This Week in Psychoactives - 12.20.19

CANNABIS

• Marijuana’s Ten Biggest Victories Of 2019 (Forbes)

• Illinois cannabis dispensaries open New Year’s Day for adult-use sales (Leafly)

• New Jersey: Governor Signs Marijuana Expungement Bill into Law (NORML)

• Italy legalizes 'cannabis light' (The Local)

• Opioid Prescriptions Down In States With Legal Marijuana, Study Finds (Marijuana Moment)

• New Jersey Lawmakers Pass Marijuana Referendum to Send to Voters in 2020 (TIME)

• Kids Aren't Buying Weed From Legal Pot Shops, Study Finds (MERRY JANE)

• Majority Of Americans Support Marijuana Legalization, Two More New Polls Show (Marijuana Moment)

• State recalls cannabis vape cartridges tainted with deadly vitamin E acetate (Detroit Metro Times)

• Survey shows boom in marijuana vaping among school kids (WHDH)

• Regular Cannabis Use Linked to Changes in Heart Structure, Study Finds (MERRY JANE)

• EPA Approves Pesticides For Hemp In Time For 2020 Growing Season (Marijuana Moment)

• Zenabis recalls mislabeled CBD gelcaps that actually contained THC (Leafly)

• Millions of Americans are driving under the influence of marijuana, CDC says (CNN)

• Atlanta Will Seal Records for Minor Weed Offenses by February (MERRY JANE)

• Oklahoma Activists Take First Step To Put Marijuana Legalization On State’s 2020 Ballot (Marijuana Moment)

• Indiana resists legalization, but it’ll be a hot issue in 2020 state elections (Leafly)

• Medical Marijuana Legalization Measure Officially Qualifies For South Dakota 2020 Ballot (Marijuana Moment)

• Elizabeth Warren Files Marijuana Bills For Veterans And Immigrants (Marijuana Moment)

• Patients rally in Ecuador for legal use of medical cannabis (San Francisco Chronicle)

LSD

• Microdosing LSD for Alzheimer’s proves safe in early human trial (New Atlas)

• Paul McCartney Disturbing Teen Drug Claim Revealed (Alternative Nation)

MAGIC MUSHROOMS

• Andrew Yang Says He’s ‘Very Open’ To Legalizing Magic Mushrooms (The Inquisitr)

• 'Magic mushroom' ingredient could be used to treat depression, study says (CNN)

• E. coli Could Produce a Popular Psychedelic for Therapeutic Use (Scientific American)

• Psilocybin: Four Important Takeaways from a Clinical Trial (Psychology Today)

• 5 Fast Facts About Magic Mushroom Compounds (Psychedelic Science Review)

MDMA

• MDMA Is Inches Away From Getting FDA Approval (MERRY JANE)

• Why MDMA must be reclassified as a Schedule 2 drug (Health Europa)

• MDMA-assisted couples therapy: How a psychedelic is enhancing intimacy and healing PTSD (The Conversation)

5-MEO-DMT

• Psychedelic drug 5-MeO-DMT induces rapid changes in inflammatory markers (PsyPost)

• Psychedelic Toad Makes People More Accepting and Less Depressed, Study Shows (MERRY JANE)

• Is the Juice Worth the Squeeze: The Impact of Climate Change, Development, and Psychonauts on the Sonoran Desert Toad (Psychedelics Today)

SYNTHETIC CANNABINOIDS

• More than a dozen children collapse after vaping fake cannabis oil laced with ‘spice’ (The Independent)

• DEA approves synthetic marijuana for big pharma company against legalization (Stock Daily Dish)

NITROUS OXIDE

• Doctors issue warning after 'whippits' misuse lands B.C. woman in hospital (CTV News)

KETAMINE

• Ketamine-like drug for depression gets UK licence (The Guardian)

• In 2019, a ketamine-based antidepressant raised hopes and concerns (ScienceNews)

OPIOIDS

• We have a solution for the opioid epidemic. It’s dramatically underused. (Vox)

• Purdue's Payments to the Sackler Family Grew Amid Scrutiny Over the Opioid Epidemic, Court Filing Shows (TIME)

• Naloxone Dispensing Sees Major Increase In Last Two Years (Indiana Public Media)

METHAMPHETAMINE

• A New Drug Scourge: Deaths Involving Meth Are Rising Fast (The New York Times)

CAFFEINE

• New insights into anti-obesity mechanisms of caffeine (New Atlas)

NICOTINE

• Congress Approves Raising Age to 21 for E-Cigarette and Tobacco Sales (The New York Times)

• Vaping Damages Your Lungs, But Is Still Safer Than Smoking, a Long-Term Study Suggests (TIME)

• WHO launches new report on global tobacco use trends (World Health Organization)

• Instagram bans influencers from getting paid to promote vaping and guns (CNBC)

• Plan to ban tobacco sales to anyone under 21 will hit the military too (Military Times)

• Addictive nicotine in Juul nearly identical to a Marlboro: study (Reuters)

• US permits sale of cigarettes with 95% less nicotine (The Seattle Times)

• Why is Texas throwing high schoolers in jail just for vaping? (Washington Examiner)

BENZODIAZEPINES

• Benzodiazepine Overdose Rates Increasing in Teens (MD Magazine)

• Problem Drinking Linked to Higher Benzo Use (Sleep Review)

• Are benzodiazepines the new opioids? (Medical Xpress)

ALCOHOL

• Two standard alcoholic drinks a day no longer safe, health officials say (The Guardian)

• The sale of alcohol at the University of South Carolina athletic events has been approved (ABC News 4)

• My Friends Serve Underage Kids Alcohol. Should I Speak Up? (The New York Times)

NOOTROPICS

• People Tell Us About Using ‘Smart Drugs’ to Max out Their Productivity (VICE)

KRATOM

• Justice minister says he’ll speed up kratom decriminalisation (The Thaiger)

• Five uses of mitragyna speciosa (The Leaf Online)

• Kratom for Chronic Pain? (WholeFoods Magazine)

KANNA

• Kanna: The Soothing Succulent of the San People (World of Lucid Dreaming)

KAVA

• Kava and anxiety: What science says about the popular plant supplement (Inverse)

• Increased Import Of Kava For Personal Consumption Allowed Into Australia (Fiji Sun)

• Welcome to Kava Culture: A Spreading Alternative to Reduce Anxiety (Filter)

DATURA

• Vet on call: Watch out for datura plant, an animal killer (Daily Nation)

MISCELLANEOUS

• Drug Prohibition Makes Illegal Drugs Cheaper and More Lethal, New Report Finds (MERRY JANE)

• On Drug Decriminalization in the United States (Playboy)

• The Vaping-Related Lung Disease Outbreak May Be Coming to an End (TIME)

• More Americans Facing Murder Charges in Drug Deaths (Truthdig)

• Call for pill tests as more than 50% of music festivalgoers say they take drugs (The Guardian)

• How to Rethink Drug Dealing and Punishment (The Appeal)

• Why Chronic Microdosing Might Break Your Heart (Chacruna)

• “The state only detains, beats and kills us”: Testimonies from women who use drugs in Mexico (Talking Drugs)

• How to Trip Sit (DoubleBlind)

• Why Doctors Are Turning to Psychedelics to Treat Depression and Addiction (Men's Journal)

• Could Micro-Dosing Psychedelics Lift Depression? (Psychology Today)

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 - 7.26.19

CANNABIS

• Scientists unlock the secrets of marijuana’s pain-relief potential, study says (Miami Herald)

• Study Explores How Different Marijuana Extracts Kill Types Of Cancer Cells (Marijuana Moment)

• Senate Banking Committee Holds Hearing On Cannabis Banking (NORML)

• Bipartisan Senate Bill Would Give Marijuana Businesses Access To Insurance Coverage (Marijuana Moment)

• Miami Cops Can No Longer Use Just “Weed Odor” as Excuse to Search Cars (MERRY JANE)

• Marijuana Compound CBD Shows Promise For Treating Cocaine And Meth Addiction, Study Suggests (Marijuana Moment)

• Top Congressional Chairman And Presidential Candidate File Marijuana Legalization Bills (Forbes)

• Federal Officials Give Hemp Legalization Update At Senate Hearing (Marijuana Moment)

• How legal weed companies are starting to address driving while high (Fast Company)

• Michigan Cuts Cannabis Fees in 19 Cities Impacted by Drug War (Leafly)

• Presidential Candidate Proposes Medical Marijuana Waivers For Military Veterans (Marijuana Moment)

• California seizes $30 million in black market cannabis from illegal pot shops (Los Angeles Times)

• Record number of states considered marijuana legalization in 2019 (The Hill)

• New York City Council Passes Two Marijuana Reform Resolutions (Marijuana Moment)

• Former Drug Warrior Biden Unveils Cannabis Decriminalization Plan (Leafly)

• Enslaved on a British cannabis farm: ‘The plants were more valuable than my life’ (The Guardian)

• Marijuana Legalization More Popular Than Free College And $15 Minimum Wage, Poll Finds (Marijuana Moment)

• UK hemp farm could lose £200,000 in crop destruction (BBC)

• Why marijuana’s illegal classification is based on politics, not science (The GrowthOp)

• Entrance to illegal pot dispensary blocked again as cat-and-mouse game continues (The Toronto Star)

• Pot-smoking teen caused Maui brushfire, police say (Honolulu Star-Advertiser)

• FDA (Again) Rejects Petition To Further Restrict Marijuana (Marijuana Moment)

• Mystery Solved: Icelandic Horses Probably Ate Cannabis (The Reykjavík Grapevine)

• It’s Getting Harder to Fire People for Using Pot (Bloomberg)

• Were Vikings Growing Cannabis in Newfoundland 1,000 Years Ago? (Leafly)

• Young Americans Are More Likely To Smoke Marijuana Than Cigarettes, Poll Finds (Marijuana Moment)

• Testing CBD: Defenders test finds huge unreported range in THC levels (WCNC)

• Here's How Much Legal Marijuana Canada Has Sold Since Legalizing Adult-Use Cannabis (Yahoo! Finance)

• UFC teams with Aurora Cannabis on CBD study in fighters (CNN)

• Hundreds Of Pet Owners Tell FDA That CBD Is Helping Their Furry Companions (Marijuana Moment)

• Did Indigenous Canadians use Cannabis Before Europeans Arrived? (Leafly)

• The Real Difference Between Smoking and Eating Marijuana (The Atlantic)

• Medical marijuana or your guns: Missourians may have to choose (KSHB)

• The New, Cool Term For Cannabis? It's Still Up For Grabs. (Green Entrepreneur)

MAGIC MUSHROOMS

• Psilocybin Initiative Leader Starting National Decriminalization Group (Westword)

• Both CBD and Psilocybin show potential in fighting alcohol use disorder (Regina Leader-Post)

MDMA

• 3-year-old fights for her life after mistaking ecstasy for candy in Ibiza (New York Post)

• Girls hospitalised after taking MDMA at Victorian school camp (Geelong Advertiser)

AYAHUASCA

• Ayahuasca and Dreaming (Chacruna)

• A Clinical Psychologist’s First Experience with Ayahuasca (Chacruna)

SYNTHETIC CANNABINOIDS

• Silicon Valley Is Spending Millions Trying to Synthesize THC From Yeast (VICE)

• Alabama Corrections K-9 dies after allergic reaction inside prison (Montgomery Advertiser)

KETAMINE

• Mindfulness-Based Prevention Outcomes for Cocaine Dependence Improved by Ketamine Injection (Psychiatry Advisor)

• Spring Center of Hope discusses possible effects of ketamine on mood (Chron)

PCP

• PCP Is ‘No Worse’ Than Other Drugs When Used Properly, Says Hamilton Morris (Inquisitr)

OPIOIDS

• Summit County concert promotes free app to connect naloxone carriers to people overdosing (Cleveland.com)

• The biggest civil trial in U.S. history will start with these Ohio counties (The Washington Post)

• Five drug companies stop making fentanyl for Canadian market (The London Free Press)

• Former narcotics officer sues sheriff’s office following fentanyl exposure (WREG)

• An editorial board of user-activists takes on the opioid crisis (Columbia Journalism Review)

COCAINE

• Internal Probe Reveals SEAL Team 10 Operators’ Cocaine Use (The Daily Beast)

METHAMPHETAMINE

• Police Admit They Were Totally Just Joking About Those 'Meth-Gators' (TIME)

• Rising Meth-Involved Deaths of Major Concern Amid Estimated 2018 Overdose Fall (Filter)

CAFFEINE

• Too much caffeine during pregnancy may damage baby's liver (EurekAlert!)

• The latest on caffeine limits (Medical Xpress)

• Is Caffeine Fueling Your Anxieties? (HealthDay)

• Young Man Dies from an Accidental Caffeine Overdose, Coroner Rules (Legal Reader)

TOBACCO

• Daily E-Cigarette Use Can Help Smokers Quit, According to One of the Most Comprehensive Studies Yet (TIME)

• Nicotine Testing for High Schoolers Is a Drug War-Style Disaster (Filter)

• Facebook, Instagram is age-restricting alcohol, tobacco content (WITN)

• FDA targets teens with e-cigarette prevention ads (Engadget)

ALCOHOL

• Costa Rica: Tainted alcohol death toll rises to 20; 41 people affected overall (USA Today)

• Leaked draft of the National Alcohol Strategy shows why Australia can't stop drinking (Australia Broadcasting Corporation)

• Is it safe to drink alcohol while breastfeeding? (Medical Xpress)

• Why Some People Have A Higher Alcohol Tolerance Than Others (HuffPost)

• Pabst Blue Ribbon Seeks Buzz With Hard Coffee (NPR)

• Playboy model’s skin left rotting from alcohol addiction (New York Post)

KAMBÔ

• Kambo: A Powerful Amazonian Frog Secretion That Offers Healing! (MenaFN)

KRATOM

• Kratom for excessive weight loss (The Bona Venture)

• Can you use Kratom for Performance-Enhancing? (Chart Attack)

• Nebraska Regional Poison Center warns of dangers of using Kratom (KPTM)

KHAT

• The Role of Khat in Yemen’s Humanitarian Crisis (Small Wars Journal)

• Kenyan khat farmers receive a lifeline as they start exporting the potent twigs to Israel joining rival Ethiopia (Business Insider)

MISCELLANEOUS

• Psychedelics Decriminalization Moves Forward In Cities Around The U.S. (Marijuana Moment)

• More people try drugs for the first time in the summer, study says (CNN)

• President Duterte’s War on Drugs Is a Pretense (The New York Times)

• Mark Kleiman, who changed the way we think about crime and drugs, has died at 68 (Vox)

• Football, basketball and drug testing: Texas school district to randomly test extracurricular students (USA Today)

• Military police called in to help tackle county lines drug dealers at train stations (Mirror)

• Vancouver’s overdose task force calls for safer supply of drugs (The Globe and Mail)

• India Persecutes Leading Legal Advocate for People Who Use Drugs (Filter)

• When Drug Addiction Is Criminalized We All Lose (The National Interest)

• Ethical and Sustainable Access to Entheogenic Plants (Chacruna)

• Will Oakland Lead the Psychedelic Revolution? (The Bold Italic)

• The complex forces at work behind drug deaths at music festivals (The New Daily)

• Psychonaut Hamilton Morris on Drugs After Prohibition (Reason)

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 - 5.24.19

CANNABIS

• Cannabis Compound Eases Anxiety and Cravings of Heroin Addiction (Scientific American)

• Racial Arrest Disparities Got Worse After Legalization, Study Finds (Leafly)

• Scientists Now Believe That Cannabis Evolved in Tibet Over 28 Million Years Ago (MERRY JANE)

• Presidential Candidates Are Cosponsoring A New Marijuana Descheduling Bill (Marijuana Moment)

• Gun-Related Suicides Fell In California After Medical Marijuana Became Legal, Study Shows (Marijuana Moment)

• NJ Lawmakers Advance Medical Cannabis, Expungement Bills (Leafly)

• Luxembourg Unveils Proposals for Cannabis Legalisation Law (Talking Drugs)

• NFL Teams Up with Players’ Union to Study Weed for Pain Management (MERRY JANE)

• Legalization Gave Police Time to Fight Real Crime (Leafly)

• ‘I Can’t Breathe’: Video Shows Grandmother With Arthritis Arrested For CBD At Disney World (Marijuana Moment)

• As a Deadline for Legalizing Marijuana in Illinois Approaches, a New Poll Finds Strong Public Support (Reason)

• Texas expansion of medical cannabis nears finish line after Senate approval (The Texas Tribune)

• Seven-In-Ten Americans Want Federal Marijuana Convictions Automatically Sealed, Survey Finds (Marijuana Moment)

• Colorado Cops Can No Longer Use Drug-Sniffing Dogs Without Probable Cause (MERRY JANE)

• Study: Presence Of THC In Blood Not Associated With Crash Culpability (NORML)

• CBD Might Help You Cut Back On Drinking Alcohol And Reduce Its Damaging Effects, Study Says (Marijuana Moment)

• Kansas Set to Allow Low-THC Cannabis Oil Beginning July 1 (Leafly)

• Dogs Keep Getting Accidentally High by Eating Human Feces with Residual THC (MERRY JANE)

• A Sniff by a Pot-Detecting Dog Requires Probable Cause and Does Not Justify a Search, Says Colorado Supreme Court (Reason)

• Facebook Is Finally Getting Sued for Its Anti-Weed Policies (MERRY JANE)

• In a World of Legal Weed, Michael Thompson Languishes in Prison for Selling It in 1994 (The Intercept)

• Study: Seniors Report That Cannabis Positively Impacts Their Quality of Life (NORML)

• Thailand Will Now Turn Confiscated Weed into Cannabis Medicine (MERRY JANE)

• Portland’s Cannabis Taxes Were Mostly Used to Backfill Police Budgets (Willamette Week)

• House Committee Approves Immigration Bill With Marijuana Protections (Marijuana Moment)

• UFC Inks Multi-Million Dollar Deal with Canadian Pot Company to Study CBD (MERRY JANE)

• Overpoliced, Underrepresented: Racial Inequality and Cannabis Capitalism (Harvard Political Review)

• Where Presidential Candidate Bill de Blasio Stands On Marijuana (Marijuana Moment)

• Congress Wants To Offer Protections To Universities That Study Cannabis (Big Buds Magazine)

• Nevada County Directs Nearly $2 Million in Pot Revenue to Help the Homeless (MERRY JANE)

LSD

• Repair Of Iconic ’60s Era Synthesizer Turns Into Long, Strange Trip For Engineer (KPIX)

• LSD could help people overcome alcohol dependency (Mixmag)

MAGIC MUSHROOMS

• 'A grand experiment': how 'shrooms made Denver America's most drug-friendly city (The Guardian)

MDMA

• MDMA heads to Phase 3 trials for helping PTSD (Big Think)

• Australian Politician Outs Herself as “Occasional” MDMA User (MERRY JANE)

• Embracing Ecstasy: Can efforts to bottle MDMA’s magic transform psychiatry? (The Verge)

• Losing Religion and Finding Ecstasy in Houston (The New Yorker)

• Mum of teenager who died after taking ecstasy ‘overwhelmed’ by support (Hambleton Today)

AYAHUASCA

• The Church Where It’s Legal to Use Ayahuasca (VICE)

• These Ontario police officers are using ayahuasca to treat their PTSD (Global News)

• Healing Sexual Trauma with Ayahuasca (Chacruna)

• James English set to spend four days taking mind-bending drugs in Costa Rican jungle for new documentary (The Scottish Sun)

NOVEL PSYCHOACTIVE SUBSTANCES

• Emerging threats in addiction: will novel psychoactive substance contribute to exacerbating the ongoing drug overdose epidemic? (Springer Link)

NITROUS OXIDE

• Nitrous oxide users unaware of health risks, nurses warn (The Guardian)

• Vietnam considers adding laughing gas to banned narcotic list (VnExpress International)

KETAMINE

• Study Finds Ketamine Nasal Spray Effective For Treating Depression: What You Should Know (Forbes)

• First Sublingual Ketamine Drug for Treatment of Acute Pain to be Evaluated in End-of-Phase 2 Meeting with FDA (Yahoo! Finance)

OPIOIDS

• How Joe Biden’s Drug Policies Supercharged the Opioid Crisis (Politico)

• Amid opioid crisis, Texas becomes first state where life-saving drug is sold online (Dallas News)

• Fighting Fentanyl (The Washington Post)

• In Cities Where It Once Reigned, Heroin Is Disappearing (The New York Times)

• State Trooper Said Man Took Bag From Fentanyl Supplier, But Video Demonstrated That the Deal Never Went Down (The Appeal)

• Improving the use of methadone for drug users with tuberculosis to prevent withdrawal (Medical Xpress)

• Epic twitter thread from a guy who became an accidental heroin smuggler (Boing Boing)

• State Senate passes amendment to finance Naloxone bulk purchase program (WWLP)

• Drug addicts fear arrest if they are caught with kits of lifesaving naloxone (Evening Telegraph)

COCAINE

• Cocaine use doubles in Britain in five years and purity levels at record high (The Independent)

• How Your Casual Cocaine Habit Is Affecting Your Health (Refinery29)

• ‘Cocaine Mitch’ McConnell’s campaign rakes in $70K by selling ‘cartel member’ shirts (Washington Examiner)

CAFFEINE

• Researchers document impact of coffee on bowels (Science Daily)

• Mom Is Heartbroken After Son Dies From Guzzling 4 Energy Drinks Per Day, Sounds Warning (The Epoch Times)

• Barista causes controversy by trying to refuse a pregnant woman caffeine (Her)

TOBACCO

• Veterans speak out against raising the age of tobacco use to 21 (Washington Examiner)

• Proposed California ban on flavored tobacco products shelved by lawmakers (Los Angeles Times)

KRATOM

• Spreading Awareness About Kratom Risks in Pregnancy (University at Buffalo Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences)

KHAT

• Starving Yemen's drug problem (CNN)

MISCELLANEOUS

• How to Legalize Every Drug (VICE)

• The Scientist’s Drug Dealer: How Researchers Get Illicit Drugs (Discover Magazine)

• Indonesia Sentences Frenchman to Death for Drug Smuggling (TIME)

• Getting High Is Damaging the Planet – But Mostly Because of Prohibition (VICE)

• With Denver’s vote on magic mushrooms, will Colorado anchor a psychedelic medicine revolution? (The Colorado Sun)

• Activists plan to set up permanent overdose prevention site (Kitchener Today)

• Drinking Water Should Be Free At All Clubs and Festivals, Here's Why (DJMag.com)

• Joe Biden Killed Rave Culture (The Slot)

• 'Sad, Disgusting and Disappointing.' New Mexico Little League Field Littered With Discarded Syringes (TIME)

• Psychedelics, Sex, and Consent: A Brief History (Chacruna)

• How to Tell Your Doctor You're Using Drugs (VICE)

• What's the next step for hallucinogens as a health cure? (Dazed)

• Dr Richard Evans Schultes’ Explorations with Amazonian Shamans and Medicines (Kahpi)

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:

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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.

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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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This Week in Psychoactives - 4.5.19

CANNABIS

• Guam Legalizes Marijuana Use By Adults (NORML)

• New Mexico Governor Signs Marijuana Decriminalization Bill (Forbes)

• Los Angeles to Erase 50,000 Criminal Cannabis Convictions (Leafly)

• States With Legal Marijuana Would Be Protected From Feds Under Newly Filed Bill (Marijuana Moment)

• Legalization Bill Clears New Hampshire House, but Veto Expected (Leafly)

• Federally Produced Marijuana Is Closer To Hemp Than Commercial Cannabis, Study Shows (Marijuana Moment)

• Street cannabis 'contains dangerous amount of faecal matter' (BBC)

• Wisconsin Voters Approve Multiple Marijuana Ballot Questions (Marijuana Moment)

• Science Says: Better Orgasms Through Cannabis! (The Stranger)

• Texas removing hemp from controlled substance list (The State)

• The EPA Is Funding Research On Using Hemp As A Sustainable Alternative To Concrete (Marijuana Moment)

• Medicinal use of cannabis based products and cannabinoids (The BMJ)

• Using Marijuana With Your Partner Increases The Likelihood Of Intimacy, Study Finds (Marijuana Moment)

• Georgia on cusp of legalizing medical marijuana (CNN)

• Medical Marijuana for Autism Law Approved on World Autism Day (The Fix)

• Will Germany become the world's largest market for medicinal cannabis? (Deutsche Welle)

• ‘Weed Dip’ Could Help Curb A Smokeless Tobacco Addiction (NowThis News)

• The Unique Challenges to Recycling Vapes in the Cannabis Industry (Civilized)

• Legalizing pot is the new Democratic litmus test (Politico)

• New York Governor Cuomo Leaves Marijuana Legalization Out of State Budget (NORML)

• Why Is the Cannabis Industry Struggling to Build Social Equity in the City of Angels? An Interview with Kristen Lovell of the Social Impact Center, Los Angeles (Psychedelic Times)

• PGA Issues Warning To Golfers Using CBD Products (Marijuana Moment)

• Can marijuana help end the opioids crisis? (The Guardian)

• The Feds Are Looking To Hire A Professional Marijuana Joint Roller (Marijuana Moment)

• Oklahoma Medical Cannabis Patients Can Hold Open-Carry Gun Permits (Leafly)

• “Our lawmakers don’t talk to their constituents.” An Interview with New Mexico Activist Monique Chavez on Why Pot Legalization Failed In Her State (Psychedelic Times)

• One county’s take on medical marijuana makes some users criminals (Arizona Capitol Times)

• Hemp Is At The Center Of Fashion, Politics, And Sustainability (NYLON)

• Florida Lawmakers Want to Limit Medical Marijuana Potency (Leafly)

• Cannabis stocks mixed ahead of bill proposing protections for weed companies (MarketWatch)

LSD

• Police suspect LSD contributed to death of Springfield teen (KEZI)

• Explainer: Can you die from LSD? (The Register-Guard)

• Man spiked his co-workers' water with LSD because they were ‘too uptight’ (Her)

• Scary Combination: A Navy Nuclear Powered Aircraft Carrier and LSD (The National Interest)

• Bizarre true story of the UK military testing LSD on Royal Marines revealed in incredible footage that shows high soldiers stumbling and climbing (The Sun)

• The acid test: Here's what LSD does to your brain (The Sydney Morning Herald)

• From Hollywood to Silicon Beach, L.A. Professionals Are Using LSD to Amp Up Their Careers (LAmag)

MAGIC MUSHROOMS

• Why Stop at One Campaign to Legalize Psychedelic Mushrooms? Oregon Has Two—and They Don’t Get Along. (Willamette Week)

• Denver Will See Whether Voters Favor Decriminalizing Psychedelic Mushrooms (Weedmaps)

MDMA

• Psychedelic drug MDMA may reawaken 'critical period' in brain to help treat PTSD (ScienceDaily)

• Ecstasy use by Australian high school students doubles over three years (Stuff.co.nz)

• GHB and MDMA are the best drugs for 'enhancing' sex, new study finds (Metro)

AYAHUASCA

• Scientists studying psychedelic ayahuasca as a potential anti-depressant (CTV News)

• Great Shamanic Deception: Using Ayahuasca as a Conduit for Sexual Fulfillment (Chacruna)

• Am I a Sectarian Drug User? A Brief Legal Comment on the Religious Use of Ayahuasca in Brazil, Belgium and the Netherlands (Chacruna)

• Catharsis through vomiting: My experiences with an ancient Amazonian drug at a Haryana farmhouse (Scroll.in)

• Inside Chelsea Handler’s Shocking Psychedelic Drug Confession (Radar Online)

5-MEO-DMT

• Could Bufo toad toxins be beneficial to humans? (NBC2 News)

NOVEL PSYCHOACTIVE SUBSTANCES

• UAB research study finds that the majority of novel psychedelic drug users are white, college-educated men (Alabama Political Reporter)

SYNTHETIC CANNABINOIDS

• This is what it's like to be a Spicehead (Manchester Evening News)

NITROUS OXIDE

• How Medical Researchers Used to Party (JSTOR Daily)

• Red Bluff hospital first in Northstate to offer laughing gas for child birth (KRCRTV)

KETAMINE

• Immunosuppressant May Extend Ketamine's Antidepressant Effects (Medscape)

• When Nothing Seems to Help Your CRPS, Ketamine Pain Treatments May Bring Relief (Health Essentials from Cleveland Clinic)

• Effect of Ketamine With Electroconvulsive Therapy for Depressive Symptoms (Psychiatry Advisor)

• FDA Approves Ketamine-Derived Treatment for Depression, But How Are People Really Using It? A Conversation with Kellye Greene of New York DanceSafe (Psychedelic Times)

• Esketamine and psychedelics will require restructuring mental health care visits (STAT)

• Study: Alligators on ketamine and headphones to mimic dinosaurs (Digital Journal)

• Boys rescued from Thai cave were sedated with ketamine (CNN)

OPIATES/OPIOIDS

• China to Regulate All Fentanyl-Related Drugs as Controlled Substances (TIME)

• “Nation’s Most Comprehensive Lawsuit”—Now NY Takes On Purdue and the Sacklers (Filter)

• Fear, Loathing and Fentanyl Exposure (The New York Times)

• “Tranq Dope”—The Heroin Combo That’s Been Putting Philly to Sleep (Filter)

• Naloxone remains stable for at least 28 days after enduring extreme conditions: study (The Record)

• As overdoses rise, New Jersey removes a barrier to treatment for opioid addiction (The Philadelphia Inquirer)

• A single-dose antidote may help prevent fentanyl overdoses (Science News)

• Philadelphia Department of Prisons will begin offering buprenorphine to male inmates again (WHYY)

• How to stop the opioid crisis (The Washington Post)

• Philly sees concerning increase in new HIV cases driven by opioid epidemic (The Philadelphia Inquirer)

• Study Finds Vast Differences In Ease-Of-Use For Naloxone Delivery Methods (PR Newswire)

• Is Xi Jinping the New El Chapo? (The Trumpet)

• Opium farming goes unchecked, difficult to locate plantation sites (The Kathmandu Post)

• Narcan-resistant drug linked to suspected fatal OD, Montgomery County coroner warns (WHIO)

• How Atlantic City is rethinking addiction amid opioid epidemic (The Press of Atlantic City)

• Baby Born Prematurely, Addicted to Heroin Gets Second Chance at Life Thanks to Rare Adoption (Clay Center Dispatch)

• Heroin Is Not Your Friend (Psychology Today)

COCAINE

• Why Cocaine Turns People into Jerks, a Simple Explanation (VICE)

• War on drugs has helped cocaine traffickers conquer swathes of Central America, study suggests (The Independent)

• Man faces multiple felonies after alleged cocaine-fueled melee during concert (Aspen Daily News)

METHAMPHETAMINE

• Messier Than Opioids, Meth Is Asia's Worst Narcotics Threat (Bloomberg)

• Do you live near a meth lab? This interactive map will show you (KGUN)

• Cheap, Nasty, Near You. How Crystal Meth Is Spreading (Bloomberg)

• 'Completely preventable': 50 young people killed by stroke after using meth, MDMA (The Sydney Morning Herald)

CAFFEINE

• There May Be a Link Between Coffee and Lung Cancer, Study Suggests (Live Science)

• Combining Caffeine With Alcohol Can Be A Problem (American Council on Science and Health)

• Are You Overdosing on Caffeine? (Outside)

• Here’s what happens to your body when you drink coffee (Health24)

TOBACCO

• Maryland approves raising age to 21 to buy tobacco (The Washington Post)

• State lawmakers raise age to buy tobacco products, e-cigarettes to 21 (The Buffalo News)

• Olmsted County raises tobacco age to 21 (Med City Beat)

• With vaping under fire for potential links to seizures, tobacco-free snuff latest alternative to help smokers quit (USA Today)

• Alabama Congressman aims to raise the age someone can buy tobacco (ABC 33/40)

• Could smokers under 21 be barred from buying tobacco products? Texas takes a step closer to raising the age (Dallas News)

ALCOHOL

• Alcohol, caffeine are common triggers of irregular heart rhythm (Reuters)

• More adults seeking support for alcoholic parents (BBC)

• To Combat Binge Drinking, a Search for Chemical Solutions (Undark)

• Don’t Call Jessica Lareau an Alcoholic. To Her, Words Matter (Boston University)

• Even low alcohol consumption is bad news for strokes – study (The Guardian)

• Brain damage from alcohol lasts up to six weeks after quitting (New York Post)

• Millennials Are Sick of Drinking (The Atlantic)

• Hangover free alcohol? Scientist claims he’s created magic recipe (FOX 8)

ABSINTHE

• Burning Question: Why was absinthe legal then illegal and now legal again? (Monterey County Weekly)

NOOTROPICS

• What Are Nootropics? Your Guide To The Best Brain-Boosting Nutrients (mindbodygreen)

• Nootropics You Need To Know About (The Epoch Times)

KRATOM

• FDA Confirms 'Dangerous' Levels of Heavy Metals in Some Kratom Products (Medscape)

• Drug task force lobbies county to ban sale of opioid-like Kratom (The St. Augustine Record)

• Commissioners postpone move to ban kratom in St. Johns County (WJXT)

KAVA

• Retired UFC fighter to open Island Kava tea bar in Patchogue (GreaterPatchogue)

KHAT

• Woman Khat vendor killed in Banaadir region (Somalia Affairs)

MISCELLANEOUS

• D.E.A. Secretly Collected Bulk Records of Money-Counter Purchases (The New York Times)

• People who ‘microdose’ psychedelic drugs for a month say it increases positive emotions and productivity (PsyPost)

• Drugs before sex more common in UK than in Europe or US – study (The Guardian)

• Ralph Metzner, LSD and Consciousness Researcher, Dies at 82 (The New York Times)

• Philly Councilman Mark Squilla moves to block supervised injection site (WHYY)

• What Could a Conscious, Psychedelic #MeToo Look Like? (Chacruna)

• Acetaminophen's Surprising Psychoactive Effects (RealClearScience)

• On the Eve of the Great Psychedelic Debate (Quillette)

• Drug Paraphernalia Laws: The “Swiss Army Knife” of the Drug War (Filter)

• But The Drugs Keep Me Sober (The Small Bow)

• Philippine Supreme Court Orders Release of Evidence From Duterte’s Drug War (TIME)

• Supervised injection site supporters countersue feds, saying their Philly mission comes from religious and medical imperatives (The Philadelphia Inquirer)

• Presidential Candidate Andrew Yang Pledges To Pardon All Non-Violent Drug Offenders On 4/20 (Marijuana Moment)

• Let’s Address Four Common Myths About Harm Reduction (Filter)

• Drug trips, not broken hips: let later life be the age of irresponsibility (The Guardian)

• In the Space of One Minute, Joe Biden Defends the Death Penalty for Drug Dealers, Asset Forfeiture, and Mandatory Minimums (Reason)

• The New Science of Psychedelics: A Tool for Changing Our Minds (SingularityHub)

• Two SOM students explore psychedelic investment opportunities (Yale Daily News)

• Psychedelic therapy for depression (The Naked Scientists)

• What's the deal with microdosing? (Stuff.co.nz)

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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