This Week in Psychedelics - 9.3.21

Cannabis

• Appeals court rejects lawsuit seeking to force DEA to reschedule marijuana (Marijuana Business Daily)

• Anti-Pot Author Alex Berenson Gets Permanent Twitter Ban (High Times)

• How Much Legal Cannabis Is In California? It’s A State Secret. (Forbes)

• Allowing Public Marijuana Smoking Leads To Bigger NYC Arrest Decline Than In Other Legalized Places (Marijuana Moment)

• Fakkuappu: Japan Struggles with Cannabis Reform (High Times)

• Senators Flooded With Input On Federal Marijuana Legalization Bill (Marijuana Moment)

• Big Pharma Seizes Brazilian Market While Medical Cannabis Bill is Stalled (TalkingDrugs)

• Alabama medical cannabis program might roll out slower than expected (Marijuana Business Daily)

• Swiss Doctors to Prescribe Cannabis Without “Exceptional Authorization” (High Times)

• Legalization Nation: The Dispensary Divide (The Nib)

• New Group Files Another Missouri Marijuana Legalization Initiative For 2022 Ballot (Marijuana Moment)

• Ohio Marijuana Activists Cleared To Collect Signatures For 2022 Legalization Ballot Initiative (Marijuana Moment)

LSD

• How Dock Ellis Made Baseball History on LSD (DoubleBlind)

Magic Mushrooms

• Denver Psychedelics Activists Push To Expand Psilocybin Decriminalization To Allow Gifting And Communal Use (Marijuana Moment)

• Yale researchers discover healing effects of psychedelic drug (Yale Daily News)

• Heroic Hearts Project announces new study with Imperial College London into the physiological and psychological effects of psilocybin on veterans. (Volteface)

• 'Psychedelic renaissance' sees first legal collection of Australia's medicinal magic mushrooms (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

• The Tragic Story Of Magic Truffles: The Elusive Wild Psilocybe (DoubleBlind)

• Red Light Holland Successfully Completes Canada’s Largest Legal Sale and Import of Psilocybe Truffles into Canada Under a Health Canada Approved Psilocybin Import Permit (Psilocybin Alpha)

DMT

• Microdose Psychedelic Insights Presents the Upcoming DMT Conference, a Deep Dive Into the Dynamic Field of DMT Therapeutics (Benzinga)

Ayahuasca

• A single dose of ayahuasca improves self-perception of speech performance in socially anxious people, study finds (PsyPost)

• Wilma Mahua Campos, Shipibo Ayahuasquera (Chacruna)

• The Importance of Traditional Ayahuasca Techniques with Carlos Tanner (EntheoNation)

5-MeO-DMT

• Psychedelic Toads Emerge In Arizona During Monsoon Season (iHeartRadio)

San Pedro

• The Effects of Mescaline in the San Pedro Cactus (The Third Wave)

Novel Psychoactive Substances

• Mindset Pharma Announces its Next Generation Novel 5-MeO-DMT Psychedelic Analogs Demonstrate a Significantly Improved Safety Profile in Preclinical Results (Psilocybin Alpha)

Nitrous Oxide

• Nitrous oxide: Patel orders Laughing gas review to decide on potential new law (BBC)

Ketamine

• Cops and Paramedics Involved in Elijah McClain’s Death Charged With Homicide (VICE)

Miscellaneous

• Drug Users Are Suing the Canadian Government Over the War on Drugs (VICE)

• DEA Proposes Massive Increase In Marijuana And Psilocybin Production For Research To Develop FDA-Approved Medicines (Marijuana Moment)

• 'QAnon Shaman' to plead guilty in US Capitol riot case (CNN)

• What Is the ‘Collective Unconscious’ and How Can It Help Us Understand Psychedelic Experiences? (Psychedelics Today)

• Can Psychedelics Promote Social Justice and Change the World? (Chacruna)

• Seattle Should Decriminalize All Drugs, City Task Force On Overdose Crisis Recommends (Marijuana Moment)

• Jon Hopkins Announces New Album Music for Psychedelic Therapy, Shares New Song: Listen (Pitchfork)

• Meet the women who regularly microdose psychedelics (Cosmopolitan)

• Glow Time: PsychLight Brings a Powerful Tool to Psychedelic Research (Psychedelic Science Review)

• New Psychedelic Therapy Clinic Opens in Charleston (Johnson City Press)

• Psychedelics Co. Synthesis Institute Closes $7.25M Series A Funding Through Non-Traditional VC Path (Benzinga)

• Psychedelics—The New Psychiatric Craze (Mad in America)

• Field Trip Health Ltd. Announces Launch Of “Kap Co-Operative” Program, Enabling Independent Psychedelic Therapists To Practice At Its Field Trip Health Centers; Also Launches Training Programs To Educate A New Generation Of Psychedelic Clinicians (Psilocybin Alpha)

• Psychedelics in Recovery: 12-Step Peer Support Program (Truffle Report)

• Legal Psychedelic Retreats – What They Are & Where to Find Them (EntheoNation)

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 catalog how psychedelics are presented by the mass media, which includes everything from the latest scientific research to misinformation.

