now carried by all Ventura police officers (Ventura County Star)

• Mass. Issues Guidelines After Boston Nurse Was Denied Life Insurance For Carrying Naloxone (WBUR)

• Even in best-case scenario, opioid overdose deaths will keep rising until 2022 (Los Angeles Times)

• Opioid-Related Deaths Decreasing in Iowa, Report Shows (WHO-TV)

• Veterinarian sentenced to 6 years for stitching heroin into puppies and turning them into drug mules (INSIDER)

• Why the Rural Opioid Crisis Is Different From the Urban One (CityLab)

• Opium cultivation business squeezed by market shift towards meth (Myanmar Times)

• Vet saves Victoria puppy with naloxone injection (Maple Ridge News)

• Offer: help solve the opioid crisis, have your student loans forgiven (Rooster Magazine)

• Indy coffee shop is the newest place to offer life-saving drug naloxone (Fox 59)

• Coroner: No carfentanil spike locally, but OD deaths are up (Dayton Daily News)

• 'Church Of Safe Injection' Offers Needles, Naloxone To Prevent Opioid Overdoses (NPR)

• It's too late to save my son's life, but this drug can save others (The Sacramento Bee)

• Houston Cop Involved in Deadly Drug Raid Relieved of Duty Due to 'Ongoing Questions' (Reason)

• Naloxone training could help save numerous lives (KVAL)

METHAMPHETAMINE

• Crystal Meth Is North Korea's Trendiest Lunar New Year's Gift (The New York Times)

• Officials: Iowa sees higher-quality meth, increased drug use (The Daily Nonpareil)

BENZODIAZEPINES

• The Deadly Worst Case Scenario for America's Xanax Obsession (VICE)

ALCOHOL

• Beer before wine, you'll feel fine? Not according to a new study (CTV News)

• More than 100 dead after drinking bootleg alcohol in India (Reuters)

• Man 'under influence of alcohol' allegedly beats stepdaughter to death (Jakarta Post)

• How heavy drinking might boost your appetite for alcohol (Health24)

• Alcohol Problems Grow as Booze Gets a Bigger Kick (WebMD)

• Alcohol’s effects on the brain (The Ithacan)

• Plan to raise alcohol limits in beer at Utah stores approved (Cache Valley Daily)

• Report says Utah has lowest alcohol consumption per capita in country (KUTV 2News)

• Thousands sign petition to stop ban of alcohol on some Michigan rivers (WXYZ)

• I Stopped Drinking For 30 Days — & My Skin Got So Much Better (Refinery29)

• Giving up alcohol made our lives better — and turned us into terrible guests (The Washington Post)

ABSINTHE

• Does absinthe really make drinkers hallucinate? (Fox News)

NOOTROPICS

• Brain‑Enhancing 'Smart Drugs' Promise a Boost in Creativity, Memory (The Swaddle)

• Seven Mental and Athletic Performance Benefits of Nootropics (Youth Health Magazine)

• Noopept: one of the most potent brain boosters on the market (London Post)

KRATOM

• Kratom Is A Drug, But Indonesia Really Wants It To Remain An Unlicensed Supplement (Science 2.0)

• The FDA is wrong about kratom (The Washington Post)

• Regulations Are On Hold as Kratom Debate Rages (WebMD)

• Kratom No Longer Allowed In Columbus (WCBI)

• What Is Kratom & Why Is It Being Used For Opiate Self-Detox? (Psychology Today)

• Miracle treatment or dangerous drug? (The Star Online)

MISCELLANEOUS

• El Chapo, the Notorious Drug Kingpin, Has Been Found Guilty in His U.S. Trial (TIME)

• 'Kitty Flipping' and the Psychonaut Obsession with Mixing Drugs (VICE)

• FDA explores using blockchain to track drug supplies (Engadget)

• How Brexit Will Shape Britain's Drug Supply (VICE)

• GOP Iowa lawmaker proposes decriminalizing psychedelic drugs for medical use (The Hill)

• Sri Lanka hiring hangmen, inspired by Philippines' war on drugs (Reuters)

