This Week in Psychoactives - 5.17.19

CANNABIS

• Two Tiny Caribbean Islands Legalized Cannabis for Private and Adult Use (MERRY JANE)

• Arkansas: Licensed Medical Cannabis Sales Begin (NORML)

• Washington: Governor Signs Marijuana Expungement Bill Into Law (NORML)

• Alabama Senate Passes Medical Marijuana Legalization Bill (MERRY JANE)

• Nebraska Lawmakers Approve Bill To Legalize Medical Marijuana (Marijuana Moment)

• New Jersey Voters, Not Lawmakers, Will Decide On Marijuana Legalization In 2020 (Marijuana Moment)

• Leafly Study Debunks Dispensary Myths Around Crime & Teen Use (Leafly)

• Illegal Marijuana Grows In Pacific Northwest Declined After Legalization, Study Finds (Marijuana Moment)

• Can CBD Really Do All That? (The New York Times)

• Legalized ‘Light Cannabis’ Linked With Drop In Pharmaceutical Sales, Study Finds (Marijuana Moment)

• Grandmother arrested for CBD at Magic Kingdom hires Ben Crump, threatens lawsuit against cops and Disney (Orlando Sentinel)

• Gov. Cuomo Bails on New York Cannabis Legalization (Leafly)

• Serious Injuries From Domestic Violence Dropped After Marijuana Decriminalization, Study Finds (Marijuana Moment)

• America’s Longest-Serving Marijuana Prisoner Released After 39 Years (MERRY JANE)

• Joe Biden Endorses Marijuana Decriminalization And Rescheduling—But Not Legalization (Marijuana Moment)

• Half A Million Canadians Are Getting High at Work, According to New Report (MERRY JANE)

• Detroit Will Pay Out $60,000 to Woman Whose Dogs Were Shot on a Marijuana Raid (Reason)

• Texas Senate Unanimously Approves Hemp Legalization Bill (Marijuana Moment)

• No More Horsing Around: CBD Now Banned in Equestrian Competitions (MERRY JANE)

• New Congressional Bill Aims To Resolve Marijuana Industry Border Issues (Marijuana Moment)

• Cannabis Study of Expecting Mothers Causes Social Media Controversy (Forbes)

• Canada Is Seeing Its Fair Share of Dab Lab Explosions, Too (MERRY JANE)

• Cannabis kombucha, gluten-free edibles: weed companies jump on wellness trends (The Guardian)

• Oregon Senate Votes To Legalize Interstate Marijuana Imports And Exports (Marijuana Moment)

• Doctors and Teachers in Utah Can Now Smoke Medical Marijuana Without Fear (MERRY JANE)

• Where Presidential Candidate Steve Bullock Stands On Marijuana (Marijuana Moment)

• Illinois Survey That Supposedly Shows Support for Legalizing Marijuana Is 'Dwindling' Actually Shows It Is Rising (Reason)

• Medicinal cannabis users focus of new research (Scoop)

LSD

• Jeopardy Contestants Are Getting Tested On Their Marijuana And LSD Knowledge (Marijuana Moment)

• Inside the first placebo-controlled studies testing if microdosing LSD actually works (WIRED)

• The Sad Tale of Frank Olson, the US Government's Hallucinogen Fall Man (Pacific Standard)

• How LSD May Facilitate Communing With Nature (Medium)

MAGIC MUSHROOMS

• Michael Pollan: Not So Fast on Psychedelic Mushrooms (The New York Times)

• Denver Psilocybin Decriminalization Activist Pushes Back Against Michael Pollan’s Criticism (Marijuana Moment)

MDMA

• Yorkshire police issue MDMA warning after death of 15-year-old girl (The Guardian)

5-MEO-DMT

• A statement regarding the misinterpretation and misrepresentation of the study of 5-MeO-DMT (Psychedelics Today)

MESCALINE

• The Fascinating History of Mescaline, the OG Psychedelic (VICE)

SYNTHETIC CANNABINOIDS

• Canada Is Giving Prisoners Synthetic Weed, Not Real Medical Marijuana (MERRY JANE)

• Synthetic cannabinoid alert system to be in place by end of year (Newsie)

OPIOIDS

• Only One Major Ontario City Refuses to Let Police Carry Life-Saving Naloxone (VICE)

• 5 More States Sue Purdue Pharma and Other Drugmakers Over the Opioid Epidemic (TIME)

• Heroin Overdose Parties Are a Dehumanizing Myth (VICE)

• A new study backs up a lifesaving approach to the opioid epidemic (Vox)

COCAINE

• Global Drug Survey: Large Majority of Cocaine Users Would Pay More for Safer, “Fair Trade” Supply (Filter)

• Study may help prevent relapse in cocaine use disorder patients (EurekAlert!)

