This Week in Psychoactives - 2.8.19

CANNABIS

• World Health Organization Recommends Reclassifying Marijuana Under International Treaties (Forbes)

• The Most Efficient Way to Smoke Cannabis? Study Says Dabs (Leafly)

• Jury Convicts Church Of Cannabis Founder On Public Consumption Charges (Colorado Public Radio)

• Most Strains of Weed Are More Alike Than People Think (Men's Health)

• Hawaii Lawmakers Unanimously Approve Marijuana Legalization Bill In Committee (Marijuana Moment)

• Pennsylvania Lawmakers Introduce Bill To Legalize Marijuana (Marijuana Moment)

• A New Study Says Pot Smokers May Have Higher Sperm Counts. But There’s a Catch (TIME)

• Patients Frequently Substituting Cannabis For Anti-Anxiety Drugs (NORML)

• CBD-Infused Food Banned by Health Department at NYC Restaurant, Owner Says (Eater)

• After A Decade Of Testing, Israeli Medical Cannabis Comes To The US (Forbes)

• Republican Senator Pitches Weird Conspiracy Theory About Weed Legalization, Menthol Cigarettes, and the FDA (Reason)

• Science Backs Most Medical Cannabis Treatment, Study Finds (Leafly)

• Medicinal cannabis legalisation opens gateway for psychedelic research (Small Caps)

• Traffic fatalities on a high after cannabis legalisation (Medical Xpress)

• Nebraska Could Vote On This Medical Marijuana Ballot Measure In 2020 (Forbes)

• Congressional Democrats Plan Hearing And Vote On Marijuana Business Banking (Marijuana Moment)

• Pot for pets: Cannabis products for our furry friends increasing in popularity (The GrowthOp)

• A Hemp Company Sues After Police Mistake Their Product for Weed (Reason)

• Trump Allies Consider Using Hemp Concrete To Build Border Wall With Private Funds (Marijuana Moment)

• Here’s Where Ontario’s First Private Cannabis Stores Could Open (Leafly)

• More Seniors Are Using Marijuana and It May Decrease Their Opioid Use (Green Entrepreneur)

• New Hampshire Considers Legalization, but Gov. Sununu Vows to Veto It (Leafly)

• Maryland Lawmakers Introduce Marijuana Legalization Bills (Marijuana Moment)

• Latest Medical Marijuana Bill Proposes Full Use Of Cannabis Plant In Tennessee (WPLN)

• Reports Claim Bisexuals Smoke the Most Cannabis. Is There Any Truth to It? (Leafly)

• Why do so many Americans now support legalizing marijuana? (The Conversation)

• Study Reveals Little-Known Trick To Make Marijuana Plants Grow More Bud For Less (Marijuana Moment)

• Toronto Maple Leafs Suing Snoop’s Cannabis Brand Over Logo (Leafly)

• Smoke without fire: Cannabis for the observant Jew (ynetnews)

• Where Presidential Candidate Cory Booker Stands On Marijuana (Marijuana Moment)

• A Patient’s Guide to Using Cannabis for Cancer (Leafly)

• Cannabis in Small Commonwealth States: Turning a New Leaf? (Talking Drugs)

• How To Invest In Cannabis IPOs (Forbes)

• Why We Should Treat Cannabis like Organic Food or Fine Wine (Civilized)

LSD

• LSD allows more information to flood into the brain by altering activity in the thalamus (PsyPost)

MAGIC MUSHROOMS

• Denver Will Vote on Psilocybin Decriminalization in May (Westword)

• The Push to Legalize Magic Mushrooms for Depression and PTSD (WIRED)

• Shrooms Are the Safest Drug You Can Take (VICE)

• Oregon "Psilocybin Services" Ballot Measure Has Significant Support, Poll Shows (PR Newswire)

• 'Magic Mushrooms' May Soon Be Decriminalised in Parts of The US (Science Alert)

• Magic Truffles in Amsterdam and the Monastic Path: Interview with Chi of Truffles Therapy (Psychedelic Times)

MDMA

• MDMA users more empathetic than people who take other drugs, study finds (The Independent)

• Parents whose son died after taking ecstasy want to educate others on dangers of drug (WGN-TV)

• Antisocial Species Of Octopus Becomes Friendlier On MDMA, Study Finds (Study Finds)

DMT

• Why Do Jesters and Tricksters Appear in the DMT Experience? (Sam Woolfe)