• Will El Chapo's conviction change anything in the drug trade? (The Guardian)

• Victoria city councillors call on B.C. to provide safe-inhalation sites for drugs (Times Colonist)

• Tennessee bill would charge pregnant women using drugs if baby born addicted (KMPH)

• Students Turn To Study Drugs And Alcohol To Cope With Campus Life (Forbes)

• Is there something divine about gender and psychedelics? (The Psychedelic Scientist)

• Microdosing Hallucinogens Has Positive Effects—but Not What You Might Suspect (Pacific Standard)

• Riverstyx: A Small Family Foundation That Funds Psychedelic Research and Other Fringe Causes (Inside Philanthropy)

• Sex On Drugs (PSU Vanguard)

• The case for drug decriminalization in Baltimore (The Baltimore Sun)

• Japan managed to win its war on drugs, why can’t we? (The Spectator)

• Trip Sitters and Conscious Bachelorette: Interview with Chi of Truffles Therapy (Psychedelic Times)

• Psychedelics Live Up to Early Promise (Discover Magazine)

• How 'Russian Doll' flirts with psychedelic therapy (The Outline)

• Becoming an Entheogen (Medium)

• Psychedelic Meditation (The Third Wave)

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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.

This Week in Psychoactives - 2.8.19

CANNABIS

• World Health Organization Recommends Reclassifying Marijuana Under International Treaties (Forbes)

• The Most Efficient Way to Smoke Cannabis? Study Says Dabs (Leafly)

• Jury Convicts Church Of Cannabis Founder On Public Consumption Charges (Colorado Public Radio)

• Most Strains of Weed Are More Alike Than People Think (Men's Health)

• Hawaii Lawmakers Unanimously Approve Marijuana Legalization Bill In Committee (Marijuana Moment)

• Pennsylvania Lawmakers Introduce Bill To Legalize Marijuana (Marijuana Moment)

• A New Study Says Pot Smokers May Have Higher Sperm Counts. But There’s a Catch (TIME)

• Patients Frequently Substituting Cannabis For Anti-Anxiety Drugs (NORML)

• CBD-Infused Food Banned by Health Department at NYC Restaurant, Owner Says (Eater)

• After A Decade Of Testing, Israeli Medical Cannabis Comes To The US (Forbes)

• Republican Senator Pitches Weird Conspiracy Theory About Weed Legalization, Menthol Cigarettes, and the FDA (Reason)

• Science Backs Most Medical Cannabis Treatment, Study Finds (Leafly)

• Medicinal cannabis legalisation opens gateway for psychedelic research (Small Caps)

• Traffic fatalities on a high after cannabis legalisation (Medical Xpress)

• Nebraska Could Vote On This Medical Marijuana Ballot Measure In 2020 (Forbes)

• Congressional Democrats Plan Hearing And Vote On Marijuana Business Banking (Marijuana Moment)

• Pot for pets: Cannabis products for our furry friends increasing in popularity (The GrowthOp)

• A Hemp Company Sues After Police Mistake Their Product for Weed (Reason)

• Trump Allies Consider Using Hemp Concrete To Build Border Wall With Private Funds (Marijuana Moment)

• Here’s Where Ontario’s First Private Cannabis Stores Could Open (Leafly)

• More Seniors Are Using Marijuana and It May Decrease Their Opioid Use (Green Entrepreneur)

• New Hampshire Considers Legalization, but Gov. Sununu Vows to Veto It (Leafly)

• Maryland Lawmakers Introduce Marijuana Legalization Bills (Marijuana Moment)

• Latest Medical Marijuana Bill Proposes Full Use Of Cannabis Plant In Tennessee (WPLN)

• Reports Claim Bisexuals Smoke the Most Cannabis. Is There Any Truth to It? (Leafly)

• Why do so many Americans now support legalizing marijuana? (The Conversation)

• Study Reveals Little-Known Trick To Make Marijuana Plants Grow More Bud For Less (Marijuana Moment)

• Toronto Maple Leafs Suing Snoop’s Cannabis Brand Over Logo (Leafly)

