Weekend Thoughts - 2.27.16

Image by Francis Chung, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

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

1. Before he became a successful writer, a friend asked Hunter S. Thompson to give advice on how to find meaning and purpose in life. He responded with a must-read stellar letter that may make you question your own life's direction. Reader beware!

2. If you are a Facebook user, you may have noticed that the service has rolled out "Reactions", which allows users to have a wider emotional range of reactions to choose from other than just "liking" a post. Now you can choose to "love", "haha", "wow", "sad", and "angry" your friends' posts. This is in response to years of customer feedback requesting a "dislike" button. Although we didn't get a "dislike" button, now you can show sympathy for a friend going through a hard time or anger for a family member who got rear-ended on the highway. What's going to be really interesting, however, is how advertisers and marketers use Facebook's new "Reactions" for more targeted marketing. Make no mistake, this is really valuable data for marketers, and we can expect to see more specifically-targeted ads in the near future.

3. It turns out that the "Best Seller" badge on an Amazon book's page is fairly worthless. How worthless, exactly? Well, this article shows that it takes about $3 and five minutes for a book to be marked as a "Best Seller" on Amazon. Interestingly (albeit not surprisingly), Amazon removed the example book from the article after it was published.

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

This Week in Psychedelics - 2.26.16

Image by Dahtamnay, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Cannabis

• Eric Holder Says Marijuana 'Ought to Be Rescheduled' (Reason)
• "The Drug War Created Stronger Strains": 5 Ironic Contradictions in Cannabis (Leafly)
• Study: Long-Term Cannabis Use Associated With Improved Pain Relief, Reduced Opioid Use (NORML)
• 3 Reasons Athletes Pick Cannabis Over Alcohol (Civilized)
• Are Mexican Tourists Coming to the US to Work in Cannabis Farms? (Latin Post)
• Facebook shutting legal weed pages (Boing Boing)
• Genius Girl Scout Starts Selling Cookies Across From Marijuana Dispensary (TIME)
• Vermont Senate Votes to Approve Recreational Marijuana (TIME)
• Canadian Court Orders Gov't to Let Medical Marijuana Users Grow Their Own (Reason)
• These Investors Are Quietly Investing in Cannabis Companies (New Cannabis Ventures)
• California Town Ditches Prison Economy, Embraces Cannabis Farms (MintPress News)
• More Than Just Revenue: The Social Capital Benefits of Legal Cannabis (The Huffington Post)
• Emergency Room Visits Double for Marijuana-Using Colorado Visitors (NBC)
• Instagram's Cracking Down on Weed, But These Apps Love Pot (WIRED)
• National NORML Board Endorses AUMA Marijuana Legalization Initiative in CA (NORML)
• Australia has new medical cannabis laws, but you still can't smoke it (Mashable)
• Practicing Marijuana Law and the Racist History of the Drug War w/ Moe Spencer (Disinfo)
• Cannabis Ceviche? Edible Marijuana Goes Gourmet (Bloomberg)
• U.S. Cannabis Cup might leave Denver for southern Colorado (The Cannabist)
• Poll: 60 Percent of Likely California Voters Support Initiative Effort To Legalize Adult Marijuana Use (NORML)
• Cannabis 2.0: Are Terpenes The Secret To Customizable Highs? (International Business Times)
• Utah Senate gives tentative approval to medical marijuana bill (FOX 13)
• 10 Cannabis Strains That Won't Make You (As) Hungry (Leafly)
• Marijuana: From Societal Scourge to Small Town Salvation? (Reason)
• No Matter Your Mood, Machine Learning Can Tell You What Cannabis is for You (PSFK)
• 10 Celebs Who Share Their Names with Cannabis Strains (Leafly)
• 10 top-rated states for medical marijuana (CNBC)

LSD

• The Benefits of LSD Will Change the Way We Talk About Drugs and Being High (Inverse)
• Step Inside San Francisco's LSD Museum (Mental Floss)
• Man takes LSD, jumps through second-story window (The Norman Transcript)
• Media jumps the gun to fear monger about 'LSD overdoses' in Pennsylvania (Raw Story)

Psilocybin/Magic Mushrooms

• Spiritual leader? Take shrooms for science! (Boing Boing)
• Watch: 61-year-old takes magic mushrooms for the first time (Boing Boing)
• SJ man had 'shrooms at theater, cops say (Courier-Post)
• Science seeks rabbis to do 'shrooms (Start-Up Israel)
• Theft investigation leads to psychedelic mushroom operation bust (WKBT)
• Convicted killer's appeal heads to 3-justice panel (Daily Republic)

MDMA/Ecstasy

• New Study Confirms That Molly Users Don't Know What They're Taking (Reason)
• Man Says Police Mistook Aspirin for Ecstasy, Settles Lawsuit (CBS)
• B.C. man admits to flying helicopter full of ecstasy, pot across border, but says he was doing so to save his town (National Post)
• Despicable E: Authorities just seized a load of Minion-shaped ecstasy pills (Metro)
• California police intercept puzzle box filled with ecstasy pills (UPI)
• 40% of Ecstasy users are taking 'bath salts, raising the risk of drug poisoning' (Daily Mail)
• 'Blue ghost' ecstasy caused William McLaughlin's seizure and death, says coroner (Belfast Telegraph)
• Disgraced soldier who snorted cocaine in the army jailed after dealing ecstasy in nightclub (Mirror)

Ayahuasca/DMT

• Is Ayahuasca Mother Nature's "Red Pill"? (Collective Evolution)
• Chelsea Handler's Ayahuasca Journey (Haystack TV)
• The mysterious power of ayahuasca (El País)

Peyote/San Pedro/Mescaline

• How Justice Scalia ruled on religious freedom – and why it matters (Deseret News)

Iboga/Ibogaine

• Justin Hoffman Opens Ibogaine After-Care in Nevada to Help Addicts the Holistic Way (PR Newswire)
• Iboga Experiences and the Global Ibogaine Conference: An Interview with Jonathan Dickinson (Psychedelic Times)

Synthetic Cannabinoids/Psychoactive Research Chemicals

• Lots of people might be taking the scary synthetic drug 'bath salts' by accident (Tech Insider)
• Dateline: Synthetic Drugs Targeting Teens like Tara Fitzgerald (2paragraphs)
• Violence-inducing bath salts may be common hidden ingredient in party drug (Ars Technica)
• Mason teen sold bulk amounts of LSD, designer drugs, officials say (WLWT)

Dissociatives

• The Science of Treating Depression with Ketamine (Reality Sandwich)
• Is Ketamine a Safe and Effective Rescue Treatment for Severely Agitated ED Patients? (NEJM Journal Watch)
• CBS News Features Dr. Ashraf Hanna Discussing How IV Ketamine is Successfully Treating Lyme Disease (PR Newswire)
• Role of hippocampal p11 in the sustained antidepressant effect of ketamine in the chronic unpredictable mild stress model (Translational Psychiatry)
• Ketamine for the difficult-to-sedate ER patient (EurekAlert!)
• Hartford Couple Smokes PCP, Kisses, And Chunk Of Tongue Bitten Off (Hartford Courant)
• Judge bemoans 'terrible' PCP in sentencing Westcott man for stabbing he doesn't recall (Syracuse.com)
• 'I Don't Feel Trapped On Earth': Ketamine Lifts Many From Depths Of Major Depression (WBUR)
• Police say PCP bust in Jersey City made cops sick -- literally (NJ.com)
• Middletown Police Find PCP, Marijuana In Car With Broken Windshield (Hartford Courant)

Opiates/Opioids

• Opium-Soaked Tampons Were the Midol of Ancient Rome (Atlas Obscura)
• America's Opium War in Afghanistan (Counter Currents)
• Mayor wants space where addicts can inject heroin safely (WLS-TV)
• U.S. Governors Act to Tackle Heroin Epidemic (TIME)
• Kroger makes overdose drug available at its pharmacies (The News Record)
• Naloxone, remedy for heroin overdose, closer to being sold over the counter at Walgreens (ABC 7)
• Myanmar Activists Say Destruction of Opium Fields Blocked (Voice of America)
• Australian opium companies to capitalise on billions of people with little or no access to pain relief (ABC)

