This Week in Psychedelics - 7.10.15

Image by Dahtamnay, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Cannabis

• One Man's Desperate Quest to Cure His Son's Epilepsy—With Weed (Wired)
• Insurance Companies Start Noticing The Legal Cannabis Industry (Forbes)
• California's 50,000 Pot Farms Are Sucking Rivers Dry (Scientific American)
• Cannabis Construction: Entrepreneurs Use Hemp in Home Building (The New York Times)
• A Scramble Is On To Save One Of California's Iconic Medical Pot Collectives (Huffington Post)
• Chile takes step toward cannabis decriminalisation (The Guardian)
• Edibles in Schools? The Leafly Cannabis Legalization Roundup (Leafly)
• 'Legalise cannabis but ban fags and booze' under-30s tell new survey (Mirror)
• Reader: Out-of-States Should Stop Waving Their Cannabis C*ck Around (Westword)

LSD

• A Brief History of LSD in the Twenty-First Century (Psychedelic Press UK)
• James Penner on Acid Hype: American News Media and the Psychedelic Experience (Los Angeles Review of Books)
• University of Wyoming student died after ingesting LSD, officials say (Casper Star Tribune)

Psilocybin/Magic Mushrooms

• Psychedelic Mushroom TRIP 4K ~ Who Am I?... A Psychedelic Journey—"A beautiful one-hour video designed to accompany the first hour of a tripping experience and ease the tripper into the experience." (Daily Psychedelic Video)
• Podcast Episode #458: "Practical Mushroom Activism" (Psychedelic Salon)

MDMA

• Call to make ecstasy legal and sell it at pharmacies (The Age)
• Push for MDMA to be sold over-the-counter in Australia (Mixmag)
• Music festival is offering free drug tests to attendees to make sure their pills are pure in bid to minimize the risk of fatal overdoses (Daily Mail)
• Ecstasy use rising: UN (The Phnom Penh Post)
• Sex, Drugs, and EDM: high times and overdoses in Toronto's dance festival scene (Toronto Life)
• China: Echoes of Breaking Bad as real life Walter White caught selling ecstasy substitute (International Business Times)

Ayahuasca/DMT

• From Alabama to Colombia: Breaking Through to Yagé's Other Side (Paste Magazine)

Iboga

• Miracle drug: one man's journey, two years later (WMTV)

Peyote/Mescaline

• Cacti-cutters' suspected motivation was drug manufacturing (Stuff.co.nz)

Synthetic Cannabinoids/Psychoactive Research Chemicals

• Why banning legal highs won't work, according to the Psychedelic Society (BBC)

Dissociatives

• Report: After Patient Death, UVM Medical Center Waited Weeks To Fix Flawed Systems (VPR)

Opiates

• St. Louis heroin addicts get a shot to rebuild lives (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
• Deaths from fentanyl-laced heroin surge (The Baltimore Sun)
• Hepatitis C cases soar with Maine heroin epidemic (WCSH)
• Heroin Detox in Jail Costing Taxpayer (WHIO)
• Heroin Use in U.S. Reaches Epidemic Level (Time)
• As Heroin Use Grows in U.S., Poppy Crops Thrive in Afghanistan (NBC News)
• Heroin-Related Deaths Quadruple As Drug Epidemic Continues to Impact U.S. (ABC News)
• Heroin use on the rise among women and higher-income groups (The Boston Globe)
• Pregnant and Hooked: How One Program Helps Heroin Addicts (NBC News)

General Psychedelics

• A Psychedelic Journey to Enlightenment (San Diego Metro)
• Author And Religious Studies Professor Martin W. Ball On 5-meO-DMT And The Mystical Experience (Reset.me)
• The Electric Kool-Aid Architects: Astounding, Lysergic Iranian Temple Photography (Dangerous Minds)
• Short Trip? More People Taking 'Microdosing' on Psychedelic Drugs (Live Science)
• Personal Story: Psychedelics Are A Powerful Tool To Promote Healing (Reset.me)

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.