• Smoke without fire: Cannabis for the observant Jew (ynetnews)

• Where Presidential Candidate Cory Booker Stands On Marijuana (Marijuana Moment)

• A Patient’s Guide to Using Cannabis for Cancer (Leafly)

• Cannabis in Small Commonwealth States: Turning a New Leaf? (Talking Drugs)

• How To Invest In Cannabis IPOs (Forbes)

• Why We Should Treat Cannabis like Organic Food or Fine Wine (Civilized)

LSD

• LSD allows more information to flood into the brain by altering activity in the thalamus (PsyPost)

MAGIC MUSHROOMS

• Denver Will Vote on Psilocybin Decriminalization in May (Westword)

• The Push to Legalize Magic Mushrooms for Depression and PTSD (WIRED)

• Shrooms Are the Safest Drug You Can Take (VICE)

• Oregon "Psilocybin Services" Ballot Measure Has Significant Support, Poll Shows (PR Newswire)

• 'Magic Mushrooms' May Soon Be Decriminalised in Parts of The US (Science Alert)

• Magic Truffles in Amsterdam and the Monastic Path: Interview with Chi of Truffles Therapy (Psychedelic Times)

MDMA

• MDMA users more empathetic than people who take other drugs, study finds (The Independent)

• Parents whose son died after taking ecstasy want to educate others on dangers of drug (WGN-TV)

• Antisocial Species Of Octopus Becomes Friendlier On MDMA, Study Finds (Study Finds)

DMT

• Why Do Jesters and Tricksters Appear in the DMT Experience? (Sam Woolfe)

NOVEL PSYCHOACTIVE SUBSTANCES

• Man filmed dying girlfriend at festival after taking 2C-P instead of helping her (Rave Jungle)

• First National Study on Flakka Finds Disturbing Trend Among Teens (Psychedelics Daily)

SYNTHETIC CANNABINOIDS

• Synthetic cannabis may stop colorectal cancer from growing, study suggests (Daily Mail)

• K2 Overdose Calls Reach Lowest Numbers since 2014 (Spectrum News)

• Natural and synthetic cannabinoids for agitation and aggression in Alzheimer’s disease: A meta-analysis (MDLinx)

• 'Spice turns you into a zombie': Battling an addiction with synthetic cannabis (Shropshire Star)

NITROUS OXIDE

• Longmont United Hospital Offers New Pain Management Option for Laboring Mothers (Longmont Observer)

• Laughing gas now available for women in labor (WGME)

KETAMINE

• Ketamine Could Be the Key to Reversing America’s Rising Suicide Rate (Bloomberg)

• New variation of ketamine to be approved by FDA for treatment of depression (Mixmag)

• Ketamine Noninferior to Fentanyl for Traumatic Injury Pain in Children (Clinical Pain Advisor)

• Kansas City woman credits controversial depression treatment with saving her life (Fox 4 Kansas City)

• Can ketamine help depression? (WTSP)

• Fears grow that Ketamine use by young is on the rise in England (The Guardian)

OPIATES/OPIOIDS

• U.S. Prosecutors Sue To Stop Nation's First Supervised Injection Site For Opioids (NPR)

• Family Behind OxyContin Made Billions By Pushing to Keep Patients on Drug Longer, Filing Shows (TIME)

• Study: Illicit opioid deaths to rise by 147 percent by 2025 (UPI.com)

• Fentanyl Overdoses Spike on Mexico’s Northern Border But Remain Invisible (Filter)

• #MSLeg: 'Parker's Law' would punish drug dealers for death or injuries (Clarion Ledger)

• Struggling to Compete with Fentanyl, Mexico’s Poppy Farmers Ask for Legalization (Filter)

• Naloxone boxes to be placed in Downtown Cincinnati in new bid to stem overdose deaths (Cincinnati.com)

• Ohio doctors must now offer overdose antidote naloxone to some pain patients (The Columbus Dispatch)

• Cops Claimed She Set Up A Drug Deal. Now She's Being Prosecuted for Manslaughter. (The Appeal)

• Alphabet's Verily is opening an opioid addiction center in Ohio (Engadget)