• Canada ranks second in the world for cocaine use (but feels conflicted about it): Report (National Post)

• 'The cocaine trade is booming': 54% of Irish people who use cocaine want to cut down (TheJournal.ie)

• Top health experts warn cocaine is ‘absolutely rampant’ in Ireland as Health Minster Simon Harris launches plans to tackle epidemic (The Sun)

METHAMPHETAMINE

• The Many Health Benefits of Meth (Pacific Standard)

CAFFEINE

• How Much Coffee Is Too Much? Drinking 6 Cups In A Day Is Bad For The Heart, Study Shows (Study Finds)

• This Cup of Joe Costs $75 and Is Being Touted as the World's Most Expensive Coffee (TIME)

TOBACCO

• Maryland raises legal tobacco purchasing age to 21 (The Hill)

• Campaign to raise minimum smoking age to 21 finds unlikely supporter: Big Tobacco (CNBC)

ALCOHOL

• Psychedelic Drugs Can Help Alcoholics Stop Drinking, According To New Study (IFLScience)

• Britons get drunk more often than 35 other nations, survey finds (The Guardian)

• Doctors turn to alcohol, food and drugs to cope with work stress (The Guardian)

• OU approves alcohol sales at sporting events (KTUL)

NOOTROPICS

• The Majority Of People Are Fine With Brain Doping, As Long As You Don't Call It That (Forbes)

KHAT

• New study shows chewing miraa bad for mental health (Tuko.co.ke)

MISCELLANEOUS

• Leading U.S. Prosecutors Visit Portugal To Learn About Drug Decriminalization (Marijuana Moment)

• Joe Biden once said a fence was needed to stop 'tons' of drugs from Mexico (CNN)

• Elizabeth Warren Knows What It Will Take to End the Drug War (The Slot)

• The Ethics of Taking the Drugs You Study (VICE)

• Bolsonaro Cuts Harm Reduction, Escalates Drug War (Filter)

• Queering Psychedelics conference aims to expand definitions, minds (48 Hills)

• Number of Women Arrested for Drugs Increases at Four Times the Rate of Men (Filter)

• Seeking a safe place: Vancouver’s story (The Boston Globe)

• Magic Mushrooms, Psychedelics and Chronic Pain (Pain News Network)

• Booker Bill Would Protect Students With Drug Convictions From Losing Federal College Aid (Marijuana Moment)

• How the War on Drugs Kept Black Men Out of College (The Atlantic)

• Lawmakers Schedule Psychedelic Decriminalization Hearing In Oakland (Forbes)

Think Wilder is reader-supported. If you enjoyed this week’s update, please consider helping out by becoming a patron, making a one-time donation, or sharing this post with a friend. Thank you for your support.

Disclaimer: "This Week in Psychoactives" does not censor or analyze the news links presented here. The purpose of this column is solely to catalogue how psychedelics are presented by the mass media, which includes everything from the latest scientific research to misinformation.

Image by Psychedelic Astronaut.

---

On the Monday following each edition of “This Week in Psychoactives,” I post a “Last Week in Psychoactives” video recap to my YouTube channel. After that is done, I retroactively add the video to the corresponding blog post. Here is this week’s video recap:

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This Week in Psychoactives - 4.26.19

CANNABIS

• CBS Poll: Nationwide Support For Marijuana Legalization At All-Time High (NORML)

• All the Top Democrats Running for President Favor Legalizing Marijuana (Reason)

• Marijuana Legalization Not Linked To Increased Traffic Deaths, Study Finds (Marijuana Moment)

• Years After Legalization, Maine Releases First Cannabis Industry Rules (Leafly)

• Mexican Lawmakers Plan To Tackle Marijuana Legalization This Summer (Marijuana Moment)

• The Clean Slate Act's Record-Sealing Provisions Go Further Than Cory Booker's Marijuana Justice Act (Reason)

• North Dakota: Governor Signs Medical Cannabis Expansion Laws (NORML)

• Alabama Lawmakers Approve Medical Marijuana Bill (Marijuana Moment)

• CBD reduces impairment caused by cannabis (EurekAlert!)

• Homeland Security Says Cannabis Users Lack ‘Good Moral Character’ (Leafly)

• USDA Clarifies That Farmers Can Import Hemp Seeds From Other Countries (Marijuana Moment)

• Texas House Votes To Legalize The Farming Of Industrial Hemp (Marijuana Moment)

• Wisconsin Legalization Would Save Lives, Bring $1.1B Benefit, Study Says (Leafly)

• Utah is allowing only 10 cannabis farms. Will that be enough to supply the state’s new medical marijuana program? (Salt Lake Tribune)

• Denver City Council to vote on allowing cannabis clubs to operate closer to daycare and rec centers (KDVR)

• Cannabis websites in US and Canada crash on biggest 4/20 day (The Guardian)

• Lawmakers Want Legal Protections For Universities That Research Marijuana (Marijuana Moment)

• SFPD Spread Misinformation about Fentanyl-Laced Marijuana (SF Weekly)

• The Weed Industry Is Burning Millions on DC Lobbyists and Getting Nowhere (VICE)

• Earth Day Begs The Question: Is Cannabis Farming Sustainable? (Forbes)

• USDA Accepting Applications For Hemp Intellectual Property Protection (Marijuana Moment)

• Cannabis, Marijuana, Weed, Pot? Just Call It a Job Machine (The New York Times)

• How Israel Became the Global Leader in Cannabis Research (Green Entrepreneur)

• Cannabis Hyperemesis Syndrome, Without the Hype (Filter)

• Where Presidential Candidate Joe Biden Stands On Marijuana (Marijuana Moment)

• Where Presidential Candidate Seth Moulton Stands On Marijuana (Marijuana Moment)

• Keeping Score: Major League Sports’ Stance on Cannabis (Leafly)

• Can Cannabis Replace Wellbutrin? (Civilized)

• The Indica vs. Sativa Distinction Isn’t Real (Slate)

• Did a Cannabis Company Just Patent the Spliff? (Leafly)

• Quitting Cigarettes? Joints Rolled With CBD Might Help (Marijuana Moment)

• The Paradoxical Power of Medicinal Microdosing (Psychology Today)

• Uplifting a New Face & Voice of Cannabis: A Happy 4/20 with Safon Floyd of EstroHaze (Psychedelic Times)

LSD

• “Discover who you truly are.” Albert Hofmann’s Bicycle Day and A Critical Look at LSD (Psychedelic Times)

• Here's Why You Don't Mix LSD and Nuclear-Powered Aircraft Carriers (The National Interest)

• Is microdosing LSD a solution to the 'crisis of meaning' in modern life? (Montreal Gazette)

MAGIC MUSHROOMS

• Award Winning Filmmaker Brings Psilocybin Documentary To Denver Prior To Decriminalization Vote (Prime Time News)

• Research shows psilocybin — a Schedule I narcotic — to be of great help to patients with end-of-life problems (Anchorage Press)

MDMA

• "Japanese Walter White” Accused Of Teaching Students To Make Ecstasy (The Fix)

• Study Suggests MDMA Could Help People With PTSD, Autism (The Swaddle)

• War, Morality, and MDMA: A Conversation with an Anonymous Military Psychologist (Psychedelic Times)

• To Unravel PTSD, She Took MDMA. A Promising Therapy Offers Hope (KJZZ)

AYAHUASCA

• Do Ayahuasca Shamans See Microbial Worlds in Their Visions? (Kahpi)

• Police intervene in 'healing ceremony' after death: report (NL Times)

• Ayahuasca Spirits Are Special Because They Are Not Real (Kahpi)

• Ayahuasca: the alternative antidepressant (The Vermont Cynic)

5-MEO-DMT

• Psychedelic Toad Venom Relieves Depression, Anxiety And Stress, Studies Find (Marijuana Moment)

PEYOTE

• Stanislaw Ignacy Witkiewicz (Witkacy) on Taking Peyote (Reality Sandwich)

IBOGA

• The Future of Medical Ibogaine (Psychedelics Today)

• Serotonin transporter–ibogaine complexes illuminate mechanisms of inhibition and transport (Nature)

SYNTHETIC CANNABINOIDS

• Spice-related overdoses on the rise in Alabama - again; feds warn about ‘disturbing’ trend (AL.com)

NITROUS OXIDE

• Arctic Laughing Gas Emissions Could Accelerate Global Warming (EcoWatch)

• Hippy crack is no laughing matter (GQ)

KETAMINE

• Robust Evidence Supports Analgesic, Antihyperalgesic Properties of Ketamine (Clinical Pain Advisor)

• How ketamine can change the brain to fight depression (Medical News Today)

PCP

• Man accused of PCP-crazed shotgun killing of Chinese missionary pleads guilty in KC (The Kansas City Star)

• Driver was high on PCP in crash that split car in half, cops say (Lehigh Valley Live)

OPIATES/OPIOIDS

• The FDA Just Approved the First Generic Nasal Spray to Reverse Opioid Overdoses (TIME)

• After Leaving Thousands in Agony, the CDC Is Finally Clarifying Its Painkiller Restrictions (Tonic)

• Demystifying buprenorphine misuse: Has fear of diversion gotten in the way of addressing the opioid crisis? (Taylor and Francis)

• FDA clears Psychemedics hair test for fentanyl (Seeking Alpha)

• Do Electronic Health Record Prompts Increase Take‐Home Naloxone Administration for Emergency Department Patients After an Opioid Overdose? (Wiley Online Library)

• Fentanyl Speedballs Are the Latest Disturbing Trend in America's Opioid Crisis (VICE)

