This Week in Psychedelics - 7.10.15

Image by Dahtamnay, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Cannabis

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

LSD

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

Psilocybin/Magic Mushrooms

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

MDMA

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

Ayahuasca/DMT

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

Iboga

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

Peyote/Mescaline

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

Synthetic Cannabinoids/Psychoactive Research Chemicals

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

Dissociatives

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

Opiates

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

General Psychedelics

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

Disclaimer: "This Week in Psychedelics" does not censor or analyze the news links presented here. The purpose of this column is solely to catalogue how psychedelics (and other psychoactives) are presented by the mass media, which includes everything from the latest scientific research to misinformation.

Compassion Day

Image by Christopher Michel, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Yesterday morning my girlfriend and I decided to try something new, so we visited the Kadampa Center, a Tibetan Buddhist center in Raleigh, NC. I have had an interest in learning more about meditation, spirituality, and Buddhism for quite some time now, and thought it would be a valuable learning experience and a positive way to expand our sense of community. Although I have spent many years consuming media about meditation and Buddhism, I felt like it was time to venture out into the world to see what I can learn from people who are experienced and knowledgable in these practices.

It turns out that we decided to visit the center on a very special day; the center held an event titled Happy Birthday His Holiness the Dalai Lama! The Dalai Lama is turning 80 today, and the center held an event to celebrate him and highlight July 6, Compassion Day. We honored the Dalai Lama by offering cards listing our acts of kindness and compassion and participated in singing Happy Birthday, a guided meditation, mantra recitation, and a brief prayer.

I hadn't been to a religious or spiritual center or event for over a decade now, and was very happy with the community I saw at Kadampa Center. At this time, we plan to continue going to see what there is to learn, and determine what gifts I possess that I can offer the community.

To celebrate today, I encourage you to visit the Compassion Day website linked above and find ways to engage in rejoicing, compassion in action, and meditation in your life.

Weekend Thoughts - 7.4.15

Image by Humphrey King, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Happy Saturday y'all! Below, I have rounded up some things for you to think about this weekend:

1. Best-selling author Don Winslow purchased a full-page ad in the Washington Post as an excellent open letter to Congress and President Obama titled "It's Time to Legalize Drugs" that advises putting an end to the drug war and legalizing drugs. Well worth your time to give this one a read.

2. MAPS' Zendo Project has an Indiegogo campaign right now to raise money to further expand its psychedelic harm reduction services. The Zendo Project provides an incredibly valuable service that helps reduce potential negative incidents that can occur with the use (often irresponsible) of psychedelics.

3. My girlfriend is currently reading Sweetening the Pill: or How We Got Hooked on Hormonal Birth Control by Holly Grigg-Spall, and I thought an article published this week on Reset.me that describes why the pill is bad medicine was timely and great information to share. The article discusses the various ways that the pill actually harms the bodies and minds of women, and may be shocking to someone who is unfamiliar with the material.

4. At last weekend's Electric Forest festival, the harm-reduction DanceSafe tent was shut down. This article explains the festival's given reasoning for shutting down the tent and expresses the need to address this issue in our community.

5. From The Conversation, an article about why meditation should be taught in schools:  

"New research in the fields of psychology, education and neuroscience shows teaching meditation in schools is having positive effects on students' well-being, social skills and academic skills."

6. A new scientific review shows that fluoridation may not prevent cavities and can actually increase the chance of developing fluorosis, which can cause white flecks, structural damage, brown stains, and mottling to the teeth. This makes me grateful for having drank well water for the vast majority of my life, unlike two-thirds of Americans who regularly drink tap water.

7. Carl Force, the undercover DEA Agent who investigated Silk Road, faces up to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to charges of extortion, money-laundering, and obstruction of justice, and was involved in stealing more than $700,000 in Bitcoin. First of all, shocker. Second, shouldn't this require rethinking the life sentence that Ross Ulbricht received? 