Kratom

• Bill That Would Ban Kratom, Synthetic Opioids Clears Kentucky Senate (WKMS)
• Users Positive Experience and Thoughts (Kratom Guides)
• Controversial drug Kratom legally sold in Pennsylvania (WPXI)
• Poorly Regulated 'Herbal Supplements' Could Be Your Worst Nightmare (Forbes)
• White Vein Borneo Kratom (Kratom Guides)

Kava

• Chill Out at House of Kava, Bushwick's New Kava Bar (Bushwick Daily)
• Kava Peace (Salt Lake City Weekly)

Khat

• Tanzania: Over 836 Farmers Remove Khat From Their Farms (AllAfrica)

Miscellaneous Psychedelics/Psychoactives/Drug Policy

• 'Narconomics': How The Drug Cartels Operate Like Wal-Mart And McDonald's (NPR)
• Artist Creates Psychedelic Illustrations While On 20 Different Drugs (Elite Daily)
• Lift the Ban! Kofi Annan on Why It's Time To Legalize Drugs (Spiegel Online)
• Why More Young Professionals Are Turning to Psychedelic Microdosing (Psychedelic Times)
• Anxiety Drug Overdoses in U.S. Hit Record Levels (TIME)
• The drug war in popular fictional entertainment (Drug WarRant)
• The Search for the Elusive Soma: Nectar of the Gods, Fountain of Youth (Reality Sandwich)
• What Is Plant Medicine Healing? Finding the Roots of Psychedelic Therapy (Psychedelic Times)
• A vice president at JP Morgan introduced Timothy Leary to psychedelics (Tech Insider)
• Long Beach Author Investigates Psychedelics and Aldous Huxley in New Book ALDOUS HUXLEY'S HANDS (Long Beach Post)
• The Media Narrative Around Drug Use Is Shifting, But the Harsh Policies for Drug Crimes Are Not (Reason)
• Artist's Interpretations of Various Substances Will Put You Off Drugs For Life (THUMP)
• Scalia on Drugs (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.

Book Review - The Tao of Pooh

Image by Malcolm, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

This book hibernated on my To-Read List for several years before I finally decided to check it out this month. I decided to start reading it without knowing anything about it at all, other than assuming it was about Winnie the Pooh and Taoism.

Based on my assumptions, I wasn't surprised by the content of the book. It essentially weaves Pooh's adventures in and out amongst related Western Taoist commentary. Admirably, The Tao of Pooh has several humorous moments that made me honestly chuckle. It is very simply-written, but was difficult for me to follow. One moment there is a Pooh story and the next there is a Taoist take on said story, and it wasn't easy to transition from one to another. This was a recurring problem for me because there would often be several transitions per page! I found myself rereading passages multiple times to understand them, which I admit may be a fault of my own rather than the author.

Regarding the Taoist material discussed in the book, I can't say that I understand Taoism anymore than I did previously. I have read Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu and have a preliminary working knowledge of the topic, but I don't feel like I came away from The Tao of Pooh with more knowledge or wisdom overall. Maybe it warrants another read, but I would prefer to read more about Taoism from other sources before returning to this one. I do believe that others would probably like it more than I did, though, so I would recommend it for anyone who truly enjoys the stories of Winnie the Pooh and/or has an interest in Taoism.

3/5 stars. 158 pages.

Weekend Thoughts - 2.20.16

Image by Marco Abis, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

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

1. A psychedelic multimedia artist friend of mine, Psychedelic Astronaut, pointed out an amazing collection of dangerously beautiful poisonous mushroom photos that you simply have to check out. While you're at it, check out his site too! He has a great selection of music and artwork, some of which has even been printed on t-shirts, tapestries, and iPhone cases. 

