Weekend Thoughts - 6.18.16

Image by Sebastian Ilari, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

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

1. Other animals have some interesting and unique senses that we are still learning about. For example, did you know that octopuses' have patterns in their skin that are entirely invisible to the human eye? And vampire bats are capable of smelling veins? How about the fact that elephants can sense and understand vibrations created by other elephants up to 10 miles away? The world is truly an amazing place, and this collection of weird senses that animals have just adds more evidence to prove that point.

2. An article from the Australian publication Hospitality Magazine explains why veganism is no longer a dirty word in the local restaurant business. The reasons for this include accessing a wider market, encouraging innovation by pushing the boundaries, and boosting creativity and morale amongst restaurant staff. I follow several Australian vegan YouTubers and have noticed that their environment seems to be a bit more vegan-friendly compared to the United States, but this article is encouraging nonetheless. This is one of my favorite quotes from the piece, and something I have tried to drive home to my friends and family time and time again:

"Vegans aren't going to eat from your menu if [there are no options for them]; they can't, they choose not to. But meat eaters and everyone else can eat the vegan items – that's an inclusive product. Even if it's just avocado on toast with mushrooms or whatever, that menu item can feed everybody, and you're also catering to a whole different market – the vegan market – so you're putting money back in your wallet."

Restaurants that choose to not offer vegan items are exclusive, whereas those that do offer vegan items are inclusive. In other words, everyone can eat plants, but animals are not foods that everyone can eat. I truly hope that more restaurants in the United States choose to follow suit.

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

This Week in Psychedelics - 6.17.16

Image by Dahtamnay, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Cannabis

• New Report Blasts DEA For Spending 4 Decades Obstructing Marijuana Science (The Huffington Post)
• Justin Trudeau Makes a Surprising Case for Legalizing Marijuana (TIME)
• Meet Kevin Sabet, the Marijuana Industry's Public Enemy No. 1 (ATTN:)
• CDC: Changes In State Marijuana Laws Associated With Declining Teen Use (NORML)
• Microsoft Partners With Marijuana Software Company (Marijuana.com)
• Ever wondered how cannabis affects driving? This advert tests stoners reactions to show them how slow they are (Mirror)
• Can Cannabis Users Donate Blood? (Leafly)
• How Cannabis Helps People with Peripheral Neuropathy Manage Pain and Get Back on Their Feet (Psychedelic Times)
• 9th Circuit Rejects RFRA Defense for Convicted Hawaii Cannabis Ministry Founder (Baptist Joint Committee For Religious Liberty)
• The Cannabis Craze Has Come To Cocktails (VinePair)
• Girl Ditches Several Prescription Medications For Raw Cannabis Juice & Look What Happened (Collective Evolution)
• Cannabis Dosing: A Talk with Dr. Dustin Sulak (Reality Sandwich)
• Legal Pot Shops Denied Postal Service (Disinformation)
• How Does Cannabis Affect Your Memory? (Leafly)
• 10 Photos That Prove Stoners Are Ingenious (ATTN:)
• Sonoma County agencies coordinate raids on cannabis oil labs (Santa Rosa Press Democrat)

LSD

• Brian Wilson: 'The voices started after LSD' (SFGate)
• Pittsburgh Pirates Dock Ellis Pitches No-Hitter on LSD (Call to the Pen)

Psilocybin/Magic Mushrooms

• Psilocybin may be safe, effective for treatment-resistant depression (Healio)

MDMA/Ecstasy

• How MDMA Treats PTSD: A Psychedelic Light for Veterans with PTSD (Psychedelic Times)
• New Survey Says The World Is Taking Too Much MDMA (Your EDM)
• Taking ecstasy is more dangerous than ever before (Metro)
• Super-expensive Ecstasy is probably not even MDMA in New Zealand (Stuff.co.nz)
• Father on losing both sons to ecstasy on same night (BBC)

Ayahuasca/DMT

• Ayahuasca Goes Global: ICEERS Founder Benjamin De Loenen on the Second World Ayahuasca Conference in Brazil (Psychedelic Times)
• The Australian ayahuasca debate (SBS)
• Ayahuasca sends Festival d'Été artist Yann Perreau on a new musical trip (The Georgia Straight)

Iboga/Ibogaine

• Rehabbing Our Ideas About Addiction (The Wall Street Journal)
• Ibogaine Treatment for Addicts: Progress and Resistance (Reality Sandwich)

