This Week in Psychedelics - 12.18.20

Cannabis

• Adult caution list: Those caught in possession of cannabis for personal use may not face criminal charges (TheJournal.ie)

• Senate Passes Marijuana Research Bill One Week After House Approves Similar Legislation (Marijuana Moment)

• Monitoring the Future Study: No Increase in Youth Marijuana Use Following Statewide Legalization (NORML)

• Washington State Could Legalize Marijuana Home Cultivation Under New Bill (Marijuana Moment)

• ‘Life-changing’ impact of medical cannabis in epilepsy patients revealed (Cannabis Health News)

• Feds Announce $350K Grant To Develop Method To Distinguish Hemp And Marijuana (Marijuana Moment)

• Record Number of Scientific Papers Published in 2020 About Cannabis (NORML)

• Tainted vapes recalled as Oregon regulators plan wider ban (Leafly)

• Study provides clues about how minor cannabinoids work in the body (Marijuana Business Daily)

• Cop Budgets Benefit from Cannabis Legalization, Sparking Backlash in 'Defund the Police' Era (VICE)

• The Struggle for Medical Marijuana Access in Brazil (Filter)

LSD

• MindMed plans to commence LSD-assisted therapy for anxiety disorder next year (Seeking Alpha)

Magic Mushrooms

• New Jersey Lawmakers Send Marijuana And Psilocybin Bills To Governor (Marijuana Moment)

• Former cancer patient finds deep healing in psilocybin trip (Times Colonist)

MDMA

• Bill to decriminalise small amounts of MDMA, heroin, ice and other drugs to be introduced in ACT (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

DMT

• DMT Research Affords New Hope for Stroke Victims (Psychedelic Science Review)

Ayahuasca

• Joe Wicks wants to head to the Amazon and try hallucinogenic plant after backing out first time round (Metro)

Salvia Divinorum

• Miley Cyrus celebrates 10-year anniversary of infamous bong video (The GrowthOp)

Synthetic Cannabinoids

• Experimental vaccine can counter dangerous effects of synthetic cannabinoids (Science Daily)

Miscellaneous

• Canada to Consider Allowing Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy under Special Access Program Amendment (Psilocybin Alpha)

• Revive Therapeutics: The Psychedelics Company Working On A Covid-19 Treatment (Forbes)

• Trump Is Considering Clemency for Silk Road Founder (The Daily Beast)

• A “Humane” Global Drug War Is Possible, House Commission Tells Biden (Filter)

• Mexico Lawmakers Reclaim Sovereignty From DEA (Filter)

• Why We All Need to Be Spanked and Trip Right Now (DoubleBlind)

• Can Psychedelics Bring on Your Menstrual Period? (High Times)

• Insights Into the Neurophysiology of Tryptamine-Derived Hallucinogens (Psychedelic Science Review)

• Why Psychedelic Reform Will Surpass Cannabis: 6 Reasons (Psychedelic Passage)

• A Historian’s Reflection on Music and Psychedelics (Chacruna)

• Indigenous Healers Fundraise To Combat Cultural Destruction (Lucid News)

• Can Psychedelics Help Us Face Our Fear of Death? (DoubleBlind)

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 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 - 12.11.20

Cannabis

• Mexican Supreme Court Extends Deadline To Legalize Marijuana As Lawmakers Continue To Advance Bill (Marijuana Moment)

• House Approves Marijuana Research Bill Days After Voting To Federally Legalize Cannabis (Marijuana Moment)

• What To Expect From The House Of Representatives’ Passing Of Federal Cannabis Reform (Forbes)

• Feds’ Post-Election Warning: Marijuana Still Banned For Federal Workers Despite State Legalization (Marijuana Moment)

• NBA Will Reportedly Not Test Players for Marijuana Next Season (Complex)

• New Jersey lawmakers agree on recreational marijuana legalization bill (Marijuana Business Daily)

• Nebraska Senators Will Work To Put Recreational Marijuana On The Ballot In 2022 (Marijuana Moment)

• 70% in U.S. Support Expunging Marijuana Convictions After Vote to Decriminalize Weed: Poll (Newsweek)

• Embracing Marijuana Legalization Could Have Offset Democratic Election Losses, Poll Indicates (Marijuana Moment)

• Dumping CBD Oil On Strawberries Extends Their Shelf Life And Stops Mold Growth, New Study Finds (Marijuana Moment)

• Why Europe's big cannabis route is so hard to shut (BBC)

• Majority Of Republican Voters Support House-Passed Marijuana Legalization Bill, Poll Finds (Marijuana Moment)