2. The Wall Street Journal has published a searchable database of classified email messages that presidential-hopeful Hillary Clinton kept on an illegal, unsecured, private server which she used to conduct all of her official business while Secretary of State. If you would like to dive deeper into the topic, feel free!

3. I just wanted to share that as of this week, the United States government has begun enlisting the help of U.S. Marshals to arrest people for unpaid student loans. 

4. Earlier this week, Apple's CEO Tim Cook wrote an extremely important open letter to the company's customers regarding the FBI's insistence that Apple develop a backdoor for its software, which would remove the security features that protect us all from increasing levels of attempted surveillance. Regardless of how you feel about Apple as a company, I would like to encourage you to take the time to read the letter and share it with your network. Ben Thompson at Stratechery has an excellent summarization of the situation and clarifies the surveillance issues being disputed in this case.

5. In other Apple-related news, WIRED published a thought-provoking article on the recent adoption in the U.S. of chip-and-pin credit cards and how services such as Apple Pay and Android Pay may be the perfect solution to the terribly slow, loud, and less secure chip-and-pin readers currently in use at retail locations around the country. As someone who uses Apple Pay whenever it is available, I highly recommend trying these new payment options. They are easy and more secure than physical credit cards, whether they are using the modern chip-and-pin technology or not.

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

This Week in Psychedelics - 2.19.16

Image by Dahtamnay, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Cannabis

• Could Cannabis Help Stem the Heroin Overdose Crisis? (TakePart)
• The Science Is Clear: Marijuana Is Not A Gateway Drug (Reset.me)
• Bill Maher Smokes a Joint to Prove a Point About Marijuana Legalization (ATTN:)
• Legal Marijuana Sales Totaled $1 Billion in Colorado Last Year (Reason)
• California Nuns Illegally Grow Medical Cannabis, Sell It Online (Inquisitr)
• Meet the Marijuana Industry's Newest Customers: Dogs (Reason)
• Cannabis does not cause anxiety and depression, study finds (The Telegraph)
• Why Is Facebook Taking Down Marijuana Dispensary Pages? (TIME)
• Terminal brain cancer patient says cannabis oil saved his life (Sun Times National)
• Using Cannabis to Treat Depression (Leafly)
• Study: No Increase In Prevalence Of Cannabis Use Disorders (NORML)
• Where do Ireland's political parties stand on decriminalising cannabis? (The Journal)
• Albuquerque baby makes history with cannabis oil at Colorado hospital (KRQE)
• Using Cannabis For Sexual Health (Reset.me)
• Government's Cannabis ATM (SF Weekly)
• Will there be a 2016 Colorado Cannabis Cup? Permit denied (The Cannabist)
• Happy Presidents Day! The Founding Fathers and Cannabis (Leafly)
• Leafly Evolves Beyond Cannabis Strain Reviews (New Cannabis Ventures)
• 'Cannabis clubs' may be opening in four Swiss cities (The Independent)
• Step by Step, Pot-Legalizing States Free Their Marijuana Markets (Reason)
• Leafly Science Roundup: Can Cannabis Improve Your Workout? (Leafly)
• Ex-coach Ron McBride voices support for medical cannabis (KSL)
• Barcelona's Pot Boom and Bust (Reason)
• Adams County denies permit to 2016 Cannabis Cup at Denver Mart (The Denver Post)
• Beginner's Guide to Cannabis Breeding, Genetics, and Strain Variability (Leafly)
• Complex California Pot Act Created Unseen Problem (Reason)
• Snoop Dogg Invests In Canadian Cannabis With Smiths Falls Marijuana Deal (Inquisitr)
• The gene that puts cannabis users at risk of psychosis: Scientists discover why some smokers are more prone to mental illness (Daily Mail)

