Weekend Thoughts - 3.5.16

Image by Stanley Zimny, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

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

1. Do you like TED Talks? How about procrastination? Here is an excellent story about one man's personal experience of procrastinating to prepare for a TED Talk on the topic of procrastination. It's humorous, educational, and a bit of a nail-biter. I think you will probably really enjoy it!

2. A piece published on WIRED dives into the nefarious business side of ad blocker companies. I find it incredibly ironic that the piece was published on WIRED, considering the site recently stopped displaying content for those of us who choose to run ad blockers in our web browsers. Not to say the publication is inherently on the wrong side of the battle, but it leaves a bad taste in my mouth every time I load an article on the site and find that I am unable to read it unless I load it in another browser or whitelist the site. It's been, and will likely continue to be, very interesting to see how the publishing industry as a whole alters its business models to sustain profits without alienating its audiences.

3. Alan Watts was one of the most innovative philosophers, writers, and speakers in recent history. One could do no wrong by pursuing his work. He liked to ask thought-provoking questions, like what would you do if money was no object? How would you determine the meaning of your life if that was the case?

4. I found xkcd's infographic showing the "size of the U.S.'s pipelines if each fluid produced or consumed in the U.S. had to be carried by a single pipe" to be really interesting. Different substances, from tea to blood to toothpaste, are depicted with different sized pipes. It's more of a thought experiment than real-world example, but it's fascinating to check out!

5. It turns out that Ben Franklin wasn't always a great writer. He put in a lot of work during his formative years to hone his craft, and I found this account of the steps that he took to become a better writer to be both fascinating and helpful for a aspiring writer such as myself.

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

This Week in Psychedelics - 3.4.16

Image by Dahtamnay, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Cannabis

• Weediquette Takes Viewers Inside the World of Marijuana (Reason)
• Colorado Hospital Allows First CBD Treatment For Epileptic Infant (Reset.me)
• What stock photos say about marijuana users (420 Intel)
• Here's What We Know About Cannabis And Cancer (Reset.me)
• Cannabis has given my son a gift (Des Moines Register)
• Vermont Senate Approves Legal Pot as Governor Cheers (Reason)
• Controlled Medical Marijuana Cultivation Legalized In Australia (Reset.me)
• Can cannabis gelato change Italy's attitude to weed? (CNN)
• Denver NORML Files Marijuana Social Use Initiative For 2016 City Ballot (NORML)
• Banned by Facebook, Cannabis Companies Turn to Pot-Friendly Social Media (Fortune)
• New Zealand urged to grow cannabis for medicinal purposes (Stuff.co.nz)
• Has DARE Gone Soft on Marijuana? (Reason)
• Setting Up a Mindful Marijuana Meditation Practice at Home with Joe Mattia (Psychedelic Times)
• 'Just Add Weed': How Brand Licensing Allows Cannabis Companies to Expand Across State Lines (Leafly)
• How One Millennial Started The 'Facebook Of Cannabis' And Got Invited To Richard Branson's Island (Forbes)
• Cannabis Entrepreneur Turns Dixie Cups And Duct Tape Into Successful Pot Plant-Shipping Business (Forbes)
• Medical Cannabis measure for Pennsylvania may be on cusp (Reading Eagle)
• NSW Government claim cannabis stays in system for up to 12 hours questioned by magistrate (ABC)
• Cannabis use affects processing of emotions (Medical News Today)
• Smoking marijuana makes me a better mum' Woman reads cannabis book to toddler (Express)
• Cannabis use linked to worse treatment outcomes for psychosis patients (Medical News Today)
• Takaka woman's use of cannabis to treat MS 'topical' (Stuff.co.nz)
• Meet Your Mate in This Stoner Party Bus (Reason)
• Poll: Florida Voters Back Constitutional Amendment To Permit Medical Cannabis (NORML)
• Cannabis Use Can Elicit 'Autistic-Like' Behavior (Broadly)
• Former Gresham bank is nowheadquarters [sic] of Cannabis Nation (Portland Tribune)
• The Cannabis Taxonomy Debate: Where Do Indica and Sativa Classifications Come From? (Leafly)
• Editorial: Cannabis issue demands comprehensive approach (Des Moines Register)

LSD

• Can very small doses of LSD make you a better worker? I decided to try it. (Vox)
• That time Trey Parker and Matt Stone took acid and went to the Oscars in drag (Death and Taxes)
• The price of MK-Ultra (Beaufort Observer)
• Man who stabbed another at Nimbin hostel 'was on LSD' (Echo NetDaily)
• New charges filed in woman's death on I-39 (Pentagraph)

Psilocybin/Magic Mushrooms

• Can Drug Trips Be Religious? Rabbis Take 'Shrooms for Science (Live Science)

MDMA/Ecstasy

• Ecstasy used to treat PTSD: MDMA could be legal before you think (7NEWS Denver)
• A Nonprofit Is Raising $400,000 for a Kilo of MDMA by Hosting "Psychedelic Dinner" Parties (Thump)
• Patients Legally Take Ecstasy While Receiving Therapy In Marin County (CBS)
• Fake electrician attempted to stash pills in electrical box ahead of music festival (The Daily Telegraph)
• California police find puzzle box filled with ecstasy pills (KTTN)
• Police officer caught taking MDMA at nightclub is dismissed (ITV)
• Spring Break Safety: Activities can Bring Danger, Increased Risk (Vinton Today)
• Alleged Athens ecstasy trafficker fighting forfeiture of $180K seized from home and bank (Athens Banner-Herald)
• 'Totem OneLove' dance party organisers endorse pill testing at their 'Stereosonic' events - where two people have died after taking lethal doses of ecstasy (Daily Mail)
• Dumbarton teenager found dead after reportedly taking ecstasy (Daily Record and Sunday Mail)
• Thousands of Ecstasy pills seized near UCR campus (Inland News Today)
• Ecstasy overdose caused death of UCLA student who went to rave at county fairgrounds (Los Angeles Times)
• Hume drug lab: Man caught making MDMA in custody after guilty plea (ABC)
• 2 charged after police seize 800 ecstasy pills during stop (Boston Herald)
• Worthing death crash driver had taken MDMA (Shoreham Herald)
• Naperville-area man accused of dealing ecstasy (Chicago Tribune)
• Man arrested on drug charges after picking up package from post office (Chicago Tribune)

