This Week in Psychedelics - 12.16.16

Image by Dahtamnay, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Cannabis

• New DEA Rule Says CBD Oil is Really, Truly, No-Joke Illegal (Leafly)
• Federal Marijuana Protections Extended Through April, But Face an Uncertain Future (NORML)
• Marijuana Is Harder Than Ever for Younger Teens to Find (U.S. News and World Report)
• Six States That Could Legalize Marijuana Next (ATTN:)
• The Major Way Israel Is Putting America to Shame on Marijuana (ATTN:)
• Mexico's Senate Passes Medical Cannabis Bill in Landslide Vote (Leafly)
• Cannabis museum celebrates legal weed in Uruguay (AZ Central)
• Massachusetts: Over a Century Of Cannabis Criminalization Comes to an End (NORML)
• Do Animals Benefit From Medical Cannabis? (Weed News)
• How The Medical Cannabis Program Helps My PTSD (Weed News)
• What Happens When You Stop Smoking Weed (ATTN:)
• Seattle cannabis shop sells pet-friendly pot products (KOMO News)
• How Cannabis Incubators Help Budding Marijuana Startups Grow Into Booming Businesses (Los Angeles Weekly)
• Canadian Government's Legal Marijuana Task Force Releases Recommendations (NORML)
• Portland tries to make life easier for cannabis businesses (Portland Business Journal)
• Colorado Cannabis Shops Hit $1-Billion In Sales (Civilized)
• Pot task force recommends legal cannabis sales be limited to users 18 and over (CBC)
• The end of an era in cannabis prosecutions? (Arutz Sheva)
• Marijuana Side Effects: Regular Cannabis Use Affects Vision And Eye's Retina, Study Finds (Medical Daily)
• Cannabis used to alleviate pain (Isle of Man Today)

LSD

• A Productive Person's Guide to a Little Bit of LSD (Bloomberg)
• JOHN WILCOCK: The History of East Coast Academic Acid (Boing Boing)
• Listen To John Lennon Tell The Story Of His First Acid Trip (Live for Live Music)
• CIA controlling minds through drugs (DunyaNews Pakistan)
• A Naked Man on LSD Got Mauled by K-9 After Ignoring Police Orders. Now He's a Rich, Naked Man... (Independent Journal Review)
• Ranchi students run drug biz through 'acid stamps' (Times of India)

Psilocybin/Magic Mushrooms

• Renowned Clinical Pharmacologist Talks Magic Mushrooms & Their Therapeutic Value (Collective Evolution)
• Psilocybin Mushrooms Shown to Alleviate Both Depression & Anxiety in Cancer Patients (Dr. Axe)
• How Magic Mushrooms Affect Depression (ATTN:)

MDMA/Ecstasy

• The Altered State of Medicine: Pros and Cons of Treating PTSD With MDMA Psychotherapy (Psychedelic Times)
• FDA Approves Stage 3 Medical Trials For MDMA (Dance Music Northwest)
• Ecstasy sold in US is less pure and more dangerous than in Europe, experts warn (The Guardian)
• Nearly 60% of All Ecstasy Sold in the US is Not Pure (THUMP)
• MDMA criminalization delayed research on drug's benefits: Sal Rodriguez (Los Angeles Daily News)
• Number Of Ecstasy-Related Deaths In The UK At Highest Level In Ten Years (Your EDM)
• Ecstasy 'teddy bear' pills: Cops' DEADLY warning as teen dies after Warehouse Project (Daily Star)
• 'I woke up with wires and tubes everywhere' Ecstasy pill teen talks of drug hell which left her in coma (Scottish Daily Record)
• 'The world has lost one amazing girl': Rugby club boss' agony as his beautician daughter, 19, dies after taking 'teddy bear' Ecstasy pills at an all-night rave (Daily Mail)
• Teenager dies after taking ecstasy (The Independent)