This Week in Psychedelics - 9.11.20

Cannabis

• Medical Marijuana Measure Removed From Nebraska’s November Ballot By State Supreme Court (Marijuana Moment)

• Marijuana Is Making Its Mark on Ballots in Red States (The Daily Beast)

• Pakistan Legalizes Industrial and Medical Cannabis Aiming to Expand Global Market (MERRY JANE)

• Maine Finally Approves First Marijuana Business Licenses Weeks Before Legal Sales Launch (Marijuana Moment)

• Give cannabis to elderly people with chronic pain, doctors say (The Telegraph)

• Virginia: Marijuana-Related Bills Advance During Special Legislative Session (NORML)

• USDA Reopens Public Comment Period On Hemp Rules Following Intense Industry Pushback (Marijuana Moment)

• Key Congressional Committee Advances Legislation to Facilitate Clinical Research Studies Using State-Authorized Marijuana Products (NORML)

• Twitter Partners With Feds On Campaign Flagging ‘Marijuana’ Searches While Giving ‘Alcohol’ A Pass (Marijuana Moment)

• Hong Kong Just Opened Its First CBD Café Despite Country's Notoriously Harsh Weed Laws (MERRY JANE)

• Greenstop launches its cannabis vending machine in California dispensaries (TechCrunch)

• Global Drug Body Recommends 20 Ways to Improve the Cannabis Industry (VICE)

• Marijuana Possession Arrests Plummet In Texas After Hemp Legalization, New State Data Shows (Marijuana Moment)

• This is how cannabis effectively eases inflammation (Chicago Tribune)

• I used to be on the police drug squad. Here's why I'm voting against legalising cannabis (Stuff.co.nz)

LSD

• LSD Tolerance Could Develop Faster than You Expect (DoubleBlind)

• Acid Tab Feeling Lot Of Pressure To Present Tech CEO With Game-Changing Ideas For Disrupting Telecom Industry (The Onion)

Magic Mushrooms

• Havn Life Sciences Granted Section 56 Exemption to Begin Scientific Work With Psilocybin (Psilocybin Alpha)

• Bett Williams Walks Between Worlds (Lucid News)

MDMA

• MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy for PTSD Trials Progressing Through Phase 3 (Psychiatry and Behavioral Health Learning Network)

Nitrous Oxide

• One in four drug users at festivals now get high on laughing gas - TD (Independent.ie)

Ketamine

• Esketamine spray for treating depression 'not cost-effective' (BBC)

• Colorado Society of Anesthesiologists ask CDPHE to suspend 'excited delirium' ketamine waiver (9news.com)

Miscellaneous

• Will Australia be the First Country to Reap the Benefits of Psychedelic Medicines? Rescheduling Proposal Submitted to TGA (Psilocybin Alpha)

• Depression and suicidal ideation reduced after psychedelic usage (Big Think)

• Psychedelic experiences share many features with those described by mystics and religious practitioners (PsyPost)

• Biden Pledges To Force People Who Use Drugs To Enroll In Mandatory Treatment Programs (Marijuana Moment)

• Coronavirus Conspiracy Theories in Psychedelia (Psymposia)

• Psychedelics Company Havn Life Announces Commencement of Public Trading on the CSE (Psilocybin Alpha)

• AWAKN Life Sciences Launches Clinical Research Division with Prof. David Nutt & Dr. Ben Sessa Identifying Suitable Studies Across Europe & North America (Yahoo! Finance)

• How Mescaline Helped Me to Better Understand Schopenhauer’s Philosophy (Psychedelic Frontier)

• Quipazine: A Long-Standing Enigma in Psychedelic Research (Psychedelic Science Review)

• Scientists Use Psychedelics to Discover an Anti-Inflammatory Pharmacophore (Psychedelic Science Review)