This Week in Psychedelics - 7.3.15

Image by Dahtamnay, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Cannabis

• Obama Administration Lifts Restrictions On Cannabis Research (Reset.me)
• Astonishing smokable blunt sculptures (Boing Boing)
• Marijuana: The Super Antibiotic Of The Future (Reset.me)
• Inside America's Billion-Dollar Weed Business: The Grass Is Greener (VICE)
• Cannabis Church leader 'horrified' by link to mass murder-suicide (Indystar)
• Mother who gave disabled daughter cannabis oil to stop seizures 'treated like a criminal' (Mirror.co.uk)
• Cannabis farmer grew £20k of the drug to mix into butter and make pain-killing omelettes (Mirror.co.uk)
• Marijuana Legalization 2015: Leaf's Cannabis Grow System Aims To Turn Home Grows Into A Smartphone Accessory (International Business Times)
• Minnesota medical cannabis dispensaries ready to open Wednesday (Bring Me The News)
• Cannabis college hosts D.C. marijuana seminar (Washington's Top News)
• Eight arrested over Albania's 'cannabis kingdom shootout' (Yahoo! News)
• Unimpaired motorcyclist charged over cannabis trace after near-fatal crash (Canberra Times)
• Getting high in senior year: Researchers examine whether reasons for smoking pot are associated (Science Daily)
• Self-Described 'Cannabis College' Sprouts Offshoots as More States Legalize Marijuana (The Chronicle of Higher Education)
• If they're bored, teen pot smokers may try other drugs (Futurity)
• Church of Cannabis Prepares for First Service in Indiana (U.S. News)
• Why a Teen's Reasons for Using Marijuana Matter (Live Science)
• Smoking cannabis isn't a gateway to trying harder drugs like cocaine... UNLESS you're a bored teenager, study finds (Daily Mail)
• Congregants, protestors gather for 1st service at Indiana's First Church of Cannabis (Fox News)
• Cannabis Day protest turns violent, leads to 4 arrests (CTV Vancouver News)
• Cops Arrest Veteran for Growing Pot to Treat PTSD. Then CPS Makes Life Hell (Reason)
• A Cannabis Church Tests Indiana's Religious-Freedom Law (TIME)

LSD

• What is lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD)? Effects and hazards of LSD (Medical News Today)
• Scientists Are Finally Studying LSD Again (Timewheel)
• Police in Vail Arrest 8, Seize Cocaine, Ecstasy, LSD, Heroion, Guns & Cash (CBS Denver)
• Asheville woman charged with selling LSD from Subaru (Citizen-Times)

Psilocybin/Magic Mushrooms

• Psilocybin Helps Terminal Cancer Patients Find New Ways Of Coping (Reset.me)
• Israel Police find 'magic mushroom' lab in chemistry teacher's house (Haaretz)

MDMA

• Woman Charged With Robbery After Drug Sting Goes Band In Centralia (The Chronicle)
• Ecstasy pills, PCP, guns seized during MCSENT arrests (WTVM)
• Sheriff: City man arrested with 23 MDMA pills on Presidential Boulevard (Paterson Times)
• Ecstasy for PTSD? Study concludes drug might help (Ocala StarBanner)
• Cash-strapped father jailed for role in ecstasy trafficking between Adelaide and Perth (ABC.net.au)
• Valencia Man Arrested After Deputies Find More Than Three Gallons Of Ecstasy (KHTS)
• Popping at a music festival this summer? Keep in mind most ecstasy is far from pure MDMA (The Georgia Straight)

Ayahuasca/DMT

• Trippin' with Leigh heads to Peru (The Chronicle Herald)
• The Unexpected Ways Ayahuasca Prepared Me For Pregnancy And Parenting (Reset.me)

Iboga

• Iboga: A Complete Overview (Reset.me)

Peyote/Mescaline

• Conscience and the Culture Wars (The American Prospect)
• Peyote In Mexico (Mushroom Magazine)
• Police: Poughkeepsie man had psychedelic hallucinogen (Poughkeepsie Journal)

Synthetic Cannabinoids/Psychoactive Research Chemicals

• Police seize synthetic drugs in Shamokin sting (Newsitem.com)
• Army National Guard member, wife indicted in federal drug conspiracy officials say included sales to military members (Sun Herald)
• New 'legal high' drugs are being discovered (Business Insider)

Dissociatives

• Rethinking Depression Treatment At VistaGen Therapeutics (Seeking Alpha)
• How ketamine is revolutionizing the way we treat depression (Fox News)
• UAB scientists developing blood tests, ketamine treatment for suicidal thoughts (AL.com)
• Could a Dose of Ketamine Prevent Psychiatric Disorders Such as PTSD? (Health Canal)