• Narcan is just the start of fighting the opioid overdose epidemic (The Philadelphia Inquirer)

• Heroin used to pass through South Africa en route to Europe. Now much of it stays, with devastating effects (Los Angeles Times)

• Vancouver pot king hopes to brew opium tea to help drug addicts (The Chronicle Herald)

• How the US military's opium war in Afghanistan was lost (BBC)

• New “Generic” Naloxone: Expect More Big-Pharma Sleight of Hand (Filter)

• Fentanyl killed a Penn physician’s son. Now she works to save other families from the same pain. (The Philadelphia Inquirer)

• Life after a life of addiction (Cincinnati Enquirer)

METHAMPHETAMINE

• Use of meth on the rise, officials say (The Indiana Gazette)

CAFFEINE

• Beverages containing caffeine more harmful to liver than alcohol? (The Asian Age)

• Unless we act now, scientists warn, that coffee so many of us love could become extinct (WCPO)

• Wholesale coffee is cheaper than it’s been in years. That’s not good news. (Vox)

• Experts Find Out How Many Cups of Coffee Are Needed to Enhance Your Workout (Inverse)

• Coca-Cola is making a big push into coffee (CNBC)

• Leading expert warns of dangers after man (34) dies from caffeine toxicity (Irish Independent)

• SC could ban kids from buying caffeine-packed energy drinks, but not this year (Charleston Post Courier)

• Is Kombucha Environmentally Friendly? Here’s The Real Tea (Bustle)

• Dear Pharmacist: Caffeine is a natural option for ADHD (The Gainesville Sun)

• The One Thing I Gave Up That Made A Massive Difference In My Anxiety (mindbodygreen)

• 9 Benefits Of Matcha Tea That Will Make You Want To Drink It Every Day (Woman's Health)

TOBACCO

• Walgreens, Rite Aid to Raise Tobacco Buying Age to 21 and Older (The Wall Street Journal)

• Vermont House Gives Final Approval To Tobacco 21 Bill (WAMC)

• 21 and older: Proposal to raise tobacco-buying age nationwide drawing mixed feelings (WEAR)

• New Evidence of Smoking Disparities Underlines That Tobacco Harm Reduction Is Social Justice (Filter)

• ‘Tobacco 21’ Proposal Draws Debate In Florida (WLRN)

• Vaping teens exposed to as much nicotine as tobacco smokers but don't know it (NBC News)

ALCOHOL

• Why faking positive emotions at work can lead to heavier alcohol consumption (Quartz)

• Illinois Senate approves statewide rule for alcohol delivery (WQAD)

• 5 Reasons You're Depressed After Drinking too Much Alcohol (Mens Health)

• Anne Hathaway doubles down on giving up alcohol until her son is 18, but says she'll spend the 'back half of my life completely sloshed' (INSIDER)

NOOTROPICS

• An Experiment With Smart Drugs – What I Learned From Modafinil (The Quint)

KRATOM

• Kratom Craze: After wife’s death, Franklin County man seeks ban on popular substance (KMOV)

• What is kratom? ‘Controversial’ herbal supplement leads to overdoses in the U.S. (Global News)

• Kratom: Castle Rock Deciding What to Do About Controversial Substance (Westword)

• When pregnant women take kratom, their babies may suffer (Medical Xpress)

MISCELLANEOUS

• Another dark web marketplace bites the dust --Wall Street Market (ZDNet)

• Joe Biden’s long record supporting the war on drugs and mass incarceration, explained (Vox)

• Survey of subjective "God encounter experiences": Comparisons among naturally occurring experiences and those occasioned by the classic psychedelics psilocybin, LSD, ayahuasca, or DMT (PLOS)

• Imperial launches world’s first Centre for Psychedelics Research (Imperial College London)

• Psychedelics as a treatment for disorders of consciousness (Neuroscience of Consciousness)

• How a drug gang devastated our helpless family (The Guardian)

• America’s Only Publicly Traded Addiction Treatment Chain Makes Millions Off Patients. What Could Go Wrong? (Mother Jones)

• Trump Justice Department Goes After Overdose Prevention Sites as ‘Crack Houses’ (The Daily Beast)

• Psychedelic therapy: The patients paying $2k to get high with their doctor (news.com.au)

• B.C.’s chief health officer calls for decriminalization of illicit drugs (The Globe and Mail)

• British Police Are Raising Their Voices Against the Drug War (Filter)

• Confronting Sexual Misconduct in the Psychedelic Community: An Interview with Daniel Pinchbeck (Chacruna)

• Trump has been... good?... for psychedelic drugs???... (The Outline)

• What Politicians Daring Each Other to Be Drug Tested Reveals (Filter)

• Building a Psychedelic Community During the War on Drugs (Chacruna)

• Psychedelics to treat mental illness? Australian researchers are giving it a go (The Conversation)

• Psychedelics as a Path to Social Learning (The Wall Street Journal)