NOVEL PSYCHOACTIVE SUBSTANCES

• Man filmed dying girlfriend at festival after taking 2C-P instead of helping her (Rave Jungle)

• First National Study on Flakka Finds Disturbing Trend Among Teens (Psychedelics Daily)

SYNTHETIC CANNABINOIDS

• Synthetic cannabis may stop colorectal cancer from growing, study suggests (Daily Mail)

• K2 Overdose Calls Reach Lowest Numbers since 2014 (Spectrum News)

• Natural and synthetic cannabinoids for agitation and aggression in Alzheimer’s disease: A meta-analysis (MDLinx)

• 'Spice turns you into a zombie': Battling an addiction with synthetic cannabis (Shropshire Star)

NITROUS OXIDE

• Longmont United Hospital Offers New Pain Management Option for Laboring Mothers (Longmont Observer)

• Laughing gas now available for women in labor (WGME)

KETAMINE

• Ketamine Could Be the Key to Reversing America’s Rising Suicide Rate (Bloomberg)

• New variation of ketamine to be approved by FDA for treatment of depression (Mixmag)

• Ketamine Noninferior to Fentanyl for Traumatic Injury Pain in Children (Clinical Pain Advisor)

• Kansas City woman credits controversial depression treatment with saving her life (Fox 4 Kansas City)

• Can ketamine help depression? (WTSP)

• Fears grow that Ketamine use by young is on the rise in England (The Guardian)

OPIATES/OPIOIDS

• U.S. Prosecutors Sue To Stop Nation's First Supervised Injection Site For Opioids (NPR)

• Family Behind OxyContin Made Billions By Pushing to Keep Patients on Drug Longer, Filing Shows (TIME)

• Study: Illicit opioid deaths to rise by 147 percent by 2025 (UPI.com)

• Fentanyl Overdoses Spike on Mexico’s Northern Border But Remain Invisible (Filter)

• #MSLeg: 'Parker's Law' would punish drug dealers for death or injuries (Clarion Ledger)

• Struggling to Compete with Fentanyl, Mexico’s Poppy Farmers Ask for Legalization (Filter)

• Naloxone boxes to be placed in Downtown Cincinnati in new bid to stem overdose deaths (Cincinnati.com)

• Ohio doctors must now offer overdose antidote naloxone to some pain patients (The Columbus Dispatch)

• Cops Claimed She Set Up A Drug Deal. Now She's Being Prosecuted for Manslaughter. (The Appeal)

• Alphabet's Verily is opening an opioid addiction center in Ohio (Engadget)

• Trump Decries Unjust Crack Sentences but Wants to Repeat the Mistake With Fentanyl (Reason)

• The Third Opium War (Manitoba Post)

• New bill clarifies who can dispense, administer Naloxone (KIVI-TV)

• Program trains high school officials to give naloxone (Tuscaloosa News)

• Myanmar's opium farmers cling on to lucrative crop (Mail and Guardian)

• IN PICTURES: Myanmar, the second biggest source of opium in the world (The Courier)

• Why we need to talk about take-home naloxone (Australian Journal of Pharmacy)

• How to Get and Use Fentanyl Testing Strips (Lifehacker)

• Let's define terms to understand the opioid crisis (Murfreesboro Post)

COCAINE

• This Is Why Cocaine Dealers Should Fear Venezuelan Unrest (OZY)

METHAMPHETAMINE

• DEA testing shows meth is running rampant in New Jersey (New Jersey 101.5 FM Radio)

• Iowa sees increase in methamphetamine use (Sioux City Journal)

ALCOHOL

• Richer, older men more likely to drink to excess, figures show (The Guardian)

• Heavy Drinking in Teens Causes Lasting Changes in Emotional Center of Brain (Neuroscience News)

• Utah lawmaker wants to scrap low-alcohol beer rule (KUTV)

• Some Super Bowl ads seem to suggest that some kinds of alcohol are better for you. Health officials say it's better to punt on the drinking altogether (Deseret News)

• Alcohol related deaths in England and Wales rocket in past decade (Yahoo! Sports)

• Know how alcohol is harming your teeth! (Times of India)

• 10 things that can happen to your body when you give up alcohol (INSIDER)

ABSINTHE

• This Maine-made absinthe won’t make you hallucinate (Bangor Daily News)

NOOTROPICS

• Nootropic spearmint extract may improve reactive agility, according to new study (Nutritional Outlook)

