Weekly Psychedelic Links

This Week in Psychedelics - 8.14.15

Image by Dahtamnay, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Image by Dahtamnay, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Cannabis

  • Texas cops smell weed in black woman's car so they stick hand up her vagina in public (Boing Boing)
  • Was William Shakespeare high when he penned his plays? (The Independent)
  • Scientists Detect Traces of Cannabis on Pipes Found in Shakespeare's Garden (Time)
  • To inhale or not to inhale: Was Shakespeare a cannabis user? (Alaska Dispatch News)
  • Sheriffs are asking for armored trucks to wage war on marijuana. Yes, really. (The Washington Post)
  • Scientists speak out against false cannabis claims (International Centre for Science in Drug Policy)
  • Berlin's Hanfparade: For pot, against harsh drug laws (Deutsche Welle)
  • ResponsibleOhio Initiative Qualifies For The 2015 November Ballot (NORML)
  • Phily420: Marijuana arrests down 73 percent (Philly.com)
  • Unionizing cannabis workers (Glens Falls Post-Star)
  • Study shows medical cannabis not linked to rise in illegal recreational use (The Jerusalem Post)
  • Coming, a weight-loss pill from cannabis (The Times of India)
  • Renewed calls for Tasmanian medical cannabis trials to include larger scope of patients (ABC Online)
  • Eight courses high and rising: Amsterdam's gourmet marijuana dining experience (The Guardian)
  • We Must Separate Fact From Fiction in the Cannabis Debate (The Huffington Post)
  • 17% drop in police raids on cannabis farms (BBC)
  • Panelists discuss medical cannabis at forum in Ellwood City (Times Online)
  • Dutch company E-Njoint develops cannabis e-cigarette (International Business Times)
  • Gourmet Marijuana, Anyone? (Health Aim)
  • Tacoma Armory to host marijuana trade show and seminars — and a cannabis competition (The News Tribune)
  • 2nd search warrant served on Charlo Greene's Alaska Cannabis Club (Alaska Dispatch News)
  • Senate committee backs medical cannabis (9news.com.au)
  • Marijuana Lifer Jeff Mizanskey Will Be Free Soon (Reason Magazine)
  • Can a Tolerance Break Rejuvenate the Effects of Cannabis? (Leafly)
  • Lt. Gov. Newsom: California will legalize cannabis in 2016 (SF Gate)

LSD

  • LSD Enhances Emotional Responses to Music (The Beckley Foundation)
  • Jersey Cops Are Seriously Angry About Trey Brasher's LSD-Laced Gummy Bears (Westword)
  • Terence Blacker: How an LSD trip changed my life for good when I was lost (The Independent)
  • LSD enhances the emotional response to music (Springer)
  • Miley Cyrus Talks Double Standards In Music: 'Kendrick Lamar Sings About LSD And He's Cool' (Design & Trend)
  • A New Pair Of Mood Glasses Was Designed By An Artist; LSD Hallucinations Are Simulated Once Worn — Would You Wear It? (iSchoolGuide)

Psilocybin/Magic Mushrooms

  • Russia bans all of Reddit over a single 'shroom thread (Engadget)
  • 920 Coalition for Psilocybin Research Awareness Announces First Dates (Reality Sandwich)
  • It's A Crime Against Society That Psilocybin Is Not More Accessible And Accepted (Reset.me)
  • Can magic mushrooms cure schizophrenia? (New Zealand Herald)
  • Fired drugs tsar Professor David Nutt to lead £250k study on effects of mushrooms (Daily Mail)
  • Healing trip: therapeutic effect of magic mushrooms (Sentinel Republic)

