This Week in Psychoactives - 3.22.19

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CANNABIS

  • Two years after voters approved it, Florida legalizes smoking medical marijuana (CNN)

  • Legal weed for N.J. takes a huge step forward. We now expect final votes next week. (NJ.com)

  • New Mexico Lawmakers Send Marijuana Decriminalization Bill To Governor (Marijuana Moment)

  • Minnesota: Attorney For State’s Largest County To No Longer Criminally Prosecute Marijuana Possession Offenses (NORML)

  • Top Ten Equity Must-Haves in Any Legalization Bill (LinkedIn)

  • Legalizing Marijuana, With a Focus on Social Justice, Unites 2020 Democrats (The New York Times)

  • Support for US Cannabis Legalization Reaches New High, Poll Finds (Leafly)

  • Daily Marijuana Use And Highly Potent Weed Linked To Psychosis (NPR)

  • NORML Responds To Latest Cannabis and Psychosis Claims (NORML)

  • Marijuana Consumers Gain Less Weight Than Non-Users, Study Confirms (Marijuana Moment)

  • Oklahoma: Governor Signs Medical Marijuana Regulatory Measure (NORML)

  • Marijuana Activists Protest John Boehner’s SXSW Speech (Marijuana Moment)

  • Denver’s Teen Marijuana Education Campaign Seems To Be Working, Survey Finds (Marijuana Moment)

  • Medicinal cannabis: 'Patients still in limbo' (BBC)

  • CBD Is In Jelly Beans, Pet Food and Shampoo. But Many Benefits Are Untested (Discover Magazine)

  • U.S. Postal Service Issues Advisory On Mailing Hemp-Derived CBD (Marijuana Moment)

  • Cannabis 101 At The University Of Connecticut (WUNC)

  • Hawaii Lawmakers Approve Marijuana Decriminalization Bill In Joint Committee Hearing (Marijuana Moment)

  • NHL Alumni Study Centres on CBD, Puts THC on Ice (Leafly)

  • Wisconsin Voters Will Decide On More Marijuana Ballot Questions In April (Marijuana Moment)

  • CVS Pharmacy, America's Largest Drug Store Chain, Will Carry CBD Products (Reason)

  • Family sues after Pennsylvania man with 10 pot plants is crushed by bulldozer in police chase (NBC News)

  • South Carolina Lawmakers Approve Medical Marijuana Bill In Subcommittee Vote (Marijuana Moment)

LSD

  • Beto O'Rourke Said He's Never Done LSD (Esquire)

MAGIC MUSHROOMS

  • Most Oregon Voters Favor Legalizing Psilocybin Mushrooms in 2020 Election (Reset.me)

  • Mazatec Mushroom Usage: Notes on Approach, Setting and Species for Curious Psilonauts (Reality Sandwich)

  • Veteran hopeful Denver will vote to decriminalize psilocybin mushrooms (ABC15 Arizona)

  • The Decriminalization Train Keeps Rolling – Up Next Psilocybin? (Longmont Observer)

MDMA

  • Genetic reductions in serotonin transporter may cause some people to respond differently to MDMA (PsyPost)

  • UN report attributes rising ecstasy use in South America to electronic music events (Resident Advisor)

  • Ecstasy can cause the user to develop memory problems: study (Top Health Journal)

  • Less cocaine, more MDMA found in Antwerp waste water (The Brussels Times)

AYAHUASCA

  • The “Traditional” Ayahuasca Ceremony Is Probably a Recent Invention (Kahpi)

  • What Does Ayahuasca Have To Do with Ancestors and the Dead? (Kahpi)

  • Ayahuasca Integration Means Facing the Shadow in Daily Life (Kahpi)

  • Integrating Ayahuasca Experiences Requires an Integrated Approach (Kahpi)

  • What Is DMT? How Ayahuasca Tea Affects Your Brain (YourTango)

5-MEO-DMT

  • Short-acting psychedelic offers promising new treatment pathway for depression and anxiety (New Atlas)

  • I Was Recorded During A 5-MeO DMT Ceremony Without My Consent (Psymposia)

PEYOTE

IBOGA

  • What Is Ibogaine? New Details About What Gwyneth Paltrow Calls The 'Next Big Thing' In Wellness (YourTango)

SALVIA DIVINORUM

  • Salvia divinorum: from recreational hallucinogenic use to analgesic and anti-inflammatory action (Dove Press Medical)

SYNTHETIC CANNABINOIDS

  • Even low doses of synthetic cannabinoids can impair cognitive performance (EurekAlert!)