Ayahuasca/DMT

• Why Ayahuasca Is a New Age Spiritual Scam (Highsnobiety)
• Sting takes powerful psychedelic to rehearse for death (New Magazine)

Dissociatives

• Party Drug/Cat Tranquilizer Ketamine Is a Great Antidepressant (Motherboard)
• Ketamine trial led by Melbourne doctors key to cut lingering pain (Herald Sun)
• PCP's powerful cousin: 3 things cops need to know about TCP (PoliceOne.com)
• Down the K-hole: How Ketamine Became Tel Aviv's Drug of Choice (Harretz)
• My Ketamine Journeys, or Ketamine and the Enchantment of Other Worlds (Reality Sandwich)
• Dr. Steven Reichbach Opens Only Ketamine Infusion Therapy Center In Sarasota-Manatee Area (Sarasota Post)
• Philadelphia Ketamine Clinic Offers New Depression Treatment That Works in Hours! (Digital Journal)
• Bridgeport man on PCP who shouted 'I love ISIS' gets prison for injuring others in crashes (The Times Herald)
• Man high on PCP punches cop: Police (PennLive)

Opiates/Opioids

• America risks losing the war on terror in Afghanistan unless it legalizes the opium trade (Quartz)
• Heroin Overdoses Now Kill More in US Than Gun Homicides, CDC Says (Voice of America)
• Heroin-Related Deaths Rise As Heroin Use Falls (Reason)
• Make heroin available on prescription, official UK drug advisers say (The Guardian)
• Fentanyl is not a problem. Drug laws are the problem. (American Thinker)
• Mexican army faces uphill battle against opium poppies (MSN)
• Naloxone is now mandatory in all B.C. rehab centres (CBC News)
• DEA: Heroin Haul Largest Ever in Afghanistan, 'if Not the World' (ABC News)
• Drug in the times of demonetisation: Chocolate spiked opium is cashless city's new high (India Today)
• Problems Associated with the Rising Costs of Naloxone and Plausible Solutions (Pharmacy Times)
• Lethal synthetic 'super heroin' triggers 1st Cook County overdose death (Chicago Tribune)
• Digging Deeper Into North Carolina's Statewide Standing Order Of Naloxone (WFMY)
• Utah pharmacists can now dispense naloxone without a prescription (Gephardt Daily)
• The rising price of naloxone -- risks to efforts to stem overdose deaths (American Pharmacists Association)
• Sharp Rise in Drug Withdrawal Symptoms in Rural-Born Babies (TIME)

Kambô

• How the Social Aspect of Traditional Kambo Ceremonies Creates Bonding and Helps Treat Addiction (Psychedelic Times)
• Kambo In the West: Balancing Western Applications With Tribal Knowledge (Psychedelic Times)

Kratom

• DEA Looks to Ban Kratom, a Drug that Could Lessen Addiction (Interesting Engineering)
• Is Kratom a Deadly Drug or a Life-Saving Medicine? (Bloomberg)

Kava

• Kava could help in cancer fight (Radio New Zealand)
• Kava maker (The Fiji Times)

Khat

• Oman crime: ROP personnel foil bid to smuggle khat (Times of Oman)
• Norwegian drug mule caught at Dublin Airport with suitcases of khat (Sunday World)

Miscellaneous Psychedelics/Psychoactives/Drug Policy

• What Are The Medical Benefits of Psychedelics? (VICE)
• For the Health Seeker, Micro-Dosing Psychedelics May be the Secret (EcoSalon)
• Cliff Roth's OG viral video: The Reagans Speak Out on Drugs (Boing Boing)
• These Harmless-Looking Patches Reveal a Problem With Our Police Culture (ATTN:)
• Colombia's President Urges Drug Peace While Accepting Nobel Peace Prize (Reason)
• This Hallucinogenic Honey from Nepal Costs Hundreds of Dollars per Pound (The Daily Meal)
• Mexico quietly marks 10 years of drug war (Inquirer.net)
• White Americans Are Twice as Likely to Take Psychiatric Drugs as Other Racial Groups (TIME)
• Ending journalism's bad trip – why it's important to communicate responsibly about the health effects of psychedelic drugs (Health News Review)
• How to Get High on the Nutmeg You Bought for Eggnog (Inverse)
• These are the European cities that use the most drugs (based on their toilet water) (TheJournal.ie)
• The psychedelic era goes modern (The Daily Aztec)
• The Fighter: How Leila de Lima Ended Up Leading the Opposition to Rodrigo Duterte's Drug War (TIME)
• Tripping the comedy fantastic this weekend (The Daily Iowan)