Opiates

• Opium poppies as far as the eye can see - in BRITAIN, not Afghanistan (Mirror.co.uk)
• Opium Now Bigger Cash Crop than Marijuana in Mexico (Breitbart)
• It's a relaxing scene... A bumper crop of opium poppies set to become medical morphine being grown in DORSET (Daily Mail)
• Tamper-resistant opioids will not solve opioid addiction problem, study suggests (Science Daily)
• Quincy police arrest 4, seize $150,000 in heroin (The Boston Globe)
• Record Afghan opium output sparks rise in cheaper heroin supply (New Vision)
• U.N. drug body warns of more heroin deaths on record Afghan supply (Reuters)
• Portland Police discover 3 kilos of heroin (KOIN)
• Rise in drug deaths due to opium output (iOL News)
• Heroin investigation targeting College Park leads to seizure of 700 doses, $60K in cash (Orlando Sentinel)
• Duo arrested with dozens of balloons filled with heroin (Fox 23)
• Police dismantle heroin delivery service in Quincy, Braintree (WCVB 5)
• Long prison terms for armed New York heroin traffickers (The Washington Times)
• M6 drug raids: Seven charged after £8.5m in heroin recovery (BBC)
• Report: Wesley Hadsell says stepdaughter did not have heroin problem (Pilot Online)
• Western Isles opium castle given £4m Lottery boost (The Scotsman)
• Myanmar promotes success in opium poppy substitution (Myanmar Times)
• Merrimack holds community meeting to discuss growing heroin epidemic (WMUR 9 ABC)
• Northern York County was hub for heroin dealers, police say (YDR.com)
• Afghanistan increases opium production (WBFO)
• Afghan army general arrested for trafficking heroin: officials (Tribune)
• Opium in Afghanistan: A New High (The Economist)

General Psychedelics

• Psychedelic twisting tunnel is a new summer pavilion (Treehugger)
• Historic Meeting of the Remaining Matsés Elder Shamans Concludes with Completion of First Indigenous Medicine Encyclopedia (Acaté Amazon Conservation)
• Psychedelic Images Made By 'Dreaming Computer' Revealed by Google (Vocal Republic)
• How Britain's khat ban devastated an entire Kenyan town (The Guardian)
• Vine co-founder launches a psychedelic new app that captures the spirit of the early internet (Business Insider)
• The Revolutionary Potential of Psychedelics (Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies)
• Agony and Ecstasy in the Amazon: An Excerpt from 'Broad Street' (Notes from the Ethnoground)
• Dr. Gabor Maté: - Toxic Culture | How materialistic society makes us ill (iBogaine-Thailand)
• The Ten Lessons of Psychedelic Therapy, Rediscovered (Psychology Today)

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.

This Week in Psychedelics - 6.26.15

Image by Dahtamnay, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Meanwhile, this week in psychedelics...

Cannabis

• Inside the NYC cannabis convention (CBS News)
• Cannabis comes to Salinas in manufacturing form (Kion Right Now)
• Pot entrepreneurs fill Cannabis Invitational (KOIN.com)
• Cannabis business gets higher and higher at Cow Palace (SFGate)
• U.S. Cannabis Expo connects businesses and consumers while industry entrepreneurs share ideas (Fox 21 News)
• 'The biggest mistake in my life': caught in the cannabis dragnet for Mr Bigs (WA Today)
• UTech advancing ganja research with 'revolutionary' cannabis testing machine (Jamaica Observer)
• Government Study Casts Doubt on Legal Definitions of Stoned Driving (Reason)
• Canada Legalizes Medical Cannabis in All Forms (Cannabis Now Magazine)
• White House to Let Researchers Study Medical Marijuana for PTSD (Military.com)
• Marijuana Legalization 2015: Study Finds Cannabis Edibles Pack More (And Less) Punch Than Advertised (International Business Times)
• Cannabis relieves pain, says government (Swissinfo.ch)
• Some physicians concerned about cannabis oil use (I3WMAZ)
• Cannabis oil: Terminally-ill man appeals for drug derivative approval to prolong life (BBC News)

LSD

• LSD For Breakfast: The Key To A Great Day? (Huffington Post)
• Beach Boys' Brian Wilson says LSD 'expanded his mind' (Page Six)
• Work-in-progress 'LSD: The Opera' is powerful musical theatre (LA Times)
• Behold, the World's First Opera About LSD (VICE)

Psilocybin/Magic Mushrooms

• The Life Changing Effects of Magic Mushrooms and Why the Government Keeps this from You (The Free Thought Project)

MDMA

• Police and greater Glasgow health chiefs issue MDMA capsule warning (Clydebank Post)
• OK, let's look into MDMA then (Stuff.co.nz)
• Drug dealer used emojis to sell MDMA, court told (Daily Mail)
• Drug welfare groups advise MDMA users to 'crush-dab-wait' (Mixmag)
• Leo Schep: Ecstasy not the safe party drug advocates claim (The New Zealand Herald)
• ED doctor: John Key needs to do his homework on MDMA (Stuff.co.nz)
• Ecstasy users urged to test their own pills by drugs experts (Evening Times)
• Young women most at risk from ecstasy hospitalization (Mixmag)

