This Week in Psychedelics - 5.27.16

Image by Dahtamnay, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Cannabis

• Curbing The Cannabis Industry's Growing Power Consumption (OPB)
• The Shake: Next President Urged to Give Cannabis a Fair Shake (Leafly)
• Big Pharma Seeks to Capitalize on Pain-Reducing Compound Derived From Cannabis (Truth-Out)
• Can Cannabis Change Capitalism? VICE Columnist, Author Thinks So. (Leafly)
• Bernie Sanders Encourages Californians to Legalize Marijuana This Fall (Reason)
• What We Know About Using Marijuana While Breastfeeding (ATTN:)
• The Keurig of weed vaporizers is launching next year (The Verge)
• A Member of Congress Made a Huge Admission About Marijuana (ATTN:)
• Whoopi Goldberg on the Challenges of Launching a Female-Focused Cannabis Brand (Yahoo! Style)
• Feds: Marijuana Trafficking Falls Following Statewide Legalization (NORML)
• VA Docs May Soon Be Allowed to Talk to Vets About Medical Pot (Reason)
• Radical Rant: Why 'We Need More Research' On Cannabis Is Bullshit (High Times)
• Nasdaq rejects listing application by cannabis social network (Reuters)
• How To Grow Cannabis: Starting Marijuana Seeds (Reset.me)
• Study: Rates Of Problematic Cannabis Use Falling Among Teens (NORML)
• NYC Police Commissioner Says Marijuana Trade Is Too Violent to Be Legalized (Reason)
• Here Are the 5 Best Marijuana Strains for Depression (ATTN:)
• Maitland couple let son grow cannabis farm in their home to pay off his drug debt (Metro)
• Canadian Police Shut Down Dozens of Unlicensed Marijuana Dispensaries (TIME)
• The Unexpected Opponent to California's Marijuana Legalization Measure (Reason)
• This is How Many College Students Drink Alcohol and Smoke Pot (TIME)
• Marijuana millionaires cash in on cannabis legalisation (The Guardian)
• Creating reference standards for cannabis testing: an interview with Adam Ross (News-Medical.net)
• Effects of Cannabis on Alzheimer's Disease investigated in mice (Pravda)
• Cannabuzz: Who Hates Cannabis? And Why? (The Portland Mercury)
• The 5 Best Marijuana Strains for Migraines (ATTN:)
• Smoking cannabis ALTERS your DNA 'causing mutations that can trigger serious illness, including cancer' (Daily Mail)
• Stoned sheep went on 'psychotic rampage' after eating cannabis plants dumped in quiet Welsh village (Daily Mail)

LSD

• Swapping LSD for Coffee at Work Is Probably a Bad Idea (The Daily Beast)
• Had LSD Never Been Discovered Over 75 Years Ago, Music History Would Be Entirely Different (Mic)
• The Early, State-Sanctioned LSD Experiments in Communist Bulgaria (Atlas Obscura)
• A Trip Down Memory Lane: LSD at Harvard (The Harvard Crimson)
• The 52: Was Ellis on LSD when he pitched no-hitter? (The San Diego Union-Tribune)
• 'No drugs for me' – Vogue Williams quashes rumours she'll take LSD on TV (Irish Independent)
• How LSD Changes The Way Our Brains Work (Brain Blogger)
• Why LSD Is Making A Worrying Comeback (Refinery29)

Psilocybin/Magic Mushrooms

• Long-awaited human trials suggest that magic mushrooms can treat depression (Quartz)
• Magic Mushrooms Could Be the Future of Antidepressants (VICE)

MDMA/Ecstasy

• Ecstasy and MDMA are stronger now than ever before! (Stoney Roads)
• Bitter Life Lessons That Sunk In After 5 Weekends On MDMA (Pedestrian)
• Teenage boy fighting for life after taking ecstasy known as 'Rockstar' (Manchester Evening News)

Ayahuasca/DMT

• Indigenous groups unhappy with the growing number of Ayahuasca retreats (Peru this Week)
• DMT Is the Next Big Hallucinogenic Drug. What Is It, and What Does It Do to Your Brain? (Mic)
• We Asked Why Someone Would Take Ayahuasca More Than 20 Times (VICE)
• Americans travel to Kentucky to try 'spiritual enlightenment' drug (WLWT)

