CANNABIS
Hemp Is Officially Legalized With President Trump’s Signature On The Farm Bill (Marijuana Moment)
New Zealand to hold referendum on legalising recreational cannabis (The Guardian)
Barbados to Legalise Medical Cannabis, Hold Referendum on Recreational Legalisation (Talking Drugs)
Teen Marijuana Use Remains Lower Than Pre-Legalization Levels, Federally Funded Survey Finds (Marijuana Moment)
Nebraska Petition Seeks Medical Marijuana Ballot Measure in 2020 (The New York Times)
Teen Marijuana Use Actually Declined In Washington State After Legalization, Study Finds (Marijuana Moment)
Marijuana Use Doesn’t Actually Change The Structure Of Your Brain, New Study Finds (Marijuana Moment)
Michigan Bill to Ban Home Cultivation Fails in Senate (NORML)
Deschedule Marijuana, Says Coalition Involving AARP, Labor Unions And NAACP (Marijuana Moment)
Cuomo Moves to Legalize Recreational Marijuana in New York Within Months (The New York Times)
New York City Mayor De Blasio Backs Marijuana Legalization, Days After Governor Cuomo Does So (Marijuana Moment)
Scientists Journey Into the Dark Side of Cannabis (WIRED)
More Americans Think Smoking Marijuana Is Safer Than Vaping It, Study Finds (Marijuana Moment)
Boulder County and City of Denver to Allow Expungement of Low-level Marijuana Convictions (NORML)
How Legalizing Marijuana Is Securing the Border: The Border Wall, Drug Smuggling, and Lessons for Immigration Policy (Cato Institute)
Hemp Hemp Hooray: What the Farm Bill Means For The Future of Hemp Science (Psychedelic Times)
'Dead Skunk' Stench From Marijuana Farms Outrages Californians (The New York Times)
Lawmakers In Two States Pre-File Bills To Allow Medical Marijuana At Schools (Marijuana Moment)
Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office Moves Forward with Marijuana Expungement Initiative (NORML)
FDA To Take Steps Toward Allowing CBD Products Following Hemp Legalization (Marijuana Moment)
AB InBev Enters The Cannabis Space (Forbes)
South Carolina Lawmakers Pre-File Four Marijuana Bills For 2019 (Marijuana Moment)
Higher percentage of California cannabis passing safety tests (The Press Democrat)
Here’s The Text Of The Marijuana Amendment Sen. Gardner Wants Attached To Criminal Justice Bill (Marijuana Moment)
Marijuana Tax Dollars Support Anti-Bullying Program in Colorado (NORML)
Federal Agency Asks Public To Send Studies On Marijuana And Alzheimer’s Disease (Marijuana Moment)
Pot jobs could soften the blow for Alberta's oil workers (CBC)
Congressional Democrats Release Report On Marijuana Legalization’s Economic Benefits (Marijuana Moment)
Use cash to buy legal cannabis if you're worried about privacy, watchdog says (CBC)
Missouri Lawmaker Moves To Block Feds From Getting Medical Marijuana Patient Info (Marijuana Moment)
Detecting pot use in drivers will be tricky (The Boston Globe)
GOP Lawmaker Calls For Marijuana Reform In Fiery Senate Floor Speech (Marijuana Moment)
Will Marijuana Legalization Have a ‘Gateway’ Effect? (The Crime Report)
Alaska Wants Input On Allowing On-Site Consumption At Marijuana Stores (Marijuana Moment)
Rhode Island Might Be Peer Pressured Into Legalizing Marijuana By Neighbors, Governor Hints (Marijuana Moment)
Cannabis A Wide-Open Space For Female Pioneers (Forbes)
Medical Marijuana is Florida Law (Marijuana Moment)
LSD
Old Etonian, 26, drowned in the ocean after downing a lethal cocktail of LSD, cocaine and ecstasy at a music festival in Croatia, inquest hears (Daily Mail)
What are the Differences Between Psilocybin (Magic) Mushrooms and LSD? (Explore Psychedelics)
Magic Mushrooms
Dinosaurs munched on ‘magic mushrooms’ that gave them the same mind-bending high as LSD, scientists reveal (The Sun)
Teleporting and psychedelic mushrooms: a history of St Nicholas, Santa and his helpers (The Conversation)
North East NHS trust conducts study into whether magic mushroom can treat depression (Chronicle Live)
Will Denver Decriminalize Psilocybin Mushrooms? (High Existence)
I Took Psychedelic Drugs On A Self-Help Retreat And This Is What I Learnt (HuffPost)
Psilocybin (Magic) Mushrooms and Drug Tests: How Long Does Psilocybin Stay in Your System? (Explore Psychedelics)
MDMA
The Dutch Green Party wants government regulation of ecstasy production (Mixmag)
What Our Saliva Will Tell Us About MDMA Therapy: Dr. Joe Tafur and the Modern Spirit Epigenetics Project (Psychedelic Times)
Why MDMA and the Holidays Could Mix Well (Playboy)
