This Week in Psychedelics - 12.18.15

Image by Dahtamnay, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Image by Dahtamnay, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Cannabis

  • Year in Review: 2015's Biggest Moments in Cannabis (Leafly)
  • Will Marijuana Prohibition Be Over In 5 Years? (Reset.me)
  • Bureaucratic Hurdles & Spotty Access To Medicinal Cannabis Gives Rise To 'Cannabis Refugees' (MintPress News)
  • Kentucky Lawmaker Submits Bill to Legalize Statewide Cannabis Industry (High Times)
  • Feds Tell Supreme Court to Stay Out of State Marijuana Dispute (TIME)
  • Jeb Bush Just Made a Series of False Comments on Marijuana (ATTN:)
  • Study Explores Health Effects of High-THC Cannabis (Leafly)
  • Meet the Weed Genius Designing the World's First Cannabis Ranch (Inverse)
  • This Secret Document Reveals One Big Bank's Crazy Marijuana Plans (ATTN:)
  • 6 Things YOU Can Do for Cannabis Prisoners (High Times)
  • Congress Unveils 2016 Omnibus Spending Bill, Reauthorizes Marijuana Protections (NORML)
  • 'Completely sober' drivers who smoked cannabis in last week could be prosecuted under new laws (Breaking News)
  • Report: Criminal Justice Referrals Still Driving Marijuana 'Treatment' Admissions (NORML)
  • Donald Trump and Harry J. Anslinger: Two Peas in a Pod (NORML)
  • Intentional Cannabis Business Conference: What if California's Marijuana Regulations Suck? (Marijuana Politics)
  • Research Says Cannabis Affects Intestinal Flora And May Prevent Obesity (High Times)
  • Mum treats boy, 6, with cannabis oil for ADHD despite authorities threatening to take him away (The Daily Telegraph)
  • How Pairing Yoga, Cannabis, and Music Creates Positive Vibrations (Leafly)
  • Time to change cannabis laws (The Valdosta Daily Times)
  • Marijuana Users Just Scored A Victory in Washington (ATTN:)
  • High School Seniors Now Prefer Marijuana to Cigarettes (TIME)
  • Here's Why You Get the Munchies (ATTN:)
  • 10 Cannabis Strains That Ease Insomnia (Reset.me)
  • Cannabis research task force begins work (Portland Tribune)
  • How Do Vaporizers Preserve Cannabis "Fidelity"? (Leafly)
  • Delaware Decriminalization Law Takes Effect (NORML)
  • Solicitor General Says SCOTUS Shouldn't Hear Challenge to Marijuana Legalization (Reason)
  • Cannabis dispensary initiative likely, petition has enough signatures (Appeal-Democrat)
  • Renewed Riders Bar Medical Marijuana Meddling, Block Full Legalization in D.C. (Reason)
  • The Beginner's Guide to Buying Dabs and Cannabis Extracts (Leafly)
  • New Religion Claims 'Marijuana Cures Racism' (NewsBlaze)
  • Marijuana Ads Are 'Nonmailable', but That Doesn't Mean You Can't Mail Them (Reason)
  • NORML's Weekly Legislative Round Up (NORML)
  • Justice Department urges Supreme Court to throw out Nebraska/Oklahoma lawsuit (Drug WarRant)
  • KY Senator files "Cannabis Freedom Act" Rolling Medicinal And Recreational Use Together In One Hit (The State Journal)
  • High-Potency Cannabis Linked to Brain Damage, Experts Warn (Medscape)
  • KY senator pre-files Cannabis Freedom Act (WFIE)

LSD

  • LSD Can Alter Consciousness by Reorganizing Brain Networks (Counsel & Heal)
  • LSD and Spiritual Awakening (Reality Sandwich)
  • Founder Of Alcoholics Anonymous Said LSD Experience Could Help Addicts Stay Clean (AlterNet)
  • LSD is Way Healthier Than Medical Marijuana (Clapway)
  • Researchers use fMRI to map effects of LSD on brain activity (DOTmed.com)
  • LSD Effects Are Similar To The First Stage of Psychosis, Could Provide Model For Research (Medical Daily)
  • Boy Scout Leader Accused of Giving Teen Member LSD, Pot (ABC News)
  • Miley Cyrus Continues Odd Behavior, Swears She's Not On LSD (The Inquisitr)
  • Why LSD causes hallucinations, scientists may have an answer (International Business Times)
  • A Brain On LSD Looks Like A Psychotic Brain, Says New Study (Tech Times)
  • Police: Man sold LSD three times in Kane County (Chicago Daily Herald)