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 - 12.9.16

Image by Dahtamnay, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Cannabis

• Congressional Republicans Vow To Block Marijuana Amendments (Marijuana.com)
• Here Is the Trouble With Legalized Cannabis (Merry Jane)
• White House Hints At Possible Marijuana Moves (Marijuana.com)
• Medical cannabis shop touts plant as alternative to opioids (Belleville News-Democrat)
• In Remote Indian Village, Cannabis Is Its Only Livelihood (The New York Times)
• 7 Reasons President Trump Is Unlikely To Fight Legal Marijuana (TIME)
• The Big Business of Making a Cannabis Surveillance State (Motherboard)
• Memory Impairment Caused By Marijuana Can Both Assist and Hinder PTSD Therapy (Psychedelic Times)
• Cannabis use spikes 70% among Americans aged 50 and above (The Independent)
• Marijuana Advocates Are Celebrating This Small Victory (ATTN:)
• Maine Marijuana Opponents Can't Get Enough Volunteers for Legalization Recount (Reason)
• Legal cannabis in NZ? Green Party offers green light to pot smokers (Stuff.co.nz)
• This Company Wants To Super-Chill Your Coffee With Cannabis (The Huffington Post)
• Cannabis Business Hype Is About to Go Up in Smoke (Fortune)
• Steve Kerr Admitted to Using Marijuana For Back Pain (ATTN:)
• 13 Chicago High School Students Hospitalized After Eating 'Laced' Gummy Bears (TIME)
• Cannabis 'affects your eyesight': Study finds regular marijuana use damages link between retina and brain (Daily Mail)

LSD

• Wildlife cameras unexpectedly snap naked man high on LSD who thought he was a Siberian tiger (Mirror)
• Did HALLUCINOGENS spark the Salem witch trials? Experts say locals may have eaten bread contaminated with a fungus found in LSD (Daily Mail)
• And You're Making Me Feel Like I've Never Been Born: The Beatles' Second Acid Trip (VICE)

Psilocybin/Magic Mushrooms

• Psilocybin, the Active Ingredient in 'Shrooms, Is Looking More and More Like a Potential Wonder Drug (New York Magazine)
• How A Psychedelic Drug Helps Cancer Patients Overcome Anxiety (NPR)

MDMA/Ecstasy

• MDMA Is Now One Step Away From Being a Prescription for PTSD (New York Magazine)
• UK nightclubs will offer free cocaine and MDMA booths to test Class A's are safe to take (The Sun)
• The MDMA being used to treat trauma is different from the street drug Ecstasy (The Conversation)
• MDMA for PTSD? How Ecstasy Ingredient Works in the Brain (Live Science)
• Teenager battling depression took potentially fatal dose of ecstasy before she killed herself at a beauty spot (Mirror)
• Heartbroken mum of ecstasy death victim begs teens not to 'play Russian roulette' with drugs (Mirror)

Ayahuasca/DMT

• Study: Single Session of Ayahuasca Can Defeat Depression (Collective Evolution)
• Silicon Valley's new craze is flying to Peru to take a psychedelic you can't legally get in America (Business Insider)
• Hallucinogenic drug ayahuasca 'stimulates the brain to fight Alzheimer's, study claims (Daily Mail)

Iboga/Ibogaine

• A Drug for All Ailments (Roads and Kingdoms)
• A Long Strange Trip to Gabon (Slate)