MDMA/Ecstasy

  • Anti-MDMA Campaign Warns Teens About Dangers Of Feeling More Connected To Others (The Onion)
  • Ravers Rally to Fight Proposed Party Ban (Los Angeles Weekly)
  • The Man Who Took 40000 Ecstasy Tablets in His 20s (New York Magazine)
  • Teen who nearly died taking drugs at music festival releases coma photo as warning (The Telegraph)
  • MDMA, Cocaine Sales Help Dark Net Drug Sites Make Over $100 Million Annually, Without Shuttered Silk Road (International Business Times)
  • 'Rolls Royce ecstasy': Police warning to clubbers over dangerous batch of pills linked to death of reveller (Mirror)
  • Molly drug usage increases throughout Florida (WWSB ABC 7)
  • Calgary EMS takes 17 to hospital for substance abuse at Chasing Summer music festival (Calgary Sun)
  • Whiting: 'Party drugs', summer heat and secrets are a deadly mix (The Orange County Register)

Ayahuasca/DMT

  • An Introduction to 'Ayahuasca: An Executive's Enlightenment' by Michael Sanders (Evolve and Ascend)
  • Interview With A Former Opium Addict Who Found Salvation Through Ayahuasca (Reset.me)

Peyote/Mescaline

  • "Religious Freedom" as a Shield and a Sword: Tensions Between Conflicting Rights (Jurist)

Iboga/Ibogaine

Salvia Divinorum

  • Order Amending Schedule IV to the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (Gazette du Canada)

Synthetic Cannabinoids/Psychoactive Research Chemicals

  • How this chemist unwittingly helped spawn the synthetic drug industry (Washington Post)
  • NYC Sees Surge in Synthetic Pot Use, With Dire Consequences (Time)
  • NYPD Stop Lying! Here's How to Handle "Synthetic Marijuana" (Drug Policy Alliance)
  • NYPD uses PCP as poster child for synthetic marijuana (Watchdog)
  • Tackling the synthetic marijuana crisis (Pix 11)

Dissociatives

Opiates

Miscellaneous Psychedelics/Psychoactives/Drug Policy

  • Meet the People Who Want to Make It Safer to Take Drugs at Festivals (Rolling Stone)
  • Narcotic drugs for 'magic brews' found at Turkish archaeological site (International Business Times)
  • The Ban On Kava And The Bogus Liver Damage Scare (Reset.me)
  • A Guide to Synesthesia 2015: Denver's Premier Psychedelic Showcase (Westword)
  • World's Most Precious Gemstone Looks Like a Psychedelic Dildo (Cosmopolitan)
  • FunBITS: Do Computers Dream of Psychedelic Bears? (TidBITS)
  • Risking Your Life On Psychedelics: How Injury-Prone Will You Be? (Newswire)
  • A psychedelic horror game inspired by the great masters of art (VG 24/7)

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 - 8.7.15

Image by Dahtamnay, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Image by Dahtamnay, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Cannabis

  • Exclusive: Justice Department Admits Misleading Congress on Marijuana Vote (Marijuana.com)
  • 2016: The Marijuana Election (Newsweek)
  • Congress' Summer Fling With Marijuana: How Congress turned on the DEA and embraced weed. (Politico)
  • Marijuana: From Demonization to Legalization to Celebration (Nation of Change)
  • New York State Awards 5 Medical Marijuana Licenses (The New York Times)
  • 1st legal medical pot sold in Nevada 15 years after approved (WBNS 10TV)
  • Is it time to legalize marijuana in sports? (The San Diego Union-Tribune)
  • Budding Movements in Canada and US Vow to Bring 'Sacrament' of Cannabis to the Masses (VICE)
  • DEA Destroyed Medical Cannabis (Santa Fe Reporter)
  • Big Pharma-Produced Cannabis Is Likely Coming To The U.S. (Huffington Post)
  • Research Shows CBD Combats Social Anxiety (Collective-Evolution)
  • Pot legalization defies party lines (Burlington Free Press)
  • Federal bankers: No account for Colo. cannabis credit union (USA Today)
  • Medicinal cannabis likely in New Zealand by 2016 (Stuff.co.nz)
  • Teen Marijuana Use Not Linked to Later Depression, Lung Cancer, Other Health Problems, Research Finds (American Psychological Association)
  • Massachusetts marijuana groups seek pot legalization vote (Reuters)
  • Philly420: Marijuana, PTSD and Pennsylvania (Philly.com)
  • Portland's World Famous Cannabis Cafe opens to packed house (Oregon Live)
  • Free cannabis handed out to veterans at Denver rally (KDVR Fox 31 Denver)
  • The Register's Editorial: Law creates cannabis oil craziness (The Des Moines Register)
  • Michigan Medical Marijuana Panel Approves Autism, A Step Closer To Cannabis For Autistic Kids (Inquisitr)
  • Experts Predict Oregon Cannabis Industry Will Be Worth Nearly $500 Million in Five Years (MarketWatch)
  • Bud and Breakfasts and 420 Tours: Denver sees a cannabis 'gold rush' (The Guardian)
  • Memphis Cop Was Killed After Interrupting $20 Pot Deal (Alternet)
  • Woman Successfully Treats Stage 4 Kidney Cancer And Celiac Disease With Cannabis Oil (Reset.me)
  • Cannabis ban bends under corporate, congressional and medicinal pressure (The Telegraph)
  • Texas cannabis capitalists are ready to seed the soil (Sharon Herald)
  • MP Tathagata Satpathy's pitch: Make cannabis legal, why ban porn (The Indian Express)

LSD

  • Why Did My Grandmother Try LSD For Multiple Sclerosis In The 1960s? (Forbes)
  • Boulder Police Fear LSD Use Rising (MSN)
  • 20-year-old man fighting for life after 'accidental LSD drugs overdose' (Lancashire Telegraph)
  • Young man in 'LSD coma' after being rushed to hospital suffering from hallucinations and seizures (Mirror)
  • Man left fighting for life after suspected LSD overdose as popularity of hippy acid soars (Daily Star)
  • Colorado man mailed LSD-infused candy to customers in N.J., cops say (NJ.com)
  • Narcotics Cell baffled as LSD flows into city (The Hindu)
  • Mood glasses designed by Bence Agoston simulate psychedelic hallucinations of LSD (Daily Mail)

Psilocybin/Magic Mushrooms

  • Psilocybin Switches Off Part Of Brain That Causes Depression — But Current Laws Interfere With Research (Reset.me)

MDMA

  • From Gary to Molly: The Feminization of Ecstasy in Popular Culture (Thump)
  • The Agony Of The Ecstasy (Science 2.0)
  • No place for Ecstasy at music festivals: Cops (Toronto Sun)
  • Ban on Raves Proposed After Teens Die at HARD Festival (Los Angeles Weekly)
  • Ban on Raves to Be Studied by L.A. County (Los Angeles Weekly)
  • Top Italian nightclub closed for four months after 'ecstasy death' (The Guardian)
  • Toby Fairclough, 17, dies of ecstasy overdose during exam celebrations (Daily Mail)
  • The trouble with Molly: thought safe, but can be risky (Delaware Online)

Ayahuasca/DMT

Peyote/Mescaline

  • Huachuma (San Pedro Cactus) — Healing The Spirit And Body (Reset.me)
  • Should inmates be allowed to use peyote for religious purposes? (Indy Star)

Salvia Divinorum

  • Harper Government Moves Forward to Regulate Salvia (Pharmi Web)

Synthetic Cannabinoids/Psychoactive Research Chemicals

  • At Her Majesty's pleasure: Legal highs are rife in jails; new laws won't help much (The Economist)
  • New menace on campus: Cheap and 'effective' Meow Meow keeps cops on their toes (Firstpost)
  • New Jersey legislator pushes to outlaw emerging synthetic drug (Newsworks)
  • NYPD video on fake pot effects showed man on PCP: ex-cop (New York Daily News)

Dissociatives

  • Depression researchers halt ketamine clinical trial amid funding battle (ABC.net.au)
  • Protesters mass inhale nitrous oxide outside Parliament in demonstration against Psychoactive Substances Bill (International Business Times)
  • Banning laughing gas is a serious matter. The balloon protest treats it as a joke (The Guardian)
  • Burnt ketamine new go-to for drug-test dodgers - study (Bangkok Post)
  • Lockbox Full of Drugs Missing From Irving Animal Services (NBC 5 Dallas-Fort-Worth)

