Weekend Thoughts - 4.23.16

Image by miheco, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

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

1. To get your synapses firing, check out this article about the concept of creating sustainable societies modeled from sacred geometry. (For more information on what sacred geometry is, check out the Wikipedia article.) The piece could certainly be fleshed out a bit more, but it's a good thought exercise to start with, discussing ideas like building torus-shaped houses that look like a donut and generating nuclear energy with devices like the tokamak.

2. This is simultaneously awesome and incredibly freaky—swimming mechanical snakes have been invented with the intention of performing underwater service work for sea-based operations like oil rigs and wind farms. This is basically the stuff of my nightmares. Autonomous robot snakes? Yeah, that's going to be interesting.

3. Step into a time machine with this collection of photographs from 1986, which is both 30 years ago and the year of my birth. This glance at the people, events, fashion, and city landscapes from that year will either have you reminiscing (if you are old enough to remember) or envisioning what things were like back then (if you were yet to be).

4. Would you consider dropping your home Internet connection for mobile-only service? If so, it seems like you aren't alone. Since 2013, there has been a 7% reduction in homes that use DSL, cable or fiber connection to access the web at home, while there has been a 10% increase in the amount of homes that are solely using a mobile Internet connection. Here is a link to the source study conducted by the National Telecommunications & Information Administration. I for one am not at a point where I could consider switching to mobile-only, but if mobile Internet speeds and reliability continue to improve, I could definitely see that as a possibility.

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

This Week in Psychedelics - 4.22.16

Image by Dahtamnay, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Cannabis

• The Growing Acceptance of Marijuana Smoking in Society (NORML)
• Decriminalizing cannabis would hurt Islamic State, mafia- Style prosecutor (Town Hall)
• Canada's Health Minister Says Pot Legalization Bill Coming Soon (TIME)
• How the President Can End Pot Prohibition Without Congress (Reason)
• DEA Finally Approves Study on Cannabis and PTSD (Leafly)
• California startup offering subscription snack box with cannabis-infused treats (FOX News)
• Does Marijuana Cure Depression? Why Treating Depression With Cannabis Requires Moderation (Psychedelic Times)
• Puff The Magic Dragon is not about smoking weed (Boing Boing)
• Watch Californians Explain Why They Use Medical Marijuana (TIME)
• Native American Church Resists Pot Enthusiasts (Courthouse News Service)
• "Crawl for Cannabis" aims to bring legal medical marijuana to Missouri (FOX 2 Now)
• A New Crop of Marijuana Geneticists Sets Out to Build Better Weed (Wired)
• Whoopi Goldberg's Women's Health-Focused Cannabis Products To Begin Shipping Soon (Forbes)
• A Brief History of Marijuana Law in America (TIME)
• The Best Portable Vaporizer for Most People (The Wirecutter)
• What the World Can Learn From Colorado's Marijuana Experience (Reason)
• Holy Moses These Fake Nuns Totally Grow Weed (Wired)
• What a Looming Patent War Could Mean for the Future of America's Marijuana Industry (VICE)
• The Lemonade Is $150. The Pot Is Free. (Reason)
• The Best Marijuana Strains for Treating Social Anxiety (ATTN:)
• Here's the Real Reason We Associate 420 With Weed (TIME)
• Marijuana Memo: Seriously, Guys. Do We Even Ned 420 Anymore? (Wired)
• What I Learned From Medical Marijuana Refugee Families (ATTN:)
• All the Apps You Need to Make This 420 the Best 420 EVAR (Wired)
• The Best Marijuana Strains for Cramps (ATTN:)
• If Weed Got Branding Like This, Maybe the Man Wouldn't Hate on It (Wired)
• A Marijuana Miracle: From Disabled Vet With Debilitating MS To Modern Weed Warrior (Reset.me)
• Cannabis users gather at London '420 picnic' (The Guardian)
• Best Marijuana Strains for Productivity (ATTN:)
• The Guardian view on cannabis and psychosis: how do we protect teenagers? (The Guardian)
• Cannabis: scientists call for action amid mental health concerns (The Guardian)
• Heavy cannabis use 'DOES have a negative affect on your brain - in regions linked to learning and memory' (Daily Mail)

LSD

• How an Army of Deadheads (And Their LSD) Invented Silicon Valley (WIRED)
• Medical Marijuana Designed for Instagram; What About LSD? (Clapway)
• Bicycle Day marks LSD discovery by Albert Hoffman as psychotherapy research continues (ABC Online)
• New LSD study opens depression treatment path using opioid system for major depression relief (Bel Marra Health)
• What LSD tells us about human nature (The Guardian)
• LSD Makes Your Brain More 'Flexible', Less Anxious (The Daily Beast)
• Photos: Flashing back to the days when Laguna Beach was an LSD mecca (The Orange County Register)
• Really bad trip: Frenchman on LSD beats girlfriend, hacks penis, & jumps out window (RT)
• Your Brain On LSD Looks A Lot Like A Baby's (NPR)
• The woman behind a new LSD study has a history of experimenting on herself (PRI)
• Minneapolis Brewer Forced to Rename Its LSD Beer (The Daily Meal)
• Vogue Williams to take LSD on new RTE show (BreakingNews.ie)