• Shades of Sobriety: Life Shows That Recovery Needn’t Mean Abstinence (Filter)

• The Five Phases of Psychedelic Initiation (Chacruna)

• How drug decriminalization could help stem an epidemic of drug overdoses (The Globe and Mail)

• Trump Praises China for Killing Drug Traffickers (Reason)

• Young People of Color As Leaders in The Movement To End the War on Drugs (Psymposia)

• Prison For Forced Addiction Treatment? A Parent's 'Last Resort' Has Consequences (NPR)

• The Psychedelic State of South Texas (Texas Monthly)

• Drug Use in Music Festivals Across the United States (One EDM)

• Your Guide to Microdosing for Anxiety and Depression (Allure)

Think Wilder is reader-supported. If you enjoyed this week’s update, please consider helping out by becoming a patron, making a one-time donation, or sharing this post with a friend. Thank you for your support.

Disclaimer: "This Week in Psychoactives" does not censor or analyze the news links presented here. The purpose of this column is solely to catalogue how psychedelics are presented by the mass media, which includes everything from the latest scientific research to misinformation.

Image by Psychedelic Astronaut.

---

On the Monday following each edition of “This Week in Psychoactives,” I post a “Last Week in Psychoactives” video recap to my YouTube channel. After that is done, I retroactively add the video to the corresponding blog post. Here is this week’s video recap:

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This Week in Psychoactives - 3.22.19

CANNABIS

• Two years after voters approved it, Florida legalizes smoking medical marijuana (CNN)

• Legal weed for N.J. takes a huge step forward. We now expect final votes next week. (NJ.com)

• New Mexico Lawmakers Send Marijuana Decriminalization Bill To Governor (Marijuana Moment)

• Minnesota: Attorney For State’s Largest County To No Longer Criminally Prosecute Marijuana Possession Offenses (NORML)

• Top Ten Equity Must-Haves in Any Legalization Bill (LinkedIn)

• Legalizing Marijuana, With a Focus on Social Justice, Unites 2020 Democrats (The New York Times)

• Support for US Cannabis Legalization Reaches New High, Poll Finds (Leafly)

• Daily Marijuana Use And Highly Potent Weed Linked To Psychosis (NPR)

• NORML Responds To Latest Cannabis and Psychosis Claims (NORML)

• Marijuana Consumers Gain Less Weight Than Non-Users, Study Confirms (Marijuana Moment)

• Oklahoma: Governor Signs Medical Marijuana Regulatory Measure (NORML)

• Marijuana Activists Protest John Boehner’s SXSW Speech (Marijuana Moment)

• Denver’s Teen Marijuana Education Campaign Seems To Be Working, Survey Finds (Marijuana Moment)

• Medicinal cannabis: 'Patients still in limbo' (BBC)

• CBD Is In Jelly Beans, Pet Food and Shampoo. But Many Benefits Are Untested (Discover Magazine)

• U.S. Postal Service Issues Advisory On Mailing Hemp-Derived CBD (Marijuana Moment)

• Cannabis 101 At The University Of Connecticut (WUNC)

• Hawaii Lawmakers Approve Marijuana Decriminalization Bill In Joint Committee Hearing (Marijuana Moment)

• NHL Alumni Study Centres on CBD, Puts THC on Ice (Leafly)

• Wisconsin Voters Will Decide On More Marijuana Ballot Questions In April (Marijuana Moment)

• CVS Pharmacy, America's Largest Drug Store Chain, Will Carry CBD Products (Reason)

• Family sues after Pennsylvania man with 10 pot plants is crushed by bulldozer in police chase (NBC News)

• South Carolina Lawmakers Approve Medical Marijuana Bill In Subcommittee Vote (Marijuana Moment)

LSD

• Beto O'Rourke Said He's Never Done LSD (Esquire)

MAGIC MUSHROOMS

• Most Oregon Voters Favor Legalizing Psilocybin Mushrooms in 2020 Election (Reset.me)

• Mazatec Mushroom Usage: Notes on Approach, Setting and Species for Curious Psilonauts (Reality Sandwich)

• Veteran hopeful Denver will vote to decriminalize psilocybin mushrooms (ABC15 Arizona)

• The Decriminalization Train Keeps Rolling – Up Next Psilocybin? (Longmont Observer)

MDMA

• Genetic reductions in serotonin transporter may cause some people to respond differently to MDMA (PsyPost)

• UN report attributes rising ecstasy use in South America to electronic music events (Resident Advisor)

• Ecstasy can cause the user to develop memory problems: study (Top Health Journal)

• Less cocaine, more MDMA found in Antwerp waste water (The Brussels Times)

AYAHUASCA

• The “Traditional” Ayahuasca Ceremony Is Probably a Recent Invention (Kahpi)