• Trump Decries Unjust Crack Sentences but Wants to Repeat the Mistake With Fentanyl (Reason)

• The Third Opium War (Manitoba Post)

• New bill clarifies who can dispense, administer Naloxone (KIVI-TV)

• Program trains high school officials to give naloxone (Tuscaloosa News)

• Myanmar's opium farmers cling on to lucrative crop (Mail and Guardian)

• IN PICTURES: Myanmar, the second biggest source of opium in the world (The Courier)

• Why we need to talk about take-home naloxone (Australian Journal of Pharmacy)

• How to Get and Use Fentanyl Testing Strips (Lifehacker)

• Let's define terms to understand the opioid crisis (Murfreesboro Post)

COCAINE

• This Is Why Cocaine Dealers Should Fear Venezuelan Unrest (OZY)

METHAMPHETAMINE

• DEA testing shows meth is running rampant in New Jersey (New Jersey 101.5 FM Radio)

• Iowa sees increase in methamphetamine use (Sioux City Journal)

ALCOHOL

• Richer, older men more likely to drink to excess, figures show (The Guardian)

• Heavy Drinking in Teens Causes Lasting Changes in Emotional Center of Brain (Neuroscience News)

• Utah lawmaker wants to scrap low-alcohol beer rule (KUTV)

• Some Super Bowl ads seem to suggest that some kinds of alcohol are better for you. Health officials say it's better to punt on the drinking altogether (Deseret News)

• Alcohol related deaths in England and Wales rocket in past decade (Yahoo! Sports)

• Know how alcohol is harming your teeth! (Times of India)

• 10 things that can happen to your body when you give up alcohol (INSIDER)

ABSINTHE

• This Maine-made absinthe won’t make you hallucinate (Bangor Daily News)

NOOTROPICS

• Nootropic spearmint extract may improve reactive agility, according to new study (Nutritional Outlook)

• The future's getting smarter (Mashable)

• Nootropics: A Necessary Mental Aid in Modern World? (The Frisky)

• Are ‘smart drugs’ all they claim to be? (ZME Science)

KRATOM

• Kratom Now Banned in Columbus (WCBI)

• Advocate: Kratom 'should be regulated,' not illegal (The Dispatch)

• Residents seek Kratom ban in Lowndes (The Dispatch)

MISCELLANEOUS

• Does microdosing improve your mood and performance? Here’s what the research say (The Conversation)

• GOP Lawmaker’s Bill Would Legalize Psychedelic Mushrooms And MDMA For Medical Use (Marijuana Moment)

• How the Drug War Eats the Poor (VICE)

• El Chapo Jury Begins Deliberation in Bombshell Drug Trafficking Trial (TIME)

• This is what psychedelic mainstreaming looks like…in Arizona (Psymposia)

• Houston Narcs Were 'Clearly Labeled' During Deadly Drug Raid, Police Spokesman Says (Reason)

• Why More and More People Are Leaning Toward Microdosing for Depression (Civilized)

• Are Electronic Cigarettes Facilitating Illicit Drug Use? (News-Medical.net)

• Is Permatripping Real? (Gizmodo)

• Should I Drug Test My Kids? Why the Experts Say No (Filter)

• Sri Lanka to begin hangings within months, ending 43-year stay on executions (The Guardian)

• Cory Booker Invites Former Drug War Prisoner To Trump’s State Of The Union (Marijuana Moment)

• Psychedelic Privilege: Report from the Women and Psychedelics Forum (Chacruna)

• The GOP Needs A Better Drug Policy to End HIV (Medium)

• Drug Reform Campaigner Calls For Legal MDMA, Cannabis & Pill Testing in Australia (Your EDM)

• Meet the Artists Designing Clothes For Businesswomen Who Micro-Dose LSD (Interview)

• Nine pill testing myths (Australia's Science Channel)

• This is why you should vote to make drugs safer (The Bristol Cable)

• I took daily doses of magic mushrooms to improve my performance and mental health. Here’s what happened (news.com.au)

• Psychedelics could treat mental disorders (4BC)

---

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:

---

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.