• Jay-Z’s Cannabis Brand, Monogram, Launches With $50 Hand-Rolled Joints (Forbes)

LSD

• Mumbai: ‘Paper weight can’t be counted while quantifying LSD’ (Times of India)

Magic Mushrooms

• N.J. bill to lessen jail time for ‘magic’ mushrooms moves forward (NJ.com)

• Canada Will Let Health Care Professionals Legally Use Psychedelic Mushrooms, Health Minister Says (Marijuana Moment)

• Mydecine Innovations Group to Make First Commercial Export of Legal Psilocybin Mushrooms (Globe Newswire)

• Magic Mushrooms Are Expanding Minds and Advancing an Emerging Field of Science (Discover Magazine)

• Can the active ingredient in magic mushrooms help treat anxiety? Researchers want to know (The Age)

MDMA

• MDMA-assisted couples therapy investigated in landmark pilot trial (New Atlas)

DMT

• Psychedelic drug DMT to be trialled in UK to treat depression (The Guardian)

• Why Does the Brain Make Its Own DMT? (DoubleBlind)

• How to Integrate a Difficult-to-Remember DMT Experience (Maps of the Mind)

Ayahuasca

• Miley Cyrus Says Ayahuasca Changed Her Life (Lucid News)

• Preserving Entangled Ayahuasca (Chacruna)

5-MeO-DMT

• Usona Institute Publishes Synthesis and Characterization of cGMP 5-MeO-DMT (Psilocybin Alpha)

Peyote

• Directing to the Divine Among Native American Peyotists (Spirit Pharmacist)

Novel Psychoactive Substances

• New Compound Related to Psychedelic Ibogaine Could Treat Addiction, Depression (UC Davis)

Ketamine

• PharmaTher Files FDA Pre-IND Meeting Request for Ketamine in Parkinson’s Disease (Psilocybin Alpha)

• Mind Cure Moves into Psychedelic Assisted Therapy with British Columbia Location Offering Ketamine and Psilocybin Therapy (Psilocybin Alpha)

Miscellaneous

• Psychedelics Weren't As Common in Ancient Cultures As We Think (VICE)

• The Top 10 Psychedelic Research Papers of 2020 (Psychedelic Science Review)

• This Is How Psychedelics Hack the Brain, According to Scientists (VICE)

• The Case for Macrodosing (Rolling Stone)

• Psychedelic Guide Abuse: High-Control Group Dynamics and Complicity in the Perpetuation of Harm (Psychedelics Today)

• UK government set for psychedelics investment windfall (Financial Times)

• It Takes Guts: Psychedelic Treatment Approaches to Autoimmune Disorders (Psychedelic Science Review)

• Humans Have Used Drugs With Sex For Millennia – The Reasons Are Much Broader Than You Think (TalkingDrugs)

• How To Provide Psychedelic Support (Lucid News)

• Psychedelics, Therapy, and the Law (Psychedelic Frontier)

• Christopher Valore (AKA The Architect) talks “Conductor,” His Virtual-Reality, Psychedelic-Visual Sandbox Platform (Psymposia)

• Psychedelics, Shadows, and Spiritual Bypassing (The Third Wave)

• How Music Therapists Helped Build Psychedelic Therapy (Chacruna)

• How to Change Your Ability to Change (Psychedelic Science Review)

• Combining Movement and Microdosing: Athletics, Exercise, and Flow (The Third Wave)

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 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 - 5.1.20

Cannabis

• Marijuana Seems To Reduce Opioid Use Among Chronic Pain Patients, Meta-Study Finds (Marijuana Moment)

• CIA Says Past Pot Use Does Not Disqualify Applicants From Agency Jobs (MERRY JANE)

• Commander-in-Cannabis: How Will Trump and Biden Approach Marijuana Policy? (High Times)

• CBD Can Stop Brain Cancer in Humans and Dogs, Study Finds (MERRY JANE)

• Kansas Governor Says Medical Marijuana Still On The Table In 2020 Despite Coronavirus (Marijuana Moment)

• Could cannabis terpene formulation treat COVID-19? (Health Europa)

• US Marijuana Research Policy Violated International Law For Decades, DEA Lawsuit Memo Reveals (Marijuana Moment)

• Maryland Medical Marijuana Dispensary Opens State's First Weed Drive-Thru (MERRY JANE)

• Lebanon has legalised cannabis growing, but its political class are muscling in on small farmers (The New Arab)

• Why you should read the label on your cannabis product (Leafly)

• Does cannabis use amplify the effect of prenatal alcohol exposure and vice versa? (EurekAlert!)