• What Does Ayahuasca Have To Do with Ancestors and the Dead? (Kahpi)

• Ayahuasca Integration Means Facing the Shadow in Daily Life (Kahpi)

• Integrating Ayahuasca Experiences Requires an Integrated Approach (Kahpi)

• What Is DMT? How Ayahuasca Tea Affects Your Brain (YourTango)

5-MEO-DMT

• Short-acting psychedelic offers promising new treatment pathway for depression and anxiety (New Atlas)

• I Was Recorded During A 5-MeO DMT Ceremony Without My Consent (Psymposia)

PEYOTE

• Two Merida women imprisoned for growing peyote (The Yucatan Times)

IBOGA

• What Is Ibogaine? New Details About What Gwyneth Paltrow Calls The 'Next Big Thing' In Wellness (YourTango)

SALVIA DIVINORUM

• Salvia divinorum: from recreational hallucinogenic use to analgesic and anti-inflammatory action (Dove Press Medical)

SYNTHETIC CANNABINOIDS

• Even low doses of synthetic cannabinoids can impair cognitive performance (EurekAlert!)

• Identifying Metabolites of Synthetic Cannabinoids (News-Medical.Net)

• Owner of Madison convenience store chain gets 30 months in prison for synthetic marijuana, contraband tobacco (Madison.com)

• Yeast Could Help Fill Demand for Cannabinoid Compounds (Drovers Magazine)

NITROUS OXIDE

• Some Women Turning To Laughing Gas As Alternative To Drugs During Childbirth (CBS Philly)

KETAMINE

• Scientists Gave Alligators Ketamine and Headphones to Understand Dinosaur Hearing (Motherboard)

• High Holy Strangeness: A Playlist for Ketamine by Eric Sienknecht (Chacruna)

• Ketamine Prohibition Across the Globe Has Deadly Effects (71 Republic)

• VA to offer new ketamine-based nasal spray to help combat depression (Task and Purpose)

• Long known as a party drug, ketamine now used for depression, but concerns remain (San Francisco Chronicle)

PCP

• Monroe man found staggering in the streets arrested for PCP (The Ouachita Citizen)

OPIATES/OPIOIDS

• FDA to Review Higher Dose Naloxone Injection for Opioid Overdose Treatment (Monthly Prescribing Reference)

• Opium prices plummeted as much as 80% in 2018, hurting farmers (Mexico News Daily)

• Methadone Helped Her Quit Heroin. Now She’s Suing U.S. Prisons to Allow the Treatment. (The New York Times)

• Fentanyl-Linked Deaths: The U.S. Opioid Epidemic's Third Wave Begins (NPR)

• Naloxone use up as overdose deaths begin to plateau (WBIR)

• Puerto Rico approves sale of naloxone amid opioid crisis (Medical Xpress)

• Former DEA official now working for OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma (NBC News)

• Naloxone now available at every emergency room in the state (Journal Inquirer)

• Vermont state trooper exposed to suspected heroin revived with Narcan (UPI)

• Vermont’s police chief said cops risk death from opioid exposure. He’s wrong. (PolitiFact)

• Opioid response team offers help, hope to overdose survivors (KENS5)

COCAINE

• Bristol named cocaine capital of Europe (Mixmag)

• Cocaine Poses Silent US Drug Threat as Production Nears Record Levels (Homeland Security)

METHAMPHETAMINE

• Changing the Way We Think About Meth (VICE)

• Methamphetamine Is Flooding Into U.S., Drug Officials Say (The Wall Street Journal)

ALCOHOL

• Scientists hunt down the brain circuit responsible for alcohol cravings (ScienceDaily)

• Elementary school bans kombucha over alcohol content (The Takeout)

• Big Alcohol Is Bracing for a More Sober Future (Bon Appetit)

• The dangers of alcohol extend to those who don’t even drink (Earth.com)

• Contrary to folklore, alcohol does not help with rheumatoid arthritis (Cosmos)

• Now, There Is Zero Proof That Alcohol Is What Makes A Great Cocktail (NPR)

• March Madness Alcohol Study Shows One Demographic Is Affected the Most (Inverse)

• Is ‘Breaking the Seal’ When You Drink Alcohol Really a Thing? (SELF)

KRATOM

• Lowndes County Supervisors Vote to Ban Kratom (WCBI)

• Kratom Addiction: Colorado Clinics' Widely Different Reports (Westword)

• Commentary: Why We Should Regulate Kratom (U.S. News & World Report)

• Is there a difference between Kratom, Kratum, and Cratum Capsules? (Baltimore Post-Examiner)

KHAT

• Somalia- Khat-Munching: A Connecting Factor in East Africa (MENAFN)

MISCELLANEOUS

• Activists Plan Initiative To Decriminalize Psychedelic Drugs In Oakland (Marijuana Moment)

• First supervised drug injection site in U.S. offered lease in Philadelphia’s Kensington district (Philly.com)