Synthetic Cannabinoids/Psychoactive Research Chemicals

• Deadly designer drugs now in the workplace (SafeToWork)

Dissociatives

• Anaesthetists to study ketamine for post-surgery pain (Newstalk ZB)
• For one NC veteran, ketamine offers a treatment breakthrough (WNCN)
• 'My wonk addiction is destroying my bladder': Ketamine dealer knows he has a problem (Gloucestershire Live)
• Man Sentenced for Conspiring with Postal Carrier to Distribute PCP (Kansas City infoZine)
• 1-year-old poisoned by PCP recovering (The Port Arthur News)

Opiates/Opioids

• "I am a human being:" Heroin user speaks out after overdose streamed on Facebook Live (FOX 6 Now)
• Heroin deaths exceeded gun murders for 1st time last year – CDC (RT)
• Heroin overtakes cocaine as the biggest concern for local cops (VICE News)
• Mexican cartels are expanding their control over the US heroin market (Business Insider)
• Why all the opium in the world won't make America happy (The Hill)
• Utah pharmacists can now dispense naloxone without a prescription (Deseret News)

Kratom

• DEA refuses to release evidence backing Kratom ban (MuckRock)
• Kratom and Cannabis Combination – The Medicinal and Psychological Effects (Kratom Guides)
• Drug policy experts and advocates implore DEA to keep opiate-like plant legal (The Washington Post)
• Kratom Mixed with Coffee (Kratom Guides)
• Kratom & Yerba Mate Tea—Is It A Safe Combination? (Kratom Guides)
• Kratom and Chamomile - A Great Combination to Potentiate the Effects (Kratom Guides)

Kava

• Study probes kava effectiveness on anxiety (Radio New Zealand)

Miscellaneous Psychedelics/Psychoactives/Drug Policy

• Integrating Your Experience: Why You May Question Your Sexuality After Using Psychedelics (Psychedelic Times)
• How Donald Trump's Cabinet Could Affect Executive Polices on Psychedelics (Psychedelic Times)
• Why Psychedelic History Matters (VolteFace)
• The Different Approaches to Appropriate Dosage Amounts In Psychedelic Therapy (Psychedelic Times)
• Rodrigo Duterte: Donald Trump Endorsed Deadly War on Drugs as 'The Right Way' (TIME)
• Microsoft says virtual reality could make you HALLUCINATE in the same way as LSD (Daily Mail)
• VR Isn't Going To Be Like LSD – It's Going To Be Much Better (Inverse)
• Can Psychedelics Make You Smarter and More Creative? (TalkingDrugs)
• Blue Lotus: The Ancient Egyptian Dream Flower (World of Lucid Dreaming)
• China's 'Walter White' Sold $600,000 Worth of Illegal Drugs Every Month to U.S. and Europe (TIME)
• Psychedelic War Stories & Cosmic Flights: An interview with Andy Roberts (Psychedelic Press UK)
• This Is the Latest Chilling Statistic to Emerge From the Philippine War on Drugs (TIME)

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 - 12.2.16

Image by Dahtamnay, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Cannabis

• On His Way Out the Door, Obama Suggests Marijuana Should Be Legal (Reason)
• Berlin to Legalize Cannabis Coffee Shops? (Weed News)
• Legalising cannabis and opium in India (The Asian Age)
• Some State Leaders Challenging Marijuana Election Results (NORML)
• Teva Pharm to market medical cannabis inhaler in Israel (Reuters)
• Opinion: WHO's Silence on Cannabis (The Scientist)
• The Cannabis Exception to the Second Amendment (Reason)
• Mapped: The countries that smoke the most cannabis (The Telegraph)
• Meme Sums up the Debate on Marijuana Use by NFL Players (ATTN:)
• New Yorkers Will Soon Be Able To Use Pot For Chronic Pain (TIME)
• Hunter S. Thompson's Widow Plans to Clone and Sell His Marijuana (TIME)
• First Vape Lounge for Cannabis Patients Opens in Rome (Leafly)
• GP Michael Harty claims Bill aims to legalise recreational cannabis (Irish Times)
• Investors Hoping To Ride High On Trailblazing Marijuana Company (TIME)
• Texas lawyers sing about why you shouldn't eat weed in front of cops (Boing Boing)
• Minnesota OK's medical pot for post-traumatic stress disorder (MPR News)
• Pet owners use cannabis for animal ailments (The Recorder)
• Medical cannabis could see movement in Iowa (Des Moines Register)
• The Stranger's Cannabis Gift Guide (The Stranger)

LSD

• The Science Behind LSD Flashbacks: Truth or Myth? (The Science Explorer)
• The Last Word: Carrie Fisher on LSD, Death and Sex With Han Solo (Rolling Stone)
• LSD, Sophia Loren and living in Batchelor Hall: thing you didn't know about Cary Grant (The Telegraph)
• Retracing the Steps of Psychedelic Outlaws on an LSD Mission From God (KQED)
• Exploding Cigars To LSD Poisoning, These Are The Craziest Plots To Kill Fidel Castro (ScoopWhoop)
• Accidental Discoveries: LSD (Lysergic Acid Diethylamide) (Daily News & Analysis)

Psilocybin/Magic Mushrooms

• Magic mushroom ingredient psilocybin could be key to treating depression - studies (The Guardian)
• Psilocybin: A Journey beyond the Fear of Death? (Scientific American)
• I Took A Psychedelic Drug for My Cancer Anxiety. It Changed My Life (TIME)

MDMA/Ecstasy

• MDMA could be on the market legally by 2021 (Popular Science)
• How MDMA Treats PTSD: Everything You Need to Know (Rolling Stone)
• FDA Approves Final Stage of MDMA Drug Trials (Reason)
• Couples and the Love Drug: Integration Therapy With Your Partner After a Difficult MDMA Experience (Psychedelic Times)
• The Past, Present, and Future of MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy - Preparing for a Post-Prohibition World (SFStation)
• Can MDMA help combat post-traumatic stress disorder? (CBC News)
• Three who died after Hard Summer rave overdosed on Ecstasy, coroner says (Los Angeles Times)
• Funeral held for Jamie Burns who died after taking tablet during Belfast night out (Belfast Telegraph)

Ayahuasca/DMT

• Understanding the Science of Ayahuasca (Collective Evolution)
• DMT and the Soul of Prophecy: Interview with Rick Strassman (Psychedelic Times)

Peyote/San Pedro/Mescaline

• Peyote has no bearing on church registration (Mexico News Daily)
• Scalia's Legacy Is Great, But Don't Forget The Bind He Left Us In (ValueWalk)

Iboga/Ibogaine

• An Ancient African Remedy Helped Me Kick My Opioid Addiction Overnight (Woman's Day)

Synthetic Cannabinoids/Psychoactive Research Chemicals

• Two 13-Year-Olds Killed By Drug More Powerful Than Heroin (KIIS)
• A new kind of high (Deccan Chronicle)

Dissociatives

• From Club To Medication: Party Drug 'Ketamine' Is Said To Effectively Cure Migraines (Parent Herald)
• Ketamine Considerations for Prehospital Use (Satellite Press Releases)

Opiates/Opioids

• When it comes to opioids, a stronger naloxone dose will save lives today (The Hill)
• This Drug Reverses Overdoses, But 3 States Make It Hard to Get (Governing)
• Walgreens makes Naloxone available without prescription in Louisiana (WWLTV)
• Israeli Cannabis Inhaler May Get Tested With Opium Poppy Next (Bloomberg)
• Rising Price of Naloxone Concerns Some Addicts' Families (EMSWorld)
• One Solution to the Threat of the Opioid Epidemic Spreading HIV (ATTN:)
• Opinion: Geographic shifts in heroin production caused more powerful strains (Maroon)
• More than 30 percent of North Koreans use meth, opium (UPI)
• The most horrifying mannequin challenge you'll see: Campaigners create video which shows the scene of a 'heroin overdose' to draw attention to epidemic sweeping America (Daily Mail)