Psilocybin/Magic Mushrooms

• 'Magic Mushroom' Drug Psilocybin May Help with Feeling Rejected (Live Science)
• Psychedelic Mushrooms Can Ease Your Crippling Anxiety (Your EDM)
• The Latest Prescription Psychedelics Idea? Treat Addiction With Magic Mushrooms (Inverse)
• How Shrooms Work and Affect the Brain: What Psilocybin Is Really Doing to Your Head (Mic)
• Psychedelic Pizza Hoax Spawn EPD Investigation (North Coast Journal)

MDMA/Ecstasy

• Meet a Former Soldier Who Overcame His Life-Threatening PTSD With MDMA-Therapy (The Science Explorer)
• New study examines the effect of ecstasy on the brain (Medical Xpress)
• MDMA Effects: Drug Reduces Serotonin Transport In Brain, Leading To Cognitive Deficits (Medical Daily)
• VIDEO: Warning sounds as drug death investigation progresses (Sunshine Coast Daily)
• Ecstasy to blame for my son's death, says mother of student who drowned in canal (Evening Standard)

Ayahuasca/DMT

• How Ayahuasca Works to Heal the Illnesses of Civilization (Psychedelic Times)
• Church Offering Halluicinogenic Experiences Near Mineral on Hiatus, Moves Retreats to Peru (Centralia Chronicle)

Peyote/San Pedro/Mescaline

• Ruling Doesn't Settle Future of Native American Church (Courthouse News Service)
• Native American Church Uneasy With New Influences (Courthouse News Service)

Dissociatives

• Repeated Ketamine May Sustain Antidepressant Effect (Medscape)
• Galvanising support for ketamine as an essential medicine (Veterinary Record)
• Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court Judge slams rise of 'monkey dust' drug (StaffsLive)
• Man who ran naked down I-71 on pot, PCP (Cincinnati.com)
• Man accused of home invasion, PCP possession (Monroe News Star)

Opiates/Opioids

• SNL tried to joke about the heroin epidemic in America. Not all of America laughed. (The Washington Post)
• Medical LSD to be Legalized; Is Heroin Next? (Clapway)
• A Controversial Response to Heroin Epidemic: Supervised Injections (U.S. News & World Report)
• Using Naloxone (Narcan) As A Last Resort (Forbes)
• How history and paranoia keep morphine away from India's terminally-ill patients (Quartz)
• No end yet to Afghanistan's opium trade (Reuters)

Kratom

• WMJ article on kratom gains national attention (Wisconsin Medical Society)
• How to Prevent Kratom Nausea & Side Effects (Kratom Project)

Kava

• Noble Kava: A New Beginning (The Blue Banner)

Khat

• Somalia:The Financial and Cultural Importance of Khat and the Current Threat to its Use (SomalilandPress)
• Uhuru and Ruto should sweet-talk wazungu into chewing miraa (Standard Digital)

Miscellaneous Psychedelics/Psychoactives/Drug Policy

• Smoking dead scorpions is KP's latest dangerous addiction (DAWN)
• How imperialism and eugenics during America's Progressive Era spawned international drug control (Raw Story)
• Psychedelic Advocates Take Their Case for Freedom of Consciousness to the U.N. (AlterNet)
• Do Psychedelics Have The Power To Wake Us Up? (Collective Evolution)
• Eight Common Items That Can Make You Test Positive for Drugs (ATTN:)
• The Highs and Lows of the Psychedelic Experience: How to Avoid the Dangers of Psychedelics (Psychedelic Times)
• How Long It Takes for 6 Commons Drugs to Leave Your System (ATTN:)

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

420: Cannabis Celebration Day

Image by Jurassic Blueberries, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

April 20th (also known as “420” in cannabis counterculture) is considered a day of reverence and celebration for people who have a relationship with cannabis. 420 has other meanings, including the times of day that cannabis consumers often imbibe the plant during the day (4:20 AM or PM), the act of smoking cannabis, etc. The origin story of 420 is controversial, with several opposing groups claiming that they originally founded the holiday.

Perhaps the most accepted story is that of the Waldos, a group of high school students in San Rafael, California in the early 1970s. The story is that the group chose to meet at a wall (hence the “Waldos”) outside their school at 4:20 PM each day after school in order to toke up and search for a rumored nearby cannabis crop.

Other stories include the number originating as a police code that announces cannabis use is taking place, April 20th being the primo day to plant an outdoor cannabis grow before the summer, or that there are 420 active chemicals in cannabis. However, criminal codes (both federal and Californian) do not correlate with cannabis-related crimes, gardening schedules can vary by location, and there are approximately 315 active chemicals in cannabis. Besides, the term “420” supposedly originated as a time, not a signifier of anything in particular or a date.