• The future's getting smarter (Mashable)

• Nootropics: A Necessary Mental Aid in Modern World? (The Frisky)

• Are ‘smart drugs’ all they claim to be? (ZME Science)

KRATOM

• Kratom Now Banned in Columbus (WCBI)

• Advocate: Kratom 'should be regulated,' not illegal (The Dispatch)

• Residents seek Kratom ban in Lowndes (The Dispatch)

MISCELLANEOUS

• Does microdosing improve your mood and performance? Here’s what the research say (The Conversation)

• GOP Lawmaker’s Bill Would Legalize Psychedelic Mushrooms And MDMA For Medical Use (Marijuana Moment)

• How the Drug War Eats the Poor (VICE)

• El Chapo Jury Begins Deliberation in Bombshell Drug Trafficking Trial (TIME)

• This is what psychedelic mainstreaming looks like…in Arizona (Psymposia)

• Houston Narcs Were 'Clearly Labeled' During Deadly Drug Raid, Police Spokesman Says (Reason)

• Why More and More People Are Leaning Toward Microdosing for Depression (Civilized)

• Are Electronic Cigarettes Facilitating Illicit Drug Use? (News-Medical.net)

• Is Permatripping Real? (Gizmodo)

• Should I Drug Test My Kids? Why the Experts Say No (Filter)

• Sri Lanka to begin hangings within months, ending 43-year stay on executions (The Guardian)

• Cory Booker Invites Former Drug War Prisoner To Trump’s State Of The Union (Marijuana Moment)

• Psychedelic Privilege: Report from the Women and Psychedelics Forum (Chacruna)

• The GOP Needs A Better Drug Policy to End HIV (Medium)

• Drug Reform Campaigner Calls For Legal MDMA, Cannabis & Pill Testing in Australia (Your EDM)

• Meet the Artists Designing Clothes For Businesswomen Who Micro-Dose LSD (Interview)

• Nine pill testing myths (Australia's Science Channel)

• This is why you should vote to make drugs safer (The Bristol Cable)

• I took daily doses of magic mushrooms to improve my performance and mental health. Here’s what happened (news.com.au)

• Psychedelics could treat mental disorders (4BC)

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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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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 - 3.16.18

Image by Dahtamnay, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Cannabis

• Ongoing Study Looks at the Efficacy of Cannabis-Based Treatments for PTSD (Psychedelic Times)
• Study: Marijuana Decriminalization Leads To Decreased Arrests, No Increase In Youth Use (NORML)
• Jamaica Welcomes Its First Legal Cannabis Retailer (Leafly)
• Is cannabis the answer to older people's booze problems? (The Guardian)
• 5 Ways New York City Can Reform Its Outrageous Cannabis Policy (Leafly)
• First Nations of Canada Petitioning For Cut of Cannabis Tax Revenue (High Times)
• Why Coffee Could Be the Opposite of Cannabis (Live Science)
• Could Cannabis Replace Traditional Labor Medications? (High Times)
• Legal Marijuana Is A Boon To The Economy, Finds Study (Forbes)
• United Nations Report Scolds Countries for Cannabis Legalization (Leafly)
• New Jersey Governor Doubles Down on Marijuana Legalization (NORML)
• Exercise and cannabis combine at Colorado gym (WREG)
• Iowa gets 21 applications for medical cannabis dispensaries (San Francisco Chronicle)
• This Woman Created A Cannabis Marketplace For The Design-Minded Stoner (HuffPost)
• Hollyweed: fledgling cannabis industry struggles to woo the stars (The Guardian)
• TV Personality Montel Williams to Speak About Medical Cannabis at New York Event (Multiple Sclerosis News Today)
• New Oakland ordinance blocks cannabis businesses from evicting residents (East Bay Times)
• Puff: Cannabis sample boxes are perfect for newbies and connoisseurs alike (48 Hills)
• Part 1, Choosing a Cannabis Plant Container (Leafly)

LSD

• How LSD Makes Music Profoundly Awesome (AlterNet)
• LSD Has Staying Power, Chemistry Explains Why (American Council on Science and Health)

Psilocybin/Magic Mushrooms

• Mushrooms May Have Developed Psilocybin to Ward Off Insects (Psychedelic Times)
• Will Psychedelic Mushrooms Be on Denver's Ballot in November? (5280)
• Are magic mushrooms the next medical marijuana? (Yahoo!)

MDMA/Ecstasy

• MDMA dampens the encoding and retrieval of emotional memories, study finds (PsyPost)
• Report: Lethal MDMA Substitute Found In 25% Of Ecstasy Pills In New Zealand (Your EDM)
• Ecstasy bid for post-traumatic stress disorder study (PerthNow)
• Family of teenager who died after taking MDMA save drug dealers from jail (Cornwall Live)

Synthetic Cannabinoids/Psychoactive Research Chemicals

• 13 hospitalised in Christchurch after taking drugs they thought were MDMA (Newshub)
• Police concerned by emergence of new drug n-ethylpentylone sold as ecstasy (Newshub)

Dissociatives

• Ketamine Clinics Are Helping to Treat Depression (Chicago Magazine)
• Chelmsford schoolgirl took ketamine before stepping in front of a train at Shenfield station, inquest hears (Essex Live)

Opiates/Opioids

• Why a Study on Opioids Ignited a Twitter Firestorm (The Atlantic)
• Seattle's supervised heroin injection site plan appears to be faltering (KVI)
• Does naloxone really save lives? (The Globe and Mail)
• Many 18th century female writers took opiates (Deccan Chronicle)
• Congressional appropriators must fund naloxone to help fight state opioid epidemic (The State Journal)
• Naloxone Distribution is Saving Lives (Emery County Progress)
• Nasal naloxone spray coming to Sudbury (The Sudbury Star)

Kratom

• 47 more cases of salmonella linked to kratom (CNN)
• Specific kratom brands recalled amid nationwide outbreak (Food Safety News)
• Is Concern Around Kratom 'Drug Hysteria'? (Medscape)
• People Are Worried That the FDA Is Trying to Ban Kratom (Tonic)
• The Various Medicinal Uses and Effects of Kratom (Times Square Chronicles)

Kava

• Kava drinking research highlighted in global report (Scoop)
• Scientists react to kava concerns (Vanuatu Daily Post)

Miscellaneous Psychedelics/Psychoactives/Drug Policy

• Which Black People Are Allowed To Trip? (HuffPost)
• DEA twitter account promotes Anslinger (Drug WarRant)
• Kansas Registers Drug Offenders as Well as Sex Offenders (Reason)
• ACLU Says Nebraska May Have Illegally Imported Execution Drugs (Reason)
• Humans of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (Psymposia)

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.

This Week in Psychedelics - 1.26.18

Image by Dahtamnay, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Cannabis

• Vermont Becomes the Ninth State to Legalize Recreational Marijuana (Reason)
• Medical Cannabis Protections Extended As Part Of Short Term Federal Budget Agreement (NORML)
• What The Government Shutdown Means For Marijuana (NORML)
• Bipartisan Members Of Congress Speak Out Against AG Sessions (NORML)
• Why marijuana retailers can't use banks (The Economist)
• Washington DC's Cannabis Market Is Still Untested, Untaxed, and Underground (Leafly)
• What Is THCV (Tetrahydrocannabivarin) And What Does It Do? (High Times)
• New Jersey: New Governor Calls For 'Patients First' Expansion Of State's Medical Cannabis Access Program (NORML)
• Cannabis Stock Investors Should Pay Attention To The U.S. Federal Policy Change (Forbes)
• Ontario asks for public's opinion on allowing cannabis lounges as legalization looms (Global News)
• How a Cannabis Ban Turned One California County Into 'Ground Zero for Chaos' (Leafly)
• Poll Commissioned by Pot Prohibitionists Shows How Unpopular Pot Prohibition Is (Reason)
• Why No Gadget Can Prove How Stoned You Are (Wired)
• The PAX Era Ushers in a New Generation of Cannabis Cartridge Technology (Leafly)
• Most U.S. Attorneys in States With Legal Pot Don't Seem to Be Planning a Crackdown (Reason)
• Political Commentator Angela Rye on Ending Systematic Racism in the Marijuana Industry (ATTN:)
• Cannabis measures make headway in Indiana Legislature (WISH-TV)
• NORML Activists Take Marijuana Reform Fight to Harrisburg (NORML)
• A 9-Year-Old Accidentally Shared Her Grandpa's Marijuana Gummies With Her Fifth-Grade Class (TIME)
• Looking For Inspiring Work? Consider Cannabis Marketing. Here's Why. (Forbes)
• Re-criminalizing cannabis is worse than 1930s 'reefer madness': Guest opinion (The Oregonian)
• Leafly Readers Share Their Cleverest Hiding Places for a Cannabis Stash (Leafly)
• WeedMD Commences the Sale of Cannabis Oil (GlobeNewswire)
• 'Beyonce Takes THC': The Week in Cannabis Quotes (Leafly)
• Oregon's marijuana industry showcased at cannabis conference (KGW8)
• Getting to Know the Glossy Cannabis Lifestyle Magazines on the Market (Leafly)
• Canadian cannabis firm Aurora in talks to buy both CanniMed and Newstrike: sources (Reuters)
• Introduction to Growing Cannabis with Aquaponics (Leafly)