Synthetic Cannabinoids/Psychoactive Research Chemicals

• NBOMe is the dangerous new drug that could truly terrify you for hours on end (News.com.au)
• TarCo toxicologist warns of dangers of synthetic LSD (WFAA)

Dissociatives

• Why Do the British Love Ketamine So Much? (VICE)
• Driver on PCP receives prison time for aggravated assault (KAGS)

Opiates/Opioids

• Canadian Doctor Says US Should Give Free Heroin To Addicts (The Daily Caller)
• Provincial health officials pushing Feds to approve Naloxone inhalers (CKNW)

Kratom

• Which Kratom is Best For Opiate Withdrawal? (Kratom Guides)
• Kratom: Natural painkiller or addictive drug? (WBAL)

Kava

• Kava Could Be Vanuatu's Biggest Export: Diplomat (Pasifik News)
• Shortage of kava in the country (The Fiji Times)
• Kava price discussions (The Fiji Times)

Khat

• Ministry works to engage more farmers in yaqona planting (Fiji Village)
• Tanzania: Khat Chewers Court Both Prosecution, Health Risks (All Africa)

Miscellaneous Psychedelics/Psychoactives/Drug Policy

• Study Shows That LSD, Psilocybin, and MDMA May Decrease Acts of Domestic Violence (Psychedelic Times)
• DEA Wants Inside Your Medical Records to Fight the War on Drugs (The Daily Beast)
• The Times – Decriminalization a 'first step' (Drug WarRant)
• Meet the Hallucinogenic Fish That Can Give You LSD-Esque Nightmares (Atlas Obscura)
• How Psychedelic Drugs Might Help Treat Mental Illness (Refinery29)
• Psychedelic drugs can be the shortcut to a mental state we may be wired to crave (Quartz)
• Why do humans have an innate desire to get high? (The Conversation)

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 Last Laser Show

Disclaimer: I received a free review copy of this novel from the author in exchange for an honest review. However, rest assured—the following review reflects how I genuinely felt about the book.

The Last Laser Show: A Dark, Laugh Out Loud Comedy is a debut novel from the English author Ian Avery, and it is described as "a wild dark comedy with underlying themes of longing and loss".  It follows the adventures of Arthur Deadman, a writer who is attempting to sell his story and make it in show business.

The writing style is reminiscent of Hunter S. Thompson, although it has more of a British feel to it and the protagonist doesn't appear to be as crazy and reckless as Thompson was. As a debut novel, I was very impressed by the book. There were some parts that could have been edited a bit better, with spelling or grammatical errors, but it didn't really take away from my overall positive impression of the book.

There certainly are many laugh-out-loud moments, the plot is thoroughly engaging, and the characters are interesting, fresh and believable. The book takes a bit of a turn toward the end, away from action-packed events and focusing more on a fledgling romance, but that change seems to be for the best.

All in all, I'm very glad I read this book. I encourage you to read it if you get a chance!

4/5 stars. 334 pages.

Click here to buy the book.

Disclaimer: Think Wilder is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. I may earn a small commission for my endorsement, recommendation, testimonial, and/or link to any products or services from this website.

Weekend Thoughts - 6.11.16

Image by Bill Stilwell, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

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

1. This collection of interesting drug ads from a 1930s French magazine are pretty cool. The magazine, Ridendo, was a medical and humor magazine (somewhat of an odd combination) distributed to French physicians from 1933 to 1977. The content focused on jokes and cartoons about medicine and medical life, and the covers are a decent representation of French culture over the years. This selection of cover images featuring drugs is definitely worth a look.

2. Keeping with this week's art theme, check out these naked body-painted women that look like animals. They are beautiful and trippy at the same time.