Opiates

  • How opium poppies process morphine revealed for the first time (Digital Journal)
  • New DEA Chief: 'Heroin Is Clearly More Dangerous Than Marijuana' (Huffington Post)
  • 'Fair trade' cocaine and 'conflict-free' opium: the future of online drug marketing (The Hamilton Spectator)
  • Coroner warns of poppy dangers after opium tea kills Dane in Tasmania (The Guardian)
  • Gov. council member proposes decriminalizing heroin (Boston Herald)
  • Washington County judge says heroin addicts fare better in treatment than prison (Tribune-Review)
  • Tainted heroin increasing across St. Louis area (KMOV)
  • Perfect storm rains heroin, pain pills onto Mon Valley (Tribune-Review)
  • Hassan, Shaheen, judges, police gather to discuss heroin issue in NH (WMUR)
  • Combating the Rising Use of Heroin in City, Suburbs (WTTW Chicago Tonight)
  • Portland mobilizes as opiate abuse, overdose cases grow (Portland Press Herald)
  • Sandy heroine becomes latest victim of heroin overdose (USA Today)

General Psychedelics

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 - 7.31.15

Image by Dahtamnay, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Image by Dahtamnay, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Cannabis

  • 10 Reasons Why Federal Medical Marijuana Prohibition Is About To Go Up In Smoke (Alternet)
  • Almost Half Of The U.S. Has Smoked Cannabis (Reset.me)
  • Here's What Marijuana Does To Your Bladder (attn:)
  • PotBotics: better cannabis recommendations through science (Engadget)
  • Debunking One of the Most Pernicious Pot Myths (Alternet)
  • Banking for Pot Industry Hits a Roadblock (The New York Times)
  • Australia may legalize medical marijuana in August (RT)
  • Marijuana Legalization In Italy: 250 Italian Lawmakers Support Cannabis Decriminalization Proposal (International Business Times)
  • Turnaround in Health Ministry will allow sales of medical cannabis in pharmacies (The Jerusalem Post)
  • Medical marijuana one step closer in Queensland (The Age)
  • Cannabis decriminalized in Delaware (Culture Magazine)
  • Cannabis petition forces MPs to consider debating legalisation (The Guardian)
  • Durham has 'decriminalised' cannabis. About time too (The Guardian)
  • New DEA Leader: Pot Probably Not as Bad as Heroin (US News)
  • iPhone app helps weed smokers know if they're too high to drive (Business Insider)
  • Olympia Hempfest offers high times for legal-cannabis crowd (The Seattle Times)
  • The burning conservative case for legalising cannabis (The Guardian)
  • Medical cannabis trial: First details revealed (The Sydney Morning Herald)
  • Cannabis industry insiders talk to their kids about pot (Columbia Daily Tribune)
  • UK: Legalise cannabis petition reaches 150,000 signatures (International Business Times)
  • Edgbaston turns to their cannabis lamps (ESPNcricinfo)
  • Holy smoke: cannabis churches extol 'sacrament' of marijuana (The Guardian)
  • Drone Delivers Bitcoin-Purchased Cannabis in California (Coindesk)
  • For cannabis apps, the road to the app store is paved with rejection (Yahoo Finance)
  • World Famous Cannabis Cafe to reopen Friday in Portland (Oregon Live)
  • Cannabis: Derbyshire, Dorset and Surrey police will no longer seek to arrest pot growers and smokers (International Business Times UK)

LSD

  • Why Young Brits Are Taking So Much LSD and Ecstasy (VICE)
  • Microdosing: Is LSD the Shortcut to a Good Day at Work? (Inverse)
  • LSD: The Opera: Psychedelics Hit the Stage (Alternet)
  • LSD played role in Boulder student's deathly confrontation with police (Fox31 Denver)
  • Police: 'Bad batch' of LSD could be going around Boulder County (Boulder Daily Camera)