LSD

• Microdosing LSD helped my company earn $10 million (New York Post)
• How to Microdose Acid and Magic Mushrooms? (Psychedelics Daily)

Psilocybin/Magic Mushrooms

• Psychedelic mushrooms reduce authoritarianism and boost nature relatedness, experimental study suggests (PsyPost)
• Psilocybin (from magic mushrooms) plus meditation and spiritual training leads to lasting changes in positive traits (Research Digest)
• Psychedelic Mushrooms Is the Potential Anti-depressant Treatment of the Future (Health Aim)
• New Psilocybin Research Suggests 'Set and Setting' Are Crucial to Helping Patients Get Better (Reason)

MDMA/Ecstasy

• The psychedelic renaissance: Can Ecstasy really be used to treat mental illness? (International Business Times)
• MDMA For PTSD Therapy Enters Final Round of Trials, Could Be Approved In U.S. and Canada By 2021 (Newsweek)
• From "X" to Rx: Discussing MDMA with Rick Doblin (Psychedelic Frontier)
• Psychedelic-Psychotherapy-QuickFacts (National Post)
• Fake ambulance worker exposed when teenager died from ecstasy at illegal rave (Metro)
• MDMA is Vipassana (Disinfo)
• Grieving mother, 50, whose daughter, 22, died after taking ecstasy in a 'final fling' to celebrate finishing her exams collects her maths degree in moving ceremony just months after her death (Daily Mail)

Ayahuasca/DMT

• No reason to believe the pineal gland alters consciousness by secreting DMT, psychedelic researcher says (PsyPost)
• Acute antidepressant effect of ayahuasca in juvenile non-human primate model of depression. (bioRxiv)

Synthetic Cannabinoids/Psychoactive Research Chemicals

• 'MDMA' warning after 8 Thanet men taken to hospital - with one said to be in a serious condition (The Isle of Thanet News)

Dissociatives

• Can Ketamine Improve 'Electroshock' Therapy? (The Fix)
• Ketamine could prove useful in treatment of severe social anxiety (PsyPost)
• Ketamine 'cures' suicidal woman of bipolar and severe depression (Metro)
• Man faces 5 years for sending PCP to Save the Children (CT Post)

Opiates/Opioids

• Why some US cities are opening safe spaces for injecting heroin (Vox)
• Tom Petty Died of an Accidental Drug Overdose, Coroner Says (TIME)
• Study of Postsurgical Patients Shows Addiction to Pain Pills Is Rare (Reason)
• Scripps researcher developing vaccine to battle heroin addiction (Chron)
• Philadelphia's Government 'Expresses Interest' in Safe Injection Sites (Reason)
• Opium cultivation down by 40%, narcotics chief says (The Nation)
• Chinese Drugmakers Are Getting Opioids Into the U.S. Through the Postal Service (TIME)
• The Feds Are Willing to Let More Medical Workers Treat Opioid Addicts. Now the States Need to Step Up and Allow It. (Reason)

Kratom

• Effective Ways To Deal With Kratom Constipation (Kratom Guides)
• FDA Warns Promoters of Herbal Addiction Treatments (Pain News Network) 
• Kratom: Libertarian Party of Colorado Rips Denver Human Use Ban (Westword)
• The Controversial Painkiller Known As Kratom (TG Daily)
• Kratom: substitute for opioids? (KOLO)

Kava

• 'Acute pain, sore muscles, anxiety, and lethargy': Athletes are embracing kava as an alternative to everything from supplements to opioids (Daily Mail)
• Farmers Keep Potential Buyers At Bay So Yaqona Plants Can Mature Properly (Fiji Sun)
• Kava maker brings popular Polynesian health drink to America (Daily Mail)

