This Week in Psychedelics - 12.4.15

Image by Dahtamnay, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Image by Dahtamnay, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Cannabis

  • Recreational Pot Will Be Legal Just About Everywhere Soon (Reason)
  • Lawmakers Question Postal Service About Marijuana Ad Threats to Newspapers (Marijuana.com)
  • The Quantified Stoner (VICE's Motherboard)
  • PTSD And Cannabis Study Seeks Veteran Participants (Reset.me)
  • Why the Mexican Supreme Court Is Only Allowing 4 People to Grow Weed (ATTN:)
  • No, The Feds Won't Pay You $3,000 Per Week to Smoke Marijuana (Marijuana.com)
  • Study: Medical Marijuana Laws Associated With Decreased Obesity (NORML)
  • A Modern Cannabis Retail Store Experience (PSFK)
  • Clinical study at CAMH tests how cannabis affects volunteers' driving skills (The Hamilton Spectator)
  • Colorado cannabis: As pot grows up, design enters the scene (The Denver Post)
  • 7 Celebrities With Their Own Line of Cannabis Products (Leafly)
  • Nebraska Sen. Tommy Garrett speaks about medical cannabis legalization (Siouxland News)
  • HARDIN: On Cannabis Consciousness (Lost Coast Outpost)
  • "This decision will save lives": Minnesota expand cannabis use to pain patients (Post-Bulletin)
  • Cannabis crop larger than a football field set on fire by Aussie police (Mashable)
  • Cannabis farms fuel human trafficking, report says (The Guardian)
  • Cannabis cafes face first-of-the year shutdown or fine (KATU)
  • 'Skunk-Like' Cannabis Associated With Brain Damage, Study Finds (Headlines & Global News)
  • Trafficking victims forced to grow high-priced UK cannabis: police (Yahoo! News)

LSD

  • LSD Microdosing: The New Job Enhancer In Silicon Valley And Beyond? (Forbes)
  • Silicon Valley tech workers take microdoses of LSD drug to improve problem-solving (International Business Times)
  • Acid Tests Turn 50: Wavy Gravy, Merry Prankster Ken Babbs Looks Back (Rolling Stone)
  • When LSD Was Mainstream (Reason)
  • Authorities Say LSD Killed A Man Cops Left Facedown And Hogtied (The Huffington Post)
  • Small Doses of LSD Can Assuage Depression and Anxiety, Say Researcher (Counsel & Heal)
  • LSD caused Goode's death, state autopsy says (The Commercial Appeal)
  • Microdosing LSD: what is it? (The Age)
  • Silicon Valley Has a Surprising New Source of Inspiration (Maxim)
  • LSD Microdosing Deserves More Serious Research (Forbes)
  • Man died of LSD toxicity after leaving Widespread Panic concert (FOX10 News)
  • Just hit tab: why Silicon Valley techies are dropping LSD at work (The Guardian)
  • John McAfee on the return of psychedelics, LSD in the work place (Yahoo! News)
  • Silicon Valley Workers Take 'Microdoses' Of LSD To Boost Productivity (Tech Times)
  • Why LSD is being used in workplaces in Silicon Valley (News.com.au)
  • Silicon Valley Executives Microdosing LSD To Improve Productivity (Breitbart News)
  • Speaking in Tech: Is the whole of Silicon Valley on LSD? (The Register)
  • Autopsy finds man died of 'LSD toxicity' in police custody (Local 8 Now)

Psilocybin/Magic Mushrooms

  • Could Psilocybin Be Used To Treat Terminally Ill Cancer Patients? (Collective Evolution)
  • What Psilocybin Mushrooms Taught Me About Death And Rebirth (Reset.me)

MDMA/Ecstasy

  • A Clinical Trial Is Exploring How MDMA Could Help People With Autism (VICE's Motherboard)
  • British Media Outlets Are Trying to Blame a Student's Suicide on an MDMA Comedown (VICE's Thump)
  • Deep Web Bot Is Buying Ecstasy Online for Art (Food World News)
  • MDMA Used in Clinical Trial To Help People With Autism (Tech Times)
  • Chris Robinson Loves Jerry Garcia, Hates MDMA, Doesn't Believe in Voice Lessons (Los Angeles Weekly)
  • Rainbow Serpent Festival wants to test ecstasy pills (The Age)
  • Teen use of ecstasy troubles OPP (Sault Star)
  • Stereosonic 2015: Woman dies after music festival at Sydney Olympic Park (The Daily Telegraph)
  • Ex-Wesleyan student Eric Lonergan pleads guilty in MDMA overdose case (New Haven Register)
  • Side Effects of Ecstasy Pill Led One Man To Experience Uncontrollable Shaking, Twitching, And Stuttering (Medical Daily)