• Australian study finds vehicle crashes are a common factor in cannabis deaths (The Sydney Morning Herald)

• One doctor vs. the DEA: Inside the battle to study marijuana in America (NBC)

• Grandma gets high: Why seniors are consuming cannabis (Leafly)

• Scientists Create New Method To Store Marijuana Pollen On A Long-Term Basis (Marijuana Moment)

LSD

• LSD "off-switch" developed by psychedelic pharmaceutical company (New Atlas)

• What Happens When You Add Other Drugs To Your LSD Trip? (VICE)

• Bicycle Day 2020 Was Truly Historic, But Not for the Reasons You Think (Psymposia)

• When a Coronavirus Lockdown Resembles an LSD Trip (The New York Times)

Magic Mushrooms

• Oregon Therapeutic Psilocybin Legalization Campaign Has A New Signature Strategy Amid Coronavirus (Marijuana Moment)

• New York Assemblywoman Introduces Measure to Decriminalize Psilocybin (DoubleBlind)

• Compass raises $80M to take magic mushroom drug toward phase 3 (FierceBiotech)

• Oregon psychedelic startup tests nasal spray for PTSD, depression as legislative momentum builds (GeekWire)

• Calls For Australian Government To Allow MDMA And Psilocybin To Be Used To Treat Mental Health (LADbible)

MDMA

• Why MDMA Sex Feels So Good (VICE)

Novel Psychoactive Substances

• Scientists Solve the Crystal Structure of the Freebase of 5-MeO-DALT (Psychedelic Science Review)

Ketamine

• Treating Depression with Ketamine Under Quarantine (DoubleBlind)

• Ketamine and COVID-19 (Forest Bluff Magazine)

Miscellaneous

• Turn On, Tune In, Cash In (New Republic)

• Weed Biotech Partners with US Hospital to Make Psilocybin, MDMA, and DMT (MERRY JANE)

• Dr. Bronner’s Donates $1 Mil to Legalize Medical Psilocybin in Oregon (DoubleBlind)

• This petition to decriminalize psychedelics is causing Canadians to respond in droves (The Growth Op)

• Biden RAVE Act Legislation From 2003 Continues to Impede Risk Reduction Efforts (Lucid News)

• Biotech startup wants to make new short-acting psychedelic drugs more scalable & accessible (The Sociable)

• Field Trip Announces “World’s First” Virtual Psychedelic Therapy, But Forgets To Mention They Aren’t the First and No Psychedelics Are Involved (Psymposia)

• Dax Shepard Explains Why He'd Approve of His Daughters Taking Psychedelic Drugs (E! Online)

• Psychedelics Company Orthogonal Thinker Closes $6M Seed Round (Benzinga)

• Efforts to Legalize Psychedelics is Quickly Picking Up Momentum (Baystreet)

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 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 Psychoactives - 11.29.19

CANNABIS

• Study: Daily Cannabis Use Among Pain Patients Associated with Less Non-Prescription Opioid Use (NORML)

• License revoked for California cannabis vape maker Kushy Punch after state seizes $21M worth of products (Marijuana Business Daily)

• Scientists Just Figured Out Why Some People Hallucinate on Weed (MERRY JANE)

• Another Study Links Vitamin E Additive to Lung Illness (NORML)

• California Is Raising Taxes On Cannabis Again (Forbes)

• Study Finds “Little Support” for Cannabis Impacting Cognitive Abilities (NORML)

• Cannabis reduces headache and migraine pain by nearly half (ScienceDaily)

• Marijuana vaping disease strikes Thai patient (Coconuts Bangkok)

• Additives result in higher toxins for vape users, Portland State study finds (EurekAlert!)

• Michigan halts sale of marijuana vapes unless re-tested (MSN)

• Alcohol-Related Car Crashes Declined In Idaho After Washington Legalized Marijuana Next Door (Marijuana Moment)

• Feds Will Stop Funding State Addiction Programs That Use Cannabis (MERRY JANE)

• Trinidad And Tobago Government Introduces Marijuana Reform Bills (Marijuana Moment)

• For many, even 'automatic' clearing of marijuana records could be complicated (Crain's Chicago Business)

• Is Weed Safe When You're Breastfeeding? (VICE)

• US Air Force Bans Service Members From Using CBD, Despite its Legal Status (MERRY JANE)

• Joe Biden Walks Back Marijuana ‘Gateway Drug’ Comment After Week Of Criticism (Marijuana Moment)

• Inside the Contentious World of Cannabis Churches (InsideHook)

• Pete Buttigieg Says Marijuana Arrests Signify “Systemic Racism.” His South Bend Police Fit the Bill. (The Intercept)