Ayahuasca/DMT

• Study: Ayahuasca Drinkers Have Better Mental Health (Reset.me)

Iboga

• Detox or Die (iBogaine-Thailand)

Peyote/Mescaline

• Comanche Chief Quanah Parker Came to Big Bend Seeking Peyote (High Plains Public Radio)

Synthetic Cannabinoids

• Chasing the synthetic high: 'Legal' drugs are causing trouble for law enforcement (Las Vegas Sun)

Ketamine/Dissociatives

• Students Say Doc Forced Them To Drink, Take Ketamine, Examine His Penis (Gizmodo Australia)
• US doctor allegedly sexually abused trainees and injected them with ketamine (International Business Times)

Opiates

• Public forum targets youth heroin use (Pal-Item)
• TPI has expanded its Victorian opium poppy plantings (Stock & Land)
• Heroin epidemic presents new challenges to law enforcement in Manatee (Bradenton Herald)
• Heroin addiction endemic in promising sports stars (News.com.au)
• Heroin is the new crack, says Dauphin County district attorney detective (Lancaster Online)
• Lethbridge supports plan for opium poppy production facility (Calgary Herald)
• First-ever comprehensive online system to counter narcotics launches in Afghanistan (UN News Centre)
• Pure fentanyl sold as heroin causing increase in overdoses (The Roanoke Times)

General Psychedelics

• MAPS's Zendo Project has an Indiegogo campaign to raise money for psychedelic harm reduction. Please read and consider donating.
• This Therapist Advocates 'Going Down into the Basement' With Psychedelics (Bedford+Bowery)
• Sask[atchewan] medical historian sees renewed interest in psychedelic drugs (CBC News)
• Study: cannabis, pharmaceuticals, MDMA most exchanged goods on deep web (SC Magazine)

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.

This Week in Psychedelics - 6.19.15

Image by Dahtamnay, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Meanwhile, this week in psychedelics...

Cannabis

• Big Government-Supported Study Finds No Evidence That Medical Marijuana Laws Encourage Teenagers to Smoke Pot (Reason)
• Patient use of cannabis-based oils a new issue in recent Memorial Hospital changes (The Gazette)
• Canada's Supreme Court Outrages Bureaucrat by Letting Patients Have Their Cannabis and Eat It Too (Reason)
• Canada Just Legalized Cannabis Oils and Edibles (Leafly)
• NSW $12m medicinal cannabis research centre to 'lead the world' (The Guardian)
• Cannabis Oil Stopped This Child's Constant Seizures - Thanks To New Ruling, It's No Longer Illegal (The Inquisitr)
• No guidance from state as cannabis oil law takes effect (The Tennessean)
• Snoop Dogg's Cannabis-Focused Venture Capital Fund Is Called Casa Verde Capital (Forbes)
• The First Church of Cannabis: New religious group preaches the healing powers of pot (Mirror.co.uk)
• LA's Reigning Queen of Cannabis is a Pot 'Doctor' to the Stars (Jewish Daily Forward)
• At pot raid, cops allegedly ate edibles, threatened disabled staff (The Cannabist)
• Historic Senate Vote Tells DEA to Butt Out of Medical Marijuana States (Alternet)
• Nothin Medicinal about Marijuana (Unless it is 100% Organic) (Cannibad)
• Why We Still Don't Know Marijuana's Full Potential (Business Cheatsheet)
• Medical marijuana legal in all forms, [Canadian] Supreme Court rules (CBC.ca)
• Even in Colorado Medical Marijuana Can Still Get You Fired (Time)
• Cannabis May Cure Celiac Disease (Reset.me)
• At Cannabis Trade Show, Vendors Tread a Careful Line (NY Times)
• Cannabis WON'T harm your health as long as you stick to one small joint a week, scientists claim (Daily Mail)
• Gov. Markell Signs Delaware Marijuana Decriminalization Bill Into Law (Marijuana Policy Project)

LSD

• LSD, needle discovered during St. John's provincial court security screen (CBC.ca)
• Here's a video of soldiers trying to march after getting stoned on LSD (We Are The Mighty)
• Should You Be Eating LSD for Breakfast? (Munchies.VICE)

Psilocybin/Magic Mushrooms

• We Asked Some Balinese Shroom Dealers How They Stay Out Of Jail (VICE News)
• Psilocybin Is A True Teacher Plant If The Student Is Ready (Reset.me)
• Scientists helped smokers quit by giving them doses of a drug found in magic mushrooms (Quartz)

