CANNABIS
Debunking Reefer Madness: New Study Says Weed Doesn’t Actually Cause Psychosis (MERRY JANE)
Top Congressional Democrats Announce Bill To Federally Deschedule Marijuana (Marijuana Moment)
Study: 80 percent of cannabis users say weed helps their workouts (Fox 8)
New Zealand Government Releases Details Of Marijuana Legalization Referendum (Marijuana Moment)
China Cashes In on the Cannabis Boom (The New York Times)
Illinois Governor Announces Plan to Legalize Marijuana (TIME)
THC-Blood Levels Can’t Be Determined Postmortem, Research Finds (Leafly)
Cannabis Users Have Worse Sperm Health Than Tobacco Smokers, Study Finds (MERRY JANE)
North Dakota: Governor Signs Law Reducing Marijuana Possession Penalties (NORML)
The First Arkansas Medical Marijuana Dispensary Just Got Its License (Leafly)
TSA to Travelers: We’re Not Looking for Your Weed (MERRY JANE)
Louisiana House Unanimously Approves Bill to Allow CBD Sales (Leafly)
Cannabis Industry Work Costing U.S. Veterans Their Retirement Pensions (Forbes)
The Great White Shortage: Canada May Soon Run Out of CBD (MERRY JANE)
Alabama Senate Approves Bill To Legalize Medical Marijuana (Marijuana Moment)
Workers Are Smoking Weed More Than Ever, So Employers Are Dropping Drug Tests (MERRY JANE)
California Cannabis Market Not Tracked or Traced as Promised (Leafly)
Marijuana Patients Are Ditching Benzos for Weed, Study Says (MERRY JANE)
The Feds Prosecuted Even Fewer Marijuana Trafficking Cases In 2018 (Marijuana Moment)
Ohio May Become First State to OK Medical Marijuana for Depression and Insomnia (MERRY JANE)
Federal Agency Clarifies Rules On Adding CBD To Alcoholic Beverages (Marijuana Moment)
American Accused of Growing Weed in Myanmar Faces 10 Years in Prison (MERRY JANE)
Texas House Votes To Expand State’s Medical Marijuana Program (Marijuana Moment)
The Science Behind Combining Cannabis And Caffeine (Benzinga)
MAGIC MUSHROOMS
Denver Voters Approve Measure To Decriminalize Psychedelic Mushrooms (Forbes)
California Activists Take First Steps To Decriminalize Psilocybin Mushrooms Statewide (Marijuana Moment)
MDMA
MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD may have benefits beyond reductions in clinical symptoms (PsyPost)
MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for treatment of PTSD: study design and rationale for phase 3 trials based on pooled analysis of six phase 2 randomized controlled trials (Springer Link)
Consider This Before Self-Medicating With MDMA (The Wall Street Journal)
AYAHUASCA
Health Canada allows more religious groups to import ayahuasca (Global News)
Ayahuasca and the Twelve Steps: An Anonymous Friendship (Chacruna)
The Problem With Ayahuasca (Thrive Global)
SYNTHETIC CANNABINOIDS
CDC traces unexplained bleeding outbreak to synthetic cannabinoids (Healio)
KETAMINE
Former Playboy Model’s Killer Was ‘Out Of His Mind’ On Ketamine During The Brutal Slaying, Lawyer Says (Oxygen)
OPIOIDS
Opioid overdose deaths decline when pharmacists can dispense naloxone (Reuters)
Study: Naloxone Prescriptions Low Despite Deadly Opioid Crisis (U.S. News and World Report)
Federal Court Rules Inmate Must Have Access to Opioid Addiction Treatment (Reason)
Narcan, the lifesaving overdose-reversal drug, is scarce in N.J. cities that need it most (Philadelphia Inquirer)
AHN Researcher Working To Develop Longer-Lasting Naloxone For Opioid Overdoses (WESA)
Inside Elizabeth Warren's $100 Billion Policy Plan to Tackle the Opioid Epidemic (Fortune)
White patients far more likely to get popular addiction treatment prescription, study finds (Philadelphia Inquirer)
Report: nurses who carry naloxone denied life insurance coverage (WKBW)
Louisiana prisons pilot addiction-fighting implants for inmates; lack of FDA approval draws criticism (The Advocate)
Deputy and two firefighters hospitalized after fentanyl exposure (WDBO)
COCAINE
Feds: A popular drug from the disco era is making a deadly return (NBC News)
The mums who took cocaine during play dates (BBC)
FLASHBACK: Bernie Asks Group Of Young Children: ‘Anyone Ever Seen Cocaine?’ (The Libertarian Republic)
METHAMPHETAMINE
Meth Abusers At Risk For Little-Known But Potentially Deadly Disease (NBC 7 San Diego)
TOBACCO
Walmart is raising the minimum age to buy tobacco to 21 (CNN)
Colorado Senate votes down tobacco, nicotine tax hike effort (Cherokee Tribune and Ledger-News)
ALCOHOL
Alcohol use soaring worldwide: The average adult now consumes about 1.7 gallons of pure alcohol per year (USA Today)
These policies were supposed to stop pregnant women from drinking. A new study says they’re hurting babies. (Vox)
One in five harmed by others drinking alcohol over past year, survey finds (The Guardian)
The War On Alcohol: Is This Prohibition 2.0 (Forbes)
KRATOM
The Debate Over Kratom, An Opioid-Like Plant Legal In Massachusetts (CBS Boston)
Oxford Police proposes ban on Kratom products (The Oxford Eagle)
How Cannabis and Kratom Can Help With Addiction Recovery (Civilized)
MISCELLANEOUS
1,000-Year-Old Pouch Contains Traces of 5 Ancient Psychoactive Drugs (Inverse)
Mexico’s President Proposes Drug Decriminalization With Legal Supply Via Prescription (Marijuana Moment)
Feds Dismantled the Dark Web Drug Trade—but It's Already Rebuilding (WIRED)
Berlin park designates 'pink zone' areas for drug dealers (The Guardian)
Drug-testing device gives false positives on poppy seeds, CBD oil, says Vancouver lawyer (CBC)
Overdose In An Arizona Prison? Get Ready to Pay Up. (The Appeal)
Where Philadelphia stands on supervised-injection sites, per two polls (Philadelphia Inquirer)
Houston Police Shot Man Killed in Fraudulent Drug Raid at Least Eight Times (Reason)
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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: