This Week in Psychedelics - 2.5.16

Image by Dahtamnay, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Cannabis

• Americans spent more on legal pot last year than on Cheetos, Doritos (The Denver Post)
• British Company Developing Field Sobriety Test for Marijuana (ATTN:)
• Legal Marijuana Sales Projected to Reach $6.7 Billion in 2016 (TIME)
• Hillary Clinton Just Gave an Underwhelming Response to a Question About Medical Marijuana (ATTN:)
• Facebook is deleting medical marijuana pages (Engadget)
• Annual Arrests for Marijuana in NYC Drop From Nearly 51,000 in 2011 to Under 17,000 in 2015 (The Huffington Post)
• See Inside the Himalayan Villages That Grow Cannabis (National Geographic)
• Organic Cannabis? One Colorado Hemp Farm Has Earned The USDA's Blessing (KUNC)
• Man tries to buy 12-year-old's fish with fake pot, police say (CBC)
• Cannabis-based vagina suppositories the latest invention to help ease period pain (International Business Times)
• Ricky Williams explains his belief that cannabis can help NFL players (CBS Sports)
• Utah Mom Risks It All To Treat Daughter With Cannabis (Reset.me)
• Obama Punts on Cannabis Reform (Leafly)
• Marijuana Federalists Lead the Republican Field (Reason)
• How Much Money Marijuana Will Make This Year (ATTN:)
• Phoenix Open Billboard Says Buds Are Safer Than Bud (or Coors) (Reason)
• Dad Uses Cannabis Oil To Treat Three Year Old Epileptic Daughter (Collective Evolution)
• Wiz Khalifa Announces Partnership With RiverRock Cannabis for New Product Line (Billboard)
• 5 Tips for Hosting a Fabulous (and Safe) Cannabis Wedding (Leafly)
• Vermont Marijuana Legalization: Recreational Cannabis Bill Moves Forward In Senate Committee (International Business Times)
• Marley Natural's Elegant Pot Gear Is For Smokers Who Say 'Whoa Sir', Not 'Whoa Dude' (WIRED)
• Study reveals smoking cannabis ruins your vocabulary in later life (Mirror)
• Cannabis use dulls the brain, but are effects long-term? (OregonLive)
• Revealed... the impact of cannabis laws so far: Use of marijuana is increasing among adults - but DECREASING in teens (Daily Mail)

LSD

• LSD: My Life-Saving Drug (GQ)
• The Turing-Acid Test (Reality Sandwich)
• LSD to increase focus and creativity (The Spectator)
• Libertarian U.S. Senate candidate Augustus Sol Invictus admits LSD use, describes experiences in journals (Florida Politics)
• Fireside Chatter: LSD isn't all that bad (The Daily Beacon)
• Homeowner: Teen who entered home, high on LSD, ate glass from a window he shattered (newsnet5)
• Longmont man arrested in July LSD incident nabbed again after disturbance. (Longmont Times-Call)

Psilocybin/Magic Mushrooms

• Could Aggressive Coyotes In California Be Tripping On 'Shrooms? (Inquisitr)

MDMA/Ecstasy

• One in five 'legal highs' contain illegal substances - but nearly half of ecstasy tablets don't have any MDMA, report reveals (WalesOnline)
• Blac Chyna found with ecstasy during airport arrest (Page Six)
• Effects of MDMA Injections on the Behavior of Socially-Housed Long-Tailed Macaques (PLOS ONE)
• Blac Chyna Swears The Ecstasy Wasn't Hers, Doesn't Pack Own Bags (Hip-Hop Wired)
• Does Past Ecstasy Use Make Noah Spence Too Risky to Pick in 1st Round? (Breitbart)
• Drug dealer who supplied MDMA to tragic Whitstable teenager jailed for three years (Kent News)
• Two arrested for ecstasy, molly after raid on Buffalo barber shop, home (WIVB)
• Man rammed cars while high on ecstasy, police say (Albany Times Union)
• DRUGS DOG FINDS MDMA (The Leader)

Ayahuasca/DMT

• A Closer Look At That "First Legal Ayahuasca Church In America" Story You've Seen Hyped In The Media (Reset.me)
• Why Addiction Expert Dr. Gabor Maté Treats His Patients with Ayahuasca (Psychedelic Times)

Synthetic Cannabinoids/Psychoactive Research Chemicals

• Police issue synthetic cannabis warning as teen dies, two more critically ill (The Sydney Morning Herald)
• The shocking truth about 'synthetic' cannabis: Hallucinations that convince users they're dead and 100 times more potent than real marijuana (Daily Mail)

Dissociatives

• Could Ketamine be the Ultimate Cure for Depression? (Newsweek)
• Ketamine Might Be The Cure For Severe Depression (Your EDM)
• Party drug ketamine may soon show it can do what others can't (Stuff.co.nz)
• Police Raid Results in One of Edmonton's Largest Ketamine Busts (THUMP)
• Novel Route for Ketamine in the Treatment of MDD (Psychiatric Times)
• Ketamine could be most effective cure for severe depression (Mixmag)
• Police: Liquid PCP found on man after arrest (Asbury Park Press)
• Ketamine: from party drug to medication (New Zealand Herald)
• Police say man led officers on chase, possessed PCP (Bryan-College Station Eagle)

Opiates/Opioids

• At Some Restaurants in China, a Shortcut to Addictive Food: Poppies (The New York Times)
• Obama Seeks $1 Billion to Fight Heroin Epidemic (TIME)
• Why the 'heroin antidote' naloxone is now available in pharmacies (ABC)
• Improvised naloxone nasal sprays lack evidence of absorption and effect (EurekAlert!)
• Ted Cruz Links New Hampshire's Heroin Epidemic to "Undocumented Democrats" (Mother Jones)
• Recovered heroin addict goes full circle to serve huge community (SFGate)
• Fentanyl killing more people in NH than heroin (The Union Leader)
• CVS to sell heroin overdose antidote in 20 more states (CNN)
• White And Black Americans Agree That Heroin Abuse Is A Serious Problem (The Huffington Post)
• Opium seized (The Sangai Express)

Kratom

• Still Mostly Legal: Kratom May be a Better Choice for Heroin and Pain Pill Users? (AlterNet)
• Arizona heroin users claim a controversial herbal supplement helps kick addiction (Cronkite News)
• Asian tree with psychoactive effects on verge of being illegal (The Moultrie Observer)
• Panel Bans Kratom On Tearful Testimony (WFSU)

Kava

• High Demand of Kava from overseas market (Fiji Broadcasting Corporation)
• The Kava Konnection Brings New Trend To Greenville (WSPA)
• Awa Kava Lounge in Miami: Stress Relief in a Bowl (Miami New Times)

Khat

• Read the signs: The khat menace could be spiralling [sic] out of control (IPPmedia)
• A place where life is nasty, brutish and short (The Standard Digital News)

Miscellaneous Psychedelics/Psychoactives/Drug Policy

• What is Harm Reduction Psychotherapy? Alternative Treatment for Psychedelic Users (Psychedelic Times)
• Drug Warriors Are Losing Online (Reason)
• Yale Launches Group To Examine Use Of Psychedelics In Therapy (Reset.me)
• Scientist David Nutt on the medical benefits of psychedelic drugs (Financial Times)
• Here's What Mixing Drugs Does to Your Body and Brain (ATTN:)
• What the 1981 Rat Park Experiment Means for Addiction and Our Need For Human Connection (Psychedelic Times)
• Psychedelic drugs should be used to treat mental illness (The Rocket)
• 5 Major Companies That Don't Drug Test (ATTN:)
• Drugs from the dark web (Brunswickian)
• How Ted Cruz Turned His Back on Drug War Prisoners (Reason)
• Gift of the Gods: Why Visionary Plant Medicines Deserve Reverence and Caution (High Existence)
• West Virginia Lawmaker Counters Drug Testing Welfare Recipients With Legislator Testing (ATTN:)

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 - 1.29.16

Image by Dahtamnay, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Cannabis

• Listen to 911 call of very stoned drivers turning themselves in (Boing Boing)
• The Rules for Taking Marijuana on an Airplane (ATTN:)
• Can Cannabis Treat Epileptic Seizures? (Scientific American)
• Marijuana Legalization: Should Bernie Sanders' Home State Embrace Socialized Cannabis? (International Business Times)
• Study: Vaporizers Deliver Safe, Reliable Doses of Cannabinoids (NORML)
• CBD Oil "Highly Promising" In Pediatric Epilepsy Treatment (NORML)
• Cannabis Refugees: Why People Are Moving Across Country To Reap The Benefits Of A Plant (Reset.me)
• NY Health Department sponsoring medical cannabis study (Press & Sun Bulletin)
• Attorney General Rejects 3rd Petition for Ohio Medical Cannabis Amendment (Fox 28)
• Federal Judge Orders Iowa State to Stop Censoring Marijuana Reform T-Shirts (Reason)
• See Inside One of New York's First Medical Marijuana Dispensaries (TIME)
• This Marijuana Product Could Cure Menstrual Cramps (ATTN:)
• Cliff Robinson On Medical Cannabis Use In The NBA (Blazer's Edge)
• Florida: Medical Marijuana Measure Qualifies For 2016 Ballot (NORML)
• How a Top Cannabis Investor Looks at Your Company (Leafly)
• Denver NORML Announces Marijuana Lounge Initiative (NORML)
• Let pain and PTSD sufferers in Illinois use cannabis (Chicago Tribune)
• Mom illegally treats 3-year-old daughter with cannabis oil (AOL News)
• Over 60 Percent Of New Mexicans Support Regulating Marijuana Sales (NORML)
• Love, with Mary Jane: Inside the world's first Cannabis Wedding Expo (Mashable)
• Can the cannabis 'nuns' of California save medical marijuana? (The Washington Post)
• How Much You Have to Take of These Legal Drugs to Overdose (ATTN:)
• Life As a Marijuana Activist (NORML)
• Champaign medical cannabis dispensary prepares to open, eight conditions pending approval from Rauner (Daily Illini)
• Medical cannabis producer Bedrocan lowers its prices to $5 a gram (News1130)
• How Can LED Lighting Impact Cannabis Growth? (Leafly)
• She's not blowing smoke (The News-Gazette)
• Clalit's 'refusal' to allow doctors to prescribe medical cannabis spurs protest (The Jerusalem Post)

LSD

• 'I went to a Donald Trump rally on acid - and it was a really bad idea' (The Telegraph)
• Chelsea Handler on Drugs: 'I Took My SATs on Acid' (Celeb Stoner)
• Man with Asperger syndrome meticulously documents his LSD trip (Death and Taxes)
• Michael Kennedy, Who Fought for LSD Guru, Mob Boss, Dies at 78 (Bloomberg)
• N.J. man arrested with LSD, 5 pounds of marijuana (NJ.com)
• Teacher censured for taking LSD at bach (3News NZ)
• Drug response overhaul after Townsville stabbing (Townsville Bulletin)

Psilocybin/Magic Mushrooms

• Author and Podcaster Tim Ferriss Leads Effort to Fund Psilocybin Research for Depression (Psychedelic Times)
• Coyotes High On Mushrooms Possibly To Blame For Strange Incidents On Highway (CBS Sacramento)
• Calm Your Suffering Mind: The Link Between Psilocybin and Depression (Psychedelic Times)
• Magic Mushrooms Known for Natural Hallucinogens (The Bong Shop)

MDMA/Ecstasy

• Supplier Involved in Last Year's Deadly "Superman" Pill Outbreak Jailed for 6 Years (THUMP)
• Gardaí find €50k worth of ecstasy during Kenneth O'Brien investigation (The Journal)
• Briton handed six-year jail sentence for trying to smuggle ecstasy into Australia (Sunday Express)
• Cafe worker found with MDMA and cannabis outside Creamfields avoids jail (Warrington Guardian)
• Riau Polie Seize Ecstasy Pills Worth to Rp2.3 Billion (Tempo.co)
• Parents should watch for these signs of dangerous synthetic drug 'Molly' (WFLA)
• Man charged with selling MDMA (Daily Citizen)
• Teenager charged with trafficking 87 ecstasy tablets, claims to have forgotten where he resides (Malta Independent)

Ayahuasca/DMT

• What Is Ayahuasca? The Truth About Peruvian Drug From 'Chelsea Does' Drugs Episode (Mic)
• A crazy world of shapes and colors (Castleton Spartan)
• Legal Ayahuasca? Pierce County church offers Peruvian psychedelic ceremony (The Seattle Globalist)
• Ayahuasca: the shamanic brew that produces out-of-body experiences (Raw Story)
• Personal Story: The All-Star Shaman, All Night Massacre (Reset.me)
• Police bust Israeli DMT importers who ran 'psychedelic purification rituals' (The Jerusalem Post)

Peyote/San Pedro/Mescaline

• Church Fights Seizure of 'Sacramental' Pot (Courthouse News Service)
• Mexico's remote Huasteca Potosina is a magical water wonderland (The Daily Telegraph)

Iboga/Ibogaine

• NEW Memoir About Iboga! Heart Medicine: A True Love Story (E. Bast)
• Former Ibogaine Resort Now Offers Healing Vacations in Costa Rica (The Costa Rica Star)

Synthetic Cannabinoids/Psychoactive Research Chemicals

• Court martial set for soldier accused of supplying N-bomb (Stuff.co.nz)
• FOURTEEN Birmingham shops found selling 'legal highs' which carry cocaine and ecstasy-style effects (Birmingham Mail)
• Teenagers are being used as 'guinea pigs' to test lethal substances (Irish Independent)
• Cork teenager dies in hospital after taking 'party pill' (Evening Echo)
• VIDEO: HSE issues warning about psychedelic drugs (Irish Independent)

Dissociatives

• Tonsillectomy: Pre-op ketamine + midazolam reduces post-op agitation and pain (Univadis)
• WHO recommends not restricting ketamine (American Veterinary Medical Association)
• Edmonton police seize $90000 worth of ketamine after several weeks of investigation (Edmonton Sun)
• KCK man who exposed marshals to PCP sentenced to prison (The Kansas City Star)
• US jury convicts 2 of conspiracy, possession of illegal drug (The Lebanon Daily Record)
• Cops subdue man high on PCP during stop (The Bay Net)

Opiates/Opioids

• China finds restaurants using opium poppies in food (BBC News)
• Coming to a High School Near You: Drugs that Reverse Heroin Overdoses (U.S. News)
• This Tiny Implant Just Changed the Game for Addicts (ATTN:)
• Heroin Kills White People More Than Anyone Else — And Nobody Is Sure Why (VICE News)
• NYPD Says It Found $14 Million Worth of Heroin Stashed Inside Monster Truck, Pickup (Inside Edition)
• What Opioids and Heroin Do to Your Appearance Over Time (ATTN:)
• What Investors Need To Know About The Billion Dollar Opioid Opportunity (Baystreet)
• Intelligence inputs say militant outfits in North East trading opium (The Economic Times)
• Marijuana, opium cultivated in Makawanpur destroyed (The Himalayan Times)
• NE militants taking up opium cultivation, says Assam Rifles (Deccan Herald)

Kratom

• Kratom for Excessive Weight Loss Goal (Kratom Guides)
• February 1, 2016 – Kratom (Johns Hopkins Medicine Podcasts)
• Healthy INSIDER Podcast 2: The Return of Kratom (Natural Products INSIDER)
• US Marshals seize shipment of supplements containing botanic kratom (Examiner)

Kava

• Kava bar gains popularity (Fiji Times)
• Owners say make yourself at home at this Little Haiti kava lounge (Miami Herald)

Khat

• Drug known as 'khat' seized by Ohio County deputies (WTOV)
• Four arrested in Uitenhage khat bust (RNews)

Miscellaneous Psychedelics/Psychoactives/Drug Policy

• What are the Dangers of Psychedelics? Things to Consider Before a Psychedelic Experience (Psychedelic Times)
• Why Drug Laws Are Interfering With Medical Research (LawFuel)
• Why This Doctor Believes Addictions Start In Childhood (The Huffington Post)
• Psychedelia in the Movies, Part 2 (Reality Sandwich)
• Plant Medicine: A Natural Pharmacology Primer for Anxiety and Depression (Papermag)
• Psychedelics as Therapy (Yahoo! News)
• The Difference Between My Psychiatrist and My Shaman (Reality Sandwich)
• Dewshine: The Stupid New Teen Drug Panic (Reason)
• Allan Badiner: The Psychedelics of Compassion (Tricycle)
• Can You Buy Brains? Introducing Smart Drugs (Psychedelic Press UK)
• The Case For Psychedelic Psychotherapy (Science 2.0)
• Maine's Governor Wants to Fight the War on Drugs with the Guillotine (Reason)

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 - 1.22.16

Image by Dahtamnay, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Cannabis

• Study: Alcohol, Tobacco Typically Precede Marijuana Use (NORML)
• Landmark Cannabis Case in Costa Rica Could Lead to Decriminalization (High Times)
• Poll: Majority Of Americans Support Legalizing Marijuana (NORML)
• Twin Study: Marijuana Use Has No Direct Effect On IQ (NORML)
• What Marijuana Does to Migraines (ATTN:)
• Why The Cocaine Capital of the World Wants in on the Cannabis Biz (Fortune)
• Kosher Pot? Israel's Ultra-Orthodox Health Minister to Revolutionize Cannabis (Breitbart News)
• Rand Paul Says Pot Prohibition Should Be Replaced (Reason)
• Italy chills out over medical cannabis cultivators (Yahoo! News)
• Study: Cannabis Oil Mitigates Symptoms Of Alzheimer's-Induced Dementia (NORML)
• Nice Day for a Weed Wedding: We Went to Colorado's First Cannabis Wedding Expo (Broadly)
• Israel's Cannabis Industry Blazes Ahead (TechCrunch)
• The Rebranding of Reefer: Savvy Startups Work to Class Up Cannabis and Fight the Stoner Stigma (AdvertisingAge)
• NORML's Legislative Round Up January 22nd, 2016 (NORML)
• Nosy Neighbors Tell Colorado to Stop Regulating Pot (Reason)
• Iowans need access to cannabis now (The Des Moines Register)
• NWI to host first Cannabis Business Workshop (NWI Times)
• Here Are the Marijuana Strains You Need to Treat Your Disorder (ATTN:)
• Grandparents call in lawyers to get terminally ill child medical cannabis (Radio New Zealand)
• Israel seeks to let general practitioners prescribe cannabis (The Times of Israel)
• Cannabis Community Split As Kansas Hemp Oil Bill Gains Momentum (KCUR)
• GAA coach convicted for possessing €5,000 of cannabis herb (Breaking News)
• Browns Plains drug bust: $2m of cannabis found in home (Brisbane Times)
• Medical Marijuana Merchant Faces at Least Five Years for Bad Timing and 'High-Roller Lifestyle' (Reason)
• Teens who use cannabis at risk of schizophrenia (Medical News Today)

LSD

• Lawsuit exposes horror story: Cops sicced K9 on man and left him hogtied face down until he died (Raw Story)
• Meet Lucy, where chaos becomes clarity (The Pioneer)
• LSD simulator? Dhalsim music video may be more than you can handle (Event Hubs)
• UNF student overdosed on LSD, boyfriend arrested for intent to sell (WJAX)
• 3 people in Omaha report they overdosed on LSD (Omaha.com)
• Lockport man admits to LSD possession (The Buffalo News)

Psilocybin/Magic Mushrooms

• Cedar City man arrested for allegedly cultivating, distributing psychedelic mushrooms (St George News)

MDMA/Ecstasy

• Give Me Your Love review - the ecstasy and agony (The Guardian)
• Texas police warn of ecstasy pills that look like candy (KHOU)
• MDMA madness: Teenage pill poppers clogging the courts (Herald Sun)
• MMA champion Darren Towler jailed after more than 2,000 ecstasy tablets found stashed in car (Mirror)
• Robbinsville pair found with 50 tabs of MDMA, police say (NJ.com)
• Teen charged after 100 ecstasy capsules seized in Bonnyrigg (Daily Telegraph)
• British man weeps in court as he pleads guilty and faces life in an Australian jail after trying to smuggle 2kg of ecstasy hidden in tins of BATH SALTS (Daily Mail)

Ayahuasca/DMT

• My Experience Drinking Ayahuasca With American War Veterans (The Huffington Post)
• Canadian man who killed British man in Peru fears trial (Thai Visa News)
• Bali Police seize package of hallucinogenic drugs, was declared to Customs as $10 coffee (Coconuts Bali)

Iboga/Ibogaine

• São Paulo Government Opens The Door For Prescription Ibogaine Treatment (Reset.me)

Synthetic Cannabinoids/Psychoactive Research Chemicals

• Four treated in hospital after taking 'party pills' (Belfast Telegraph)
• Warning after Oban flooded with fake ecstasy tablets (The Press and Journal)
• Drug which hospitalised Cork students identified (RTÉ)

Dissociatives

• Scientists seek fast-acting anti-depressant, from ketamine to laughing gas (STAT) 
• Cris Carter speculates Chandler Jones smoked PCP (NBC Sports)
• Experimental compound mimics antidepressant effects of ketamine in mice (The Pharmaceutical Journal)
• Parents Charged After Toddler Swallows PCP-Laced Cigarette (NBC Chicago)
• Rapastinel (GLYX-13) Shown to Improve Ketamine or PCP-Induced Cognitive Impairment in Mice (Pipeline Review)
• New Haven Child Ingests PCP (Hartford Courant)

Opiates/Opioids

• 7 Habits to Help Overcome Heroin Addiction (The Huffington Post)
• B.C. supports federal push to make overdose drug naloxone available without prescription (CBS News)
• London Art Fair organisers seemingly duped by 'Lord Byron's opium pipe' on sale for more than £1m (The Independent)
• Campaign against opium cultivation in Dumka (The Times of India)
• Naloxone: What you need to know (The Citizens' Voice)
• Taliban drive to re-take Afghan opium heartland (World War 4 Report)
• China Busts 35 Restaurants Using Opium Poppies as Seasoning (ABC News)

Kambô

• Violently Purging Frog Poison - My Experience With Kambô Medicine (High Existence)

Kratom

• Why Banning the Controversial Painkiller Kratom Could Be Bad News for America's Heroin Addicts (VICE)
• Undercover buy prompts end to sale of "Kratom" in Saran Lake (North Country Public Radio)
• Beware of Imported Kratom Leaf (The Legal Examiner)
• Green Vein Kratom – Benefits, Side-Effects and Dosage (Kratom Guides)

Kava

• The Kava Craze: Is Kava the Next Big Thing? (Uloop News)
• A new kind of bar (The Folsom Telegraph)

Miscellaneous Psychedelics/Psychoactives/Drug Policy

• Are We Entering a Modern Renaissance of Psychedelic Research (Psychedelic Times)
• 40 Secrets & Tips for an Extraordinary Psychedelic Experience (High Existence)
• DEA Promised TSA Agent a Cut of Passengers' Seizable Cash (Reason)
• Higher Dimensional Vs. Lower Dimensional Drugs (Disinfo)
• El Chapo Shows the Folly of the War on Drugs (TIME)
• '4-Hour Workweek' Author Tim Ferriss Campaigns In Support Of Psychedelic Research (Reset.me)
• Can Psychedelics Be Used as a Treatment for Mental Disorders? (Psychedelic Times)
• Q&A: Stewart Brand Revists the Trips Festival, 50 Years Later (KQED)
• Breaking Convention's First Annual Psychedelic Research Awards (Psychedelic Press UK)
• These Psychedelic GIFs Show the Future of Brain Mapping (Motherboard)

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 - 1.15.16

Image by Dahtamnay, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Cannabis

• Cigarettes Linked to Lower Grades in Adolescents, Not Cannabis (High Times)
• Study Concludes Biking While High on Marijuana Isn't Dangerous (Marijuana.com)
• Yes, pot is stronger today, but not for the reasons you think (Los Angeles Times)
• After Healing His Own Cancer with Cannabis, Self-Taught Doctor Helped over 5000 Patients (Anti Media)
• Will 2016 Be the Year of Cannabis? (The Huffington Post)
• The Head of the Democratic Party is a Huge Hypocrite on Marijuana (ATTN:)
• An inside look at the ritziest weed parties in America (The Cannabist)
• Study: Marijuana Associated With Decreased Migraine Frequency (NORML)
• Less is More: Medical Cannabis Micro-Dosing (Reset.me)
• NORML's Legislative Round Up January 14th, 2016 (NORML)
• How Cannabis Can Help You Cut Back on Alcohol and Live Healthier (Leafly)
• Serial entrepreneur Mark Hadfield sets his sites on medical cannabis with HelloMD (San Francisco Business Times)
• Israeli Health Ministry Plans to Lift Restrictions on Growing Medical Cannabis (Haaretz)
• Smugglers disguise marijuana as carrots (Boing Boing)
• Dad pushes for medical cannabis to help autistic son (NBC4i)
• Anti-Legalization Lawsuit Shows Conservative Constitutionalists Have Marijuana-Related Memory Loss (Reason)
• Study: Cannabis Use Not Predictive Of Lower IQ, Poorer Education Performance (NORML)
• Windy City Cannabis Set to Open Medical Marijuana Dispensary in Justice (Patch)
• These Oregon Cities Have Banned Cannabis (Leafly)
• Medical Marijuana Seller Faces Prison in Washington, Where Pot Is Legal (Reason)
• Jail for man who grew £12k of cannabis at home (The Gazette)

LSD

• How Taking Acid Helped Me Stop Smoking (Newsweek)
• Five Facts Besides Steve Jobs and Bill Gates that You Didn't know About LSD (Clapway)
• Family sues over Tennessee man's death in police custody (Centre Daily Times)
• Forbes endorses LSD: Is the end near? (SFGate)
• Camp Lejeune Marine charged with trafficking Ecstasy, LSD (Stars and Stripes)
• Teen who used LSD to sexually assault victim sentenced to prison (Petoskey News-Review)

Psilocybin/Magic Mushrooms

• '4-hour Workweek' author Tim Ferriss plans to donate $100,000 toward studying how to treat depression with psychedelics like magic mushrooms (Yahoo! News)
• Psilocybin Mushrooms Gave Me The Insight I Needed To Ease My Chronic Depression (Reset.me)

MDMA/Ecstasy

• The Creativity of MDMA Pill Pressing (Magnetic Magazine)
• How Reversing Drug Stigmas Can Save Lives: Interview with MDMA: The Movie Director Emmanuel Sferios (Psychedelic Times)
• Kids Company psychologist pleads to keep job after giving MDMA to client (The Guardian)
• Rikers Island Jail Fairly Confident Its Missing Ecstasy Pills Are Gone For Good (Gawker)
• Red Wolf, Cookie Monster and Facebook: How 'killer' ecstasy pills are flooding UK streets (Daily Star)
• Ingleside man gets 6 years for providing Ecstasy before woman's death (Chicago Tribune)
• Give Me Your Love – ingenious PTSD play boxes itself in (The Guardian)
• Johor police bust Ecstasy drug lab (The New Paper)
• MDMA discovered in glasses case of Barnstaple man (North Devon Journal)

Ayahuasca/DMT

• Ayahuasca And Cancer: One Man's Healing Experience (Reset.me)
• Sacred Plants: In Praise of Wildflowers and Ayahuasca (Tablet Magazine)
• How A Spiritual Practice Supports Ayahuasca in Personal Healing (Reset.me)
• The Canadian Man Who Killed a British Guy at an Ayahuasca Retreat in Peru Speaks Out (VICE)
• Pope Francis Reveals White Smoke At Papal Conclave Is Actually DMT (Wunderground)

Peyote/San Pedro/Mescaline

• Ayahuasca & Huachuma: One Person's Account Of Their Experience (Neon Nettle)

Iboga/Ibogaine

• Medical Use of iBogaine Treatment Approved in Brazil (iBogaine Thailand)

Salvia Divinorum

• Salvia Divinorum (California Poison Control System)

Dissociatives

• WHO Opposes Chinese Request to Restrict Access to Ketamine (Psychiatry Advisor)
• FDA and Congress should let doctors, patients take K train (The Register-Herald)
• CBS News Features Dr. Ashraf Hanna Describing How IV Ketamine is Successfully Treating Fibromyalgia Pain Patients (PR Newswire)
• The novel ketamine analog methoxetamine produces dissociative-like behavior in rodents. (National Institutes of Health)
• New type of antidepressant found to act quickly in mice (EurekAlert!)
• We're Entering A New Era In How We Treat Depression (Newsy)
• Chemical fights thoughts of suicide (The Australian)
• PCP seized from vehicle, two arrested (Your4State)
• Police seize 25kg of drugs worth HK$6.25 million at private Hong Kong housing estate (South China Morning Post)

Opiates/Opioids

• Anatomy Of Addiction: How Heroin And Opioids Hijack the Brain (NPR)
• Did Painkiller Crackdown Cause Heroin Epidemic? (WebMD)
• Delhi sees sharp rise in seizure of opium, poppy heads (The Statesman)
• Panel recommends FDA approve implant to treat opiate addiction (USA Today)
• Heroin Is the Worst Thing to Ever Happen to Me, and I've Never Touched It (The Huffington Post)
• Naloxone overdose antidote should be available over the counter, Health Canada says (CBC News)
• Heroin laced with pesticide making way through N.J. (NJ.com)
• Sailor held with 52kg opium denies drug charges (Gulf News)

Absinthe

• Get out with the Green Fairy: Where to Drink Absinthe in the Bay Area (7x7)

Kratom

• Product Seizure Shows FDA Serious about Kratom (Natural Products Insider)
• Kratom: A drug to cure a different addiction? (WJZY)
• How Kratom Can Make 2016 Your Best Year Yet (Return Of Kings)
• What is Red Bali Kratom? Positive/Negative Effects and Cost of Red Bali Kratom (Kratom Guides)
• Kratom Crackdown re: Dietary Guidelines (The National Law Review)
• AG: Grateful Toad violates Kratom labeling requirements (Press Republican)

Kava

• Vanuatu to host major international Kava Conference (Vanuatu Daily Post)
• First Colorado Springs kava bar promises relaxing, happy time (Colorado Springs Gazette)
• Greenville's first kava bar mixes it up (Greenville Online)
• 215 two-year old kava plants sold at vt255, 000 in Vanuatu (One Papua New Guinea)
• Learning to relax on Fiji time (Stuff.co.nz)

Khat

• Illegal 'miraa' farming blamed for poor student performance (IPPmedia)

Miscellaneous Psychedelics/Psychoactives/Drug Policy

• DanceSafe Founder Emmanuel Sferios Discusses Harm Reduction and Festival Drug Testing (Psychedelic Times)
• Drug Cartel Kingpin 'El Chapo' Guzman Recaptured in Mexico (ATTN:)
• Baltimore psychologist pioneers team using psychedelics as 'sacred' medicine (The Guardian)
• 20 Safety Suggestions for Participating in Ceremonies That Use Psychoactive Substances (Reality Sandwich)
• Everything You Wanted To Know About Microdosing (But Were Afraid To Ask)
• David Bowie's Infamous Mugshot Is Indicative of Early 'War on Drugs' (ATTN:)
• How Long Drugs Stay in Your System (ATTN:)
• What is Psychedelic Therapy? How Visionary Plants and Other Psychedelics Give Hope to the Weary (Psychedelic Times)
• How a psychedelic sex GIF animator went viral after getting banned on Facebook (Boing Boing)
• How the Mexican Drug Trade First Began (TIME)
• Psychedelic Spiritual Experience—An Integral View (Reality Sandwich)
• 5 books that bust the myths of drug writing (Boing Boing)
• The band of psychiatrists who are looking to reclaim psychedelics for medicine again (Medical Xpress)
• Androgyny and psychedelic make-up: David Bowie's impact on fashion can't be overstated (The Telegraph)
• How the War on Drugs Came Between the U.S. and Mexico (TIME)
• Bruce's History Lessons: The father of '60s drug culture (Appeal-Democrat)

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 - 1.8.16

Image by Dahtamnay, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Cannabis

• The Federal Ban on Medical Marijuana Was Not Lifted (Reason)
• Marijuana Legalization in U.S. Cuts Mexican Pot Profits by 70 Percent (Breitbart News)
• Canada and Mexico Must Prove Case With United Nations Before Legalizing Marijuana (High Times)
• How Does Depression Impact Your Sex Life, and Can Cannabis Help? (Leafly)
• Drug Investigator Caught Smuggling $2 Million Worth of Pot (TIME)
• Study: Consumers Infrequently Combine Marijuana And Alcohol (NORML)
• Sister Act-ivists: Cannabis-growing 'nuns' campaign to save their crop (RT)
• First Medical Marijuana Dispensaries in New York Are Poised to Open (The New York Times)
• Cannabis Industry Working to Become More Energy Efficient (High Times)
• Dog Sniffs Out $400,000 Worth of Marijuana Hidden In Broccoli Shipment (TIME)
• Georgia Lawmaker Files Medical Cannabis Cultivation Bill (Fox 5)
• NY Patients Can Now Register For Medical Marijuana Program, But Good Luck Finding A Recommendation (Reset.me)
• Cannabis church holds job fair for medical marijuana industry (News3LV)
• The Benefits Of Medical Cannabis: An Interview With Dr. Allan Frankel (Reset.me)
• Mental Health Practitioner says marijuana helps symptoms of PTSD (KOB4)
• 'Cannabis for kids' legislation filed (Indianapolis Star)
• Judge Dismisses Lawsuit by Credit Union Trying to Serve the Marijuana Industry (Reason)
• Colorado Celebrates Pot Legalization Anniversary: Massive Drop in Arrests and Millions in Revenue (Truthout)
• Ben Carson Wants Rescheduling but Not Marijuana Legalization (ATTN:)
• World Famous Cannabis Cafe stays open despite new clean air provisions (The Oregonian)
• New PSA urges action on growing medical marijuana in-state (11 Alive)
• Cannabis Credit Union Loses Case Against Fed Reserve Bank (Forbes)
• Calm Down, East Coast: Cannabis "Shatter" Media Coverage Woefully Overstates Its Dangers (Leafly)
• A Look at Georgia's Proposed Medical Marijuana Law and How Things Will Change if it is Passed (GeorgiaCannabis)
• All Smoke Is Not Created Equal (NORML)
• Inside NYC's First Medical Marijuana Dispensary (Gothamist)
• 10 Ways to Use Cannabis for Better Health in the New Year (High Times)
• How I Recovered From A Head Injury With The Help Of Cannabis Oil (Reset.me)
• Alaska Groups Give Free Cannabis to Severely Ill and Veterans (High Times)
• Continuing Efforts to Legalize Marijuana Lounges in DC (Marijuana.com)
• An Australian Family Rents an Airbnb That Turns Out to Be a Drug Den (TIME)
• One Mom's Race to Legalize Medical Cannabis in Her State and Potentially Save Her Daughter's Life (AlterNet)
• NORML's Legislative Roundup January 8th, 2016 (NORML)
• Mexican Marijuana Farmers Are Losing Profits in Light of U.S. Legalization (ATTN:)
• Canada Needs Permission From International Treaties to Legalize Marijuana, Says New PM Justin Trudeau (Reason)
• Despite Tight Timeline, New York's Medical Cannabis Industry Launches on Schedule (Marijuana Business Daily)
• Trudeau Warned That Marijuana Legalization Would Violate Global Treaties (Right Relevance)
• Step inside New York City's marijuana black market in the era of legalization (Crain's New York Business)
• These Nuns Are Growing Marijuana for the Best Reason (ATTN:)
• Christmas Island medical cannabis plan: community expresses concern (The Sydney Morning Herald)
• How cannabis farms are becoming the criminals' drug trade of choice (Liverpool Echo)
• The Best Cannabis Strains for Wintertime Activities (Leafly)
• Police: Fire in Berlin flat uncovers 160 cannabis plants (News24)

LSD

• The man who took LSD – and didn't come down for 30 years (Metro)
• First LSD scene in cinema, the Tingler 1959 (The Daily Psychedelic Video)
• Hashish trail leads Delhi cops to international LSD cartel (The Economic Times)
• Man Arrested After Police Says He Was Attempting To Sell LSD (WBIW)

Psilocybin/Magic Mushrooms

• Psychedelic Mushrooms Cured My Cluster Headaches (New York Magazine)

MDMA/Ecstasy

• What's Actually in the Ecstasy Sold in Your Country (ATTN:)
• How MDMA Affects the Brain (ATTN:)
• Five U.K. Ravers Hospitalized After Taking Lethal Ecstasy Pills (Your EDM)
• Kids Company psychologist admits taking MDMA while with vulnerable children (ITV News)
• Agony and ecstasy: the war veterans trying MDMA treatment (The Guardian)
• Field Day Sydney: Party girl out of danger after suspected drug overdose (The Daily Telegraph)
• Ecstasy coma girl Amy Thomson battles through severe pain as she tries to walk again (Scottish Daily Record)
• Mum of Ecstasy teenager who died after New Year's Eve party said he'd never done drugs before (Mirror)
• Friends of MDMA death teenager took his friends to hospital bed (STV)
• Man, 36, arrested in Darwin after police uncover ecstasy parcel (NT News)
• Ecstasy teen's death second tragedy for friends two years after pal killed in bus accident (Mirror)
• Teenager, 16, left brain damaged after taking just one Ecstasy pill takes first painful steps out of her wheelchair (Daily Mail)