Khat

• What Is Khat? (High Times)
• Chewing khat leaves increases risk for chronic liver disease (Healio)
• UK Khat Ban Fails To Stop Contraband Imports (High Times)

Miscellaneous Psychedelics/Psychoactives/Drug Policy

• Your Sloppy Bitcoin Drug Deals Will Haunt You For Years (Wired)
• A psychedelic trip could tackle depression in a way that antidepressants can't (Business Insider)
• The Experience Elicited by Hallucinogens Presents the Highest Similarity to Dreaming within a Large Database of Psychoactive Substance Reports (Frontiers in Neuroscience)
• Cryptocurrency and Psychedelics: Interview with Brian Normand of Psymposia (Psychedelic Times)
• We Ate the Acid: A Note on Psychedelic Imagery (The Oak Tree Review)
• Trump's 24-year-old drug policy appointee was let go at law firm after he 'just didn't show' (The Washington Post)
• The Office of National Drug Control Policy Is on the Chopping Block Again. Here's Why That's Not a Bad Thing (Reason)
• Herbal Supplements May Be Dangerous When You Take Certain Prescription Drugs (TIME)
• How to Use TripSit's 'Guide to Drug Combinations' Chart (Psychedelic Times)
• Building a Modern Eleusis (Reality Sandwich)
• Bill aims to introduce driver drug testing for MDMA, cannabis and methamphetamine (Stuff.co.nz)
• Group urges safe use of psychedelic substances (The Kingston Whig-Standard)

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.

This Week in Psychedelics - 12.29.17

Image by Dahtamnay, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Cannabis

• These States Are Likely To Legalize Marijuana In 2018 (Forbes)
• The Top 10 Cannabis Stories of 2017: Canada & Jeff Sessions Lead the List (Leafly)
• Federal Medical Marijuana Protections Temporarily Extended (NORML)
• Will Legal Cannabis Thrive Or Get Shutdown? 2018 Will Tell (Forbes)
• How were Americans looking for weed (or "marijuana" or "cannabis") in 2017? (The Cannabist)
• Adult Use Retail Sales To Commence In California (NORML)
• Nevada's Recreational Marijuana Market Hits $38M, Soars Past Colorado (Forbes) 
• Warning: Don't Bring Your Legal Marijuana Through Internal Checkpoints in California (Reason)
• People Are Successfully Replacing Vicodin, Xanax and Ambien With Marijuana (ATTN:) 
• New state law to prohibit drivers, passengers from smoking cannabis while driving (KIEM)
• Raring to buy recreational pot in Los Angeles? (Not so fast) (Los Angeles Times)
• Part 1, The Top CBD Cannabis Studies of 2017 (Leafly)
• Marijuana Stops Boy's Seizure in 30 Seconds (ATTN:)
• Dear Prime Minister: 'Tis the Season to Discuss Cannabis Advertising (Leafly)
• Man gets into police car carrying 1,000 cannabis joints because he thought it was a taxi (The Independent)
• Your Regional Guide to Growing Healthy Cannabis Plants Outdoors (Leafly)
• With the groundwork laid, the cannabis business likely to take off in 2018 (Wicked Local Natick)
• Grandmother says cancer has almost gone after taking cannabis oil - now she wants the Government to act (Derby Telegraph)
• Elderly Couple Busted With 60 Pounds of Christmas-Present Cannabis (The Drive)
• Does Religious Freedom Mean You Can Smoke Pot? (World Religion News)
• 'No Rush' to legalise medical cannabis (The Daily Telegraph)

LSD

• 'Wormwood' Is an LSD-Soaked True Crime Masterpiece (Motherboard)
• These Troops Were Ordered To Take LSD (Inverse)
• The Grateful Dead, with a side of LSD-laced venison stew (Salon)

Psilocybin/Magic Mushrooms

• The Grand Humbling of the Third Eye: A Review of Adam Strauss's One Man Show "The Mushroom Cure" (Reality Sandwich)

MDMA/Ecstasy

• Man high on ecstasy ends up stranded in the middle of a lake, cops say (Fox 32 Chicago)
• Boy, 17, dies 'after taking ecstasy tablets' days before Christmas as police launch warning over drugs (Mirror)

Ayahuasca/DMT

• WATCH: Oddball Artist Explains What Painting On DMT Is Like (Trill)
• Ayahuasca: A Skeptic's Notes (Psychedelic Frontier)
• Exotic Hallucinogen Has Everyday Israelis Tripping. But Is It Legal? (Haaretz)

