CANNABIS
Tough cannabis policies do not deter young people – study (The Guardian)
Marijuana Companies Urged Governor To Ban Cannabis Home Cultivation, Document Shows (Marijuana Moment)
Popular book on marijuana's apparent dangers is pure alarmism, experts say (The Guardian)
Legalization Coming ‘Within Weeks,’ New Jersey Advocates Say (Leafly)
Vermont Bill To Legalize Marijuana Sales Approved By Key Committee (Marijuana Moment)
Thanks to New York City Health Officials, New Yorkers Can No Longer Get CBD in Their Coffee (Reason)
West Virginia House Passes Medical Marijuana Banking Bill (Marijuana Moment)
Medicinal cannabis: Why has it taken so long to get to patients? (BBC)
Scientists Actually Did A Study To Confirm That Marijuana Causes The Munchies (Marijuana Moment)
Denver's second cannabis lounge opens in the Green Mile, making history (Rooster Magazine)
Marijuana Decriminalization Narrowly Rejected By North Dakota Lawmakers (Marijuana Moment)
Wisconsin Could Decriminalize Cannabis, Legalize Medical Use (Leafly)
Worldwide Marijuana Conferences Confirm The Business Of Weed Is Officially Legit (Forbes)
Liberal Democrats Overwhelmingly Support Marijuana Legalization, Survey Data Reveals (Marijuana Moment)
Study Shows That Bees Like Hemp, And That’s Great News For The Environment (Marijuana Moment)
Mothers Demand Baltimore Police End Marijuana Arrests And Instead Focus On Murders (Marijuana Moment)
Survey Says: Price, Quality, and Access Are Key for Canadian Consumers (Leafly)
Marijuana Legalization Bill Approved By Key New Hampshire House Committee (Marijuana Moment)
Florida Senate panel takes another step toward lifting ban on smokable medical marijuana (South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Virginia Law Would Protect Students Who Use CBD and THC-A Oils (Leafly)
Marijuana Businesses Plea For Congress To Provide Banking Access (Marijuana Moment)
End the cannabis banking problem (The Hill)
Cannabis on Campus: A Deep Dive Inside Higher Education Pot Policy in Medical Marijuana States (Civilized)
Proposed packaging regulations for cannabis edibles decried as excessive, wasteful (The GrowthOp)
Where Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders Stands On Marijuana (Marijuana Moment)
Alaska cannabis industry cites uncertainty with new governor (The Seattle Times)
France's Softening Stance On Cannabis Opens Up Huge Economic Potential (Forbes)
CBD Is Now Regulated and That May Be a Good Thing (Pain News Network)
Lawmakers Push FDA To Allow CBD-Infused Food Products (Marijuana Moment)
Medical marijuana is on the rise in Australia, but we still don't know a lot about how it works (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
LSD
We Finally Have Evidence on Whether Microdosing LSD Can Help With Your Work (ScienceAlert)
4th USS Ronald Reagan Nuclear Electrician Pleads Guilty to LSD Posession (The Daily Beast)
Tapping the Potential of LSD (Jewish Journal)
MAGIC MUSHROOMS
Psychedelic mushrooms just put Denver at the center of the national drug debate — again (The Denver Post)
MDMA
Victorian MP Admits To Taking Drugs She Believed Were MDMA (Ten Daily)
The dangers of taking MDMA when you’re on antidepressants (Metro)
Decades ago, ecstasy — yes, MDMA — was used in marriage counseling (Big Think)
MDMA Could Revolutionize Care for Trauma, a Social Worker’s Perspective (Psychedelic Support)
DMT
From the Vasty Deep: The Reality of DMT Entities and Other Spirits (Psychedelic Times)
AYAHUASCA
Plant Hallucinogen Holds Hope for Diabetes Therapy (Infosurhoy)
PEYOTE
Tribal Law Exempts Peyote for Native American Church Members (Lakota Country Times)
IBOGA
New Roots Ibogaine Addiction Treatment Clinic brings Ibogaine to California (Digital Journal)
NOVEL PSYCHOACTIVE SUBSTANCES
Louella Michie trial: Drug that killed woman at Bestival 'makes trees look like demons and giant dinosaur creatures', court hears (The Independent)
SYNTHETIC CANNABINOIDS
K2, a potent synthetic drug, is on the rise in Philly, challenging police and outreach workers (The Philadelphia Inquirer)
NITROUS OXIDE
Autopsy confirms OU student died of asphyxiation due to nitrous-oxide (The Athens News)
The laughing gas parties of the 1700s — and how they sparked a medical breakthrough (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