LSD

• Inside the LSD Museum That the DEA Somehow Hasn't Torn to the Ground (WIRED)
• The Strange Way LSD Both Mimics Psychosis And Improves Mental Health (The Huffington Post)
• LSD research making a comeback says U of S historian (CBC News)
• Study: LSD could lead to long-term psychological well-being (Palm Beach Post)
• Always Wanted to Do LSD With Philip K. Dick? You'll Love Playing Californium (WIRED)
• LSD research rebounding during 'psychedelic renaissance' (Saskatoon StarPhoenix)
• Society may have changed enough to warrant a retrial of LSD: expert (Global News)
• 2 students charged after 3 LSD overdoses at Villanova University (6abc)
• Williams Sentenced to Probation for LSD Possession (KOWB)

Psilocybin/Magic Mushrooms

• Magic Mushrooms in North America: Before the Wassons (Reality Sandwich)

MDMA/Ecstasy

• Could MDMA Save Your Relationship? (Complex)
• Want to Legalize Medical MDMA? Attend a 'Psychedelic Dinner' (US News)
• Government urged to consider pill testing as number of ecstasy users appearing at NSW hospitals doubles (ABC)
• MDMA: Using Safely (The Bottom Line)
• 'Deplorable' Kids Company psychologist is banned from practising for 12 months after taking MDMA with a vulnerable client in a nightclub toilet (Daily Mail)
• MDMA, Purest Form Of Ecstasy, Often Contaminated With 'Bath Salts' (Medical Daily)
• Death At HARD Summer Ruled Ecstasy "Intoxication" By Coroner (Your EDM)
• Florida man says he was jailed after police mistook aspiring for Ecstasy (WFTV)
• Teen Raver Died From Ecstasy Intoxication, Coroner Says (L.A. Weekly)
• Delivery results in felony charges for Oglesby man (LaSalle News Tribune)
• Teen accused of distributing ecstasy in Canberra faces court (ABC)
• A man and woman arrested for possession of Ecstasy: Parma Heights Police Blotter (Cleveland.com)
• Valdosta man arrested on MDMA, cocaine charges (Valdosta Today)
• Eugene man, allegedly high on ecstasy, arrested on felony assault charge (The Register-Guard)
• Teen rushed to hospital after taking ecstasy tablet at Coatbridge fast-food restaurant (Scottish Daily Record)
• Couple celebrated birth of child by taking Ecstasy and pot: West York police (PennLive)

Ayahuasca/DMT

• DMT Cook Burned & Busted (Crime Voice)
• Services Are Now in Session for Church Offering Hallucinogens (The Chronicle)
• Aidan Reid: How a Peru drug experience made me quit a life of partying (Belfast Telegraph)
• Police stumble upon suspected drug lab (The Davis Enterprise)
• De La Vina Resident Burned in Drug Lab Fire (Santa Barbara Independent)

Peyote/San Pedro/Mescaline

• National Council Does Not Condone Faux Native American Churches or Marijuana Use (Indian Country Today Media Network)
• First Amendment: Justice Scalia's disastrous decision on religious freedom (Janesville Gazette)
• Scalia And Lewin: From Harvard To The High Court (The Jewish Week)

Iboga/Ibogaine

• What's the Difference between Iboga and Ibogaine? Identifying the Right Treatment for You (Psychedelic Times)
• Psychedelic Research with Ibogaine and 5-MeO-DMT: An Interview with Dr. Joseph Barsuglia (Psychedelic Times)
• Sunshine Coast alternative therapist calls on Government to research iboga plant to treat drug addiction (ABC)
• My First Iboga Experience: An Interview with Dr. Joseph Barsuglia (Psychedelic Times)

Synthetic Cannabinoids/Psychoactive Research Chemicals

• NYU Research: Hair Sampling Shows Unintended "Bath Salt" Use (New York University)
• Soldier dismissed from army for supplying N-bomb (Stuff.co.nz)