• Where Presidential Candidate Michael Bloomberg Stands On Marijuana (Marijuana Moment)

• Congressional Candidate Smokes Marijuana And Talks Legalization In Campaign Video (Marijuana Moment)

• Cannabis legalisation: Does it lead to harder drug use? (BBC)

LSD

• New Zealand-based LSD microdosing trial gets go-ahead (Newshub)

• Inside the Archive of an LSD Researcher With Ties to the CIA’s MKUltra Mind Control Project (The Intercept)

• Thai medical authorities issue warning on recreational 'Magic Paper' hallucinogen (AsiaOne)

MAGIC MUSHROOMS

• FDA Grants Psilocybin Second Breakthrough Therapy Designation for Resistant Depression (Medscape)

• Scientists Discover New Compounds in Magic Mushrooms (Psychedelic Science Review)

• Depression sufferers should not self-medicate with magic mushrooms, health experts warn (The Telegraph)

• Late frost means magic mushrooms will bloom in the UK on New Year‘s Day (Stock Daily Dish)

MDMA

• Parents of teens, here’s what you really need to know about MDMA (The Conversation)

AYAHUASCA

• Lindsay Lohan's ex-boyfriend Harry Morton was 'hooked on ayahuasca', a psychedelic drug that distorts brain waves to create a vivid 'waking-dream' state — and was once used by the actress who said it 'changed her life' (Daily Mail)

• Don’t Forget Us Native People Behind the Ayahuasca (Kahpi)

• Personal Healing with Ayahuasca Helped Me Be a Better Psychologist (Chacruna)

NITROUS OXIDE

• Doctors warn of the dangers of ingesting nitrous oxide in light of OU student death (WHIO)

KETAMINE

• A Single Dose Of Ketamine Might Help Heavy Drinkers, Study Finds (NPR)

PCP

• Naked man reportedly high on PCP jumps off roof of Kansas City home ‘like Peter Pan’ (FOX 4 Kansas City)

OPIOIDS

• Pioneering Glasgow clinic offers addicts pharmaceutical grade heroin (The Guardian)

• Drugmakers and Distributors Are Under Federal Opioid Probe, Report Says (TIME)

• Heroin Pipes: How the “Hammer” Was Built for Harm Reduction (Filter)

• My friend and I both took heroin. He overdosed. Why was I charged with his death? (The Washington Post)

COCAINE

• Coca Plant Makes a Comeback (Reality Sandwich)

• When Paul McCartney Realized Cocaine Was Terrible for Him (Showbiz CheatSheet)

• Kirstie Alley Traded Cocaine For Flowers As 'Gift' To Herself (TooFab)

CAFFEINE

• Some coffee drinkers claim it causes anxiety. Here's what the science says (Salon)

• Caffeine, Cough Medicines: What's in the Average Blood Transfusion (U.S. News & World Report)

• Calls for probe into 'energy gum' that has more caffeine than Red Bull (Scottish Daily Record)

Nicotine

• Massachusetts Becomes the First State to Ban Flavored Tobacco and Vaping Products (TIME)

• Pennsylvania Officially Raises Age Of Tobacco Purchase To 21 (CBS Pittsburgh)

• New York City Lawmakers Vote to Ban All Flavored E-Cigarettes (TIME)

• CPSC Will Go After Vape Shops That Violate Bottle Rules (Vaping360)

• How the British Approach to Vaping Puts the US to Shame (Filter)

• More People In US Now See E-cigarettes More Harmful Than Tobacco (Medical Daily)

• "Small Vape" Stood Up for Itself at the White House (Vaping360)

• What the E-Cigarette Bans Get Wrong (Slate)

• Vape debate: Are e-cigarettes wiping out teen smoking? (AP News)

ALCOHOL

• Does Drinking Alcohol Literally Shrink the Brain? (SciTechDaily)

• A Brain Network for Alcoholism? (Psychology Today)

• Stamford and the bottle: Study shows alcohol is a problem in city (Stamford Advocate)

• Utah underage drinking declines to record low (The Salt Lake Tribune)

NOOTROPICS

• Some Nootropics Contain a Substance Unapproved by the FDA (VICE)

KRATOM

• Which Liver Enzymes Metabolize Mitragynine (Net Newsledger)

• Retail sale of kratom supplement banned in Monument (Colorado Springs Gazette)

• Poison Control Centers Saw 5,000% Increase In Calls About Kratom Exposure (WOSU)

KAVA

• Fijian kava arrives in New Zealand pharmacies (NZ Herald)

• The viability of kava in healthcare — sensations of euphoria and relaxation (The Market Herald)

