Weekly Psychedelic Links - July 2022

7.1.22

Cannabis

• Fentanyl-laced marijuana is a myth. It’s time to end the hype (Leafly)

• Medical Weed Cards No Longer Required in Virginia Starting July 1 (High Times)

• Hemp, CBD get permanent legal status in NC after 11th-hour rescue (MSN.com)

• Scientists find THC in over 60% of CBD products they tested — and that may be a huge problem (ZME Science)

• UN Report Dramatizes Uptick in Global Cannabis Use (High Times)

• Louisiana Governor Signs Bill Providing Medical Marijuana Workplace Protections For State Employees (Marijuana Moment)

• Maryland Court: Cops Can Stop, Question Someone Who Smells of Pot (High Times)

• Nevada Cannabis Consumption Lounges Could Go Live By End Of 2022 (Marijuana Moment)

• Edibles, beverages infused with cannabis ingredient THC become legal Friday in Minnesota (Star Tribune)

• Inside The Process To Legalize Recreational Cannabis In Germany (Forbes)

• California Bill to Require Cannabis Warnings About Mental Disorder Risks Advances (High Times)

• Pennsylvania Lawmakers Advance Medical Marijuana DUI Protections And Cannabis Banking Reform Bills (Marijuana Moment)

• Texas Supreme Court Bans Smokable Hemp Production, Sales (High Times)

• Montana Lawsuit Challenges Marijuana Ban In State’s Third-Largest City (Marijuana Moment)

• House Panel Approves Amendment to Protect State Legal Cannabis Programs (High Times)

• Feds Fund Development Of Hemp-Based, 3D-Printed Materials To Build Affordable Housing (Marijuana Moment)

• New Vermont Guidance Looks to Eliminate Plastic Waste From State’s Cannabis Industry (High Times)

• Cannabis users are at greater risk for emergency and inpatient care: study (Fox News)

Magic Mushrooms

• These Mormons Have Found a New Faith — in Magic Mushrooms (Rolling Stone)

• New Jersey Senate President Files Psilocybin Legalization Bill That Includes Home Grow Option, Unlike Current Marijuana Law (Marijuana Moment)

• Tryp Therapeutics Strengthens IP Portfolio with Provisional Patent Application for Binge Eating Disorder Treatment (Psychedelic Alpha)

• Digging Up Druggable Targets: Psilocybin Efficacy in a Model of OCD (Psychedelic Science Review)

MDMA

• First-of-its-kind MDMA group therapy trial set to commence (New Atlas)

• Over One Hundred Years of MDMA Research (Drug Science)

Ayahuasca

• How the Shipibo Came to Be the Most Common Group Serving Ayahuasca to Foreigners (DoubleBlind)

Peyote

• Decriminalize Nature Targets Peyote: Drug Reform or Settler Colonialism? (Chacruna)

• Big business could wipe out Mexico’s sacred psychedelic peyote cactus (openDemocracy)

Novel Psychoactive Substances

• How Did A Minnesota Honor Roll Student Die As Her Parents Were Sleeping Upstairs? (Oxygen)

Synthetic Cannabinoids

• A Loophole in Japan’s Weed Laws Is Getting Tens of Thousands High (VICE)

Miscellaneous

• Colorado Activists Turn In Signatures To Put Psychedelics Legalization And Therapeutic Psilocybin Program On Ballot (Marijuana Moment)

• War on drugs prolonged Colombia’s decades-long civil war, landmark report finds (The Guardian)

• Is there a future for psychedelic treatment in Saudi Arabia? (Arab News)

• Do Bad Psychedelic Patents Matter? (Lucid News)

• 4 Recommendations for Disability Inclusion in Psychedelic Therapy Research (Psychiatric Times)

7.8.22

Cannabis

• WNBA Star Brittney Griner Pleads Guilty To Cannabis Charge As Russia Calls Out U.S. Hypocrisy In Maintaining Criminalization (Marijuana Moment)

• Make no mistake, marijuana edibles are legal now in Minnesota (Leafly)

• Washington, D.C. Mayor Signs Medical Cannabis Self-Certification Bill (High Times)

• Pennsylvania Bill Gives Medical Cannabis Patients DUI Protection (High Times)

• Oklahoma: Advocates Turn in Signatures to Place Adult-Use Legalization Measure on November Ballot (NORML)

• Study Shows Flower Still Reigns Supreme in U.S., Canada as Consumer Favorite (High Times)

• Arkansas Activists Set To Turn In Double The Signatures Needed To Put Marijuana Legalization On Ballot (Marijuana Moment)

• Nebraska Medical Marijuana Activists Turn In Ballot Signatures After Campaign Suffers Legal Setback (Marijuana Moment)