Dissociatives

• Ketamine treatments working wonders on local girl (WOAI)
• Drug holds promise to fight acute depression (Palm Beach Daily News)
• Parklife Festival drug dealer told he could have killed someone with ketamine horse tranquiliser (Liverpool Echo)
• Man dies after falling from fifth-floor flat window while trying to perform a PULL-UP (Mirror)
• Inquest heard in ketamine addiction case (Barnsley Chronicle)
• Woman groped, suspect later found on PCP | POLICE BLOTTER (Renton Reporter)
• Police: PCP arrest made during traffic stop in Md. (WJLA)
• NJ man arrested for possession of PCP (Mid-Hudson News)
• Youth faces court over ketamine haul (The Standard)

Opiates/Opioids

• Kroger to make naloxone available over the counter (Sandusky Register)
• How snail venom may help end the heroin crisis (KING5)
• Penetrating Every Stage of Afghan Opium Chain, Taliban Become a Cartel (The New York Times)
• Cruz, Trump want to secure the border to keep out heroin. But will it work? (The Washington Post)
• China busts 35 restaurants using opium poppies as seasoning (WFXT)
• Walgreens to sell Naloxone without a Prescription (MyTechBits)
• Heroin-Addicted Identical Twins Reveal Shocking Ways They Say The Get Money For Drugs (The Huffington Post)
• Tasked With Combating Opium, Afghan Officials Profit From It (The New York Times)
• Overdose prevention pills don't cure opioid problem (Business Insurance)
• Poppy farmer thought it was a herb (Bangalore Mirror)
• 'Tea lady' inspires people to give up opium cultivation in Arunachal (The Statesman)
• Myanmar, a country rich in jade and gems, and OPIUM (The Northeast Today)
• Opium smugglers evade capture in Jordan (Al Bawaba)
• Myanmar Activists Say Destruction of Opium Fields Blocked (ABC)
• Broadway man charged with trafficking opium (The Sanford Herald)
• Opium Prohibition in Afghanistan (Cato Institute)

Absinthe

• Man wakes up after a night of drinking of absinthe in Magaluf and discovers a tattoo of a huge penis inked on his leg (Daily Mail)

Kratom

• Oxford police say selling Kratom is now illegal in city (Alabama's News Leader)
• Grateful Toad fined $12000 (Plattsburgh Press Republican)
• Herb Linked to Multiple Ark. Deaths (ArkansasMatters)
• Investigators seize illegal drug from 3 local businesses (4029tv)
• Oxford police warn against sale of new synthetic drug Kratom (The Anniston Star)

Kava

• New kava legal challenge in Germany over drugs institute ruling (Asia Pacific Report)
• New Kava Challenge (Vanuatu Daily Post)
• Two New Kava Bars Chill out the Bay Area With a Calming, Natural Concoction (7x7)
• One year mellow at Berkeley's MeloMelo Kava Bar (Berkeleyside)
• Divisadero's Long-Awaited Kava Lounge Softly Opens This Thursday (Hoodline)

Khat

• Madagascar flirts with food crisis as Khat fields replace staple crops (AfricaNews)
• Of Juja's JKUAT students and miraa chewing (Hivisasa)

Miscellaneous Psychedelics/Psychoactives/Drug Policy

• New Report Finds Drugs Bought On the Dark Net Have Higher Levels of Purity (Thump)
• Is Meth as Safe to Consume as Adderall? (ATTN:)
• Here are 10 fascinating drugs that our ancient ancestors used to get high (Raw Story)
• WATCH: Lana Del Rey Gets High on Psychedelics in New 11-Minute Video for 'Freak' (First to Know)
• Combat PTSD with psychedelic drugs? The VA or nonprofit organizations must fund more research now (New York Daily News)
• Why deaths won't stop the party: Drug test kits gain popularity as festival overdoses soar (Geelong Advertiser)
• Scalia's Mixed Drug War Record (Forbes)
• North Carolina's Welfare Drug Testing Program Is a Complete Failure (ATTN:)
• COLUMN: Psychedelic drug safety (Indiana Daily Student)
• Don't Punish All Drug Offenders for the Crimes of One (Reason)
• Pope Francis: Mexico Must Confront Drug Trade, Corruption (TIME)
• Effort made at CU-Boulder to ensure safe recreational drug use (Boulder Daily Camera)

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.