Peyote/San Pedro/Mescaline

• Alabama church using psychedelic drugs to worship (WVTM)

Dissociatives

• 'Party Drug' Could Be Johnson & Johnson's Entry Into Antidepressant Market (Guru Focus)
• Ketamine found more effective for treating highly-agitated patients during transport to hospital (Science Daily)
• New meta-analysis shows ketamine effective against persistent post-surgery pain and could provide major cost-savings globally (EurekAlert!)
• Erick Morillo opens up about ketamine addiction (Mixmag)
• Molecular Mechanisms Underlying Ketamine's Rapid Antidepressant Action (Psychiatry Advisor)
• Westchester County Man Sentenced For Killing Passenger While Driving On PCP (Daily Voice)
• Police: Officers investigating possible shooting charge woman with PCP possession (The Frederick News-Post)

Opiates/Opioids

• How a pharma company made billions off mass murder by faking the science on Oxycontin (Boing Boing)
• How cracking down on America's painkiller capital led to a heroin crisis (The Guardian)
• Drug Deaths From Fentanyl, Heroin Increasing (Hartford Courant)
• What You Need to Know About This Critical Anti-Overdose Drug (ATTN:)
• Naloxone Price Hikes Spark Congressional Interest (Maine Public Broadcasting)
• 8 Countries that Produce the Most Opium in the World (Tech Insider)
• Afghan opium farmers celebrate bumper poppy harvest (BDlive)

Kratom

• Kratom & Pregnancy Safety (Kratom Project)
• How to Properly Dose Kratom – Low Medium & High Dosages (Kratom Project)
• Dangerous drug banned in 6 states, on the rise in SWFL (Wink News)
• Kratom & Coffee – A Strong Energizing Combination (Kratom Project)
• What is The Best Way to Take Kratom? (Kratom Revealed)
• Kratom Testing in Drug Tests (Kratom Project)
• NC lawmakers consider banning Kratom (WNCT)
• Arkansas's ban of the natural painkiller Kratom has left sufferers and former opiate addicts in the lurch (Arkansas Times)
• Wisconsin one of six states to ban drug Kratom (WIZM)
• Understanding Kratom Pharmacology (Kratom Project)
• Buying Kratom in Colorado – Is it Legal? (Kratom Project)

Kava

• Slight drop in kava price (The Fiji Times)
• Catching a buzz without the booze at Chicago's first kava bar (Chicago Reader)

Khat

• Herbal stimulant, khat derailing Djibouti's economy (Africa News)

Miscellaneous Psychedelics/Psychoactives/Drug Policy

• Researchers Are Diving Into The World Of Psychedelic Drugs, And Compelling Results Are Arriving (A Plus)
• UK legal high ban: Laughing gas, salvia divinorum and mephedrone experiences (Daily Star)
• A History of Psychedelics (The Huffington Post)
• Splashes of Brilliance (Volteface)
• UBC study explores reducing domestic violence through psychedelic drugs (The Ubyssey)
• It's a 'psychedelic renaissance', as scientists identify medicinal qualities of hardcore drugs (Quartz)
• Challenging the Stigmas of Psychedelics: An Interview with Ashley Booth of the Aware Project (Psychedelic Times)
• LSD redux: Psychedelics may help brain functioning (Genetic Literacy Project)
• Mexico Approves Extradition of Drug Lord 'El Chapo' to the U.S. (TIME)
• Podcast with Javier Prato on Spiritual Medicine: Covering the Spectrum of Plant Healing (Psychedelic Times)
• 5 Hidden Dangers of Common Medications (ATTN:)
• Altered States of Consciousness (Philosophy Talk)
• Psychedelics, MDMA among drugs expected at Movement, Electric Forest (MLive.com)

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 - 5.21.16

Image by Joel Ormsby, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

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

1. As someone who occasionally uses a vaporizer, this story about a vaporizer exploding, knocking out a man's teeth, ripping a hole in his tongue, and leaving his hands covered in burns scares the shit out of me, to say the least. In this case, the vaporizer battery exploded, and it isn't just an isolated incident—other vaporizer malfunctions have occurred recently as well. It seems that the issue is not with the vaporizer itself. Instead, it's normally a problem with the batteries, so the best advice is to only use the batteries and charging accessories that come with or are made for the vaporizer. Be safe out there!