Psilocybin/Magic Mushrooms

  • David Nutt: Why Banning LSD and Magic Mushrooms is the Worst Censorship of Medicine in World History (Psychedelic Press UK)
  • Psilocybin Mushrooms — Healing From Childhood Trauma And My Spiritual Rebirth (Reset.me)

MDMA

  • Psychedelics changed the way a mother and daughter experienced death (Boston.com)
  • Molly, a form of MDMA or ecstasy, can cause fatal reactions (The Washington Post)
  • Ecstasy is back - how will Cameron's creaking drug policy cope? (The Guardian)
  • Mother of university student who died after trying ecstasy for the first time blames 'peer pressure' for his death (Mirror)
  • Molly in the news: Details about the EDC death, and a new report on ecstasy (Las Vegas Weekly)

Ayahuasca/DMT

Iboga

  • Information Update - Unauthorized natural health product "Remogen" containing ibogaine and the risk of abnormal heart rhythms (Newswire)

Peyote/Mescaline

  • Utah tribal church cites 'religious liberty' in fight against ban on using peyote in ceremonies (Raw Story)

Synthetic Cannabinoids/Psychoactive Research Chemicals

  • A Drug Hits Cycling Before It Hits The Market (The New York Times)
  • Family member of teen who died from taking N-bomb discusses dealer's sentencing (Daily Journal)

Dissociatives

  • Antigonish ER doc doubts Evolve patrons drugged with PCP-laced glove (The Chronicle Herald)
  • Could 'horse tranquiliser' be a rapid treatment for depression? (Health24)
  • Allergan To Buy Antidepressant Maker For $560 Million With Hopes Of Preventing Suicides (Forbes)
  • South Africa: Could Ketamine Be a Rapid Treatment for Depression? (All Africa)
  • Woman high on PCP, choked by police, settles with Chicopee (WWLP)
  • Brit feeds Ibiza seagull Ketamine-laced chip (Olive Press)

Opiates

  • The DEA chief said heroin is "probably" more dangerous than pot. Drop the probably, dude. (Vox)
  • Afghanistan: Still the King of Opium (Foreign Policy)
  • Digital eyes to watch over Asia's biggest opium processing plant in Neemuch (Hindustan Times)
  • In Myanmar, Replacing Poppy Plants with Coffee (VOA Learning English)
  • A heroin addict takes a long path to sobriety (Capital Gazette)
  • State program to fight heroin crisis (The Columbus Dispatch)
  • Heroin infiltrating new portion of Bear County population (KSAT)
  • Ohio county hit by heroin gets $100,000 to fight problem (WLWT)
  • Despite strategies, heroin deaths up (Journal-News)
  • A poor man's heroin (Fosters)
  • Heroin use on the rise in Lynchburg area, throughout Virginia (The News & Advance)
  • Falmouth family suffers heroin's tragic toll (Portland Press Herald)
  • Heroin use soars in the suburbs (WKBW)
  • Lawmakers consider how to stem heroin epidemic at its source (CBS News)
  • Authorities investigating four heroin overdoses that killed three in past week (Lebanon Daily News)
  • Efforts To Curb The Nation's Deadly Heroin Epidemic (The Diane Rehm Show)
  • Cortisol a Treatment for Heroin Addiction (Medscape)
  • People looking to score heroin, interrupt police raid of house suspected of drug dealing (Fox 2 Now)
  • Taunton son and mother facing charges they ran heroin distribution ring, federal officials say (Boston Globe)

General Psychedelics

  • The most convincing argument for legalizing LSD, shrooms, and other psychedelics (Vox)
  • Psychedelic Drugs Linked to Reduction in Psychological Distress, Suicide Attempts (MD Magazine)
  • How do you know you're going to have a bad trip? (Hopes and Fears)
  • Psychedelia in Film & TV #1: INtrospeC(EP)TION (The Psychosis of a Seventeen Year Old)

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 - 7.24.15

Image by Dahtamnay, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Image by Dahtamnay, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Cannabis

  • Marijuana can help heal a broken bone ... and make it stronger (Fox News)
  • White House Report: War on Weed Targets Race (Recreator)
  • Seniors Are Seeking Out States Where Marijuana is Legal (Money.com)
  • Marijuana Is a Wonder Drug When It Comes to the Horrors of Chemo (Newsweek)
  • Reefer Madness, an Unfortunate Redux (NY Times)
  • Washington Passes Open Container Law for Marijuana (Newsweek)
  • Kansas Man Facing Felony Murder Charge for Telling an Acquaintance Where he Could Find Marijuana (Alternet)
  • First-ever cannabis commercial to air on American TV (MarketWatch)
  • Top Ten New Technology Opportunities in Legal Cannabis (Forbes)
  • Oregon Will Likely Have The Most Saturated Cannabis Industry In The Nation (The Weed Blog)
  • CBD oils - a strain of medical marijuana - now legal in North Carolina (WNCN)
  • Cannabis oil given to Alex Renton before Government approval (Stuff.co.nz)
  • Rose Renton 'left with no choice' but to give son cannabis treatment illegally (Stuff.co.nz)
  • Behind the Prescription: Medical Cannabis in Minnesota (WDAZ)
  • Parkinson's Disease And The Potential Of Cannabis Therapy (Reset.me)
  • Cannabis rules lead to parking lot dosing for Iowa boy (USA Today)
  • Police are 'turning a blind eye' to cannabis across the country, experts claim (The Telegraph)
  • Republicans are softening their stance on marijuana (MarketWatch)
  • More Than Four in 10 Americans Say They Have Tried Marijuana (Gallup)

LSD

  • Man who may have been on LSD dies after being hogtied by police (UPI)
  • Man who died after 'Widespread Panic' concert thought to have overdosed on LSD (WMC Action News 5)
  • Ecstasy and LSD use reaches new high among young (The Guardian)

MDMA

  • MDMA (Ecstasy): Facts, Effects and Hazards (Medical News Today)
  • What is Molly? A new drug takes to the streets (Valdosta Today)
  • Recreational amphetamines such as ecstasy can make hard work of sex (AFR)
  • 'Molly' a Growing Problem in Tallahassee (WCTV)
  • Amy Thomson: Teen fighting for life after collapsing at 'ecstasy party' emerges from coma (Mirror.co.uk)
  • Jose Baxter tells of how an ecstasy pill nearly ruined his Sheffield United career (Daily Mail)
  • Nelson man dies after taking ecstasy (BBC)
  • Death at EDCLV 2015 Ruled As Overdose By Clark County Coroner (YourEDM)
  • Ecstasy Blamed in Death of Electric Daisy Carnival Las Vegas Attendee (L.A. Weekly)
  • Ecstasy use by young people surges to highest level for a decade (Belfast Telegraph)

Ayahuasca/DMT

  • Do Entities From Another Universe Inhabit the Brains of Psychedelic DMT Users? (Alternet)
  • Personal Story: How I Found My Life Purpose With Ayahuasca (Reset.me)

Peyote/Mescaline

  • Religious liberty rally at State Capitol calls on Utah to end ban on peyote use in sacrament (Fox 13 Now)

Dissociatives

  • Did this man feed ketamine to a seagull (Metro News)
  • Josh Greenwood Gets Death Threats After Posting Video Showing Seagull Being Fed 'Ketamine' (Huffington Post)
  • New compound may treat depression rapidly with few side effects (Digital Journal)
  • The Future Of Antidepressants Is Coming Very Slowly—But What's The Holdup? (Bustle)