Ayahuasca/DMT

  • First legal ayahuasca retreat to open in the U.S. (Death and Taxes)
  • New study from Beckley collaboration supports therapeutic potential of Ayahuasca by showing increased mindfulness (The Beckley Foundation)
  • Watch a Freelance Journalist Writhe Through a Powerful DMT Trip for Research (VICE's Motherboard)
  • The Mystery of DMT: A Talk with Graham St John (Reality Sandwich)
  • I Went to an Ayahuasca Divorce Ceremony (VICE's Motherboard)
  • For me, ayahuasca was as good as therapy. Here's what the science says (Global Post)

Peyote/San Pedro/Mescaline

Salvia Divinorum

  • WATCH: The Horrifying Effects of Smoking Salvia Is a Great Reason to Say No to Drugs (First to Know)

Synthetic Cannabinoids/Psychoactive Research Chemicals

  • Five soldiers discharged from army after taking psychedelic drug 'N-Bomb' (Stuff.co.nz)
  • Rise in Use of Hallucinogenic Drugs Spurs Authorities, UCSB to Warn of Risks and Ready Response (Noozhawk)
  • Five soldiers booted from army after synthetic hallucinogen binge (TVNZ)

Dissociatives

  • Ketamine, global health, and why China's push to pass international legislation will endanger millions of patients (The Huffington Post)
  • Ketamine drug abuse detected earlier with new test (Bel Marra Health)
  • Join the campaign to protect ketamine access (European Society of Anesthesiology)
  • Police arrest one for suspected PCP; officer sniffs out "wet" cigarette (The Examiner)
  • Man admits assaulting police officer while drunk and carrying ketamine at Gatwick (Crawley News)
  • Springfield man on PCP admits brandishing gun with baby in apartment, violating restraining order (MassLive)
  • Anesthesiologists Take Lead As Ketamine Clinics Proliferate (Anesthesiology News)

Opiates/Opioids

  • Study: Cannabis Improves Outcomes In Opioid-Dependent Subjects Undergoing Treatment (NORML)
  • Heroin Is Deadlier Than It Used To Be, Thanks To The War On Drugs (Forbes)
  • Heroin epidemic seizes bipartisan attention in 2016 race (Fox News)
  • Price drop for Narcan increases availability (Examiner)
  • Opium poppy farmers seek help to end dependence (Myanmar Times)
  • Memories Of A Heroin Head: "Heroin Has Given Me More Life Than It Has Taken Away" (Disinformation)
  • Country Mulls Plan for Heroin Epidemic: Give Them Heroin (Yahoo! Health)
  • From 'Mighty Opium' To Moral Crisis: Addiction As Cultural Cachet And Cautionary Tale (Cognoscenti)
  • Norway mulls medical heroin, as it grapples with Western Europe's highest overdose rate (U.S. News & World Report)
  • Naloxone to be distributed at event (York Daily Record)

Absinthe

Kratom

Kava

Khat

  • From Qat to Captagon (Reason)
  • High miraa intake lowers men's sexual performance, sperm quality - study (The Star)
  • Miraa crusader dismisses research warning on men's sexual performance (The Star)
  • Miraa consumers in Kibera refute claims of side effects (Hivisasa)
  • Khat worth €26,000 seized at Dublin airport (UTV Ireland)

Miscellaneous Psychedelics/Psychoactives/Drug Policy

  • Big Think: Rick Doblin on Making Psychedelics Legal and Mainstream (KQED)
  • People Are Taking Microdoses of Psychedelics to Perform Better At Work (NOISEPRN)
  • Psychedelic 'Antibiotic' Therapy for Mental-Micro-Organisms (Psychedelic Press UK)
  • Can testing make drugs safer for those who ignore calls not to take them? (Sydney Morning Herald)
  • Small really is beautiful: Psychedelic images show the inner workings of cells in stunning detail (Daily Mail)
  • Janis Joplin's psychedelic Porsche 356SC up for sale (The Australian)

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.