2. If you are a health-conscious person, be on the lookout for an upcoming changes, because after 20 years, nutritional labels will be getting an update. The changes coming include increasing the font size for calories, updating serving sizes to be in line with modern expectations, some changes in the nutrients required to be included, and a clear differentiation between naturally-occurring sugars and added sugars.

3. I am by no means an expert on hip hop or rap music, but I did really enjoy this thorough deconstruction of rapping styles, which spans from the 1980s to modern day. The video analyzes various aspects of rap, including beat and bar placement, rhyming schemes, storytelling abilities, and more. I learned a good amount about the genre from this video, and it encouraged me to check out some artists that I hadn't heard before. This one comes highly recommended, even if you don't consider yourself a rap fan!

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

This Week in Psychedelics - 5.20.16

Image by Dahtamnay, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Cannabis

• Will Canada become America's cannabis capital? (The Guardian)
• NFL Player Eugene Monroe Donates $80,000 to Medical Cannabis Research (Merry Jane)
• How One Guy's Illegal U-Turn Brought Down a Cannabis Gang (VICE)
• Cooking With Cannabis (Medical Jane)
• Trouble in Bogota: How the Risks of Homemade Cannabis Remedies are Being Felt in Colombia (Leafly)
• California is poised to become the center of cannabis culture (Los Angeles Times)
• The case for legalizing cannabis (Toronto Star)
• NC Support for Medical at All Time High - 2016 (NORML of North Carolina)
• The Downside to The DEA Rescheduling Cannabis (Merry Jane)
• Cannabis convention controversy: The 'free' samples that'll run you $299 (Alaska Dispatch News)
• House Member Vote To Permit Military Veterans Access To Medical Cannabis (NORML)
• Cannabis-Infused Spa Treatments Are Mom Approved (Merry Jane)
• First Clinical Trial With Cannabis for Huntington's Disease Shows Promising Results (High Times)
• Cannabis By The Numbers: How Much Money Will States Bring in From Marijuana in 2016? (Merry Jane)
• New State Laws Permit Medical Marijuana Use In Hospitals (NORML)
• They Called It A Miracle: Cannabis Oil Helps Infant Beat Aggressive Eye Cancer (Reset.me)
• Arizona Cannabis Legalization Has Some Powerful Opponents (ATTN:)
• Cannabis for Canines (Reason)
• Say Why To Drugs – the highs and lows of cannabis (The Guardian)
• Cannabis Prices Are Plummeting Thanks To Legalization (Green Rush Daily)
• Colorado's Lessons from Legal Pot (Reason)
• Best Marijuana Strains for People Who Can't Sleep (ATTN:)
• Cannabis Changes the Game of Real Estate (Eugene Weekly)
• Baird confronted at cannabis conference by illness sufferers (SBS)
• Here Are 5 Highly Reviewed Marijuana Strains for Arousal (ATTN:)
• Anti-Pot Analyst Claims Fatal Crashes in Washington 'Have Risen 122 Percent' (Reason)

LSD

• Watch this brief history of LSD, and glimpse of its future (Boing Boing)
• The first modern images of a human brain on LSD (The Daily Psychedelic Video)
• That Escalated Quickly: Why You Should Do Acid (Daily Nexus)
• Boys take LSD at Donald Trump rally, philosophize about nation's future (Daily Pakistan)
• Vogue Williams reveals she's not doing LSD for new show: 'No drugs for me' (Irish Examiner)
• NH police still investigating bad LSD trip at UMass Outing Club last week (MassLive)