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 - 9.8.17

Image by Dahtamnay, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Cannabis

• Despite Legalization, Adolescent Marijuana Use Hits 15-Year Low (Reason)
• Amendment to Cut Funding of DEA's Cannabis Eradication Program (NORML)
• Gaetz Introduces Amendment for Medical Marijuana Research (NORML)
• House Rules Committee Blocks Amendment Protecting Medical Marijuana (Reason)
• American Universities Offering Cannabis Classes This Fall (Forbes)
• Bonamici Files Amendment Preventing Federal Interference of State Hemp Laws (NORML)
• Congressman Heck Introduces Marijuana Banking Amendments (NORML)
• Colorado Cannabis Sales Funnel $9.2M Into School Health Programs (Leafly)
• Hemp Comes Home (Reason)
• Cannabis Tribes Form Cannabis Association (Indian Country Today)
• Does the First Amendment Protect Spiritual Cannabis Use? A D.C. Activist Plans to Argue For It (Psymposia)
• California Won't Ban Cannabis Ads, for Now (Leafly)
• North Texas Experts Explore the Cannabis 'Green Rush' (D Magazine)
• California is about to open its first legal cannabis shops and it's posing a huge problem for local pot farms (The Independent)
• Cannabis Growers Accused of Offering California Sheriff $1M Bribe (Leafly)
• Sonoma State University launches professional cannabis business series (Santa Rosa Press Democrat)
• Last Week In Cannabis—New Jersey May Legalize, Cabbie Wins MMJ Case, And More (Psychedelic Times)
• Investing in Cannabis? Ask These 3 Questions Before You Do (Leafly)
• Meet the companies launching Maryland's cannabis industry (The Baltimore Sun)
• Massachusetts' Top Cannabis Regulator Says He's Committed to Timely Rollout (Leafly)
• Cannabis church leader's pet peacock brutally killed (USA Today)
• How Are Canadian Patients Using Medical Cannabis? (Leafly)
• The Game Changer for Paragon and the Cannabis Industry (The Merkle)
• Cannabis workshops begin this week (Mad River Union)
• Stockton may temporarily tap brakes on cannabis businesses (Stockton Record)
• Cannabis Industry Weekly Recap 9/1/2017 (Forbes)

LSD

• Meet the World's First Online LSD Microdosing Coach (Rolling Stone)
• Netflix's 'Wormwood' Spotlights CIA's Secret LSD Mind Control Experiments (The Fix)
• Memories from the Summer of Love: Meet the '60s Couple Who Helped 'Turn on the World' to LSD (People)
• Meet the professor who self-administered 73 high-dose LSD sessions (Psymposia)
• The Upside of LSD: This Guy Wants You to Microdose on Psychedelics (OZY)
• Researcher To Study The Effects of LSD Microdosing on Cognitive Function (Collective Evolution)

Psilocybin/Magic Mushrooms

• Scientists Discover Why Magic Mushrooms Evolved Psychedelic Powers (Inverse)
• Will California Legalize Mushrooms? (The Fix)
• The Chemical In Shrooms Can Now Be Made In A Lab, & It Could Help Sufferers Of Mental Illness (Bustle)

MDMA/Ecstasy

• Why The FDA's 'Breakthrough' Nomination For MDMA Matters (Psychedelic Times)
• Ecstasy Is on Its Way to Becoming a Legal Treatment for PTSD (Lifehacker)
• Dude Leaves Contact Info On Bag Of MDMA -- Gets His Dumbass Arrested (Magnetic Magazine)
• Embarrassed Pill Takers Tell Us Their Worst Ecstasy Stories (VICE)
• British teenager died in Ibiza after five bags of ecstasy exploded in her stomach, finds coroner (The Independent)
• Police warn public of 'ecstasy' pills containing ketamine (Mixmag)
• Woman dies and two men taken to hospital after taking ecstasy (The Guardian)

Ayahuasca/DMT

• Dimethyltryptamine (DMT): a biochemical Swiss Army knife in neuroinflammation and neuroprotection? (NCBI)
• Spiritual But Secular (United Church Observer)
• Man fined for having drug used in Amazon (Irish Times)

Salvia Divinorum

• Synthetic simplification of hallucinogen pays off (Chemical & Engineering News)

Dissociatives

• Use of ketamine for depression shows rapid, long-lasting effects: study (New York Daily News)
• 30 years ago, PCP seemed like the most threatening drug to America's future (MuckRock)
• How Do 4 Alternative Treatments for Bipolar Disorder Stack Up? (Psych Central)

Opiates/Opioids

• Will California Beat Seattle in Building a Safe Drug Injection Facility? (Reason)
• The Right Chemistry: The long and colorful history of opium (Montreal Gazette)
• How Many More People Have to Die From Heroin and Fentanyl Before We Try Something Different? (Reason)
• Canadian schools stock up on naloxone kits in wake of growing opioid crisis (Global News)
• More Access Granted to Naloxone in Arkansas (KARK)

Kratom

• Editorial: Many defend use of plant kratom (Plattsburgh Press Republican)
• Super Green Indo Kratom: How It Differs From Green Malay And Green Maeng Da? (Kratom Guides)

Kava

• Selling kava with a wink and a buzz (Missoula Independent)

Miscellaneous Psychedelics/Psychoactives/Drug Policy

• People Who Have Taken Psychedelics Are More Likely To Be Environmentally Friendly (IFLScience)
• Neurosis is Natural: Human Development and Rites of Passage with Neal M. Goldsmith, Ph.D. (Psychedelic Times)
• Coming Out of the Psychedelic Closet to Your Parents (Psychedelic Times)
• 4 Philosophers Who Experimented With Psychedelics (Big Think)
• A Reverend's Moving Sermon About Psychedelics and Religion (Psychedelic Frontier)
• Scientific doping will lift scholarship to new heights (Times Higher Education)
• Eight Things to Do After You've Taken Psychedelics (Psymposia)
• Rethinking serotonin could lead to a shift in psychiatric care (Imperial College London)
• The 21st century psychedelic renaissance: heroic steps forward on the back of an elephant (Springer Link)
• Psychedelics, Personality and Political Perspectives. (PubMed)
• My biggest conclusion after years writing about 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 - 8.18.17

Image by Dahtamnay, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Cannabis

• Marijuana politics emerge as 2020 flash point (Politico)
• Medical Marijuana Research Act of 2017 (NORML)
• The Federal Government Is Finally Exploring Marijuana As a Medical Alternative to Opioids (Reason)
• Does Anti-Pot Prejudice Explain NRA's Reluctance to Condemn Philando Castile Shooting? (Reason)
• Medical cannabis giants eye UK for next 'green rush' ahead of the industry's first conference in London (The Telegraph)
• SMART Bill Reintroduced in Congress (NORML)
• Three men jailed for turning nuclear bunker into £2m-a-year cannabis factory (The Independent)
• How Liquor Companies Screwed Up Pot Legalization in Nevada (Reason)
• Washington State Responds To Attorney General Sessions' Veiled Threats (NORML)
• Arkansas Has Received Zero Applications to Grow or Dispense Medical Cannabis (Leafly)
• What Every Cannabis Entrepreneur Needs to Understand About the Cole Memo (Entrepreneur)
• This Cannabis-Infused Meal Box Wants to Be the New Blue Apron (Leafly)
• Governors Challenge Jeff Sessions' Tendentious Questions About Legal Pot (Reason)
• Nevada Judge Clears Way for More Cannabis Licenses (Leafly)
• L.A. City Council approves new Cannabis Department Head (Los Angeles Times)
• Cleansing With Cannabis: 4 Ways to Treat Tension With THC (Leafly)
• Holy smoke! The church of cannabis (The Guardian)
• At This LA Rehab Center, Cannabis Is an 'Exit' Drug (Leafly)
• California finds 'pot of gold' in wine and weed (CNBC)
• Utah Launches Medical Cannabis Drive (Leafly)
• Peachtree NORML Challenges the Faith and Freedom Coalition (NORML)
• Smoking Versus Edibles (The Atlantic)
• How to Corner Your Bowl of Cannabis (Leafly)
• Why marijuana isn't just 'cannabis' (The Oregonian)
• How and When to Flush Cannabis Plants (Leafly)
• Little evidence shows cannabis helps chronic pain or PTSD (Fox News)

LSD

• Acid redux: My long, strange, cancer-fighting trip back to tripping (Salon)

Psilocybin/Magic Mushrooms

• Scientific Discovery Could Lead to Mass-Produced Magic Mushroom Drug (Daily Beast)
• Magic mushrooms and the roots of witchcraft (The Spectator)
• Spores in Space: These Mushroom Trips Last Light-Years (Dope Magazine)
• Psilocybin mushrooms got rid of my anxiety and depression (Psymposia)