• It’s Time to Reject the Racist “Drug Dealer” Stereotype (Filter)

• 'It's about saving lives': inside the UK's first licensed drug testing service (The Guardian)

• Germany named drug use capital following Europe-wide sewage study (Deutsche Welle)

• Psychedelic pioneer, consciousness researcher Ralph Metzner dies in Sonoma (Sonoma Index-Tribune)

• “Addicted to the War on Drugs” Is Right, Despite the Rhetoric (Filter)

• What Groovin the Moo musicians think about the pill testing trial (The Canberra Times)

• The European Psychedelic Renaissance: Interview with Dr. Henrik Jungaberle (Psychedelic Times)

• Hallucinogen Therapy Is Coming (Nautilus)

• From “Meth Crisis” to “Opioid Crisis” to “Fentanyl and Meth Crisis” to… (CATO Institute)

• Legalization Is the Only Viable Drug Policy (Project Syndicate)

• Here are the 10 most seductive drugs — and their fascinating histories (AlterNet)

• What's the deal with microdosing? (The Telegraph)

Think Wilder is reader-supported. If you enjoyed this week’s update, please consider helping out by becoming a patron, making a one-time donation, or sharing this post with a friend. Thank you for your support.

Disclaimer: "This Week in Psychoactives" does not censor or analyze the news links presented here. The purpose of this column is solely to catalogue how psychedelics are presented by the mass media, which includes everything from the latest scientific research to misinformation.

Image by Psychedelic Astronaut.

---

On the Monday following each edition of “This Week in Psychoactives,” I post a “Last Week in Psychoactives” video recap to my YouTube channel. After that is done, I retroactively add the video to the corresponding blog post. Here is this week’s video recap:

---

This Week in Psychedelics - 3.30.18

Image by Dahtamnay, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Cannabis

• Here’s how much marijuana you’d need to be eligible for the death penalty under federal law (The Washington Post)
• New Jersey Just Approved Medical Marijuana Program Expansion (High Times)
• Arizona Legislature Poised to Approve Using Medical Marijuana to Treat Opioid Abuse (Phoenix New Times)
• Marijuana could soon be LEGAL in parts of Australia - with lawmakers saying legalising the drug is 'better than prohibition' (Daily Mail)
• French Biotech Targets the Brain to Treat Cannabis Abuse (Labiotech)
• Does Cannabis Affect Hormone Levels? (High Times)
• A Stunning Small Home Made From Hemp (Living Big in a Tiny House)
• Does Cannabis Affect Cardiovascular Health? (High Times)
• A Dying Southern Town Needed a Miracle. Marijuana Came Calling. (The New York Times)
• Colombia Strives to Lead Global Pot Market, Pushing Out Peasant Growers (Cannabis Now)
• Mitch McConnell Wants Hemp Removed From Controlled Substances List (TIME)
• NOPD marijuana arrests plunged to 1 percent after ordinance change (The Times-Picayune)
• Alzheimer’s Patients in Puerto Rico May Get Cannabis-Based Treatment (High Times)
• Could cannabis help cure lung cancer? This man thinks so – and he's already spent £1.5m on research (Metro)
• Pennsylvania Medical Schools May Start to Study Cannabis (High Times)
• How Cannabis Tech Can Help Build a Better Cup of Coffee (Wired)
• Prospective analysis of safety and efficacy of medical cannabis in large unselected population of patients with cancer (European Journal of Internal Medicine)
• How Cannabis and Other “Drugs” Can be Gateways to a Better Life (Chacruna)
• Reader: Denver Doesn't Even Pretend to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol (Westword)
• How to Brew Cannabis Kombucha (High Times)
• Review cannabis laws for potential recreational use in Victoria, report say (Cannabis Club Australia)
• CBD and the Psychedelic Receptor (Reality Sandwich)
• 'He's enjoying life more' – Mum of boy on medicinal cannabis scheme speaks about results (Tasmania Talks)
• Escape from the Underground: Lessons to the cannabis industry from craft beer (The Growler)
• Cannabis-infused beer is coming to Colorado (The Cannabist)
• Another view of traffic deaths blamed on cannabis in CDOT study (The Denver Post)
• Don't Call It Pot: My Dinner With San Francisco's Cannabis Gourmets (Mother Jones)
• Is Cannabis Allowed in Nursing Homes? (Leafly)
• Marijuana-Friendly States Want to Meet with Jeff Sessions to Resolve Cannabis' Legal Limbo (TIME)
• Gene Simmons Says He Was 'Wrong', 'Not Informed', About Cannabis (Ultimate Classic Rock)
• House committee approves, advances medical cannabis legislation (The Tennessean)
• Cannabis Activists Give Joints To Washington Lawmakers During Rally (High Times)
• Rush for Cannabis Business Permits Overwhelms Oakland (East Bay Express)
• London Group Launches Scare Tactic Campaign Against Cannabis (High Times)
• How to Correctly Use Marijuana Edibles (Cannabis Now)
• Cannabis Farmer-CEO Raising Capital, Navigating Complex New Market (Forbes)
• Medical-cannabis producer again locked up (Echo Net Daily)
• Cannabis Business Convention Comes to Boston (U.S. News & World Report)