• Albania Prompted to Implement Medical Cannabis Reform After U.N. Criticism (High Times)

• U.S. Army Wants To Make Sniper Uniforms Out Of Hemp (Marijuana Moment)

LSD

• A man whose daily headaches felt like an ice pick in his eyes says he tried 12 treatments but only found relief after taking LSD (Insider)

Magic Mushrooms

• New Study Shows Mood, Mental Health Improved by Microdosing Psilocybin (High Times)

• Indiana Nurse Faces Ten Years in Prison for Microdosing Psilocybin Mushrooms (Psychedelic Spotlight)

• Two Cancer Patients Battle to Make Psilocybin Accessible for Palliative Care (Scientific American)

• Rural Oregon counties are lining up against psilocybin launch (OPB)

MDMA

• Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Pushes for Psychedelic Reform in Congress (DoubleBlind)

• GOP Congressman’s Amendment Would Direct Military To Study Psilocybin And MDMA Benefits For Service Members (Marijuana Moment)

DMT

• Algernon Pharmaceuticals Provides Update on Its Phase 1 DMT Stroke Study (Psychedelic Alpha)

Iboga

• ‘To Heal and to Care for’: Protecting Iboga and Indigenous Voices in the Face of Corporatisation (Volteface)

Novel Psychoactive Substances

• DEA Announces Hearing On Proposed Ban Of Five Psychedelic Compounds Following Significant Pushback (Marijuana Moment)

• Mindset Pharma Receives Allowance for Patent Application Covering its Short-Duration Novel Psychedelic Medications for The Treatment of Central Nervous System Disorders (Psychedelic Alpha)

Ketamine

• PharmaTher Announces Positive Results from Study For Ketamine Microneedle Patch (Psychedelic Alpha)

Miscellaneous

• The Never-Ending Psychedelic Trip of Michael Pollan (Rolling Stone)

• Journey Colab scores $12M to move psychedelics-based addiction treatment into clinic (Fierce Biotech)

• User perceptions of the benefits and harms of hallucinogenic drug use: A web-based questionnaire study (Drug Science)

• Tripping the Reward Circuit: Psychedelics for Substance Use Disorders (Psychedelic Science Review)

• Psychedelics Give a Glimpse of Enlightenment (Psychology Today)

7.15.22

Cannabis

• Feds Must Defend Historical Rationale Of Banning Guns For Medical Marijuana Patients, Revised Lawsuit Argues After SCOTUS Ruling (Marijuana Moment)

• ‘Green way of life’: Thailand sees cannabis boom after law change (Al Jazeera)

• Washington DC just legalized weed for all adults—but it’s locals only (Leafly)

• Oklahoma, North Dakota, Arkansas, and Nebraska submit signatures to put cannabis on November ballot (Leafly)

• Study Shows Decrease in Heavy Truck Crash Rates Since Cannabis Legalization (High Times)

• NYPD Will Keep Testing Officers For Marijuana, Reversing Course Hours After Announcing Policy Change Mandated By City (Marijuana Moment)

• Cannabis Laws in France Have Disproportionately Affected Muslims (High Times)

• New York Firefighters Won’t Be Tested For Marijuana, Department Says Following NYPD Leak (Marijuana Moment)

• Argentine Supreme Court Endorses Medical Cannabis Home Grow (High Times)

• Pennsylvania Governor Signs Marijuana Banking And Insurance Reform Bill Into Law (Marijuana Moment)

• Portland Weed Demand Hits Three-Year Low (High Times)

• Pennsylvania Police Arrested Over 13,000 People for Marijuana Possession in 2021 (NORML)

• The Fight for Medical Cannabis in Indonesia (High Times)

• Weed, Like Change, Nourishes The Soil To Regenerate The Cannabis Industry (Forbes)

LSD

• Why David Bowie wasn’t a fan of LSD (Far Out)

Magic Mushrooms

• DEA May Find Itself In Federal Court Again Over Refusal To Provide Psilocybin Access To Terminally Ill Patients (Marijuana Moment)

• Oregon therapeutic psilocybin program sparks some confusion (OPB)

MDMA

• World's first ecstasy 'shop' set to trial in the Netherlands (Mixmag)

• Luxury Champagne Recalled Again Over Ecstacy Contamination (Newsweek)

• MDMA: Rolling from Counterculture to the Clinic Counter (Psychedelic Science Review)

Ayahuasca

• Study suggests ayahuasca users tend to eat healthier, get more exercise, and experience physical and mental health benefits (PsyPost)

Ketamine

• PharmaTher Announces Notice of Allowance for U.S. Patent Covering Ketamine for the Potential Treatment of Parkinson’s Disease and Motor Disorders (Psychedelic Alpha)

