This Week in Psychoactives - 8.2.19

CANNABIS

• Thailand set to deliver first batch of medical marijuana (Reuters)

• Pass the Duchy: Luxembourg’s grand plan to legalize cannabis (Politico)

• Court: DEA Must Explain Its Failure to Act Upon Pending Marijuana Cultivation Applications (NORML)

• US Government Approves Increased Production of Marijuana for Clinical Research (NORML)

• Coast Guard Issues Order Barring Active Duty Members From Visiting Marijuana Shops (Marijuana Moment)

• Scientist Debunks Her Earlier Study That Claimed Weed Causes Brain Damage (MERRY JANE)

• Chart: Women account for more than a third of marijuana business executives (Marijuana Business Daily)

• Eggs and Peanuts Could Prevent Birth Defects Caused by Weed (MERRY JANE)

• New York Governor Signs Marijuana Decriminalization And Expungements Bill (Marijuana Moment)

• At some colleges, marijuana studies are blooming (CBS News)

• Florida Activists Clear First Hurdle To Put Marijuana Legalization On State’s 2020 Ballot (Marijuana Moment)

• California Working Toward Certifying “Almost Organic” Cannabis (Filter)

• Marijuana during pregnancy might be as dangerous as alcohol (Popular Science)

• CBN Is Another Cannabis Compound With Beneficial Properties (Forbes)

• Is cannabis use the same as off-duty drinking by workers? Many companies still say no (CNBC)

• He admits he once smoked marijuana, now U.S. won’t let him re-enter country (Los Angeles Daily News)

LSD

• The Truth About The Acid-Dipped Cigarette In Once Upon A Time In Hollywood (Refinery29)

MAGIC MUSHROOMS

• People Are Hungry for Shroom Legalization, and the Money to Fund It Is Growing (VICE)

• Could magic mushrooms be the next drug legalized in Canada? (Yahoo! Finance)

• Undesirable Effects from Magic Mushrooms (Psychedelic Science Review)

MDMA

• To Spot MDMA Users, Festivals May Soon Roll Out Thermal Cameras (MERRY JANE)

• Study claims ecstasy and cocaine cause less harm than tobacco and alcohol (Dance Music Northwest)

• Youngsters have no idea when they are safe to drive after ecstasy use (DutchNews.nl)

• Victorian schoolgirls safely back home after MDMA scare at camp (news.com.au)

AYAHUASCA

• Ayahuasca Is About More Than Just You. It’s About Planetary Health. (Kahpi)

5-MEO-DMT

• Holding 5-MeO Practitioners Accountable for Dangerous Behavior: Interview with Rak Razam and Mario Garnier (Psychedelic Times)

PEYOTE

• Peyote Is Endangered, Spiritually Sacred and Becoming Legal (HowStuffWorks)

IBOGA

• Gabon prepares for first international forum on Iboga (Africa Times)

SYNTHETIC CANNABINOIDS

• Coroner's ruling: Corey-James Brown died from smoking synthetic drugs (New Zealand Herald)

NITROUS OXIDE

• What to know about nitrous oxide (Medical News Today)

• The dangers of nitrous oxide: An inside look at Surrey's laughing gas problem (Surrey Live)

KETAMINE

• Ketamine isn't an opioid and treats depression in a unique way (EurekAlert!)

• Ketamine clinics are arriving in Richmond (WTVR)

PCP

• PCP-Crazed Man Attacks Officers After Crash In Stafford: SCSO (Patch)

OPIOIDS

• Your Methadone History Could Soon Be Shared Without Your Consent (Filter)

• As Opioid Prescriptions Surged in Germany, Opioid Addiction Held Steady, While Opioid-Related Deaths Fell (Reason)

• Device for Opioid Overdoses Releases Naloxone Automatically (Medgadget)

• Opioid Patient Worth $200,000 a Year to Purdue, State Says (Bloomberg)

• Drought Cripples Taliban's Record-High Opium Production Amid Peace Talks (Breitbart)

• Colorado Wants You To Know About This Life-Saving Drug (Westword)

COCAINE

• Exclusive NYPD Data Reveals Just How Often Fentanyl Is in Cocaine (VICE)

• Colombia will spray Chinese glyphosate to control coca (Diálogo Chino)

• Weird New Kinds Of Cocaine Could Start A “Hidden Epidemic” Of Health Threats (BuzzFeed News)

METHAMPHETAMINE

• Autopsies reveal how meth hurts the heart (Medical Xpress)

• Study assesses outcomes for meth users with burn injures (ScienceDaily)

CAFFEINE

• Exceeding healthy caffeine limits during pregnancy can be harmful to babies’ health (Consumer Affairs)

• Coffee Farmers Are In Crisis. Starbucks Wants To Help. (Forbes)

TOBACCO

• Most Americans Support Raising Minimum Age to Buy Tobacco (Gallup)

ALCOHOL

• One in 10 Older Adults Binge Drinks, Study Says (The New York Times)

• Facebook bans sales of alcohol and tobacco between users (CNBC)

• Here's the Buzz on Alcohol in Space (HowStuffWorks)

• How Much Does Alcohol Harm People Besides the Drinker? (Psychology Today)

KRATOM

• Is Kratom Safe During Pregnancy? Researchers Start to Investigate (The Scientist)

• Can Kratom cause a false positive on a 12-panel drug test? (Augusta Free Press)

• Officials warning public about dangers of kratom (The North Platte Telegraph)

• Kratom Is Not a Safe Pain Treatment (Newsmax)

KAVA

• MIT Scientists Synthesize The Feel-Good Molecules In Kava, 'Nature's Xanax' (WBUR)

MISCELLANEOUS

• Psychedelic Medicine Is Coming. The Law Isn’t Ready (Scientific American)

• Another Florida Sheriff's Deputy Arrested For Arresting People on False Drug Charges (Reason)

• Exclusion, Censorship, Internment: Brazilian Drug Policy Under Bolsonaro (Filter)

• The Life-Changing Magic of Tripping (The Atlantic)

• A Reddit user surveyed 650 psychedelic drug users, here’s what they found (Happy Mag)

• Public university to host ‘psychedelic neuroscience’ symposium (The College Fix)

• Latest update on drug-related deaths and mortality in Europe (EMCDDA)

• Why Psychedelic Science Should Pay Speakers and Trainers of Color (Chacruna)

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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.

This Week in Psychedelics - 12.21.18

CANNABIS

• Hemp Is Officially Legalized With President Trump’s Signature On The Farm Bill (Marijuana Moment)

• New Zealand to hold referendum on legalising recreational cannabis (The Guardian)

• Barbados to Legalise Medical Cannabis, Hold Referendum on Recreational Legalisation (Talking Drugs)

• Teen Marijuana Use Remains Lower Than Pre-Legalization Levels, Federally Funded Survey Finds (Marijuana Moment)

• Nebraska Petition Seeks Medical Marijuana Ballot Measure in 2020 (The New York Times)

• Teen Marijuana Use Actually Declined In Washington State After Legalization, Study Finds (Marijuana Moment)

• Marijuana Use Doesn’t Actually Change The Structure Of Your Brain, New Study Finds (Marijuana Moment)

• Michigan Bill to Ban Home Cultivation Fails in Senate (NORML)

• Deschedule Marijuana, Says Coalition Involving AARP, Labor Unions And NAACP (Marijuana Moment)

• Cuomo Moves to Legalize Recreational Marijuana in New York Within Months (The New York Times)

• New York City Mayor De Blasio Backs Marijuana Legalization, Days After Governor Cuomo Does So (Marijuana Moment)

• Scientists Journey Into the Dark Side of Cannabis (WIRED)

• More Americans Think Smoking Marijuana Is Safer Than Vaping It, Study Finds (Marijuana Moment)

• Boulder County and City of Denver to Allow Expungement of Low-level Marijuana Convictions (NORML)

• How Legalizing Marijuana Is Securing the Border: The Border Wall, Drug Smuggling, and Lessons for Immigration Policy (Cato Institute)

• Hemp Hemp Hooray: What the Farm Bill Means For The Future of Hemp Science (Psychedelic Times)

• 'Dead Skunk' Stench From Marijuana Farms Outrages Californians (The New York Times)

• Lawmakers In Two States Pre-File Bills To Allow Medical Marijuana At Schools (Marijuana Moment)

• Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office Moves Forward with Marijuana Expungement Initiative (NORML)

• FDA To Take Steps Toward Allowing CBD Products Following Hemp Legalization (Marijuana Moment)

• AB InBev Enters The Cannabis Space (Forbes)

• South Carolina Lawmakers Pre-File Four Marijuana Bills For 2019 (Marijuana Moment)

• Higher percentage of California cannabis passing safety tests (The Press Democrat)

• Here’s The Text Of The Marijuana Amendment Sen. Gardner Wants Attached To Criminal Justice Bill (Marijuana Moment)

• Marijuana Tax Dollars Support Anti-Bullying Program in Colorado (NORML)

• Federal Agency Asks Public To Send Studies On Marijuana And Alzheimer’s Disease (Marijuana Moment)

• Pot jobs could soften the blow for Alberta's oil workers (CBC)

• Congressional Democrats Release Report On Marijuana Legalization’s Economic Benefits (Marijuana Moment)

• Use cash to buy legal cannabis if you're worried about privacy, watchdog says (CBC)

• Missouri Lawmaker Moves To Block Feds From Getting Medical Marijuana Patient Info (Marijuana Moment)

• Detecting pot use in drivers will be tricky (The Boston Globe)

• GOP Lawmaker Calls For Marijuana Reform In Fiery Senate Floor Speech (Marijuana Moment)

• Will Marijuana Legalization Have a ‘Gateway’ Effect? (The Crime Report)

• Alaska Wants Input On Allowing On-Site Consumption At Marijuana Stores (Marijuana Moment)

• Rhode Island Might Be Peer Pressured Into Legalizing Marijuana By Neighbors, Governor Hints (Marijuana Moment)

• Cannabis A Wide-Open Space For Female Pioneers (Forbes)

• Medical Marijuana is Florida Law (Marijuana Moment)

LSD

• Old Etonian, 26, drowned in the ocean after downing a lethal cocktail of LSD, cocaine and ecstasy at a music festival in Croatia, inquest hears (Daily Mail)

• What are the Differences Between Psilocybin (Magic) Mushrooms and LSD? (Explore Psychedelics)

Magic Mushrooms

• Dinosaurs munched on ‘magic mushrooms’ that gave them the same mind-bending high as LSD, scientists reveal (The Sun)

• Teleporting and psychedelic mushrooms: a history of St Nicholas, Santa and his helpers (The Conversation)

• North East NHS trust conducts study into whether magic mushroom can treat depression (Chronicle Live)

• Will Denver Decriminalize Psilocybin Mushrooms? (High Existence)

• I Took Psychedelic Drugs On A Self-Help Retreat And This Is What I Learnt (HuffPost)

• Psilocybin (Magic) Mushrooms and Drug Tests: How Long Does Psilocybin Stay in Your System? (Explore Psychedelics)

MDMA

• The Dutch Green Party wants government regulation of ecstasy production (Mixmag)

• What Our Saliva Will Tell Us About MDMA Therapy: Dr. Joe Tafur and the Modern Spirit Epigenetics Project (Psychedelic Times)

• Why MDMA and the Holidays Could Mix Well (Playboy)

• Pioneering UConn MDMA Research Focused on People of Color Ends Early: What Are the Next Steps for Equity in Treatment? (Psychedelic Times)

• Open Enrollment Has Begun For MDMA Trials In 4 Different States (Your EDM)

• Scientists Gave Octopuses Ecstasy: The Study Went Viral (WCAI)

• Jada Pinkett Smith says she used ecstasy, weed and alcohol to cope with depression (Fox News)

• Two friends died at Pryzm after taking Ecstasy for the first time, inquest hears (Plymouth Live)

AYAHUASCA

• Is Ayahuasca Mainstream Now? (VICE)

• Jung in the Jungle: Ayahuasca and the Shadow (Kahpi)

• How a bank robber became a trailer park shaman with Kentucky ayahuasca (Courier Journal)

PEYOTE

• The Decline of American Peyote (Motherboard)

NITROUS OXIDE

• Sydney hospital and BOC face charges after babies given nitrous oxide instead of oxygen (ABC News)

• Laughing gas for childbirth? More Chicago hospitals offering nitrous oxide to women in labor. (Chicago Tribune)

• Laughing gas laws not working, says ex-chief crown prosecutor (BBC)

• Laughing gas cannisters are 'easily available in corner shops, online or over the phone' (Manchester Evening News)

KETAMINE

• Many Say Ketamine Eased Their Depression, But Is It Safe? (HealthDay)

PCP

• Police: Salvation Army bell ringer assaults shopper at Germantown Walmart, was high on PCP (WJLA)

OPIATES/OPIOIDS

• Research Shows Opioids Largely Ineffective Against Chronic Pain (Ganjapreneur)

• New data shows that Fentanyl kills more people than heroin (Popular Science)

• An opioid epidemic nobody talks about (The Washington Post)

• HHS Recommends Co-Prescribing Naloxone With Opioids (Medpage Today)

• In Pennsylvania, People Lined Up For Free Naloxone (NPR)

• Harm Reduction Is Helping Reduce Ohio Opioid Overdose Deaths (Reason)

• Opium Farmers in Myanmar: The Lives of Producers of Prohibited Plants (Transnational Institute)

• FDA must act to increase naloxone availability (The Hill)

• Punishing Patients Won’t Reduce Opioid Deaths (Reason)

• Parents warned after student's drugs tested positive for fentanyl in Delta (CBC)