Opiates

  • Lethally Potent 'Fake Heroin' No Longer Enjoys a Legal Loophole (VICE)
  • Every Drug Court Should Allow Methadone Treatment (NY Times)
  • How the Media is Fueling the So-Called Opioid Overdose Epidemic (Rehabs.com)
  • Fentanyl intensifies fight against heroin (Rutland Herald)
  • In Myanmar, Some Farmers Drop Poppies For Coffee Beans (Voice of America)
  • Punjab to Approach Madhya Pradesh High Court for Opium Ban (NDTV)
  • Christie signs bill strengthening opioid abuse prevention program (NJ.com)
  • Heroin Epidemic: State Lawmakers Want Changes to Narcan Laws (WGRZ)
  • After police give anti-overdose drug to heroin users, what's [sic] happens next? (York Daily Record)
  • Heroin delivery in Great Kills: 'It's just everywhere' (SI Live)
  • Afghanistan: Helmand's drug abuse problem (BBC)
  • Heroin overdose deaths continue to climb in Madison Co. (The Herald-News)
  • Why Heroin Use Is Surging Among Women And What To Do About It (Forbes)
  • Plantwatch: The pharmacy flourishing in gardens and fields (The Guardian)
  • Heroin becomes growing problem (The Journal Gazette)
  • Metro Detroit batles its latest scourge: Heroin (Detroit Free Press)
  • Heroin deaths rise sharply in Connecticut (WTNH)
  • The Heroin Heroine of Reddit (Backchannel)
  • Heroin overdoses continue to rise in St. Louis (KSDK)

General Psychedelics

  • Psychedelic Microdosing: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (Clapway)
  • Psychedelic Dugs Redux: Don't Leapfrog the Research (Medscape)
  • Police letters warn Facebook drug dealers they're being watched (Stuff.co.nz)
  • Hippies, Yippies, Zippies and Beatnicks - A Conversation with Dana Beal (The Stoned Society)
  • The Heretic [Profile of James Fadiman] (The Morning News)
  • Here are some of the favorite drugs used by history's greatest geniuses (BGR)
  • The Zendo Project Works Toward Psychedelic Harm Reduction (Care2 Healthy Living)
  • Should We Be Able To Test Pills At Clubs And Festivals? (Unilad)
  • LSD Effects without LSD? 3D Printed 'MOOD' Glasses Provide Psychedelic Visuals (3DPrint.com)

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 - 7.17.15

Image by Dahtamnay, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Image by Dahtamnay, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Note: This week's edition of This Week in Psychedelics includes some "makeup" links to articles that were published toward the end of last week. This is because I was on vacation during that time, and wanted to present the links, albeit one week late.

Cannabis

  • Teenagers using less marijuana in age of legalization (Philly)
  • Italy takes step toward legalizing pot (Politico)
  • How medical marijuana could literally save lives (Washington Post)
  • Man Cures Colon Cancer With Cannabis Oil (Reset.me)
  • Church of Cannabis suit raises religious liberty issues (The Indianapolis Star)
  • The New Green Building Trend is Bricks of Cannabis. Really. (Time)
  • Sexxpot: Low THC Strain is Natural Viagra for Women (The Stoners Cookbook)
  • Cannabis treatment teen Alex Renton 'sparked national debate' (Nelson Mail)
  • Cannabis oil offers local mom, son, a new life (Gainesville Times)
  • Cannabis Found To Heal Broken Bones, But Schedule 1 Status Makes Further Research Into Medical Marijuana Difficult (Medical Daily)
  • The World's Largest Medical Marijuana Dispensary vs. One Rogue Prosecutor (Reason)
  • On 'The Marijuana Show' It's Cannabis Companies Meet 'Shark Tank' With $10 Million At Stake (Forbes)
  • Cannabis is Now a Full-Fledged Industry (Wall Street Daily)
  • Legislator who pushed medical marijuana bill hired by cannabis firm (Star Tribune)
  • Canadian company is developing a 'breathalyzer' for pot (Engadget)
  • Cannabis conference hosted in Tampa Saturday (My Fox Tampa Bay)
  • Cannabis picnic move to Portsmouth family event branded 'socially irresponsible' (Portsmouth.co.uk)