Miscellaneous

• Ann Shulgin, Forerunner of Today's Psychedelic Re-Emergence, Dies at 91 (Transform Press)

• House Approves Marijuana And Psychedelics Amendments As Part Of Must-Pass Defense Bill (Marijuana Moment)

• What Ethnographers Have Learned from People Who Use Drugs (Undark)

• Inside the Chemistry Lab Where the MDMA Godfather Synthesized Novel Psychedelics (DoubleBlind)

• The Tory Leadership Candidates on Drugs (Volteface)

• Filament Health Issued Third Patent By United States Patent and Trademark Office (Psychedelic Alpha)

• Doctors Urge Access to Psychedelic Therapies in New Mexico (TIME)

• Can Psychedelics Treat Inflammation and Eye Disease? Eleusis Thinks So. (Lucid News)

• Villain Or Victim? Understanding The Role of Women In The Latin American Drug Trade (TalkingDrugs)

• San Francisco’s New DA Vows to Ramp Up City’s Drug War (Filter)

• The Battle for Psychedelic Patents (Psychedelic Spotlight)

• How To Become a Psychedelic Therapist (DoubleBlind)

• 5 Countries Where Psychedelics are Legal (Psychedelic Spotlight)

7.22.22

Cannabis

• Senate Leadership Introduces Legislation to End Federal Marijuana Prohibition (NORML)

• District of Columbia: Mayor Signs Legislation Prohibiting Most Employers from Discriminating Against Cannabis Consumers (NORML)

• Legal cannabis is producing more plastic waste than pot (Leafly)

• Colorado Company To Research Cannabis As A Treatment For Parkinson’s Disease (Forbes)

• Biden Says He’s ‘Working On’ Bill To Release Cannabis Inmates (High Times)

• Germany, Luxembourg, Malta And The Netherlands Discuss Marijuana Legalization At Historic Joint Meeting (Marijuana Moment)

• Colorado Springs Recreational Cannabis Initiative Qualifies for November Ballot (High Times)

• Minnesota Is Home To America's First Cannabis Disc Golf Course (MIX 108)

• House Passes Bill Permitting Weed Ads on TV and Radio (High Times)

• Colorado's New Lead Marijuana Monitor Treks Through Heavy Issues (Westword)

• Cannabis Telemedicine Launches in Montana (High Times)

• Montana Marijuana Businesses Face Seemingly Endless Cycle Of Local Votes On Allowing Them To Operate (Marijuana Moment)

• People Busted for Weed in the U.K. Could Lose Passports Under Proposed Rules (High Times)

• Missouri Marijuana Legalization Measure In Danger Of Not Qualifying For Ballot (Marijuana Moment)

• Denver officials want to save struggling cannabis delivery businesses (The Denver Post)

• Study Finds Australians Support Cannabis Use Over Smoking Tobacco (High Times)

• House Will Not Vote On Marijuana Amendments For Veterans And Public Housing Residents After Committee Snag (Marijuana Moment)

• Marijuana use is higher among US states that have legalized recreational cannabis use (News-Medical)

LSD

• The Doors of Expression: LSD Alters Epigenetics and Protein Induction (Psychedelic Science Review)

• Science Feature: MindMed’s LSD Trial for ADHD (Microdose)

• Watch John Lennon explain that 'Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds' was not about LSD (Far Out)

Magic Mushrooms

• The Sloppy Science of Psilocybin Microdosing Surveys (Psychedelic Spotlight)

• A single dose of psilocybin has long-lasting antidepressant-like effects in fruit flies (PsyPost)

• Restrictions on Psilocybin ‘Magic Mushrooms’ Are Easing as Research Ramps Up (Scientific American)

MDMA

• Patient safety issues halt trial for MDMA-assisted psychotherapy during Health Canada review (CBC)

• 'Corrective' measures ordered, but Health Canada says 2nd MDMA trial can continue (CBC)

DMT

• Teenager Used LSD And DMT To Help Overcome Trauma, Case Report Says (IFLScience)

Ayahuasca

• Churches sue to use hallucinogenic tea in religious practice (UPI)

• The Global Ayahuasca Boom: What About the Conservation of the Ayahuasca Vine? (Chacruna)

5-MeO-DMT

• The Story Behind a 1984 Hallucinogenic Pamphlet From Denton Is Just as Trippy as Its Subject (Dallas Observer)

Novel Psychoactive Substances

• Mydecine Files Full Patent Application Covering MYCO-006 Family of Novel Short-Acting MDMA Analogs (Psychedelic Alpha)

Synthetic Cannabinoids

• Weed vapes probably sending a toxic gas to your lungs, study finds (Salon)

• Cannabis getting stronger with synthetic versions added leading to psychosis, report warns (Independent.ie)

Ketamine

• Largest-ever clinical study of ketamine therapy shows that at-home model can be a safe, effective treatment for anxiety and depression; 62% fewer patients report suicidal ideation after four sessions (PR Newswire)

• Ketamine Beneficial For Treating Neonatal, And Pediatric Epilepsy: Study (Medical Dialogues)

Miscellaneous

• The Long, Strange Relationship Between Psychedelics and Telepathy (VICE)

• DEA Sued Over ‘Unlawful’ Delays On Psychedelic And Marijuana Public Records Requests Through FOIA (Marijuana Moment)

• Colorado Psychedelics Legalization Measure Qualifies for November Ballot (DoubleBlind)

• Keeping the Hippie Dream Alive (The New York Times)

• Accessibility Is Key for the Psychedelic Revolution (Pharmacy Times)

• Podcast aims to raise awareness about future of psychedelic treatments (CBC)

• Skip the trip – does the world need non-hallucinogenic psychedelics? (leafie)

• New Regulations for Psychedelics? Here's What Investors Need to Know (The Motley Fool)

7.29.22

Cannabis

• Weedmaps again advertising illegal marijuana retailers and products, complaints allege (Marijuana Business Daily)

• Singapore Executes Man for Cannabis Trafficking (High Times)

• House Passes Bipartisan Marijuana Research Bill, With Senate Expected To Send It To President Soon (Marijuana Moment)

• Zimbabwe OKs First Medicinal Cannabis Sales (High Times)

• Secret Australian marijuana facility exposes location after turning sky pink (The Washington Post)

• Biden Administration Proposes Prisoner Swap To Free Brittney Griner (High Times)

• Over 850 Doctors in Thailand Protest Pot Legalization (High Times)

• Senator Files Bill To Allow Marijuana Advertising On TV And Radio In Legal States (Marijuana Moment)

• The 'World's Biggest Cannabis Scam' Is Totally Unravelling (VICE)

• Bronx Cannabis Hub Fosters Opportunity in Communities Hit Hard by Arrests (Filter)

• Cannabis Users Less Likely to Face Complications After Spinal Fusion Surgery (High Times)

• 15 State Attorneys General File Brief Opposing Lawsuit To Help Put Medical Marijuana On Nebraska Ballot (Marijuana Moment)

• Thai businesses cash in on cannabis, from milk tea to toothpaste (Reuters)

• Missouri Marijuana Legalization Initiative Short Of Signatures Needed For Ballot In County Reviews (Marijuana Moment)

• New Hampshire stands alone in New England as only state without legal marijuana (WMUR)

LSD

• New Zealand Government Grants $650K For LSD Microdosing Trials (Benzinga)

• Operation Julie: Rural Wales LSD bust becomes a musical (BBC)

Magic Mushrooms

• DEA Sued Again Over Refusal To Allow Psilocybin Access For Patients Despite Federal Law (Marijuana Moment)

• Why some of Colorado’s foremost shrooms advocates won’t be voting to legalize psilocybin (The Denver Post)

• Legal psilocybin prescriptions in Canada (Drug Science)

• Project Solace: The World’s Largest Medical Psilocybin Access and Data Project (Psychedelic Spotlight)

• COMPASS Pathways launches phase II clinical trial of psilocybin therapy in anorexia nervosa (Psychedelic Alpha)

DMT

• U.S. Patent Grant to Strengthen Small Pharma’s DMT Patent Strategy With Injectable Formulation (Psychedelic Alpha)

Novel Psychoactive Substances

• DEA Cancels Proposed Ban Of Five Psychedelics, Giving Scientists More Time To Research Therapeutic Benefits (Marijuana Moment)

• Working with Indigenous allies is the ethical way to develop psychedelic-based pharmaceuticals (STAT News)

• Festival drugs: Warning over 'imposter' substances threat (BBC)

• Ecstasy for the 21st Century: Designer Drugs to Improve MDMA Therapy (Psychedelic Science Review)

Synthetic Cannabinoids

• Easy On The Eyes — This Company Reports Using a Unique Synthetic Cannabinoid Derivative To Treat Glaucoma (Benzinga)

Nitrous Oxide

• Doctors warn ‘dangerous’ laughing gas is becoming an ‘epidemic’ amid rise in hospitalisations (The Independent)

• A Law will Prohibit the Sale of Nitrous Oxide or “Laughing Gas” to Minors in Bulgaria (Novinite.com)

Ketamine

• At Home Sublingual Ketamine Exhibits Rapid And Significant Antidepressant And Anxiolytic Effects (Medical Dialogues)

• Ketamine found to be unlikely to lead to addiction (Medical Xpress)

• Silo Pharma Announces Positive Results from its Topically Administered Formulation of Ketamine (Psychedelic Alpha)

Miscellaneous

• Biden Administration Plans For Legal Psychedelic Therapies Within Two Years (The Intercept)

• San Francisco Launches Bid to Decriminalize Psychedelics (Filter)

• Your Genes May Determine How You React To Psychedelic Drugs (IFLScience)

• The Psychoactive Substances Act on Trial (Volteface)

• The High-Stakes Race to Engineer New Psychedelic Drugs (WIRED)

• Trump Urges ‘Very Quick Trial’ and Death Penalty for Drug Dealers (High Times)

• The Psychedelics Industry’s Next Hurdle Is How to Go Mainstream (Bloomberg)

• One in four Americans say they’ve tried at least one psychedelic drug (YouGov)

• Microdosing: Scientists tackle psychedelic trend becoming ‘creative enhancer of choice’ (The Sydney Morning Herald)

Think Wilder is reader-supported. If you enjoyed this month’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 Psychedelics" does not censor or analyze the news links presented here. The purpose of this column is solely to catalog how psychedelics are presented by the mass media, which includes everything from the latest scientific research to misinformation.

How Psychedelics Transformed Me Into A Better Person

I first encountered psychedelics in 2006. At that time, I was a much different person than I am today. Several issues had plagued my life for a long time, yet I remained unaware of them, caught up in the day-to-day dramas of life.

But things have changed a lot since then, and psychedelics played a significant role in that process.

In this blog post I will share some of the ways that psychedelics helped me become a better person. I hope that sharing my story will help reduce the stigma surrounding these special medicines and show that they are capable of helping with many different things.

Improving My Mental Health

One of the biggest ways that psychedelics helped me was by alleviating a variety of mental health issues that I used to experience on a daily basis. For pretty much my whole life I suffered from depression and anxiety. There were times when I was unable to do anything, paralyzed by fear and hopelessness. It was miserable, to say the least.

I didn’t have much patience and tended to get angry and fly off the handle over the dumbest things. I wouldn’t say that I had a short fuse, but I definitely didn’t have much control over my anger in the past. Working with psychedelics helped me develop more patience and less anger.

While psychedelics haven’t completely eliminated my dark thoughts, they did help me learn how to love and embrace them instead of trying to run from them.

Quitting Bad Habits and Creating Better Ones

Another major benefit that I’ve experienced from working with psychedelics has been stopping the bad habits that weren’t serving me and creating new ones that actually do.

I’ve intentionally used psychedelics to help me work through addictions (tobacco, alcohol, and food) and to stop interrupting other people while they’re speaking.

In place of those bad habits I have created new ones—a daily yoga and meditation practice, weekly journaling sessions, eating a healthy diet, and just taking care of myself better in general. Although I put in a ton of work to get to the place I am now, I have psychedelics to thank for helping me get here.

Increasing My Appreciation for Nature

When I was younger I was always perplexed by people who found joy in simple things like sunsets, flowers, and walks on the beach. As a nerdy kid who just wanted to stay inside and play video games, I just didn’t get it.

It took just one psilocybin mushroom trip to change all that forever.

An hour after eating some mushrooms I found myself absolutely fascinated with the natural environment I was in. I remember being completely entranced by the birds chirping in the trees nearby, bugs whizzing by me, and the clouds floating through the sky.

This recognition of the natural environment has continued to this day. Psychedelics helped me develop an appreciation for nature that was missing prior to my experience with them, and I am eternally grateful to them for that.

Finding Joy in Life

Let’s not forget one of the most important aspects of psychedelics, one that is rarely mentioned due to the effort to legitimize them for the mainstream public—they can be fun too! A lot of folks in the movement try to downplay the recreational side of psychedelics but I think this is a huge mistake.

Just because psychedelics can be enjoyable doesn’t discount their potential for healing, spirituality, or productivity.

The beginning of the word “recreation” is “recreate”, and I have found that recreating myself through my recreational psychedelic trips has been just as transformational for me as the experiences that were intentionally created for healing or spiritual purposes.

And Tons of Other Things

Psychedelics have helped me with so many other things too. Here are some of the ones that made a big impact on my life:

• Increased openness (especially with regard to spirituality)

• More tolerance and acceptance

• Enhanced creativity and ability to enter flow states

• Increased compassion for myself and others

• Understanding better how my actions affect others

• An ability to see the bigger picture

• Highlighting the people I should (and shouldn’t) keep in my life

• Better life satisfaction

• Improved social relationships

• Increased confidence

• Better at dealing with awkward or uncomfortable situations

• Showed me what’s possible (although I still had to do the work to achieve it)

• Helped me find my passions

• Assisted with setting goals

• Learning how to surrender

• Keep my mind young and playful

After spending the last 14 years working with psychedelics, I think it’s fair to say that I’ve become a much better person than I used to be. I owe them a huge debt of gratitude, and I’m proud to be part of the growing movement to show the mainstream public that they have the potential to be agents of positive change in a world that is desperately needing just that.

#ThankYouPlantMedicine

Image by johnhain, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

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)

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 - 2.15.19

CANNABIS

• Senator Files '420' Marijuana Bill To Legalize It Federally (Forbes)

• Mexican Senate Report Lays Out Marijuana Legalization Considerations (Marijuana Moment)

• New Mexico Lawmakers Approve Marijuana Legalization Bill At Committee Hearing (Marijuana Moment)

• Oregon has more legal cannabis than the state can consume in six years (Quartz)

• States With Legal Medical Marijuana Have Lower Teen Use Rates, Large-Scale Study Finds (Marijuana Moment)

• Why CBD Works Better With a Little THC (Even If You Don’t Want to Get High) (Leafly)

• Study Shows How Marijuana Component CBD Can Help People With Substance Use Disorders (Marijuana Moment)

• Veterans Medical Marijuana Access Legislation Introduced In House and Senate (NORML)

• European Parliament Approves Medical Marijuana Resolution (Marijuana Moment)

• Bill to Provide Greater Access for Virginia Medical Cannabis Patients Succeeds (NORML)

• Missouri Lawmakers Approve Marijuana Expungement Bill For Medical Cannabis Patients (Marijuana Moment)

• Kamala Harris Got So High Smoking Weed in College She Thought She Was Listening To Snoop Dogg and Tupac (Reason)

• Where Presidential Candidate Amy Klobuchar Stands On Marijuana (Marijuana Moment)

• Michigan’s First Cannabis Lounge Is the Chill Alternative to Bars (Leafly)

• Marijuana possession bill reintroduced in state Senate (Winston-Salem Journal)

• Maury Povich Smoked A Marijuana Strain Named After His Wife, Journalist Connie Chung (Marijuana Moment)

• Dan Bilzerian's Weed Company Is Keeping Sexist Cannabis Ads Alive (VICE)

• If you support marijuana legalization, you should support safe injection sites (The Philadelphia Inquirer)

• Here's How New Mothers are Using CBD to Combat Baby Brain (Civilized)

• Aurora Cannabis earnings show big growth in pot sales, but worrisome profit trend (MarketWatch)

LSD

• The Man who Mapped LSD (OUPblog)

• Microdoses of LSD change how you perceive time (Big Think)

• Amanda Feilding: ‘LSD can get deep down and reset the brain – like shaking up a snow globe’ (The Guardian)

MAGIC MUSHROOMS

• $1m kicked into campaign for magic mushroom therapy (The Sydney Morning Herald)

• Push to legalize psychedelic mushrooms gains traction in Eugene (KEZI)

• Hallucinogenic Mushrooms Are Having a Moment. Here's What It's All About. (Cheddar)

• Magic Mushrooms Show Promising Results for Treating PTSD and Depression (San Diego Entertainer Magazine)

MDMA

• MDMA Users May Have a Social Advantage Over People Who Use Other Drugs (Inverse)

• Israel's Health Ministry Approves Compassionate Use of MDMA to Treat PTSD (Haaretz)

• MDMA Expanded Access is almost here. What’s it all about? (Psymposia)

• Use of Ecstasy spreading in Cebu: PDEA 7 (Sun.Star)

• Police issue a warning for yellow octopus ecstasy pills (Mixmag)

• Daniel Eades, 19, took MDMA at Halo and Wetherspoon (Bournemouth Echo)

• Young dad dies after taking ecstasy on New Year's Eve (Derbyshire Live)

AYAHUASCA

• The First Indigenous Ayahuasca Conference (Yubaka Hayrá) in Acre Demonstrates Political, Cultural and Spiritual Resistance (Chacruna)

• Ayahuasca Shows Huge Potential As a Treatment For Severe Depression (Reset.me)

• What Ayahuasca is Trying to Teach Us: An Interview with Dennis McKenna (Reality Sandwich)

• Mindful Eating as a support for Ayahuasca Dieta (Tam Integration)

SYNTHETIC CANNABINOIDS

• Severe bleeding associated with use of tainted synthetic cannabinoids (AAP News)

• Colorectal cancer: Scientists halt growth with cannabinoid compounds (Medical News Today)

• Children as young as THREE are treated in hospital after taking Spice as Britain's synthetic drug crisis deepens (Daily Mail)

NITROUS OXIDE

• Laughing gas now an option for women giving birth (Everything Lubbock)

• Residents 'disgusted' after piles of 'hippy crack' canisters dumped outside Cambridge home (Cambridgeshire Live)

• Everything you need to know about nangs, the worrying craze growing amongst Aussie teens. (Mamamia)