MISCELLANEOUS

• How Drugs Won the War on Drugs (Mixmag)

• Leaked Documents Say Roughly 2,000 NY Prisoners Affected By Erroneous Drug Tests (Gothamist)

• Are over-the-counter psychedelics in our future? (Big Think)

• Federal Health Agency Hosts Talk On Psychedelics Research (Marijuana Moment)

• Psychedelic studies on depression recruiting subjects in the Netherlands (Stitching OPEN)

• Nearly 100 Cities Are Considering Decriminalizing Psychedelics, Map Shows (Marijuana Moment)

• Is this the way the drug war ends - not with a bang, but a whimper? (Politics.co.uk)

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 - 11.22.19

Cannabis

• Marijuana Legalization Bill Approved By Congressional Committee In Historic Vote (Marijuana Moment)

• Biden Says Marijuana Might Be A Gateway Drug (Forbes)

• Britons who legally smoke cannabis in the US 'risk being deported' (The Guardian)

• Pure CBD Does Not Trigger Positive Drug Tests for Weed, New Study Shows (MERRY JANE)

• Thailand Will Soon Allow Its Citizens To Grow Cannabis At Home To Sell To The Government. (Forbes)

• Colorado Supreme Court Rules Convicts Can Use Medical Weed While on Probation (MERRY JANE)

• Hemp-Derived CBD Helps Chronic Pain Patients Reduce Opioid Use, Study Finds (Marijuana Moment)

• Why Medical Cannabis Isn't Working in the UK (VICE)

• Access to Legal Cannabis Leads to a Decline in Sleep Aid Sales (MERRY JANE)

• NJ Lawmakers Plan to Put Legalization on 2020 Ballot (NORML)

• Virginia Marijuana Decriminalization Bill Filed For 2020 After Democrats Reclaim Legislature (Marijuana Moment)

• Why Are Doctors Still So Reluctant To Prescribe Medical Cannabis? (HuffPost)

LSD

• Silicon Valley's extreme new productivity hack: LSD (GQ)

Magic Mushrooms

• Are Magic Mushrooms The Next Frontier For The Cannabis Industry? (The Fresh Toast)

MDMA

• Dad pushes for drugs to be legalised after sons on MDMA die side-by-side (Mirror)

DMT

• Scientists Discover Psychedelic DMT Creates Waking Dream State in Brain (Newsweek)

Ayahuasca

• Can the psychedelic drug ayahuasca help fight suicide? (PsyPost)

Novel Psychoactive Substances

• Designer Drugs: My Addiction to Research Chemicals (The Fix)

Synthetic Cannabinoids

• Under the Radar: Synthetic Cannabinoids and Vaping-Related Lung Injuries (Project CBD)

Ketamine

• Ketamine’s potential to fight alcohol abuse has a major problem (Inverse)

• Side effects mild, brief with single antidepressant dose of intravenous ketamine (ScienceDaily)

Opioids

• Doctors Are Cutting Patients Off Opioid Medications Too Fast, Study Says (MERRY JANE)

• Surgeon General To Purdue Students: Carry Naloxone, Get Screened For Addiction Risk (WJCT)

Methamphetamine

• ‘Meth. We’re on It’: South Dakota’s Anti-Meth Campaign Raises Eyebrows (The New York Times)

Tobacco

• President Trump Backing Off Banning Vaping Flavors Popular With Teens (TIME)

• Bill Passed by Massachusetts House Would Allow Police to Seize Cars from Vapers who Possess DIY or Black Market E-Liquids (Tobacco Analysis)

• Juul Sued by Two States for Allegedly Marketing E-Cigs to Kids (MERRY JANE)

• American Medical Association Calls for Immediate Ban on All E-Cigarettes and Vaping Products (TIME)

• Philippines' Duterte Says He Will Ban E-Cigarettes, Threatens To Arrest Vapers (NPR)

• Apple to remove vaping apps from store (Axios)

• Influential U.S. doctors group calls for ban on vaping products (Reuters)

• How Wily Teens Outwit Bathroom Vape Detectors (WIRED)

• Smokers who switch to vaping rapidly boost heart health in trial (Yahoo! News)

Kratom

• What Causes Kratom Wobbles & How To Treat It? (Kratom Guides)

• Kratom and Diabetes: Everything You Need to Know (Diabetes Insider)

Khat

• Miraa, muguka crawling with germs, study says (Standard Media)

Miscellaneous

• Where US Psychedelic Decriminalization Efforts Stand Right Now (Filter)

• Take Part in the World's Biggest Anonymous Drugs Survey (VICE)

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.