MDMA

• Woman Celebrating 19th Birthday Dies After Taking Molly at D.C. Music Venue, Police Say (NBC Washington)
• Doctor: Legalisation of pure MDMA should be considered (The New Zealand Herald)
• [New Zealand Prime Minister] John Key unconvinced by emergency doctor's call to legalise MDMA (The Dominion)
• From street drug to salvation? Early research suggests therapeutic benefits of party drug ecstasy (Boston.com)

Ayahuasca

• Yage Tourism: Vomiting and Visions in Colombia, Then Peace (Los Angeles Times)
• Lindsay Lohan reveals ayahuasca 'changed her life' as she speaks out for first time after completing probation (Mirror.co.uk)
• Is 'ayahuasca' Lindsay Lohan's new stress buster? (Financial Express)

DMT

• Can DMT Prolong Your Life? (Reset.me)

Iboga

• Iboga: "The plant that enables men see the dead" (iBogaine Thailand)

Synthetic Cannabinoids

• Increase in poisoning reveals dangers of 'synthetic marijuana,' CDC says (Los Angeles Times)
• D.C. to Target Drug Suppliers, Synthetic Drugs (NBC Washington)

Ketamine

• Package of ketamine from Cameroon leads to Saskatoon man's arrest (CBC.ca)

General Psychedelics

• One Hell of A Party: Pot, hash, ecstasy, molly, ice and cocaine seized in Yau Ma Tei (Coconuts Hong Kong)
• Connecting to the world through psychedelic drugs (New Internationalist)
• Could psychedelic drugs make smokers quit? (BBC)
• Microdosing: A New, Low-Key Way to Use Psychedelics (Alternet)

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 - 6.12.15

Image by Dahtamnay, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Meanwhile, this week in psychedelics:

• John Cusack on Psychedelic Drugs: 'I Did Do Acid and Mushrooms' (CelebStoner)
• Almost 20 kilos of ketamine seized by gardai in biggest ever haul of its kind (Irish Mirror)
• New substances added to prohibited drug list (GulfNews)
• Beach Boy's [sic] Brian Wilson talks past LSD use and hallucinogens (Examiner)
• Boy high on ketamine thinks his cast is the most amazing thing ever (Metro.co.uk)
• Dark web drug shopping: Fewer risks take users online to buy weed, LSD, and MDMA (International Business Times)
• The Psychoactive Substances Bill: An opportunity or threat for research? (The Guardian)
• Chris Christie Declares War On Drugs A 'Failure,' But Still Doesn't Think Recreational Pot Should Be Legal (Huffington Post)
• Study Finds Europeans Love to Get High — And Their Drugs Are Stronger and Purer Than Ever (VICE News)
• REVEALED: How ancient Philistines got WASTED on on LSD-like drugs 3,000 years ago (Express.co.uk)
• Pittsburgh Pirates: Dock Ellis' LSD-induced no hitter 45 years later (isportsweb)
• Hundreds Of People To Inhale Nitrous Oxide Outside Parliament In Protest At New Drug Law (BuzzFeed News)
• Why ketamine is such a powerful antidepressant (International Business Times)
• Army doctor who trained U.S. troops suspended for macabre, ketamine-assisted sexual experiments (Boing Boing)
• Tour America's First All-Inclusive Marijuana Ranch Resort (Curbed Ski)
• Charges against Garden City mother enflame cannabis community (The Garden City Telegram)
• Cannabis Is Not Causing California's Drought (Reset.me)
• Third Eye Sees All: Dr. Ben Sessa On Psychedelic Drugs (The Quietus)
• How MDMA Could Piece Back Together Lives Shattered in Iraq (Mic.com)
• Global Drug Survey Releases Findings For 2015 (Your EDM)
• DMT: The Drug In All of Us (News 24)
• Cannabis church puts down root, seeds in new home (USA Today)
• Bay Area lawyers launch Cannabis Bar Association (Mercury News)
• Desperate Parents Of Autistic Children Trying Cannabis Despite Lack Of Studies (Forbes)
• Ketamine is actually an anti-depressant (Metro.co.uk)
• Aldous Huxley's wife wrote this letter about injecting him with LSD right before he died (Plaid Letter)
• MDMA: A Prescription for the Police? (SmartDrugSmarts)
• Chelsea Handler Is Going To Do Hallucinogenic Drugs For Her Netflix Series (Vulture)
• How Psilocybin Improves Your Brain (Reset.me)

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.