Ayahuasca/DMT

• Can DMT Prolong Your Life After Clinical Death? (Collective Evolution)
• What Is the Difference between 5-MeO DMT and DMT? Choosing a DMT Therapy (Psychedelic Times)
• The Therapeutic Potentials of Ayahuasca: Possible Effects against Various Diseases of Civilization (Frontiers)
• What's an Ayahuasca Experience Like? 12 Days of Healing at the Temple of the Way of Light (Psychedelic Times)
• Open a Portal into Consciousness with Psychedelic Sculptures (The Creators Project)

Peyote/San Pedro/Mescaline

• Texas Matters: Understanding Peyote (Texas Public Radio)

Iboga/Ibogaine

• Iboga And Kratom Help Fight Overdose And Addiction – So Shouldn't They Be Legal? (Reset.me)
• Why is the U.S. Disregarding Plants Like Iboga and Kratom in the Fight Against Overdose and Addiction? (AlterNet)

Synthetic Cannabinoids/Psychoactive Research Chemicals

• New Jersey police captain killed in car crash had 'double the legal level of alcohol, bath salts and prescription drugs in his system' (Daily Mail)
• Minnesota man gets 9 years for selling synthetic LSD (Minneapolis Star Tribune)

Dissociatives

• Ketamine could be used to sedate aggressive hospital patients (Metro)
• Is The High Cost Of Legal Ketamine Treatment Driving People To Black Markets? (Vocativ)
• Potential Risks of Poorly Managed Ketamine Use in Depression Treatment (The American Journal of Psychiatry)
• Controversial drug offers hope to patients with chronic pain, PTSD (KSAT)
• PCP-addled woman bites off beau's tongue during make out session, briefly eludes police when victim can't spit out her name (New York Daily News)
• Depressed? Your doctor might soon prescribe ketamine (The Guardian)
• Not just a party drug: no ketamine means no surgery in some developing countries (The Guardian)
• 'Major' Hartford Supplier Found With Liter Of Liquid PCP, Police Say (Hartford Courant)
• CRPS Physician Says Take Control of Your Treatment (National Pain Report)
• Man sentenced to prison in drug case (The News-Gazette)

Opiates/Opioids

• Virtual Reality 'Heroin Cave' Could Help Smack Addicts Kick Habit (NBC)
• Boston's Heroin Users Will Soon Get A Safer Place To Be High (NPR)
• Can Naloxone work for potent W-18? (Hanna Herald)
• More than 30 pounds of opium found in luggage at O'Hare (WLS-TV)
• Police destroy opium, but only during the harvest (The Kathmandu Post)
• The surprising path from student athlete to heroin addict (CBS News)
• Two US employees killed in Pakistan drug-busting operation (The Guardian)
• Grassroots activists in Myanmar on march to destroy poppies (Walla Walla Union-Bulletin)
• Schemer's Office Speaks on Naloxone Bill (WICZ)
• From painkillers to heroin, progression of opioid abuse follows deadly track (Omaha World-Herald)

Kratom

• Some Say Kratom Is A Solution To Opioid Addiction. Not If Drug Warriors Ban It First. (The Huffington Post)
• Kratom Abuse and Treatment and Withdrawal (American Addiction Centers)
• Is Kratom the New Bath Salts? (The Daily Beast)
• Legislature getting fired up over Kratom debate (WIAT)
• Report shows potential harm of kratom (Herald Times Reporter)
• Senate bill would ban sale of kratom herb to those under 18 (Foster's Daily Democrat)
• Drug law will have predictable consequences (The Decatur Daily)
• Kratom: A dangerous drug or a helpful pain reliever? (FOX10)
• White Vein Sumatra Kratom Effects (Kratom Guides)
• Red Dragon Kratom - Benefits and Side Effects (Kratom Guides)
• Toxicology Rounds: Opioid-Like Kratom Use Booming, Cheap, Unregulated, and Addictive (Emergency Medicine News)

Kava

• Kava and the Rise of Healthy New York (The New Yorker)
• Driving following Kava Use and Road Traffic Injuries: A Population-Based Case-Control Study in Fiji (TRIP 14) (PLOS ONE)
• Tea and Sympathy: SquareRüt spreads the gospel of kava (The Austin Chronicle)

Khat

• Woman bust at airport with 17kg of Khat (IOL)

Miscellaneous Psychedelics/Psychoactives/Drug Policy

• Drug Warriors Will Pay $3.6 Million for Maiming a Toddler (Reason)
• Parents hire K9 teams to search teens' rooms (Courier-Journal)
• Mexican Drug Lord 'El Chapo' Wants to Be Extradited to the U.S., Says Lawyer (TIME)
• Why the war on drugs is unwinnable (Boing Boing)
• Latest from the V&A: Sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll to recreate the Swinging Sixties - complete with psychedelic hallucinations (Daily Mail)
• Meet The Erotic Artist Bringing Psychedelic Sex To Instagram (The Huffington Post)
• How to Run a Drug Cartel (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.

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.