Kratom

• We Still Have A Chance To Stop Kratom Prohibition – DEA Wants To Hear Your Thoughts (Reset.me)
• Kratom Research Gains Supporters in the Race to Replace Opioids (Inverse)
• Kratom: The Bitter Plant That Could Help Opioid Addicts—if the DEA Doesn't Ban It (Wired)
• Kratom and Adderall combination, does it really work? (Kratom Guides)

Kava

• What is Kava Kava used for? How well does Kava work for anxiety? (Kratom Guides)

Khat

• ROP increases border patrolling to crack down on khat smuggling (Muscat Daily)

Miscellaneous Psychedelics/Psychoactives/Drug Policy

• From Rapé to Mapacho: Uncovering the Ceremonial and Medicinal Benefits of Sacred Tobacco (Psychedelic Times)
• Psychedelics and MDMA are helping cure PTSD, addiction, depression and anxiety (News.com.au)
• Random drug testing is a scam on behalf of big pharma (Echo Net Daily)
• Ross Ulbricht's Lawyers Think There's More Evidence of Law Enforcement Misconduct in the Silk Road Prosecution (Reason)
• Global Drug Survey set to peel back curtain on professionals microdosing on LSD and magic mushrooms (The Sydney Morning Herald)
• Study Concludes Alcohol is More Harmful Than Psychedelics (Collective Evolution)
• Q&A - Shane Mauss on The Chemistry of Comedy and Psychedelics (303 Magazine)
• It's time to give psychedelic drugs another look (USA TODAY)
• Researchers Say Psychedelic Drugs Could Help Cure Addiction (IFL Science)
• Psychedelics reduce anxiety, depression in patients, study finds (The Baltimore Sun)
• Legalizing entheogens? (Telluride Daily Planet)
• Trump Picks El Chapo to Run D.E.A. (The New Yorker)
• Conviction rate in drug trafficking sees steep spike in four years (The Times of India)

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 - 11.25.16

Image by Dahtamnay, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Cannabis

• BREAKING: Anti-Marijuana Zealot Tapped for Attorney General (NORML)
• Why Cannabis Is An 'Exit' Drug, Not A 'Gateway' (Civilized)
• The U.K. Should Legalize Marijuana and Make $1.3 Billion a Year in Tax Revenue, Report Finds (TIME)
• Trump's Choice For Top Law Enforcer Has Cannabis Proponents Fearing Future (NPR)
• Marijuana Was Legalized In Your State? 5 Ways to Support Responsible Cannabis Usage (Psychedelic Times)
• Colorado Regulators Ban Marijuana Use in Businesses That Serve Alcohol (Reason)
• Cannabis a 'tantalising horizon' for combating severe seizures (The Irish Times)
• Ga. mom taking lead on next push for legal cannabis oil (11 Alive)
• 'Green Friday': Bay Area cannabis dispensaries promote one-day sales (East Bay Times)
• States That Legalize Marijuana Need to Do This Too (ATTN:)
• Pets on Pot: Cannabis for animals takes off in California (Los Angeles Daily News)
• Oregon Charts an Uneven Course Toward Legal Marijuana Sales (Reason)
• Marijuana Marketing Just Got Classier Thanks to This Cannabis Creative Agency (L.A. Weekly)
• How Idaho's Drug Warriors Stole from Epileptic Kids (Reason)
• Governor Christie Blocks New Jersey's Bridge to Legalization (NORML)

LSD

• Win free acid! The darknet's largest LSD producer is holding an art competition and you can enter (Happy)
• Should You Take Acid (a Very Small Amount) Before Work? (Esquire)
• This guy made the best LSD of the '60s (New York Post)

MDMA/Ecstasy

• How MDMA Therapy Could Promote Healing and Bonding After a Difficult Birthing Experience (Psychedelic Times)
• Teaching Happiness: How MDMA Can Help Those With Depression Identify and Mimic Physical Pleasure (Psychedelic Times)
• Poway High student died of ecstasy OD (The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Ayahuasca/DMT

• It's Time for Cautious Excitement About Ayahuasca As Depression Treatment (New York Magazine)

Iboga/Ibogaine

• Deadly pill peril: Illegal killer drug freely available online (Daily Star) 

Synthetic Cannabinoids/Psychoactive Research Chemicals

• Bengaluru: There is a new drug in town; it's called NBOMe (Times of India)

Dissociatives

• There's a new cure for migraines and stubborn headaches – ketamine! (Metro)
• Marion Christopher Barry, son of infamous D.C. mayor, died of a PCP overdose, autopsy reveals (New York Daily News)

Opiates/Opioids

• Heroin being replaced by this even deadlier drug (Asbury Park Press)
• Two Men Overdosing On Heroin In McDonald's Parking Lot Captured On Facebook Live Stream (Inquisitr)
• Virginia now allows anyone to buy naloxone, an opioid overdose antidote (WJLA)

Kratom

• We Still Have a Chance to Stop Kratom Prohibition – And the DEA Actually Wants to Hear Your Thoughts (AlterNet)
• Kratom Could Still Get Banned. Here's What You Need To Know (Forbes)

Kava

• I Tried an Ancient Drug and It Didn't Work (The Rival)
• Muller's launch Kava Academy to boost kava growing for export (Matangi Tonga)

Khat

• Elephant killed by speeding Miraa truck (TUKO)
• Khat dealer given 18-year prison sentence (Bloomington Pantagraph)

Miscellaneous Psychedelics/Psychoactives/Drug Policy

• Psychedelics and MDMA are helping cure PTSD, addiction, depression and anxiety (Perth Now)
• How Psychedelics Helped Me Deal with Excruciating Cluster Headaches (VICE)
• Trump's Pick for Attorney General Is a 'Drug War Dinosaur' (Reason)
• Should Teens Be Eligible for Psychedelic Therapy? (Psychedelic Times)
• Setting Up a Rapé Ceremony: Honoring Intention and Ritual in Sacred Tobacco (Psychedelic Times)
• Drug War Fail: Drugs Now Kill More People Than Car Crashes (AlterNet)
• Saskatoon prof. hopes event highlights and destigmatize research of psychedelic drugs (Saskatoon StarPhoenix)

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 - 11.18.16

Image by Dahtamnay, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Cannabis

• Marijuana Appears to Benefit Mental Health: Study (TIME)
• Study: Medical Cannabis Use Associated With Improved Cognitive Performance, Reduced Use Of Opioids (NORML)
• The Sneaky Reason Federal Studies Into Marijuana Are off Base (ATTN:)
• Denver Becomes First City to Allow Marijuana Use in Bars and Restaurants (TIME)
• Cannabis in History: The Journey of the Joint (Leafly)
• Here Come the Cannabis Cafés (Reason)
• A People's History of Cannabis Consumption (Leafly)
• The Tide Turns on Legalizing Pot in Virginia (Reason)
• The revolution in cannabis law has begun, but Britain is stuck in the past (The Guardian)
• Cannabis should be legal as a medicine, says Clegg: Former Deputy PM says continuing to criminalise the drug is 'absurd' (Daily Mail)
• CanPay Debuts First Legitimate Debit Payment System For Cannabis Purchases (Forbes)
• Maine: Legalization Opponents File Petitions Challenging Election Day Vote (NORML)
• How Cannabis Transformed My Severely Autistic Son (Collective Evolution)
• Cannabis cocktails? Constellation is mulling it (CBS News)
• Broken heart syndrome twice as likely in cannabis users - new study (The Telegraph)
• Cannabis users age FASTER than those who avoid the drug, study claims (Daily Mail)

LSD

• Why Power Women Are Micro-Dosing LSD at Work (Marie Claire)
• Can anything - LSD perhaps? - help 'suicide headaches?' (Philly.com)
• The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Cure (New York Magazine)
• The Trippy Life of the LSD Manufacturer Who 'Helped Create The 60s' (VICE)
• Retracing the Steps of Psychedelic Outlaws on an LSD Mission From God (KQED)

Psilocybin/Magic Mushrooms

• 3 Ways Psilocybin Therapy Could Lead to Healthier Gender Transitions (Psychedelic Times)
• Meet the Man Dedicating His Life to Uncovering Rare Mushrooms (VICE)

MDMA/Ecstasy

• Meet KATY The Natural Alternative to Molly – Does It Really Work? (Magnetic Magazine)
• Ecstasy ingredient touted as treatment for anxiety in autism (Spectrum)

Ayahuasca/DMT

• Can Ayahuasca, the 'sacred plant' of the Amazon, help addiction and depression? (The Huffington Post)
• Review: Yage Is Our Life (The Mancunion)

Peyote/San Pedro/Mescaline

• Will peyote be next for Supreme Court? (Mexico News Daily)

Synthetic Cannabinoids/Psychoactive Research Chemicals

• Super strength Ecstasy, mega dose opiates and the N-bomb flooding Australia in deadliest summer of drugs (News.com.au)
• Schoolies drug fear: Teens could be wiped out by "N-Bomb" (Rockhampton Morning Bulletin)
• Tragic Tony Storrie would be alive today if he hadn't taken N-Bomb legal high, sheriff rules (Scottish Daily Record)

Dissociatives

• Reinforcing properties of an intermittent, low dose of ketamine in rats: effects of sex and cycle (Springer)
• Police: Bridgeport man on PCP stabbed mom with samurai sword (News 12 Connecticut)
• Father accused of stabbing his two children was on PCP, family says (The Washington Post)
• Autopsy: Marion Barry's son died of accidental PCP overdose (WTOP)

Opiates/Opioids

• What Will Trump Do About the Opioid Epidemic? (ATTN:)
• Despite 15 years of occupation, Afghanistan's opium production has only gone up (Stamford Advocate)
• Why heroin is Mexican drug cartels' new product of choice (USA Today)
• Naloxone: Who is it saving and at what cost? (WLKY)
• America's heroin trail: The outdoor factory that feeds the US (BBC News)
• A Twist On 'Involuntary Confinement': Some Heroin Users Request It (NPR)

Absinthe

• An Ancient Tradition Returns: Making Absinthe in Switzerland (Food Republic)

Kratom

• The DEA Has The Wrong Priorities And Kratom Is The Wrong Target (The Huffington Post)
• What the Reversed Kratom Ban Teaches Us About Drug Advocacy in America (Merry Jane)
• With 2 Weeks To Go: American Kratom Association Urges Kratom Community To "Speak Up Now!" And Get 10,000 Comments In To DEA (PR Newswire)
• DEA taking a second look at kratom after public outcry (WBRC)

Miscellaneous Psychedelics/Psychoactives/Drug Policy

• What's the Future of Psychedelics Therapy? One Researcher's Vision of Psychedelic Public Policy (Psychedelic Times)
• How Defining Your Spirituality Can Positively Impact Your Psychedelic Experiences (Psychedelic Times)
• The BMJ Joins The Lancet in Supporting Drug Legalization (Reason)
• Trump's War on Immigration Will Reprise the War on Drugs (Reason)
• Inner Worlds, Art and Sacred Plants (Reality Sandwich)
• The Man in the Yellow Shirt Is Now Dead. Here's How That Could Upend the Philippine Drug War (TIME)
• Surgeon General Says Addiction Crisis a 'Moral Test for America' (TIME)

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.