Regardless of the term's true origin story, 420 is now synonymous with cannabis and is well-known even outside of the cannabis community. If you are looking for a way to celebrate today, I would suggest learning more about cannabis from sites like Erowid and NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws). Arming oneself with knowledge is always a great use of time! If you do choose to imbibe today, please be safe and smart—although the plant has very little negative effects compared to most psychoactive substances, it is still important to make good decisions while journeying with cannabis.

Book Review - Buddhism in a Nutshell

For the past five weeks, my girlfriend and I have been taking an introductory level Buddhism course titled Buddhism in a Nutshell at my local Buddhist center, the Kadampa Center in Raleigh, NC. Many of the center's members suggested this book to me over the past several months, and I decided to purchase it for reading alongside the course.

Simply put, I have been completely blown away. This is hands-down the best book I have read about Buddhism to date, at least for someone at a true beginner's level of understanding the basic concepts—like myself. I took notes furiously throughout my reading of the book, and will be putting into practice many of the meditations, dedications, and advice that it contains for several weeks, months, and years to come.

Buddhism in a Nutshell was written by Lama Thubten Yeshe, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, and Venerable Amy Miller and published in 2010. It covers a lot of subtopics under the wider topic of Buddhism, including defining what Buddhism is, a brief biography of who the Buddha was, an explanation of dharma, what karma is and how it works, the four noble truths, the fundamentals of meditation, various approaches of teaching Buddhism, the importance of finding a qualified teacher, the intriguing-yet-confusing (to me!) concept of emptiness, and an appendix featuring a list of recommended reading and resources.

The book also includes an audio CD that contains 11 hours of teachings spoken by Venerable Amy Miller, which I have started but not yet completed. From what I have heard, I can report that these recordings are very helpful for a beginner like myself.

Reading this book alongside the classes I have been attending has been very helpful, as it goes into much more detail than the classes have, and reading the book has suited my personal learning style better than the verbal-based lecture style.

My only criticism whatsoever of Buddhism in a Nutshell is related to the poor editing job that was done prior to its publication. There are misspellings, grammatical and syntactical errors, and punctuation mistakes scattered throughout the book. Normally, that would cause me to bump my rating for a book down, but I am willing to overlook it in this case due to the high quality of the teachings.

Suffice it to say that if you are interested in learning about Buddhism and are looking for an all-around guide that will cover a wide variety of topics without getting so complicated as to confuse you, I can wholeheartedly recommend this book and its audio CD companion. Once I have studied it some more and am comfortable with the teachings, I plan to lend my copy out to those who would like to read it, and will consider purchasing copies for friends and family who would benefit from its teachings.

5/5 stars. 243 pages.

Bicycle Day

Image by lab604, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Happy Bicycle Day everyone! For those of you that are unaware, April 19th is a day of celebration in the psychedelic community because it signifies the day that Albert Hofmann, the creator of LSD, took his first intentional LSD trip back in 1943.

You see, Hofmann first synthesized LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide) on November 16, 1938 in the Sandoz laboratories in Basel, Switzerland. He was researching lysergic acid derivatives to obtain a respiratory and circulatory stimulant (an analeptic). The chemical was set aside for nearly five years until April 16, 1943, when Hofmann decided to revisit it. While re-synthesizing a new batch of LSD, he accidentally absorbed a small amount through his fingertips and found that it had powerful effects, which he described as being:

"... affected by a remarkable restlessness, combined with a slight dizziness. At home I lay down and sank into a not unpleasant intoxicated-like condition, characterized by an extremely stimulated imagination. In a dreamlike state, with eyes closed (I found the daylight to be unpleasantly glaring), I perceived an uninterrupted stream of fantastic pictures, extraordinary shapes with intense, kaleidoscopic play of colors. After about two hours this condition faded away."

Three days later, on April 19, he decided to intentionally increase the dose for a self-experiment, at a level that he thought would be a minuscule dose—250 micrograms (an actual threshold dose is 20 micrograms). This is a fairly large dose in actuality, and it hit him like a ton of bricks. Less than an hour later, he began experiencing abrupt and intense changes in perception, and asked his laboratory assistant to accompany him home. The personal use of motor vehicles was restricted because this was during World War II, and the pair had to make the journey by bicycle.

During the bicycle ride, Hofmann struggled with difficult emotions and thoughts, believing that his next-door neighbor was a malevolent witch, that he was going insane, that LSD had poisoned him, among other anxious thoughts. A house doctor was called for, who could find no physical abnormalities aside from Hofmann's extremely dilated pupils. This reassured Hofmann, who later wrote:

"... Little by little I could begin to enjoy the unprecedented colors and plays of shapes that persisted behind my closed eyes. Kaleidoscopic, fantastic images surged in on me, alternating, variegated, opening and then closing themselves in circles and spirals, exploding in colored fountains, rearranging and hybridizing themselves in constant flux..."

So how does one celebrate Bicycle Day? Well, there isn't really a defined method of celebration, but one could take LSD, ride a bicycle, check out Hofmann's book My Problem Child, donate to MAPS to support psychedelic research or to Erowid to support harm reduction and drug education, attend a local psychedelic dinner, or spread the word about any of these things. At any rate, be safe in whatever you do, and Happy Bicycle Day!