COCAINE

• HQ Trivia Co-Founder and CEO Colin Kroll Dead at 35 of Apparent Drug Overdose (TMZ)

• Why Colombia is losing the cocaine war (Vox)

• Kid Cudi Used One Final Cocaine Binge to Help Himself Go to Rehab (XXL)

ABSINTHE

• Former SoBou Bartender is Opening an Absinthe Lounge in the French Quarter (Eater)

KRATOM

• Despite Government Crackdown, Kratom Scientists Awarded $3.5M for Research (Inverse)

• FDA Fails to Provide Credible Data and Science to Justify Scheduling Kratom as Schedule I Substance (PR Newswire)

• Kratom Causes Concerns in Carbondale (WNEP)

• Kratom Ban Controversies, Attempts & Warnings Continues (Kratom Guides)

KAVA

• The first kava company to list on any global exchange just hit the boards of the ASX (Stockhead)

• Kava kava: Benefits and safety concerns (Medical News Today)

MISCELLANEOUS

• Creating The Ideal Psychedelic Retreat (The Third Wave)

• How to Safely Access Psychiatric Support in Times of Psychedelic Crisis (Chacruna)

• Welcome to the Church of Safe Injection (STAT)

• Russia’s Putin Thinks Censoring Rap Will Curb Drug Use In the Country (Marijuana Moment)

• Theresa May's local force go soft on hard drugs: Thames Valley Police will not punish those caught with heroin, cocaine and ecstasy under controversial new scheme (Daily Mail)

• DanceSafe Announces Return To Michigan (DanceSafe)

• Syracuse cops push St. Joe’s to probe man’s rectum for drugs; ‘What country are we living in?’ (Syracuse.com)

• The First Step Act Is Not Sweeping Criminal Justice Reform — and the Risk Is That It Becomes the Only Step (The Intercept)

• The Electric Forest Acid Testers (Pacific Standard)

• Psychedelic Science, Ontological Mystery, and Political Ideology: A Conversation with Emma Stamm (Psychedelic Times)

• How Republicans pivoted from the war on drugs to cutting prison sentences (The Washington Post)

• Women, Spirituality, and Plant-Based Medicines (Chacruna)

• Only White People Can Get Away With the Microdosing Trend (Tonic)

• DPA’s Leader Shares Her Roots, Health Challenge and All-Drug Decrim Agenda (Filter)

• Grays Harbor’s Involvement With Needle Exchange To End In 2019 (KXRO)

• Psychedelic Technology, Blockchain Woes and Meta Set and Setting: Interview with Emma Stamm (Psychedelic Times)

• Politicians should stop hiding behind the police over drugs reform and show some leadership (inews.co.uk)

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.

Weekend Thoughts - 10.1.16

Image by Rafael Vianna Croffi, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Happy Saturday y'all! Below, I have rounded up some things for you to think about this weekend:

1. In honor of Banned Books Week (September 25 to October 1), here is an article showing the most-challenged books of 2001 and 2015 and some commentary on what that means about our society's greatest fears. Interestingly, 15 years ago our banned books focused on strong language, sexual content, and drugs, whereas nowadays the concerns are more about transgender issues, homosexuality and religious reasons. It's an interesting list of books, including the fact that the Harry Potter books were most-challenged in 2001 (they were believed to be involved with cults and Satanism, apparently), although they have been accepted as normal now. It's worth perusing the list to see if your next favorite book may currently be (or formerly been) a commonly-banned book!

2. One of the techniques that was used during World War I was to paint military vessels with dazzle camouflage, which made it challenging for the enemies to obtain an accurate read on the vessel's distance, speed, and direction of travel. An artist created a disorienting psychedelic dazzle camouflage room that blurs the boundaries between the dazzle camouflaged-person and the room. It's pretty trippy; I'd like to experience it in person.

3. Apple announced some new products a few weeks ago during their September 2016 Keynote, and among the new goodies that were introduced were AirPods, a pair of wireless headphones built with a proprietary wireless "W1" chip. One of the primary methods of interacting with the AirPods is to speak to them using the Siri assistant technology. This article argues that AirPods are precisely the best place to use Siri, comparing the combination of technologies to the movie Her, in which the main character (and the rest of society) begins interacting with in-ear virtual assistants on a near-constant basis. It's a well-written, thought-provoking article that also references Jane, the artificial sentience in the Ender's Game series book Speaker for the Dead, by Orson Scott Card. Seriously, this article combines a lot of my favorite things—Apple, Her, and the Ender's Game books. Well done, and an excellent sneak peek into our likely future personal (and societal) relationships with artificial intelligences.

That's all for this week's edition of Weekend Thoughts. Until next week, keep thinking wilder.