That's all for this week's edition of Weekend Thoughts. Until next week, keep thinking wilder.

This Week in Psychedelics - 7.3.15

Image by Dahtamnay, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Cannabis

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

LSD

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

Psilocybin/Magic Mushrooms

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

MDMA

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

Ayahuasca/DMT

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

Iboga

• Iboga: A Complete Overview (Reset.me)

Peyote/Mescaline

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

Synthetic Cannabinoids/Psychoactive Research Chemicals

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

Dissociatives

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

Opiates

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

General Psychedelics

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

Disclaimer: "This Week in Psychedelics" does not censor or analyze the news links presented here. The purpose of this column is solely to catalogue how psychedelics (and other psychoactives) are presented by the mass media, which includes everything from the latest scientific research to misinformation.

Grateful Dead's Final "Fare The Well" Tour

Image by Kevin Schraer, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

My favorite band, the Grateful Dead, is in the middle of saying goodbye to its fans with a final five-night "Fare Thee Well" tour that is taking place in Santa Clara, CA and Chicago, IL. I wanted to share my personal story about how the band has affected me over the years as well as provide some information about the tour for anyone interested in attending a show or live streaming the tour.

From what I can remember, I was first introduced to the Grateful Dead in 2000 when my mother gave me the "What A Long Strange Trip It's Been: The Best of the Grateful Dead" compilation. I may have heard some Grateful Dead tunes before receiving that album, but that was the first Dead album that I listened to all the way through, multiple times. Although I enjoyed the album at the time, it wasn't until I went off to university that I really immersed myself in the music and the culture.

According to Deadhead standards, I am a quite a latecomer to the scene—many fans have been going to Dead shows for decades! I went to my first big outdoor venue show in 2008, where Phil Lesh and Friends and Allman Brothers Band put on an amazing performance at Walnut Creek Amphitheatre in Raleigh, NC. I was completely enamored  with the music and vibes of the crowd, and ended up seeing many more reincarnations of the Dead over the years—The Dead, Furthur, Bob Weir and Bruce Hornsby featuring Branford Marsalis, Mickey Hart Band, Bill Kreutzmann's Lockstep Allstars, etc. I've also seen some of the Grateful Dead tribute bands like Dark Star Orchestra, Cosmic Charlie, and Keller Williams' Grateful Grass.

There's something indescribable about the music and the people that attend Grateful Dead shows—the Deadheads—but when I first saw Phil Lesh and Friends play live, I knew that I was a Deadhead at heart. When I'm at a show or a festival, I feel like I am at "home" with my closest family and friends. Although I didn't have the opportunity to see Grateful Dead play live with Jerry Garcia, I have cherished the moments when I have seen the remaining members of the band play live.

Over 15 years, more than tie dye t-shirts, meeting hundreds of fellow Deadheads, listening to countless hours, and several unforgettable experiences later, I am still a Deadhead. In fact, I consider myself to be more of a Deadhead every day. It has become such a big part of my life that I still dedicate several hours a week to listening to recordings of old Grateful Dead shows on podcasts like Dead Show of the Month and Deadpod.

The Grateful Dead brought us 50 years of music, thousands of shows and original songs, and a sense of community among the counter-culture. If you are interested in live streaming or attending the "Fare The Well" tour, I encourage you to check out Dead50.net. The Santa Clara shows happened last weekend, and they were both amazing. The final three shows are happening in Chicago this weekend (July 3rd, 4th, and 5th), and I hope you'll join the rest of the worldwide community in checking them out.

I need to end this post with a big "Thank you!" to the members of the Grateful Dead and the fellow Deadheads in the community that have been so kind to me and my friends. Although this tour marks the official end of the band, the music will carry on for a long time to come.

Sometimes the light's all shinin' on me,
Other times I can barely see.
Lately it occurs to me—what a long, strange trip it's been.

"Truckin'" by the Grateful Dead