LSD

• What LSD Taught Researchers About Mental Health Treatment (The Fix)
• LSD Might Save The World (But Microdosing Won't) (Tech Open Air)
• LSD at Princeton: New book blows minds (The Daily Princetonian)
• Boy, 15, stabbed his best friend during 'bad' LSD trip (Metro)

Psilocybin/Magic Mushrooms

• Scientists who want to study psychedelic mushrooms have to pay $7,000 per gram (Quartz)
• Oregon couple working on ballot initiative to legalize 'magic' mushrooms for therapeutic use (KVAL)

MDMA/Ecstasy

• The Most Popular Ecstasy Pills In the World — Ranked by Name & Color (Digital Music News)
• 'Is Psychiatry Ready for MDMA?' (ABC)
• Father's heartbreak at death of sons who died on same night from ecstasy and cocaine (Metro)
• Police warning to parents over pink ecstasy tablets (ITV)

Ayahuasca/DMT

• If You’ve Met Aliens While on DMT, These Scientists Would Like to Hear From You (Motherboard)
• A Doctor's Initiation into the Powerful Shamanic Brew Ayahuasca (Kahpi)
• A little-known hallucinogenic drug called DMT takes people to a place that feels 'more real than real' — here's what researchers know about it (Business Insider)
• Lawyers and venture capitalists do yoga and meditate in a new type of New York City coworking space that was created after its founder took a psychedelic drug in Peru – see inside (Business Insider)

Iboga/Ibogaine

• New research underway on ibogaine for the treatment of alcoholism (International Center for Ethnobotanical Education Research and Service)

Synthetic Cannabinoids/Psychoactive Research Chemicals

• Clare taxi driver, 25, dies hours after snorting what he thought was MDMA but was actually a synthetic drug called ‘Dr Death’, inquest hears (The Irish Sun)

Dissociatives

• Side Effects Stop Small Study of Repeated Intranasal Ketamine (Psych Congress Network)
• Mom says she gave daughters PCP after confusing bottle with vanilla extract (FOX59)

Opiates/Opioids

• Medicare Is Cracking Down on Opioids. Doctors Fear Pain Patients Will Suffer. (The New York Times)
• Senate Passes Bill to Make Increase Availability of Naloxone (U.S. News & World Report)
• In withdrawal: Treating the babies of Illinois' opioid crisis (Crain's)
• Prince toxicology report shows very high drug level, experts say (NBC News)
• Federal Ban On Methadone Vans Seen As Barrier To Treatment (HuffPost)
• Quitting Heroin in the Sunshine State (The New York Times)
• Frequent opioid users might be the best candidates for naloxone training, study finds (The Hub)

Kratom

• Case Report Reveals Another Possible Side Effect of Kratom (Monthly Prescribing Reference)
• Kratom Product Recalled for Potential Salmonella Contamination (Pain Medicine News)
• "Kratom Ruined My Life," User Says (Westword)
• Why Is Kratom Lab Testing Really Important? (Kratom Guides)
• Kratom becoming a problem for local Law Enforcement (My Panhandle)

Kava

• Kava consumption helps cut down alcohol consumption and gang affiliations in male Pacifika youth in New Zealand claims a researcher says. (TVNZ)

Miscellaneous Psychedelics/Psychoactives/Drug Policy

• Will the Spirit of Burning Man Art Survive in Museums? (The New York Times)
• High Society: The Universal Impulse to Alter Consciousness (Kahpi)
• A trip to dreamland (The Boston Globe)
• The War on Drugs Breeds Crafty Traffickers (The New York Times)
• Why police boss thinks drug users should get to test their substances at clubs and festivals (Daily Post)
• The Mystery of the Terrifying Xanax Resurgence in America (VICE)
• Doing the Plant's Bidding: Reflections on the Congreso de Plantas Sagradas en Las Américas (Reality Sandwich)
• DREAMing about Drug Reform: An Interview with Arturo Lua Castillo (Psymposia)
• 'Mad Honey' and 4 Other Naturally Occurring Psychedelics (Inverse)
• Drug Overdose Death Rates in the U.S. Are Rising Everywhere, CDC Says (TIME)
• The solution to Australia's drug epidemic starts with a conversation (The Guardian)
• How China Is Using the Death Penalty for Drug Dealers: An Approach that Works (ExpertClick)
• What The Hell Is Happening With Pill Testing At Groovin' The Moo? (BuzzFeed News)

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.