Pioneering UConn MDMA Research Focused on People of Color Ends Early: What Are the Next Steps for Equity in Treatment? (Psychedelic Times)
Open Enrollment Has Begun For MDMA Trials In 4 Different States (Your EDM)
Scientists Gave Octopuses Ecstasy: The Study Went Viral (WCAI)
Jada Pinkett Smith says she used ecstasy, weed and alcohol to cope with depression (Fox News)
Two friends died at Pryzm after taking Ecstasy for the first time, inquest hears (Plymouth Live)
AYAHUASCA
Is Ayahuasca Mainstream Now? (VICE)
Jung in the Jungle: Ayahuasca and the Shadow (Kahpi)
How a bank robber became a trailer park shaman with Kentucky ayahuasca (Courier Journal)
PEYOTE
The Decline of American Peyote (Motherboard)
NITROUS OXIDE
Sydney hospital and BOC face charges after babies given nitrous oxide instead of oxygen (ABC News)
Laughing gas for childbirth? More Chicago hospitals offering nitrous oxide to women in labor. (Chicago Tribune)
Laughing gas laws not working, says ex-chief crown prosecutor (BBC)
Laughing gas cannisters are 'easily available in corner shops, online or over the phone' (Manchester Evening News)
KETAMINE
Many Say Ketamine Eased Their Depression, But Is It Safe? (HealthDay)
PCP
Police: Salvation Army bell ringer assaults shopper at Germantown Walmart, was high on PCP (WJLA)
OPIATES/OPIOIDS
Research Shows Opioids Largely Ineffective Against Chronic Pain (Ganjapreneur)
New data shows that Fentanyl kills more people than heroin (Popular Science)
An opioid epidemic nobody talks about (The Washington Post)
HHS Recommends Co-Prescribing Naloxone With Opioids (Medpage Today)
In Pennsylvania, People Lined Up For Free Naloxone (NPR)
Harm Reduction Is Helping Reduce Ohio Opioid Overdose Deaths (Reason)
Opium Farmers in Myanmar: The Lives of Producers of Prohibited Plants (Transnational Institute)
FDA must act to increase naloxone availability (The Hill)
Punishing Patients Won’t Reduce Opioid Deaths (Reason)
Parents warned after student's drugs tested positive for fentanyl in Delta (CBC)
COCAINE
HQ Trivia Co-Founder and CEO Colin Kroll Dead at 35 of Apparent Drug Overdose (TMZ)
Why Colombia is losing the cocaine war (Vox)
Kid Cudi Used One Final Cocaine Binge to Help Himself Go to Rehab (XXL)
ABSINTHE
Former SoBou Bartender is Opening an Absinthe Lounge in the French Quarter (Eater)
KRATOM
Despite Government Crackdown, Kratom Scientists Awarded $3.5M for Research (Inverse)
FDA Fails to Provide Credible Data and Science to Justify Scheduling Kratom as Schedule I Substance (PR Newswire)
Kratom Causes Concerns in Carbondale (WNEP)
Kratom Ban Controversies, Attempts & Warnings Continues (Kratom Guides)
KAVA
The first kava company to list on any global exchange just hit the boards of the ASX (Stockhead)
Kava kava: Benefits and safety concerns (Medical News Today)
MISCELLANEOUS
Creating The Ideal Psychedelic Retreat (The Third Wave)
How to Safely Access Psychiatric Support in Times of Psychedelic Crisis (Chacruna)
Welcome to the Church of Safe Injection (STAT)
Russia’s Putin Thinks Censoring Rap Will Curb Drug Use In the Country (Marijuana Moment)
Theresa May's local force go soft on hard drugs: Thames Valley Police will not punish those caught with heroin, cocaine and ecstasy under controversial new scheme (Daily Mail)
DanceSafe Announces Return To Michigan (DanceSafe)
Syracuse cops push St. Joe’s to probe man’s rectum for drugs; ‘What country are we living in?’ (Syracuse.com)
The First Step Act Is Not Sweeping Criminal Justice Reform — and the Risk Is That It Becomes the Only Step (The Intercept)
The Electric Forest Acid Testers (Pacific Standard)
Psychedelic Science, Ontological Mystery, and Political Ideology: A Conversation with Emma Stamm (Psychedelic Times)
How Republicans pivoted from the war on drugs to cutting prison sentences (The Washington Post)
Women, Spirituality, and Plant-Based Medicines (Chacruna)
Only White People Can Get Away With the Microdosing Trend (Tonic)
DPA’s Leader Shares Her Roots, Health Challenge and All-Drug Decrim Agenda (Filter)
Grays Harbor’s Involvement With Needle Exchange To End In 2019 (KXRO)
Psychedelic Technology, Blockchain Woes and Meta Set and Setting: Interview with Emma Stamm (Psychedelic Times)
Politicians should stop hiding behind the police over drugs reform and show some leadership (inews.co.uk)
Disclaimer: "This Week in Psychedelics" 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 Dahtamnay, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.