LSD

  • Everyone is talking about medical marijuana, but what about LSD? (The Daily Texan)
  • For Some, Tiny LSD Hits Are Like Cup Of Coffee (Newser)
  • Acid Hype: American News Media and the Psychedelic Experience (Pop Matters)
  • Court documents: Teens took LSD before drowning (WISHTV)

Psilocybin/Magic Mushrooms

  • Watch: Psilocybin Helps Terminal Cancer Patients Find New Ways Of Coping (Reset.me)
  • Who Needs Google's Dreaming Robot? Just Eat Some Shrooms Instead (Gizmodo)

MDMA

  • Could ecstasy be a potential treatment for PTSD? (Maclean's)
  • Experts in Australia are calling for MDMA legalization (Dancing Astronaut)
  • Utilizing MDMA to treat Post-Traumatic-Stress-Disorder (RYOT)
  • Party drug 'molly' blamed for death of Colorado Springs teen (KDVR)
  • Director Of Poison Center Warns Against Drug Molly, Causes 'Total Body Breakdown' (CBS Denver)
  • Molly will mess up your brain (WALB)

Ayahuasca/DMT

  • Meet the Man Trying to Use Ayahuasca to Treat PTSD (attn:)
  • I've found a drug so amazing I'm quitting NYC and sex to do it full time (New York Post)

Iboga

  • Old Age, New Age, and the Age to come... From religious fervour to an addict's saviour, iBogaine Thailand charts the uses of iBoga and iBogaine (iBogaine Thailand)

Peyote/Mescaline

  • No links this week

Salvia Divinorum

  • Hallucinogenic salvia set to be banned in Canada (Global News)

Synthetic Cannabinoids/Psychoactive Research Chemicals

  • Spike Nation: Cheap, unpredictable and hard to regulate, synthetic marijuana has emergency responders scrambling to save lives (NY Times)
  • Lawmakers take aim at designer drugs (WRAL)

Dissociatives

  • The Ketamine Connection (BBC)
  • Aura Medical Corporation: Clinics offering ketamine injections to treat depression blame negative publicity for closures (ABC)
  • Patient death after ketamine overdose spurs changes at UVMMC (VT Digger)

Opiates

  • US Reports Surge In Heroin Use: Bumper Opium Crop In Afghanistan To Spurt Supply (International Business Times)
  • Heroin Use Surges, Especially Among Women And Whites (NPR)
  • Heroin use skyrockets, especially among young white men (San Francisco Chronicle)
  • Researchers discover how opium poppies synthesize morphine (EurekAlert!)
  • For Families Of Heroin Addicts, Comfort Comes In Sharing Their Stories (NPR)
  • More deadly doses of heroin laced with fentanyl flood drug market (Capital Gazette)
  • A war against opium (The Hindu)
  • Obituaries Shed Euphemisms to Chronicle Toll of Heroin (NY Times)
  • New CDC Report Shows Large Spikes In Heroin Abuse And Deaths (Huffington Post)
  • N.J. heroin overdose death rate is triple the soaring U.S. rate (NJ.com)
  • Officials warn of new flesh-eating form of heroin (WTAE)
  • Heroin Deaths Jump In Connecticut; Push Past 300 In 2014 (Hartford Courant)
  • Sister raises awareness at vigil for twin who died of heroin (York Daily Record)
  • Investigators Warn New Additive to Heroin is Lethal (WBAY)
  • Sarasota seeing sharp spike in heroin overdoses (WFLA)

General Psychedelics

  • Is the ban on psychedelic drugs an infringement of human rights? (Tyler Daniel Black's Blog)
  • How Ecstasy, Aspirin, and LSD Look Under the Microscope (Wired)
  • 'Smiles': the history of the 2C designer drug class (The Verge)
  • The Bunk Police Are Risking Prison to Bring Drug Testing Kits to Music Festivals (Thump)
  • Abstinence-only drug education kills young people (The Branding Iron)
  • "Trust" in Therapeutic Relationship Key to Moderating Psychedelic Risks (Mad in America)

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.