Psilocybin/Magic Mushrooms

• Magic mushrooms lift severe depression in clinical trial (The Guardian)
• The FDA Calls Psilocybin Trips Food Poisoning, but Mushrooms May Mend the Brain (Inverse)
• Psilocybin and End-of-Life Anxiety: Reducing Stress for Terminal Cancer Patients (Psychedelic Times)
• Psychedelic Mushrooms: Strong Medicine For A Troubled World (Reset.me)

MDMA/Ecstasy

• 7 Ways to Reduce the MDMA Hangover (AlterNet)
• ILLEGAL! Presents: In Love With EMMA (VolteFace)

Ayahuasca/DMT

• Ayahuasca: Psychedelic Tea from the Amazon (Live Science)
• Personal Story: How Ayahuasca Helped Me Recover From Bulimia (Reset.me)
• Ayahuasca the Rythmia Way: A Talk with Gerard Powell (Reality Sandwich)
• Chelsea Handler needs to try Meditation instead of Ayahuasca -Subodh Gupta (Obesity Campaign UK)
• Incipient DMT Lab Found in Goleta (Santa Barbara Independent)

Peyote/San Pedro/Mescaline

• Alabama church members smoke pot, eat mushrooms and peyote: those are the sacraments (AL.com)

Synthetic Cannabinoids/Psychoactive Research Chemicals

• Man, 21, who had to learn to eat and walk again after taking psychedelic drug 'NBOMe' shares picture of himself in a 10-day coma in hospital to warn others of the dangers (Daily Mail)

Dissociatives

• Ketamine: painkiller, party drug – and possibly next-generation antidepressant (The Conversation)
• Promising Data With Ketamine in Chronic and Phantom Limb Pain (Medscape)
• This Personal Tragedy Gave Me a Mission to Save Our Youth (The Good Men Project)
• Stamford police: Woman stuffs 20 bags of PCP down pants (Stamford Advocate)
• Blue Springs man sentenced to 20 years in prison for PCP conspiracy (KMBZ)

Opiates/Opioids

• Mexico debates legalizing opium poppy for medicine (Medical Xpress)
• Dangerous heroin-fentanyl combination fuels overdoses (CBS)
• The Price of This Anti-Overdose Drug Is Skyrocketing (ATTN:)
• 'Opioid Epidemic' Myths (Reason)
• Church must not condemn opium farmers, says Mexican bishop (The Tablet)

Kratom

• Alabama becomes the sixth state to ban Kratom (The Independent)
• How to Get Help with Your Kratom Addiction (Kratom Project)
• Kratom Pain Management Dosage (Kratom Project)
• Is Kratom Daily Use Safe? (Kratom Project)
• Kratom Induced Psychosis Causes (Kratom Project)
• Can you snort Kratom & is it a bad idea? (Kratom Project)
• Kratom Addiction & Withdrawal Side Effects (Kratom Project)
• Ever heard of kratom? NC lawmakers want it banned (WTVD)
• Kentucky Kratom Legality (Kratom Project)

Kava

• Yaqona Industry Recovery Expected To Take 3 To 6 Years (Fiji Sun)

Khat

• Ethiopia: Legal upper qat hooks people, reaps dollars (Anadolu Agency)
• Yemen imposes weekday ban on khat sale (Al Jazeera)
• Somalian man arrested for drugs (Mpumalanaga News)

Miscellaneous Psychedelics/Psychoactives/Drug Policy

• The War on Drugs May Have Misrepresented Psychedelics; Here's Why That Matters (Medical Daily)
• LSD-Like Drugs Are Out of the Haze and Back in the Labs (The New York Times)
• Why psychedelics could be a new class of antidepressant (The Guardian)
• Psychedelic Artist Alex Grey Plans a Freaky Temple in New York (CityLab)
• The Lingering Legacy of Psychedelia (The New Yorker)
• Creatives, designers and drugs: what are they on, and why? (It's Nice That)
• Countries Show Progress at the UN Meeting, But General Assembly Falls Short on Drug Policy Reform (Psychedelic Times)
• 1970s magazine ads for cocaine paraphernalia (Boing Boing)
• Print Your Own Drugs, For Health and Fun (Reason)
• Psychedelics, Sexuality, and Transformation: An Interview with Author and Podcaster James Jesso (Psychedelic Times)
• Colombia Seizes 8.8 Tons of Cocaine, President Says It's 'Biggest' Find in History (TIME)
• Scientists: Mother's Voice is Like LSD or Magic Mushrooms (Clapway)
• Newsbeat analyses Newcastle University's DIY drug testing kits in a laboratory (BBC)
• Psychedelic Font: How Wes Wilson Turned Hippie Era Turmoil Into Art (NPR)