KETAMINE

• Taking Ketamine Can Feel a Lot Like a Near-Death Experience (Tonic)

• F.D.A. Panel Recommends New Depression Treatment (The New York Times)

• Ketamine Clinics of Los Angeles Commemorates Five Years of Patient Success Stories (New Kerala)

PCP

• Man who killed USA Today reporter in PCP-fueled crash sentenced to six years in prison (The Washington Post)

OPIATES/OPIOIDS

• When the Cure Is Worse Than the Disease (The New York Times)

• Mapping the Opioid Epidemic (New America)

• Overdose remedy naloxone now carried by all Ventura police officers (Ventura County Star)

• Mass. Issues Guidelines After Boston Nurse Was Denied Life Insurance For Carrying Naloxone (WBUR)

• Even in best-case scenario, opioid overdose deaths will keep rising until 2022 (Los Angeles Times)

• Opioid-Related Deaths Decreasing in Iowa, Report Shows (WHO-TV)

• Veterinarian sentenced to 6 years for stitching heroin into puppies and turning them into drug mules (INSIDER)

• Why the Rural Opioid Crisis Is Different From the Urban One (CityLab)

• Opium cultivation business squeezed by market shift towards meth (Myanmar Times)

• Vet saves Victoria puppy with naloxone injection (Maple Ridge News)

• Offer: help solve the opioid crisis, have your student loans forgiven (Rooster Magazine)

• Indy coffee shop is the newest place to offer life-saving drug naloxone (Fox 59)

• Coroner: No carfentanil spike locally, but OD deaths are up (Dayton Daily News)

• 'Church Of Safe Injection' Offers Needles, Naloxone To Prevent Opioid Overdoses (NPR)

• It's too late to save my son's life, but this drug can save others (The Sacramento Bee)

• Houston Cop Involved in Deadly Drug Raid Relieved of Duty Due to 'Ongoing Questions' (Reason)

• Naloxone training could help save numerous lives (KVAL)

METHAMPHETAMINE

• Crystal Meth Is North Korea's Trendiest Lunar New Year's Gift (The New York Times)

• Officials: Iowa sees higher-quality meth, increased drug use (The Daily Nonpareil)

BENZODIAZEPINES

• The Deadly Worst Case Scenario for America's Xanax Obsession (VICE)

ALCOHOL

• Beer before wine, you'll feel fine? Not according to a new study (CTV News)

• More than 100 dead after drinking bootleg alcohol in India (Reuters)

• Man 'under influence of alcohol' allegedly beats stepdaughter to death (Jakarta Post)

• How heavy drinking might boost your appetite for alcohol (Health24)

• Alcohol Problems Grow as Booze Gets a Bigger Kick (WebMD)

• Alcohol’s effects on the brain (The Ithacan)

• Plan to raise alcohol limits in beer at Utah stores approved (Cache Valley Daily)

• Report says Utah has lowest alcohol consumption per capita in country (KUTV 2News)

• Thousands sign petition to stop ban of alcohol on some Michigan rivers (WXYZ)

• I Stopped Drinking For 30 Days — & My Skin Got So Much Better (Refinery29)

• Giving up alcohol made our lives better — and turned us into terrible guests (The Washington Post)

ABSINTHE

• Does absinthe really make drinkers hallucinate? (Fox News)

NOOTROPICS

• Brain‑Enhancing 'Smart Drugs' Promise a Boost in Creativity, Memory (The Swaddle)

• Seven Mental and Athletic Performance Benefits of Nootropics (Youth Health Magazine)

• Noopept: one of the most potent brain boosters on the market (London Post)

KRATOM

• Kratom Is A Drug, But Indonesia Really Wants It To Remain An Unlicensed Supplement (Science 2.0)

• The FDA is wrong about kratom (The Washington Post)

• Regulations Are On Hold as Kratom Debate Rages (WebMD)

• Kratom No Longer Allowed In Columbus (WCBI)

• What Is Kratom & Why Is It Being Used For Opiate Self-Detox? (Psychology Today)

• Miracle treatment or dangerous drug? (The Star Online)

MISCELLANEOUS

• El Chapo, the Notorious Drug Kingpin, Has Been Found Guilty in His U.S. Trial (TIME)

• 'Kitty Flipping' and the Psychonaut Obsession with Mixing Drugs (VICE)

• FDA explores using blockchain to track drug supplies (Engadget)

• How Brexit Will Shape Britain's Drug Supply (VICE)

• GOP Iowa lawmaker proposes decriminalizing psychedelic drugs for medical use (The Hill)

• Sri Lanka hiring hangmen, inspired by Philippines' war on drugs (Reuters)

• Will El Chapo's conviction change anything in the drug trade? (The Guardian)

• Victoria city councillors call on B.C. to provide safe-inhalation sites for drugs (Times Colonist)

• Tennessee bill would charge pregnant women using drugs if baby born addicted (KMPH)

• Students Turn To Study Drugs And Alcohol To Cope With Campus Life (Forbes)

• Is there something divine about gender and psychedelics? (The Psychedelic Scientist)

• Microdosing Hallucinogens Has Positive Effects—but Not What You Might Suspect (Pacific Standard)

• Riverstyx: A Small Family Foundation That Funds Psychedelic Research and Other Fringe Causes (Inside Philanthropy)

• Sex On Drugs (PSU Vanguard)

• The case for drug decriminalization in Baltimore (The Baltimore Sun)

• Japan managed to win its war on drugs, why can’t we? (The Spectator)

• Trip Sitters and Conscious Bachelorette: Interview with Chi of Truffles Therapy (Psychedelic Times)

• Psychedelics Live Up to Early Promise (Discover Magazine)

• How 'Russian Doll' flirts with psychedelic therapy (The Outline)

• Becoming an Entheogen (Medium)

• Psychedelic Meditation (The Third Wave)

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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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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.

Book Review - Getting Higher

Whether you are an experienced psychonaut or a first-time tripper, absorbing understandable and accurate advice about the psychedelic experience before embarking on an entheogenic journey can be extremely valuable. Although I have several years worth of personal experience and tips and tricks that I have picked up from many sources along the way, I was pleasantly surprised to find Julian Vayne's book Getting Higher: The Manual of Psychedelic Ceremony to contain plenty of suggestions and ideas that were new to me, which I will gladly be able to bring to my own psychedelic practice.

A section titled "Setting Out" describes a variety of things that someone may consider doing before embarking on a psychedelic journey, including cleansing the body with a bath or shower, fasting or making other intentional dietary changes, carefully choosing the clothes they are going to wear, cleaning and decorating the physical space, saying prayers or setting an intention, and lighting candles or incense. Additionally, choosing a group of people to trip with that have mutual trust and respect should be a priority. The end of a psychedelic ceremony can involve a formal conclusion to the session. For example, you could give thanks to the spirits of the medicine, extinguish a fire that has been burning through the night, or open the curtains to let the light in, if the experience has happened inside.

The next chapter introduces the concept of practices that can be done outside of psychedelic ceremony that will help you navigate the psychedelic experience. These include breathwork, meditation, various activities involving sound (such as listening to pre-recorded music, making music, drumming, singing, chanting mantras), and a vast array of different types of movements (synchronized or freeform spontaneous dancing, checking in on one's posture and balance, gestures, sensual and sexual activities, etc.).

Another chapter focuses on activities that can be done while high that will guide or intensify the experience for the psychonaut, such as artistic explorations like drawing or painting, consciously consuming content, holding or observing objects that are significant to the tripper, playing games, going on a journey in nature, venturing into a museum on a "museum level" dose, participating at a rave or music festival, experimenting with divinatory practices like tarot or the I Ching, and creating an environment of sensory deprivation like with a float tank. Vayne also goes into great detail about how to plan, organize, and execute an effective medicine circle, which is a way to have a structured—yet highly meaningful—psychedelic experience in a group setting. In fact, there are several descriptions of ceremonies scattered throughout the book that are provided so the reader can gain ideas and inspiration for creating their own unique practice.

Although there can sometimes be a feeling in the psychedelic community that it is imperative to the success of the movement for its members to approach and speak about psychedelics exclusively in a serious manner, Vayne suggests that strict divisions between the concepts of using psychedelics for spirituality, play, and enjoyment are not needed. I tend to agree.

While it is not a primary focus of the book, it does include some scientific research. For example, there is a small section regarding the effects that psychedelics have on the physiological health of the human brain. Research has shown that psychedelics may enhance organic brain processes such as neuroplasticity (the ability of the brain cells to form new connections), and the compounds found in some psychedelics have been demonstrated to cause neurogenesis (the formation of neurons from neural stem cells) in vitro. There are a few more scientific snippets in the book, but it mainly looks at what one can do to create the most optimal conditions for a psychedelic experience.

I was ultimately extremely impressed by Getting Higher, which contains plenty of legitimate advice for psychonauts wishing to take their trips to new levels of intensity or learn how to move through the psychedelic space more effectively. This book is certainly worth reading, regardless of one's skill level with psychedelics, but I do feel like it may be appreciated more by people who have had a few trips under their belt than by complete novices. Perhaps this will even increase the re-readability of this book—for me at least. Only time will tell. However, I am confident that the suggestions in Getting Higher that I highlighted and/or wrote down in my own notes will be helpful for my own psychedelic practice for years to come.

4/5 stars. 135 pages.