This Week in Psychoactives - 7.19.19

CANNABIS

• California Claims the Crown for the Nation’s First Recreational Pot Cafes (MERRY JANE)

• Australian Researchers Say You Can Treat Cannabis Dependency with... Cannabis? (MERRY JANE)

• Senate Schedules Hearing On Marijuana Business Banking Access (Forbes)

• That Alarming CBD Liver Damage Study Is Bunk—And the Media Should Know Better (Leafly)

• Were Vikings POTHEADS? Archaeologists uncover evidence of cannabis at 1,000-year-old settlement (The Sun)

• Legalizing Marijuana Leads To Fewer Illegal Grow Sites In National Forests, Study Finds (Marijuana Moment)

• Pennsylvania Adds Anxiety as Medical Marijuana Qualifying Condition (MERRY JANE)

• New Roadside Cannabis Test Approved for Use in Canada (Leafly)

• Marijuana Legalization Associated With Decreased Interest In Alcohol, Study Finds (Marijuana Moment)

• New Hampshire: Governor Signs Marijuana Annulment Measure (NORML)

• As More States Legalize, DEA Chops Down Fewer Marijuana Plants, Federal Data Shows (Marijuana Moment)

• Pot-smoking parents are harsher with discipline: study (New York Post)

• Marijuana Legalization Could Be On The Horizon For British Virgin Islands (Marijuana Moment)

• Recent cannabis use tied to memory deficits, slowed mental processing (Reuters)

• Kamala Harris Evolved Slowly on Legalization, but She’s All About It Now (Leafly)

• Thousands Of Comments Urge FDA To Allow CBD In Foods And Supplements (Marijuana Moment)

• Three Republicans Stand in the Way of Federal Weed Legalization (Rolling Stone)

• Medical cannabis is gaining momentum in Asia (CNBC)

• THC Testing is Bullshit and You're Getting Screwed (Beard Bros Pharms)

• Sound Garden owners plan Maryland’s first medical cannabis lounge in Fells Point (The Baltimore Sun)

LSD

• Kid Cudi reveals iconic Coachella jam was the result of an LSD trip (Dancing Astronaut)

• Everything We Know About The YouTube Engineer Who Injured 8 People On LSD Rampage (YourTango)

MAGIC MUSHROOMS

• What Psilocybin Could Mean for End-of-Life Care (Psychology Today)

MDMA

• REPORT: First MDMA/Psychotherapy Trial Successful In Combatting Alcoholism (Your EDM)

• Breakthrough PTSD treatment using party drug MDMA coming soon to Philly region (PhillyVoice)

• Hamilton schoolboy dies after ‘ecstasy’ horror as three more teens rushed to hospital (The Scottish Sun)

• Will MDMA Show Up On a Drug Test? (VICE)

• Mum's unusual pledge after daughter dies from MDMA overdose at festival (Yahoo! News)

AYAHUASCA

• Olivia Newton-John proposed to boyfriend after taking hallucinogen drug! (All4Women)

Yopo

• An Introduction to Yopo in the Venezuelan Piaroan Tradition (DMT Times)

5-MEO-DMT

• Upcoming World Bufo Alvarius Congress Looks to Nurture Global 5-MeO-DMT Community (Psychedelic Times)

SAN PEDRO

• Man selling giant hallucinogenic cactus says he's not a drug dealer (Newshub)

SYNTHETIC CANNABINOIDS

• Kids thought this was 'natural cannabis' vape juice... it was Spice. Nine people who ended up in hospital could have died (Manchester Evening News)

KETAMINE

• Ketamine-like drug for depression could get UK licence within the year (The Guardian)

• Ketamine for Depression: Clinical Evidence and Concerns (Psychiatry Advisor)

OPIOIDS

• "We Didn't Cause the Crisis": David Sackler Pleads His Case on the Opioid Epidemic (Vanity Fair)

• Delta to carry Narcan on planes after passenger ‘carried out in body bag’ following overdose (The Independent)

• Media Frame: Fentanyl Panic is Worsening the Overdose Crisis (The Appeal)

• The Louvre Removed the Name of OxyContin-Linked Sackler Family From Its Walls (TIME)

• States Are Making Progress on Opioids. Now the Money That's Helping Them May Dry Up (The New York Times)

• Opioid Shipments Increased by Over 50% as Addiction Crisis Grew, Federal Data Shows (TIME)

• What to call someone who uses heroin? (ScienceDaily)

COCAINE

• Passenger from Colombia fails to fool Spanish police with his cocaine-under-the-toupee trick (CBS News)

• What Does Cocaine Do to the Heart? (VICE)

METHAMPHETAMINE

• Asia's meth trade is worth an estimated $61B as region becomes 'playground' for drug gangs (CNN)

• How Myanmar Became A Global Center For Meth & Other Synthetic Drugs (The Fix)

• Police Warn Flushing Drugs Could Create Terrifying 'Meth Gators' (People)

CAFFEINE

• Under 16s set to be 'banned' from buying caffeine-filled energy drinks (Edinburgh Live)

• Hot coffee or iced? Study says higher temp provides more health benefits (KABC)

• Daily coffee doesn't affect cancer risk (Medical Xpress)

TOBACCO

• New York Raises Statewide Smoking Age to 21 (TIME)

• Raising tobacco sales age to 21: Ohio becomes latest state in national trend (Cincinnati.com)

• Tobacco Plants Made to Produce Useful Compounds (Scientific American)

ALCOHOL

• Study Suggests Alcohol Causes Skin to Sunburn Faster (Paste Magazine)

KRATOM

• Drug Researchers Raise Concern Over "Misleading" Evidence in Kratom Studies (Inverse)

• What to know about kratom for depression (Medical News Today)

• Kratom Ban Back on the Table in Oxford (Hotty Toddy)

KHAT

• Miraa farmers mull tough sanitary laws with eyes fixed on new export markets (The Star)

MISCELLANEOUS

• Berkeley City Council Considers Decriminalizing Psychedelics This Week (Marijuana Moment)

• Science of microdosing psychedelics 'remains patchy and anecdotal', says review (Imperial College London)

• El Chapo, the Notorious Drug Kingpin, Has Been Sentenced to Life in Prison in the U.S. (TIME)

• New data shows drug overdose deaths fell in 2018. But there’s a big catch. (Vox)

• Scotland drug deaths – 1,200 deaths recorded in 2018 as worst ever figures released (The Sun)

• People who microdose psychedelic substances report improved mood and focus (Medical Xpress)

• New Bill Ensures Some Retroactive Drug War Justice for New Hampshire (High Times)

• Future of drug-sniffing dogs uncertain after Colorado Supreme Court ruling (The Coloradoan)

• Microdosing has a critic — one of its pioneers (Rooster Magazine)

• Police Thought They Beat the Darknet Drug Markets – They Didn't (VICE)

• Nutrition Is an Overlooked Aspect of Harm Reduction (Filter)

• Framing addiction as a disease: Research shows that message might backfire (The Philadelphia Inquirer)

• Survey reveals extent of music festival drug use (The Australian)

• The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Problematic Process for Religious Exemption for Use of Prohibited Psychoactive Substances (Chacruna)

• The Risky Business of Psychedelic Therapy (Medium)

• How Congress can expand access to addiction treatment — immediately (The Hill)

• Inside the Philippines Prison That Sparked Duterte’s Murderous Drug War (Filter)

• Mother of festival drug death victim says Gladys Berejiklian needs to show courage (The Guardian)

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 - 5.10.19

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)

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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1,000-Year-Old Pouch Contains Traces of 5 Ancient Psychoactive Drugs

Peter Hess, writing for Inverse:

Long before ayahuasca became popular among Silicon Valley seekers, it was the domain of specialized healers and spiritual leaders. Archaeologists have long known that ancient peoples throughout the Americas consumed various plant-based drugs to heal, find meaning, and connect to a spiritual world, but research published Monday in PNAS suggests that they were used even more widely than scientists suspected.

In the paper , an international team of archaeologists identified traces of five different psychoactive chemicals in a bundle of belongings dating back to about 1,000 years ago. The objects, found in Cueva del Chileno, a rock shelter in the Andes in present-day Bolivia, include animal-skin pouches and a headband, as well as spatulas, two trays, and an intricately carved tube — tools that were most likely used for sniffing a plant-based psychedelic drug.

Using radiocarbon dating, the team showed that the leather bag containing the objects dates back to somewhere between 905 and 1170 CE. And using liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry, they found that the kit contained traces of cocaine, dimethyltryptamine (DMT), harmine, bufotenine, and benzoylecgonine — psychoactive chemicals that are all found in various plants native to South America.

Humans have been using psychoactive drugs since time immemorial. Now we have proof that people have been working with these particular substances for at least a thousand years. What’s amazing about this story is that these chemicals did not originate from the area where the bag was found:

Perhaps most significantly, the plants that produce the chemicals analyzed at the site do not grow in the place where they were found. The archaeologists note that while the site is located in the mountains, at an elevation of almost 13,000 feet above sea level, most of these plants grow in the lowland forests of the Amazon.

In other words, these shamans were either acquiring these drugs from a trading network or going on long treks to collect them on their own.

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