Iboga/Ibogaine

• An End to the Opioid Epidemic? New Study Suggests Ibogaine Treatment Could Be a Game Changer (Psychedelic Times)

Dissociatives

• New Ketamine Findings Give Hope To People Seeking Relief From Suicidal Thoughts (The Fix)
• Would You Try This Party Drug To Relieve Depression And Suicidal Thoughts? (Alternative Daily)

Opiates/Opioids

• Portugal Ended Their Heroin Epidemic Through Treatment and Decriminalization (ATTN:)
• India concerned at record opium production in Afghanistan (United News of India)

Kratom

• Letter: Tell DEA to leave kratom alone (Asheville Citizen-Times)
• MOH to initiate ban on Ketum starting next year (MIMS General News)

Kava

• Warning not to take Kava into Poland (Radio New Zealand)
• Appeals for Vanuatu to seek dialogue with Poland on kava ban (Radio New Zealand)

Khat

• Global Khat (Plant) Sales is Growing at 6% CAGR to 2019 - Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast (Island Post Gazette)

Miscellaneous Psychedelics/Psychoactives/Drug Policy

• Pineapple Fund Donated 60 Bitcoin to MAPS in Delicate Time for Crypto and Psychedelics (Psychedelic Times)
• Ross Ulbricht Files Appeal to the Supreme Court on His Life Sentence Without Parole (Reason)
• Party drugs such as Molly, Meow Meow more popular but ganja most seized in India (Hindustan 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.

This Week in Psychedelics - 11.17.17

Image by Dahtamnay, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Cannabis

• Colorado girl suing U.S. attorney general to legalize medical marijuana nationwide (KDVR)
• Smoking marijuana shouldn't be a disqualifying factor for federal judgeship: Top senators say (The Washington Times)
• New York Adds PTSD as Qualifying Condition for Medical Cannabis (Leafly)
• Marijuana Has the Potential to Reverse Memory Loss in Old Age (ATTN:)
• Sessions Says He Is Sticking With His Predecessors' Tolerance of State-Legal Marijuana (Reason)
• We Need Your Help to Protect Patients from Jeff Sessions (NORML)
• 6 Ways to Advocate for a Pro-Cannabis Local Government (Leafly)
• The Startup Catering To Women's Curiosity About Cannabis (Forbes)
• Colorado Is Offering Students the World's First Marijuana-Funded Scholarship (ATTN:)
• Maryland May See Medical Cannabis This Month, but Diversity Issues Loom Large (Leafly)
• Delay Makes It Unlikely San Francisco Will Sell Pot Jan. 1 (U.S. News & World Report)
• Buffalo/Western New York: Blacks Disproportionately Arrested For Minor Marijuana Offenses (NORML)
• Massachusetts to Hire a Cannabis Inspector (Seven Days)
• Women Who Weed (NORML)
• California releases cannabis regulations, with no limit on farm size (The Press Democrat)
• How Veterans Are Leading the Fight for Cannabis Reform (Leafly)
• Brilliant Cannabis Commercial Parodies Ridiculous Pharma Ads (Psychedelic Frontier)
• Master Blasters: Hash-Off Announces Denver's Top Cannabis Concentrates (Westword)
• Cannabis Crunch – 12-Year-Old Girl Sues Sessions, Billion Dollar Urine Screens And Weed Election Results (Psychedelic Times)
• Quebec's Cannabis Regulations: 8 Takeaways (Leafly)
• Cannabis-Infused Fine-Dining Pop-Up to Bring Fancy Edibles to Chicago (Eater)
• 5 Reddit Communities for Cannabis Enthusiasts (Leafly)
• Connecticut: NORML Affiliate To Co-Host Gubernatorial Debate (NORML)
• Can medical cannabis decrease Ark. opioid deaths? (EMS1.com)
• City To Miss Legalization Deadline After Supervisors Postpone Cannabis Vote (Hoodline)
• Hero dogs save family from house fire 'that started in neighbour's cannabis factory' (Metro)

LSD

• Happy 79th Birthday, LSD! (Inverse)
• Children of Drug Cult Spill the Beans (Laguna Beach Independent Newspaper)

Psilocybin/Magic Mushrooms

• Magic Mushrooms Take Critical Step Towards Legalization in California (Your EDM)