  • Identifying Metabolites of Synthetic Cannabinoids (News-Medical.Net)

  • Owner of Madison convenience store chain gets 30 months in prison for synthetic marijuana, contraband tobacco (Madison.com)

  • Yeast Could Help Fill Demand for Cannabinoid Compounds (Drovers Magazine)

NITROUS OXIDE

  • Some Women Turning To Laughing Gas As Alternative To Drugs During Childbirth (CBS Philly)

KETAMINE

  • Scientists Gave Alligators Ketamine and Headphones to Understand Dinosaur Hearing (Motherboard)

  • High Holy Strangeness: A Playlist for Ketamine by Eric Sienknecht (Chacruna)

  • Ketamine Prohibition Across the Globe Has Deadly Effects (71 Republic)

  • VA to offer new ketamine-based nasal spray to help combat depression (Task and Purpose)

  • Long known as a party drug, ketamine now used for depression, but concerns remain (San Francisco Chronicle)

PCP

OPIATES/OPIOIDS

  • FDA to Review Higher Dose Naloxone Injection for Opioid Overdose Treatment (Monthly Prescribing Reference)

  • Opium prices plummeted as much as 80% in 2018, hurting farmers (Mexico News Daily)

  • Methadone Helped Her Quit Heroin. Now She’s Suing U.S. Prisons to Allow the Treatment. (The New York Times)

  • Fentanyl-Linked Deaths: The U.S. Opioid Epidemic's Third Wave Begins (NPR)

  • Naloxone use up as overdose deaths begin to plateau (WBIR)

  • Puerto Rico approves sale of naloxone amid opioid crisis (Medical Xpress)

  • Former DEA official now working for OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma (NBC News)

  • Naloxone now available at every emergency room in the state (Journal Inquirer)

  • Vermont state trooper exposed to suspected heroin revived with Narcan (UPI)

  • Vermont’s police chief said cops risk death from opioid exposure. He’s wrong. (PolitiFact)

  • Opioid response team offers help, hope to overdose survivors (KENS5)

COCAINE

  • Bristol named cocaine capital of Europe (Mixmag)

  • Cocaine Poses Silent US Drug Threat as Production Nears Record Levels (Homeland Security)

METHAMPHETAMINE

ALCOHOL

  • Scientists hunt down the brain circuit responsible for alcohol cravings (ScienceDaily)

  • Elementary school bans kombucha over alcohol content (The Takeout)

  • Big Alcohol Is Bracing for a More Sober Future (Bon Appetit)

  • The dangers of alcohol extend to those who don’t even drink (Earth.com)

  • Contrary to folklore, alcohol does not help with rheumatoid arthritis (Cosmos)

  • Now, There Is Zero Proof That Alcohol Is What Makes A Great Cocktail (NPR)

  • March Madness Alcohol Study Shows One Demographic Is Affected the Most (Inverse)

  • Is ‘Breaking the Seal’ When You Drink Alcohol Really a Thing? (SELF)

KRATOM

KHAT

  • Somalia- Khat-Munching: A Connecting Factor in East Africa (MENAFN)

MISCELLANEOUS

  • Activists Plan Initiative To Decriminalize Psychedelic Drugs In Oakland (Marijuana Moment)

  • First supervised drug injection site in U.S. offered lease in Philadelphia’s Kensington district (Philly.com)

  • It’s Time to Reject the Racist “Drug Dealer” Stereotype (Filter)

  • 'It's about saving lives': inside the UK's first licensed drug testing service (The Guardian)

  • Germany named drug use capital following Europe-wide sewage study (Deutsche Welle)

  • Psychedelic pioneer, consciousness researcher Ralph Metzner dies in Sonoma (Sonoma Index-Tribune)

  • “Addicted to the War on Drugs” Is Right, Despite the Rhetoric (Filter)

  • What Groovin the Moo musicians think about the pill testing trial (The Canberra Times)

  • The European Psychedelic Renaissance: Interview with Dr. Henrik Jungaberle (Psychedelic Times)

  • Hallucinogen Therapy Is Coming (Nautilus)

  • From “Meth Crisis” to “Opioid Crisis” to “Fentanyl and Meth Crisis” to… (CATO Institute)

  • Legalization Is the Only Viable Drug Policy (Project Syndicate)

  • Here are the 10 most seductive drugs — and their fascinating histories (AlterNet)

  • What's the deal with microdosing? (The Telegraph)

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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: