This Week in Psychedelics - 10.19.18

Cannabis

• Canada becomes second country to legalise recreational marijuana (BBC)

• Congressman Issues ‘Blueprint To Legalize Marijuana’ For Democratic House In 2019 (Forbes)

• Democrats And Republicans Clash Over Which Party Will Lead On Marijuana In 2019 (Marijuana Moment)

• Still More Evidence That All Weed Is the Same (Motherboard)

• Marijuana Research Is Exploding In The Age Of Legalization, New Study Finds (Marijuana Moment)

• As Canada Legalizes Marijuana, It Moves to Pardon Pot Possession (TIME)

• Cannabis May Be Worse for Teen Brains Than Alcohol (Healthline)

• Thousands Respond To FDA’s Marijuana Rescheduling Comment Request (Marijuana Moment)

• Canada Has Legalized Marijuana. Here's What That Means For American Travelers (TIME)

• Marijuana and the midterms (The Hill)

• Cannabis Legalization in Canada Is a Giant, Imperfect Leap Forward (Filter)

• High-end marijuana retailer MedMen just spent $682 million on the largest US cannabis acquisition in history (Business Insider)

• DECRIM, an Inference from a Year of Data in Atlanta – Most Cops Don’t Care (NORML)

• CEO Predicts Cannabis Industry Can Bank Legally By Christmas (Forbes)

• Cannabis health products are everywhere – but do they live up to the hype? (The Guardian)

• Doctors Who Use Weed Off-Duty Are Getting Their Licenses Suspended (Tonic)

• Why Big Tobacco Entering The Cannabis Space Makes Sense (Forbes)

• Trump Administration Has Calm Response To Canadian Marijuana Legalization (Marijuana Moment)

• Review: Thousands Of Peer-Reviewed Studies Specific To Medical Cannabis Have Been Published Over Past Decade (NORML)

• Legalizing cannabis is the best way to protect kids from its harmful effects (CNN)

• Is the Midwest Ready for Recreational Marijuana? (Governing)

• Michigan Officials: Legal Marijuana Will Create Even More Revenue Than Activists Predicted (Marijuana Moment)

• Cannabis could disrupt a $500 billion market, says CEO of top marijuana maker after deal with DEA (CNBC)

• Marijuana And Tobacco Appear In Almost Half Of Popular Music Videos, Study Shows (Marijuana Moment)

• Canada cannabis legalisation: ‘We know the world is watching’ (BBC)

• Marijuana Ingredient Reduces Anxiety During Public Speaking, Study Shows (Marijuana Moment)

• MS sufferer avoids jail for importing cannabis-based drug (BBC)

• Zzz Natural: The Cannabis Brand Aiming To Solve America's $400 Billion Sleeping Problem (Forbes)

• SXSW Goes Big On Marijuana Panels For 2019 (Marijuana Moment)

• Banking Lobby Surveys Members On Problems Serving Marijuana Businesses (Forbes)

• GOP Congressman Visits Marijuana Dispensary With Bus Full Of Senior Citizens (Marijuana Moment)

• Cannabis edibles will soon be a $4 billion business (Yahoo! Finance)

• Marijuana Legalization in Canada Has Companies Chasing a Green Rush (The New York Times)

• Man Sends Marijuana Samples To Feds… To Make A Legal Point (Marijuana Moment)

• Cannabis and coffee: the hippie speedball has been perfected (Rooster Magazine)

• North Dakota’s Marijuana Legalization Supporters Outraised By Opponents, Filings Show (Marijuana Moment)

• Voters in One Wisconsin Town Face 7 Marijuana Ballot Questions (Reason)

• Watch: 80-Year Old Michigan Marijuana Patient Recounts Possession Arrest In New Documentary (Marijuana Moment)

• Melissa Etheridge Talks Art, Culture and Marijuana Advocacy In The Legalization Era (Marijuana Moment)

LSD

• How LSD influenced Western culture (BBC)

• LSD turns 75 as scientists again consider medical benefits (Sky News)

• Russian Faces 10 Years in Prison for LSD Mail Order From Britain (The Moscow Times)

Psilocybin/Magic Mushrooms

• Different cognitive effects of dextromethorphan and psilocybin observed in new study (PsyPost)

• Beyond Psilocybin: Mushrooms Have Lots of Cool Compounds Scientists Should Study (Discover Magazine)

• Magic Mushroom Drug Evolved to Mess with Insect Brains (Scientific American)

• Far-Out Facts About Psychedelic Mushrooms (Maxim)

MDMA/Ecstasy

• We’re Too Excited About MDMA’s Potential for Treating PTSD (Slate)

• Sheffield student's MDMA death: Dealers are jailed (BBC)

• Chilling moment laughing men spike drink with MDMA before forcing woman to down it and sexually assaulting her (The Sun)

• 'Like a hug from everyone who loves you' — how MDMA could help patients with trauma (The Pharmaceutical Journal)

• Octopuses on MDMA (University Observer)

• Ecstacy warning issued by judge as man admits to offering the drug to people in Stealth (Nottinghamshire Live)

Ayahuasca/DMT/5-MeO-DMT

• No charges after death investigation at ayahuasca church (WFTV)

• Rythmia Review: My Week At a Legal Luxury Plant Medicine Retreat Center in Costa Rica (High Existence)

• Multiple (and Subtle) Bodies: Entheogenic Incorporation in the Santo Daime Tradition (Part 2) (Reality Sandwich)

• Ayahuasca ceremonies: Meet the Irish people who've tried the 'key to the universe' (Independent.ie)

Peyote/San Pedro/Mescaline

• The Peyote People: Interview with Mario Gómez Mayorga on Huichol Plant Medicine Traditions (Psychedelic Times)

Dissociatives

• Ketamine could be legal as an NHS depression treatment in 18 months (Metro)

• Can ketamine for pain replace opioids in emergency care? (Medical News Bulletin)

• Springfield man, arrested after firing a gun on Maple Street, found to be in possession of PCP and cocaine, police say (MassLive)

Opiates/Opioids

• Injection site client's fatal OD raises concerns of new naloxone-resistant drugs (Ottawa Citizen)

• Miami police say they’ll offer opioid addicts rehab instead of arresting them (Miami Herald)

• Southeast Asia swapping opium with coffee (Geographical)

• Congress Needs an Opioid Intervention (Reason)

Absinthe

• Lawrenceville Distilling looks to lift spirits by producing absinthe drink (TribLIVE)

• Drinking Absinthe With Rupert Everett (And Talking About Oscar Wilde) (Forbes)

Kratom

• Ohio Plans to Ban Kratom—And the DEA May Be Close Behind (Filter)

• PurKratom Vendor Reviews: Strains, Pricing, Coupons (Kratom Guides)

Kava

• Fiji Kava to become the first kava listing on any global stock exchange (Pacific Islands News Association)

• This Ancient Kava Tea Ceremony May Reduce Your Modern Anxiety (Organic Authority)

Khat

• Depression, anxiety, and stress and their association with khat use: a cross-sectional study among Jazan University students, Saudi Arabia (Dove Medical Press)

Miscellaneous Psychedelics/Psychoactives/Drug Policy

• How meditation and psychedelic drugs could fix tribalism (Vox)

• Historian Explains How Women Have been Excluded from the Field of Psychedelic Science (Chacruna)

• Here Comes the Legal Case for Medicinal Psychedelics (VICE)

• FDA Calls Out Vaping Company for Putting Erectile Dysfunction Drugs in Its Products (TIME)

• High court orders thousands more drug cases dismissed (Cape Cod Times)

• On Treading Lightly Through the Lion’s Den: The Path to Psychedelic Legitimacy (Chacruna)

• The Hidden Victims of Britain's Ecstasy Deaths (VICE)

• Psychedelic moral enhancement (ResearchGate)

• Recreational drug use in Australia is now ‘mainstream’ and how it’s dealt is changing rapidly (news.com.au)

• Trump Slams ‘Very Unfair’ Drug Sentences (Reason)

• The bid to ban 'poppers': public health necessity or an act of discrimination? (The Sydney Morning Herald)

• The UK should emulate Canada and legalise cannabis – it makes sense from an economic and moral perspective (The Independent)

• Ohio Will Vote on a Sentencing Reform Bill in November (Reason)

• An enlightened approach to “illegal” drugs will revolutionise medicine and science (ScienceNordic)

• California Makes a Fool of VP Mike Pence (Drug WarRant)

• How MDMA, magic mushrooms and LSD help cancer patients cope, and cure addictions (South China Morning Post)

• Having a ‘Good Trip’ with comedian Shane Mauss (City Pulse)

• Acid test – Are hallucinogenics finally shaking off their taboo? (Irish Medical Times)

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.

This Week in Psychedelics - 9.28.18

Cannabis

• Canadians Involved In Marijuana Industry Not Welcome In US, Feds Confirm (Marijuana Moment)

• DEA Reclassifies Plant-Derived Marijuana Medicine To Schedule V (NORML)

• FBI: Marijuana Arrests Spike For Second Straight Year, Far Outpace Arrests For All Violent Crimes (NORML)

• Youth Marijuana Use Isn’t Increasing After States Legalize, Meta-Analysis Of 55 Studies Concludes (Marijuana Moment)

• Marijuana Looks Like An Alien World Under An Electron Microscope (Marijuana Moment)

• Maine Officials Investigating Restaurant That Calmed Lobsters With Marijuana (TIME)

• Lawmaker Pushes For Marijuana Legalization In Kenya (Marijuana Moment)

• Coca-Cola Is Eyeing a Possible Entry Into the Cannabis Market (TIME)

• Brooklyn DA erases 56 marijuana convictions, vacates over 3,000 pot warrants (New York Daily News)

• Seattle judges throw out 15 years of marijuana convictions (BBC)

• Amsterdam’s Marijuana Strategy Means Cops Don’t Have Much To Do, Comedy Central Finds (Marijuana Moment)

• Molson Coors Plans To Sell Marijuana-Infused Teas, Seltzers And Beer (Marijuana Moment)

• Wall Street’s Marijuana Madness: ‘It’s Like the Internet in 1997’ (The Wall Street Journal)

• Republicans in a US territory just legalized marijuana (Vox)

• Cannabis Stocks Had A Roller Coaster Of A Week (NPR)

• Are Police Breaking The Law To Campaign Against Marijuana Legalization? (Marijuana Moment)

• How EMTs and Doctors Treat Cannabis Overconsumption (Leafly)

• House GOP Blocks Marijuana Tax Fairness Vote (Marijuana Moment)

• TSA Will Report Weed at LAX to Cops, Who Can't Do Anything About It (Reason)

• Researchers Injected People With THC To Test Their Motor Skills (Marijuana Moment)

• It's Not Just Cannabis Stocks -- Salaries And Jobs In Legal Weed Are Climbing Too (Forbes)

• Why millennials prefer cannabis to booze: ‘Zero enjoyment out of drinking’ (and it’s cheaper) (MarketWatch)

• Willie Nelson Wants To Smoke Marijuana With Trump And Putin (Marijuana Moment)

• Kindergartner can take cannabis drug to school, judge says (Los Angeles Times)

• O’Rourke And Cruz Clash On Marijuana And Drugs At Senate Debate (Marijuana Moment)

• Pot Faux Pas: A Cannabis Club Owner Weighs In On Marijuana Etiquette (WBUR)

• Here’s Where Maine’s US Senate Candidates Stand On Marijuana (Marijuana Moment)

• Legal marijuana: Vote for it, even if you aren't going to smoke it (Detroit Free Press)

• Leading Congressional Marijuana Opponent In Danger Of Losing Seat, Polls Find (Marijuana Moment)

• Idaho Gubernatorial Candidates Disagree On Marijuana Legalization (Marijuana Moment)

LSD

• What Happens When You Give L.S.D. to an Elephant? (The New York Times)

• Silicon Valley figures remember Steve Jobs's death — and debate the rumor that he was 'tripping' when he died (Business Insider)

• Could LSD Microdosing Be Beneficial? (Labmate Online)

• Sofia Boutella on Playing a Character Spiked with LSD in Gaspar Noé’s ‘Climax’ (Collider)

Psilocybin/Magic Mushrooms

• Reclassification recommendations for drug in 'magic mushrooms' (ScienceDaily)

• Could "Magic Mushrooms" Help You Stop Smoking? (The Fix)

MDMA/Ecstasy

• Pilot Study Finds MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy Significantly Reduces Social Anxiety in Autistic Adults (Psychedelic Times)

• Scientists Dosed an Octopus With MDMA and It Engaged In Some Serious Heavy Petting (The Inertia)

Peyote/San Pedro/Mescaline

• 'Psychedelic Indiana Jones' claims he can 'predict FUTURE' with shamanic drug (Daily Star)

Morning Glory Seeds

• Children eating flower seeds to get high (Click 2 Houston)

Dissociatives

• Ketamine gives hope to patients with severe depression. But some clinics stray from the science and hype its benefits (STAT)

• Party drug used for depression at UW Health amid research on psychedelics (Wisconsin State Journal)

Opiates/Opioids

• A major study questioned the evidence for safe injection sites. It’s now been retracted. (Vox)

• Fentanyl crisis: Is China a major source of illegal drugs? (BBC)

• The Health 202: Congress reaches deal on major opioids' package (The Washington Post)

• Solving America’s painkiller paradox (Vox)

• DEA launches '360 Strategy' to combat heroin and prescription drug abuse epidemic in Baltimore (Baltimore Sun)

• Pulitzer Prize winner Terry DeMio on life as a heroin beat reporter (Psymposia)

Kratom

• FDA Death Data On Kratom Linked To Adulterated Products, Not The Kratom Plant Itself (Benzinga)

• Kratom Dosage In Powder And Capsules (Kratom Guides)

• Kratom In Missouri: Legality And Where To Find Locally (Kratom Guides)

Kava

• Price of kava fluctuates (The Fiji Times)

Khat

• New drug ‘khat’ finds way into Bangladesh (The Independent)

Miscellaneous Psychedelics/Psychoactives/Drug Policy

• Capitalism on Psychedelics: The Mainstreaming of an Underground (Chacruna)

• For $1000, These ‘Sitters’ Will Save You from a Bad Acid Trip (VICE)

• The Risks of Long-Term Microdosing (The Third Wave)

• Why I regret my war on drugs (UnHerd)

• When supplies of drugs run low, drug prices mysteriously rise, data shows (Ars Technica)

• Psychedelic Film and Music Festival to feature trippy entertainment ‘for healing’ (AM New York)

• Get Ready for Your Psychedelic Voyage by Reading Experience Reports (Psychedelic Times)

• ‘Without drug traffickers, we’d have peace’: Colombian villagers flee new killings (The Guardian)

• Some 129 countries sign up to Trump's pledge at U.N. to fight drugs (Reuters)

• Making amyl nitrite an illegal drug would be ineffective, warns former AFP chief (The Guardian)

• The Invisible Majority: People Whose Drug Use Is Not Problematic (Filter)

• It's time we walked the talk on treating drugs as a health issue (Stuff.co.nz)

• $18 Million Worth of Cocaine Found in Bananas Donated to Texas Prison, Authorities Say (TIME)

• Does Donald Trump Want To Ban Chocolate, Or Is He Just Confused? (Marijuana Moment)

• Integrating Huichol and Mazatec Wisdom Without Doing Harm: Interview with Mario Gómez Mayorga (Psychedelic Times)

• Sheffield University criticised over 'never inject alone' drug advice (The Telegraph)

• Why doctors should support regulated markets in illicit drugs (The BMJ)

• Drug Tolerance Explained (Psychedelic Heaven)

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.