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 - 5.14.16

Image by Akuppa John Wigham, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

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

1. Let's face it—everybody poops. However, the facilities used around the world can be quite different. Here is a collection of photos of toilets from around the world. Compared to some of the countries, I am very grateful to have the levels of sanitation that I enjoy in the U.S. However, Finland's concept of requiring users to text the word "OPEN" to gain entrance to the bathroom seems like it could encourage an elevated level of responsibility. And for the countries that offer squatting toilets, I find that intriguing as well. It's also reminiscent of the Squatty Potty, which, by the way, has one of the best commercials I've ever seen.

2. Speaking of pooping, a report was released this week showing that poultry plant workers have been denied bathroom breaks and required to wear diapers so they don't lose their jobs. Yet another reason not to support the meat industry—companies like Tyson Foods mistreat their employees as well as they treat their "products".

3. I'm a huge Hunter S. Thompson fan, so I was excited to see that a short documentary this week that focused the collaboration with him and artist Ralph Steadman that covered the 1970 Kentucky Derby, which resulted in the jaw-dropping book The Kentucky Derby Is Decadent and Depraved. I'd highly suggest reading the book, but at the very least you can get a sufficient teaser by watching the documentary.

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

This Week in Psychedelics - 5.13.16

Image by Dahtamnay, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Cannabis

• State Department Says DEA Is Wrong on Marijuana Monopoly (Marijuana.com)
• This car is made out of cannabis hemp (New York Post)
• Britons want cannabis to be legalised - change is inevitable, says ex-minister (The Guardian)
• Study Questions Laws Against Driving While on Marijuana (TIME)
• Colombians Rally for Cannabis Reform (Merry Jane)
• Gary Johnson's Cannabis Consumption Is Irrelevant To His Presidential Fitness (Forbes)
• Vacant California prison could be turned into cannabis production site (SFGate)
• CBS News Caught Blatantly Distorting Cannabis Study, Says Legal Pot Doubles Fatal Car Crashes (MintPress News)
• At 2016 NYC Cannabis Parade, a push for legalizing pot (Crain's New York Business)
• Group marches to Arch advocating legal cannabis use (Fox 2 Now)
• Parents seek cannabis oil to treat kids (WRBL)
• Poll: Swing State Voters Favor Marijuana Legalization (NORML)
• Chatbot can answer all of your cannabis questions (ReadWrite)
• First Lawsuit of Its Kind Blames Marijuana for Murder (Reason)
• Talking With Teenagers About Marijuana (The New York Times)
• The Absurd Reason This Student Was Suspended Over Marijuana (ATTN:)
• Cannabis Saved My Life—Myoclonic-Astatic Epilepsy (Reset.me)
• Pot Matters: Cannabis and Veterinary Medicine (High Times)
• There's a Major Problem Marijuana Legalization Has yet to Address (ATTN:)
• High hopes riding on 'Cannabis Car' (The Sacramento Bee)
• The 5 Best Marijuana Strains for Arthritis (ATTN:)
• Chef Chris Sayegh Is Ready To Serve You Cannabis Cuisine (Inquisitr)
• Fake money and fake weed (Boing Boing)
• Rise in children as young as 10 selling cannabis: Number convicted at highest level in a decade (Daily Mail)

LSD

• How the 'Acid King' Won a Lawsuit Against the US Government (VICE)
• How LSD Breaks Down Your Reality Tunnels and the Science Behind Psychedelic Ego Death (Psychedelic Times)
• The Link Between LSD and Music (TrendinTech)
• I Was the Haçienda's Resident Acid Dealer (THUMP)
• Naked teenager roamed Ellesmore Port high on LSD (The Chester Chronicle)