MDMA/Ecstasy

• Studies Show Only 40.5% Of Pills Sold In UK Contain MDMA, 34.7% Of MDMA Pure In US (Your EDM)
• Father who lost two sons to MDMA says drug should be legalised (Metro)
• Police say blue Tesla 'ecstasy' pills could contain meth and cocaine (Mixmag)

Ayahuasca/DMT

• Of Molecules and Minds: The Science of Ayahuasca (Psymposia)
• Soldiers of the Vine: Healing PTSD with Ayahuasca (Psychedelic Times)
• What Does It Actually Feel Like To Take DMT? (The Debrief)
• Dutch addiction experts warn of dangers of 'trippy tea' (The Irish Times)

Synthetic Cannabinoids/Psychoactive Research Chemicals

• Experts warn of fairly new drug that mimics LSD (KSBY)

Dissociatives

• Fast forward to pain free: Ketamine Infusion Therapy changes lives in the community (WOODTV)
• Springfield murder defendant testifies he was too high on PCP-laced pot to understand his rights (MassLive.com)
• Man high on PCP crashes van, shoots at random cars in Cleveland, police say (Cleveland.com)

Opiates/Opioids

• The Justice Department Wants to Put Small-Time Fentanyl Dealers in Federal Prison (Reason)
• The New Alcohol Epidemic Kills More Than Two and a Half Times as Many People as The Opioid Epidemic (Disinfo)
• New York becomes first state to cover co-pays for Naloxone (WHAM)
• Heroin Death Rate Among Teenagers Rises As Heroin Use Falls (Reason)
• Trump's Opioid Emergency Response (Reason)
• China-US Cooperation and the New Opium War (The Diplomat)

Kratom

• What Is The Difference Between Slow, Moderate, And Fast Kratom (Kratom Guides)

Kava

• Fijians consumed $140M worth of kava last year (Fiji Village)
• Kava bar ban in Lighthouse Point faces new legal challenge (Sun Sentinel)

Miscellaneous Psychedelics/Psychoactives/Drug Policy

• The foundation of Western philosophy is probably rooted in psychedelics (Quartz)
• A Researcher Wants to Test the Effects of Microdosing on Cognitive Ability and Productivity (Futurism)
• Woman Banned from US After Border Agent Finds Proof of Drug Use on Phone (VICE)
• Police Can Hurt Dark Net Drug Rings by Leaving Dealers Bad Reviews, Study Suggests (Motherboard)
• Most Drug Expiration Dates Are Bogus, and the FDA Knows It (Reason)
• Philippines Sees the Bloodiest Night of Duterte's Drug War With 32 Killed in Raids (TIME)
• Illinois Democrat Says Elect Him Governor and He'll Commute All Low-Level Drug Sentences (The Intercept)
• Shane Mauss Brings Psychedelic-Comedy Show A GOOD TRIP to Australia this October (Broadway World)
• From Blackhawk Pilot to Plant Medicine Activist: A Conversation with Ian Benouis (Psychedelic Times)
• Music For Mystery: A Discussion with Psychedelic Futurist Michael Garfield (Reality Sandwich)
• Why Shamanic Practices Are Making a Comeback in Contemporary Art (Artsy)
• How Heartbreak and Psychedelic Drugs Brought Shakey Graves to the World (Riverfront Times)
• Texas Cops Spent 11 Minutes Searching a Woman's Vagina, Found No Drugs (Reason)
• This Philosopher Thinks Psychedelic Drugs Lead to the Truth of Experience (Big Think)
• Could religions have originated under the influence? (Los Angeles Times)
• Iran Parliament Edges Towards Softening Drug Laws to Curb Executions (U.S. News & World Report)
• Could psychedelic drugs be the ticket to improved mental health? (Cosmos)

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.

Weekend Thoughts - 7.29.17

Image by Greg Walters, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

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

1. Going through airport security is already annoying, and soon the TSA will separately screen all devices larger than a mobile phone for those flying within the country. The program has already been piloted at 10 airports and is now being implemented nationwide. Devices like laptops, tablets, e-readers, and handhold game consoles will fall under this category, but the TSA has not defined what "larger than a cell phone" actually means. As mobile phones increase in size, what will the TSA consider to be the upper limit on size? Although the definition is still not clearly defined, you can still expect to see this extra security theater in your local airport within the next few weeks and months.

2. Imagine Nietzsche, Epictetus, Buddha, and Schopenhauer playing a game of Sorry!, and you may arrive at the same conclusion as this comic. Remember: the roll of the dice you receive is not what's important; it's how you choose to react to it. In your own approach to life, which character do you most closely resemble?

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