MDMA/Ecstasy

• Is MDMA a curse or a cure? (The Weed Blog)
• Ecstasy use on the rise in south Flintshire, say police (The Leader)

Ayahuasca/DMT

• Psychedelic Drink Used By Shamans May Help Treat Mental Illness (Gears of Biz)
• Ayahuasca and Avocados: A Conversation with Rita Kočárová (Psychedelic Times)
• Orlando church battles to use hallucinogenic tea (Click Orlando)
• Well-being, problematic alcohol consumption and acute subjective drug effects in past-year ayahuasca users: a large, international, self-selecting online survey (The University of Queensland)
• Psychedelic drug known as Vine of the Dead could treat depression says Devon research (Devon Live)
• Tourists Are Flocking To South America To Take THIS Drug And Cure Diseases (The Alternative Daily)
• Los Angeles Wook Smuggles DMT in Container Labeled "Nana's Ashes" (Noiseporn)
• A Spiritual Hand Prepares to Establish a New Ayahuasca Kitchen (Digital Journal)

Synthetic Cannabinoids/Psychoactive Research Chemicals

• The Legend of Zombie Drugs Will Not Die (Reason)

Dissociatives

• New Ketamine Research Points to Wide-Ranging Therapeutic Potential (Psychedelic Times)
• Steve Levine, MD: Ketamine's Role in Solving the Opioid Crisis (MD Magazine)
• Use of ketamine for acute suicidal ideation in a patient with chronic pain on prescribed cannabinoids (BMJ Case Reports)

Opiates/Opioids

• FDA clears nerve stimulator to aid recovery from opioids (The Washington Post)
• The Deadly Designer Opioids (HuffPost)
• America Is Losing Yet Another Drug War—in Afghanistan (The Nation)
• The State: The Opioid Epidemic (Psymposia)
• Reversing opioid overdose: Concentrated naloxone nasal spray as good as injection (Medical Xpress)
• Why West Virginia's Heroin Overdose Rate Doubled After it Mandated Doctors Use the State Drug-Monitoring Database (Pacific Standard)
• The Opioid Crisis Is So Bad People Are Using the Anti-Diarrhea Drug Imodium to Get High (ATTN:)
• Fentanyl Crisis and Naloxone Supply - Omega Laboratories spares no effort to meet demand (Markets Insider)

Kratom

• The Federal Government Is Trying to Ban Kratom (Again) (Reason)
• Is Breastfeeding Possible With Kratom? (Kratom Guides)
• NY Post Spreads DEA Disinformation Regarding Kratom (Inquisitr)
• Supplement to 'cure' heroin addiction could be addicting too (New York Post)
• FDA Warns Of Risks Associated With 'Natural' Opioid Kratom (NPR)

Khat

• Ethiopian Government now links Somali-Oromo region ethnic conflict to Khat trade (Borkena)

Miscellaneous Psychedelics/Psychoactives/Drug Policy

• Jeff Sessions Used His Scheduling Powers Last Week. Here's What That Means (Reason)
• You Won't Believe Which Middle East Theocrat Has Okayed Psychedelics Treatment (Drug War Chronicle)
• Bad Trip Vs. Hard Trip (Adventures Through The Mind)
• Microdosing Reportedly Safer Than Antidepressants (Noiseporn)
• Naked Suspects In Alberta Kidnapping Drank Hallucinogenic Tea, Relative Says (HuffPost)
• How festival pill testing works in the UK, and what it finds in the drugs (ABC)
• Detroit Cops Posing As Drug Dealers Brawl With Colleagues Posing As Customers (Reason)
• Villagers in Nepal Risk their Lives for Psychedelic Honey (Addiction Now)
• Psychedelic drugs may be making a comeback (WSMV)
• President Trump Praises Philippines' Duterte – and Says Nothing About Thousands Killed in Drug Crackdown (TIME)
• Cocaine Tourism in Columbia (Psymposia)
• LAPD Officers Unwittingly Film Themselves Putting Cocaine In A Suspect's Wallet (Digg)
• My Drug-Induced Psychosis Experience | My First Spiritual Journey (Adventures Through The Mind)
• The 'Psychedelic Club' at CU Boulder (FOX31 Denver)
• The Therapeutic Potential of Marijuana and Psychedelics (The American Journal of Managed Care)
• Rose McGowan Arraigned on Felony Cocaine Charges (TIME)

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.