Peyote/San Pedro/Mescaline

• An Interview with Maxwell Wieland: The Power of the Psychedelic San Pedro Cactus and Wachuma (Psychedelic Times)

Synthetic Cannabinoids/Psychoactive Research Chemicals

• ISIS Terrorists Did Not Take Captagon or Any Other Drugs Before the Paris Attacks (Reason)
• 'Liquid ecstasy' drug hospitalizes two people in Auckland brothel incident (AucklandNOW)
• Kennewick man gets 8-month sentence for mailing psychedelic drug to friend (Tri-City Herald)

Dissociatives

• WHO Opposes Global Control of Ketamine (The Horse)
• The Club Drug Ketamine Might Be the Ultimate Anti-Depressant (Inverse)
• How Ketamine Infusions Saved My Life (Motherboard)
• Woman Shares Her Experience Undergoing Ketamine Injections for Depression (MSN)
• Police: One man accused of nudity, another had suspected PCP (NWI Times)
• Police: Man high on PCP caused crash on I-70, fought troopers at hospital (Frederick News Post)
• DRI busts party drug factory; seizes contraband worth Rs 2.5 cr (The Chandigarh Tribune)
• Thatcham man's face was caked in ketamine, court told (Newbury Today)
• Can Ketamine Injections Cure Treatment-Resistant Depression? (MSN)

Opiates/Opioids

• This Drug Can Reverse Heroin Overdoses – & It's Now Over The Counter (Refinery29)
• Republicans in Congress ended the decades-long funding ban on needle exchange programs (Vox)
• Heroin-related deaths were 'still rampant' during 2015 (Reading Eagle)
• 'Hollywood' heroin is a lethal batch (Boston Herald)
• Could accused "Hollywood" heroin dealers face manslaughter charges? (WWLP)
• How to Survive the Heroin Epidemic (The Daily Beast)
• Florida Man Delivers Heroin-Stuffed Burrito to Hospital (Eater)
• Police investigating heroin death of 1-year old girl in Provo (KSL)
• Maine governor blames heroin epidemic on men named 'D-Money,' claims his theory has nothing to do with race (New York Daily News)
• Vancouver opium dealer sentenced to three years in prison (The Georgia Straight)
• After Decades, Congress Effectively Lifts Ban On Federally Funded Needle Exchanges (BuzzFeed News)

Absinthe

• Absinthe now available at P.E.I. distillery for adventurous drinkers (CBC)

Kratom

• Kratom, an Addict's Alternative, Is Found to Be Addictive Itself (The New York Times)
• Why Do We Use Kratom? Kratom Effects at Higher and Lower Doses (Kratom Guides)
• Heroin Addicts are Flocking to Controversial Treatment (ATTN:)
• A Testimonial about Kratom (Cato Institute)
• US Marshals seize dietary supplements containing kratom (FDA)
• People are flocking to Florida bars for a legal but dangerous drug (Business Insider)
• Popular Legal High Kratom Helps Addicts Treat One Addiction By Replacing It With Another (Medical Daily)
• Kratom, legal in Texas, seized by feds in Illinois (KXAN)
• The government just seized 90,000 bottles of a supplement containing a legal heroin-like drug (Business Insider)
• Choice for addicts can supply aid, and typically a relapse (The Times)
• Boyer to New York Times: Beware of kratom (News from the University of Massachusetts)
• Bali Kratom – A Wonderful Mental Strain (Kratom Guides)

Miscellaneous Psychedelics/Psychoactives/Drug Policy

• How the DEA Profits off the War on Drugs (ATTN:)
• The most convincing argument for legalizing LSD, shrooms, and other psychedelics (Vox)
• Surgeon General Announces Review of Federal Drug Policies (Marijuana.com)
• 7 of 2015's Most Outrageous Killings by the Drug War Police (AlterNet)
• More Than 47,000 Americans Died of Drug Overdose in 2014, Setting Record (Partnership for Drug-Free Kids)
• Drugs policies and electronic music culture (Resident Advisor)
• Mexico's drug war reverses trend of rising male life expectancy, study finds (The Guardian)
• How to Make Drug Taking Better in 2016 (VICE)
• Research into psychedelics, shut down for decades, is now yielding exciting results... (Ukiah Community Blog)
• Yale Medical School Professors Are Starting a Psychedelic Meetup (Motherboard)
• Psychoactive Soundscapes: The Trippiest Albums of 2015 (Disinformation)
• Should Tea Leaves Give Probable Cause for Drug Raids? (Reason)
• Illicit drugs work better with classical (San Diego Reader)
• New psychedelic science group forms at Yale (Yale School of Medicine)
• Drug Paraphernalia Laws in the U.S. (ATTN:)
• GAO: Army should monitor PTSD prescriptions more carefully (Stars and Stripes)
• Jeb Bush Pens an Emotional Essay on His Family's Struggle With Drug Addiction (TIME)
• A Book of Art and Essays Explores Psychedelics as a Spiritual Technology (Hyperallergic)
• Psychedelic Spiritual Experience—An Integral View (Reality Sandwich)
• William A Richards, Sacred Knowledge: 'Turn on, tune in, see God', book review (The Independent)
• Visit to Godenholm by Ernst Jünger: A Story of Esoteric Psychedelic Initiation involving Albert Hofmann (Psychedelic Press UK)

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.