Psilocybin/Magic Mushrooms

  • Is Christmas All About a Magic Mushroom? (AlterNet)
  • 'Magic Mushrooms' May Permanently Alter Personality (Live Science)
  • Are Santa's Reindeer Tripping Shrooms? (High Times)
  • Cancer: Magic mushrooms fight off depression and anxiety — with a side of 'mystical experiences' (International Business Times)
  • The Gates of Hell: MKULTRA, Robert Graves, William Sargant, & Wasson's Magic Mushroom (Occult Yorkshire 10) (Auticulture)
  • Miley Cyrus Is A Half-Naked Psychedelic Mushroom In Paper Magazine Shoot (The Huffington Post)
  • Man arrested for possessing 70 magic mushrooms has happiest mugshot EVER (The Sun)
  • How magic mushrooms can HELP cancer patients: Active ingredient 'reduces anxiety and depression' (Daily Mail)

MDMA/Ecstasy

Ayahuasca/DMT

  • America Is Getting Its First Legal Ayahuasca Church (VICE's Munchies)
  • A British Tourist Has Been Killed at a Peruvian Ayahuasca Ceremony (TIME)
  • My Interview on Ayahuasca And The Importance of Psychedelics (The Daily Banter)
  • The Visionary Activist Show — Caroline hosts Dr. Rick Strassman (KPFA)
  • Canadian man kills Brit in psychedelic ceremony in Peru's Amazon (The Jerusalem Post)
  • America's First Legal Ayahuasca 'Church' Lets You Trip on Hallucinogenic Tea (Complex)

Synthetic Cannabinoids/Psychoactive Research Chemicals

  • PMA is toxic drug making its way onto Australia's drug scene (News.com.au)

Dissociatives

Opiates/Opioids

  • Washington Could 'Cut a Deal With Daesh in Afghanistan to Counter Russia' (Sputnik International)
  • Painkillers, heroin drive increase in US overdose deaths (Live 5 News)
  • A Mother Tries to Restart, but Heroin's Sway Will Not Relent (The New York Times)
  • Afghan opium cultivation drops for first time in six years (The Express Tribune)
  • Narcan use expanding as overdoses soar (The Bristol Press)
  • Thailand Opium Eradication Effort Still a Model for Other Nations (Voice of America)
  • Myanmar's high opium output a huge test for Suu Kyi government: UN (Reuters)
  • 'Heroin' documentary hard to watch, but necessary (Sentinel & Enterprise)
  • That time Ted Cruz quoted an opium dealer at a Republican presidential debate (The Washington Post)
  • Myanmar Opium Farmers' Forum report published today (Transnational Institute)
  • Naloxone: Heroin overdose cure to be available over the counter as drug makes a comeback (ABC)
  • Myanmar Opium Farmers' Forum report published (Mizzima News)

Absinthe

Kava

Khat

  • Kenya: Varsity Researchers Involved in Miraa Study Insist Crop Is Harmful to Users (All Africa)
  • Royal Oman Police arrests three for smuggling Khat into Dhofar (Times of Oman)
  • Video: Eastern Oromia Rocked by Oromo Protests as Awaday Fights Back (Gadaa)

Miscellaneous Psychedelics/Psychoactives/Drug Policy

  • The People Are Rising Up Against the Destructive Drug War: 8 Key Developments (AlterNet)
  • Top White House Drug Official: War on Drugs is a Failure (ATTN:)
  • Drug Czar Wants More Money to Spend on Taking Your Stuff (Reason)
  • Jury Acquits the Only Cop Who Faced Charges After a Drug Raid Maimed a Toddler (Reason)
  • Demand rises for drug information at dance music events (The Age)
  • Still in a Crib, Yet Being Given Antipsychotics (The New York Times)
  • DEA ignored prosecutor's warning about illegal wiretap warrants, now it's losing big (Boing Boing)
  • The psychedelic underground temples of Damanhur (Boing Boing)
  • Miley Cyrus Says She's Never Tripped On Psychedelics, Eyes Roll (Refinery29)
  • Finding Guidance on the Hero's Journey: A Story of My Apprenticeship With "The Cacao Shaman" (High Existence)
  • Robert Moog: The True Genius Behind Psychedelic Music (Energy and Capital)
  • Psychedelic Press Journal Volume VI is out now! (Psychedelic Press UK)
  • "Alcohol and the Human Body," a cautionary film from 1949 (Boing Boing)
  • After illegal wiretap, suspects go free and want a refund (USA Today)
  • EFF and Human Rights Watch force DEA to destroy its mass surveillance database (Boing Boing)
  • A Victory for Privacy and Transparency: HRW v. DEA (Electronic Frontier Foundation)
  • EFF confirms that the DEA has deleted its phone call database (Engadget)
  • Drug War Draftees (Reason)
  • These Psychedelic Rainbow Bagels Are Blowing Up on Instagram (Yahoo! Food)
  • Justice officials fear nation's biggest wiretap operation may not be legal (USA Today)
  • Psychedelics can't be tested using conventional clinical trials (Aeon)
  • Dead Informants Highlight the Drug War's Cruel Chain of Betrayal (Reason)
  • Janis Joplin's psychedelic Porsche sells for $1.76 million at auction (WCMH)
  • New Study: How to Get High Without LSD or Magic Mushrooms (Clapway)

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 (and other psychoactives) are presented by the mass media, which includes everything from the latest scientific research to misinformation.