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

This Week in Psychedelics - 6.10.16

Image by Dahtamnay, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Cannabis

• Marijuana Legislation 2016: Up To 12 States Could Vote On Cannabis This November (Inquisitr)
• As Fear and Intolerance Of Marijuana Declined, So Did Adolescent Use (Forbes)
• Cabinet vote on decriminalizing cannabis delayed a week (The Times of Israel)
• South Florida man creates company, car made of cannabis hemp (Local 10)
• Poll: Majority Of Americans Say Make Marijuana Legal (NORML)
• The Truth About Marijuana and Addiction (ATTN:)
• Women Are Growing a More Diverse Cannabis Industry (ELLE)
• Killer Pot? An Analysis Of The Cannabis Wrongful Death Suit In Colorado (Above The Law)
• Canada: Rising Popularity Of Medical Cannabis Among Veterans Associated With Declining Opioid Use (NORML)
• Survey: Pediatric Oncology Providers Favor Cannabis For Pediatric Treatment (NORML)
• How Tommy Chong Became a Marijuana Legalization Advocate (ATTN:)
• Cannabis Companies Under the Influencers For Advertising (Forbes)
• Los Angeles restaurant unveils CANNABIS cocktails... and you don't need a medical marijuana card to indulge (Daily Mail)
• Here's How Marijuana Affects Your Memory (ATTN:)
• Study Finds Long-term Cannabis Smoking Causes Gum Disease, No Other Health Risks (Inquisitr)

LSD

• Researcher explorers America's longest running LSD experiment (UCalgary News)

MDMA/Ecstasy

• Denting The Ecstasy Myth: Doctors Weigh In After Deaths (Electronic Beats)
• 'Stay safe, have fun': Final message from mum of tragic woman, 22, who died after 'taking  MDMA at nightclub' (The Sun)

Ayahuasca/DMT

• Ayahuasca's Power Comes From the One-Two Punch of Anti-Depressants and DMT (Inverse)
• Peru's ayahuasca industry booms as westerners search for alternative healing (The Guardian)
• Legal Support for Psychedelics: ICEERS Founder Benjamin De Loenen Discusses the Ayahuasca Legal Defense Fund (Psychedelic Times)
• We Asked a Veteran Peruvian Ayahuasca Shaman About Dumb Tourists (VICE)

Iboga/Ibogaine

• 'Deadliest Catch' Update: Elliott Neese hints return in Season 13, undergoes Ibogaine treatment (Sportsrageous)

Synthetic Cannabinoids/Psychoactive Research Chemicals

• How 'Spice' is Causing Health Emergencies (TIME)
• Rye Hunt took powerful psychedelic drug NBOMe before he disappeared, family believes (ABC Online)
• Son beat mother to death 'believing she was a witch' after taking legal high (Mirror)

Dissociatives

• Ketamine's Effects on Depression Captures Global Media Attention (Newswire)
• Watch Erick Morillo open up on his addiction to Ketamine (Stoney Roads)
• Naked UGA student dives into garbage truck hopper, PCP impairment suspected (Athens Banner-Herald)
• Defendant in PCP-possession case carries folding knife into court hearing (The Washington Post)
• Man high on PCP during fatal hit & run sentenced (KMTV)

Opiates/Opioids

• Prince's Death Highlights a Debate Within the Drug Treatment Community (ATTN:)
• Why the Inventor of the Antidote Naloxone Lost His Stepson to Heroin (Newsweek)
• The Truth Behind the Opioid Addiction Epidemic (ATTN:)
• Fentanyl, The Drug That Killed Prince, Is 100 Times Stronger Than Heroin (SELF)
• Are Opioids the Next Antidepressant? (The New York Times)

Absinthe

• Columbus distillery begins selling absinthe (Columbus Business First)

Kratom

• Recreational drug kratom hits the same brain receptors as strong opioids (Chemical & Engineers News)
• Side Effects Of Long Term Kratom Use (Kratom Project)
• Herb Kratom Faces Hurdles to Become Legal Dietary Supplement (Natural Products INSIDER)
• Tips to Avoid Kratom Tolerance (Kratom Project)

Kava

• Cocktails and Kava - how some New York diplomacy bought Key to Fiji strongman's table (Stuff.co.nz)

Khat

• Somalia Agrees to Hold On Khat Ban for the Exchange of Direct Flights and Respect for Refugees (All Africa)
• Yemeni Officials Ban Popular Narcotic (Vocativ)
• Police confiscate khat leaf (Viet Nam News)

Miscellaneous Psychedelics/Psychoactives/Drug Policy

• The Secrets Inside 1960s Editions of the US Government's Private Drugs Newsletter (VICE)
• Can meditation and psychedelics have the same benefits for your mind? (CNN)
• What drugs are on the rise in Britain? (The Guardian)
• DEA Tweet Highlights a Struggle Within the Drug Policy Community (ATTN:)
• London Is Officially the Cocaine Capital of Europe, but There's Just One Problem (Disinfo)
• Bay State Officials Want To Emulate the Drug War to Collect Cigarette Taxes (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.