Boca Raton Regional Hospital offers nitrous oxide during childbirth (WFLX)
Another Austin hospital offering laughing gas to help moms manage pain during labor (KVUE)
Warnings issued over nitrous oxide 'drug abuse' after evidence of increasing use across Bromsgrove District (Bromsgrove Standard)
KETAMINE
FDA Panel Endorses Johnson & Johnson Ketamine Nasal Spray For Treatment-Resistant Depression (KSRO)
OPIATES/OPIOIDS
Purdue’s Sackler embraced plan to conceal OxyContin’s strength from doctors, sealed deposition shows (STAT)
For first time in Mass., male inmate will get methadone (The Boston Globe)
'Heroin buyers club' vision unveiled for legal heroin sales in B.C. (CBC)
Intranasal naloxone now available in Australia (Australian Journal of Pharmacy)
Blaming pharma alone for opioid crisis is shortsighted | Opinion (The Philadelphia Inquirer)
Naloxone proposal for London facilities fails committee vote, decision left to council (Global News)
Bill Filed in Maryland to Create Safe Opioid Injection Sites (WBOC)
Sandoz Inc. launches authorized generic version of buprenorphine and naloxone sublingual film (PR Newswire)
FDA may recommend overdose reversal drug alongside opioid prescriptions (CNN)
Trump “Most Excited” About China Executing People for Selling Fentanyl (Talking Drugs)
A Tale of Two Cities in the Grips of the Opioid Crisis (The Nation)
Indiana nonprofit will offer free naloxone, training in Muncie (Muncie Star Press)
COCAINE
The Rumours Are True: Sydney Really Is The Cocaine Capital Of Australia (Junkee)
METHAMPHETAMINE
Mexican Meth Fuels an American Crisis (The Wall Street Journal)
Meth's quiet resurgence (Columbia Missourian)
ALCOHOL
Drinking contexts associated with early onset of alcohol intoxication among adolescents (ScienceDaily)
Daniel Radcliffe says he used alcohol to cope with immense 'Harry Potter' fame (Fox News)
Cannabis May Pose a 'Long-Term Risk' to the Alcohol Industry (Fortune)
These 52 celebrities don't drink alcohol (Midland Reporter-Telegram)
Alcohol is getting expensive - and other reasons why you should drink less (Health24)
ABSINTHE
Spoiler: Absinthe isn't trippy (PGH City Paper)
NOOTROPICS
The Best Nootropics for Productivity, Focus, and Cognitive Performance (Better Humans)
KRATOM
Poison Control Calls for Kratom Rose Sharply, but the Caveats Are Crucial (Inverse)
Backlash continues following Kratom ban (WCBI)
Kratom Imported by Denver Company Seized by the Feds (Westword)
Kratom: A Nationwide Ban Will Be Deadly (71 Republic)
Benefits of Buying Kratom Powder Online vs Capsule Form (WORLDHAB)
Is Kratom a Performance Enhancer or a Lethal Opioid? (Outside Magazine)
Health Benefits of Kratom Powder and Why You Should Buy It (Kerala News 24/7)
What to know about kratom capsules and how to stay best informed (Augusta Free Press)
KHAT
Researchers find ties between Africa’s khat use and liver disease (Africa Times)
Somali traders say no to Kenyan khat (CGTN)
MISCELLANEOUS
The Supreme Court Just Struck a Huge, Unanimous Blow Against Policing for Profit (Slate)
El Chapo's Lawyers Are Pushing for a New Trial After Report Jurors Read News Stories About Him (TIME)
El Chapo Highlighted Mexican Corruption, but Drug Money Also Lubricates U.S. Border (The New York Times)
Phony Houston Drug Warrant Prompts FBI Investigation and Review of 1,400 Cases (Reason)
Decades before the pill testing debate these little bins caused an uproar (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
How I Started South Carolina’s Only Formal Syringe Exchange (Filter)
How to Think about Weird Psychedelic Beings (Kahpi)
Study of Microdosing Psychedelics Finds Mixed Bag of Effects (PsychCentral)
MAPS Canada charts the way for psychedelic therapy (The McGill Tribune)
New Zealand university students offered free drug-testing in 'harm-prevention' first (The Guardian)
Australia drug use: Meth and cocaine up, MDMA and heroin down (Infosurhoy)
Democratic 2020 Candidates on Cannabis and Other Drug Policy (Talking Drugs)
The Harvard Science of Psychedelics Club (The Harvard Independent)
Kitty Flipping, Nexus Flipping and other dangerous drug mixtures (Rave Jungle)
COLUMN: New medical research shows benefits of psychedelic drugs (Daily Toreador)
What IF psychedelics can heal? (Purdue University)
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.