Psilocybin/Magic Mushrooms

• Two People Accused in Psychedelic Mushroom Growing Operation (WDAY)

MDMA/Ecstasy

• Federal Approval Brings MDMA From Club to Clinic (Silicon Valley's Metro)
• Deadly 'LEGO' ecstasy pills warning as two women rushed to hospital (Daily Star)
• Two men arrested after cops seized £5million worth of ecstasy 'Super Pills' just days after teen died (The Sun)

Ayahuasca/DMT

• Ayahuasca Tourism Is Ripping Off Indigenous Amazonians (VICE)
• Mineral 'Church' Seeks Exemption From DEA, County Approval (Centralia Chronicle)
• How I Overcame Anxiety And Found Spiritual Fulfillment Through Ayahuasca (Reset.me)
• Sheriff: Ashland couple arrested for DMT drug lab in California (KTVL)

Peyote/San Pedro/Mescaline

• URI Student Caught with LSD, Shrooms, DMT, Mescaline and More, Police Say (Patch)

Synthetic Cannabinoids/Psychoactive Research Chemicals

• The Rise of Synthetic Drugs (Summit BHC)

Dissociatives

• Is Special K the Anti-Depressant We've Waited For? (The Daily Beast)
• Ketamine and Depression: A Breakthrough? (Discover)
• Why Won't the UK Legalise Ketamine As an Anti-Depressant? (VICE)
• APD: Woman arrested in South Austin for DWI with child in car was high on PCP (KEYE TV)
• South Windsor man gets 10 years for PCP-fueled stabbings (WTNH)
• Police Taser knife-wielding man high on PCP (The Hour)

Opiates/Opioids

• Purdue Pharmaceuticals Misled Doctors about Its Bestselling Painkiller (ATTN:)
• Push continues for legal poppy farming (Mexico News Daily)
• Opioid Addicts Are Abusing This Common Over-The-Counter Medication (ATTN:)
• Prince's Death Highlights Problems With Opioid Overdose Antidote Naloxone (Tech Times)
• Where Will Opioid Panic Lead? How About Regulating Your Access to Diarrhea Medication? (Reason)
• White House Drug Czar Pushes For More Spending on 'Access' to Opioid Addiction Treatment (Reason)

Kambô

• The Brits Using Amazonian Frog Poison to Fight Depression and Alcohol Abuse (VICE)

Kratom

• Can Kratom Aggregate Psychosis? (Kratom Project)
• Kratom: What is it, and why did Alabama ban it? (The Star Beacon)
• Kratom Interactions with SSRI Medications (Kratom Project)
• Kratom usage to ease cancer pain (Kratom Project)
• Buying Kratom in Missouri & Legality (Kratom Project)
• Kratom Legality in Ohio (Kratom Project)

Kava

• Vendors face kava shortage (Fiji Broadcasting Corporation)
• Event Spotlight: Kava Lounge Launches A Month Of Herbalism Workshops (Hoodline)
• Vegan restaurant Zend Conscious Lounge plows profits back into community (Vancouver Sun)

Khat

• Oman crime: 2,000 packets of Khat seized in Dhofar (Times of Oman)

Miscellaneous Psychedelics/Psychoactives/Drug Policy

• Scientific research using psychedelic drugs is surging overseas - why not here? (The Age)
• Researchers develop a drug-sniffing car that can pinpoint your stash (Engadget)
• Drug Lord 'El Chapo' Guzman Moved to Prison Near U.S. Border (TIME)
• How Tylenol Could Influence Your Personality (ATTN:)
• Morning Glory Seeds From Home Depot Are a Good Proxy for LSD (Until You Vomit) (Inverse)
• Why I Came Out Of the Psychedelic Closet (Reality Sandwich)
• Newsbeat analyses Newcastle University's DIY drug testing kits in a laboratory (BBC)
• Opinion: A Sober Look at Psychedelic Research (Albi)
• Michelle Rodriguez Coped With Paul Walker's Death With Psychedelics And Fast Cars (Inquisitr)

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.