Weekend Thoughts - 6.25.16

Image by Stephanie Kraus, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

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

1. I have been a ginormous fan of the Icelandic band Sigur Rós for the past 10+ years, and was pleasantly surprised to see that the band has released a new song—for the first time in three years! In fact, it's a music video, rather than just a song. Fair warning—the music may be beautiful, but the video is a bit graphic (on the gory side, really). But still, it's worth checking out if you're as big of a fan as I am. If you're brand-new to Sigur Rós, I would suggest checking out their albums Taak and ().

2. For fans of the science fiction film Blade Runner, check out this extremely thorough typographical and design analysis of nearly every frame of the movie. For anyone who is unaware of Blade Runner, it is a movie adaptation of the canonical science fiction novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K Dick. Both are very well-known in the science fiction genre, and are well worth exploring.

3. The spontaneous light shows that accompanied artists like the Grateful Dead back in the 1960s were essentially live art experiments that produced never-before-seen visual effects. An interview with one of the prominent visual artists at the time, Bill Ham, explains the environment that these light shows were surrounded by and the techniques that were used to produce the effects. The interview is a bit long (albeit it well worth the read), but it's also worth clicking through to take a look at the art itself.

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

This Week in Psychedelics - 6.24.16

Image by Dahtamnay, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Cannabis

• Is Legalization Coming to Naples, Home of Mafia-Controlled Cannabis? (Leafly)
• Microsoft is going into the marijuana business, but the cannabis cloud is already crowded (Quartz)
• Colorado Survey Finds Adolescent Marijuana Use Did Not Rise After Legalization (Reason)
• How Can Cannabis Help People with Sickle Cell Anemia? (Leafly)
• Why not allow cannabis clubs in Colorado? Debate rages (The Cannabist)
• How Does Cannabis Consumption Affect Neurodegenerative Diseases? (Leafly)
• Croatia Makes Medical Cannabis History: How Did It Happen? (Leafly)
• We went to one of the largest marijuana business conferences in the world – here's what it was like (Business Insider)
• What Situations Make You Paranoid When You're High? We Debated Cannabis Paranoia (Leafly)
• Cannabis Can Literally Mend Your Broken Heart (Green Rush Daily)
• Titans' Derrick Morgan wants NFL to study health benefits of cannabis (ESPN)
• Will Cleveland Celebrate Its Next Title with Decriminalized Cannabis? (Leafly)
• Pot Fans Unite At Cannabis Conference In NYC (CBS New York)
• Dogs fall ill after eating discarded cannabis in a park (The Telegraph)

LSD

• THE LONG, STRANGE TRIP OF LSD (SFGate)
• Scientists: Caffeine is Harmful, Unlike Cocaine and LSD (Clapway)
• Documentary: Czechoslovak Communists experimented with LSD (Prague Daily Monitor)

Psilocybin/Magic Mushrooms

• Magic Mushrooms for Mental Health (Brain Blogger)
• Live Every Day Like You're On Mushrooms (The Atlantic)

MDMA/Ecstasy

• Global Drug Survey Warns It's the "Worst Time in a Generation" to Take MDMA (The Science Explorer)
• Three 12-year-old girls in hospital after taking ecstasy (The Guardian)
• Mum whose teenage son died of ecstasy overdose warns predatory drug pushers are deliberately designing pills for children (Mirror)
• Ecstasy pills increasingly made with child-friendly logos, says expert (The Guardian)
• Ecstasy link to teenager who died after music event at The O2 (The Wharf)
• St Columb father-of-two died after MDMA overdose (Cornish Guardian)

Ayahuasca/DMT

• Plant Medicine Science: How Ayahuasca Works to Treat Depression (GroundReport)
• SBS2 Celebrates Vice Partnership By Doing Ayahuasca With James Franco (SBS)

Dissociatives

• Bench murder trial for maniac driver who slammed into florist while high on PCP, meth begins (New York Daily News)
• Police: Drunken man had more than 50 grams of PCP (Bryan-College Station Eagle)
• Naked man likely took PCP before trying to break into Garfield Heights home, report says (Cleveland.com)

Opiates/Opioids

• Heroin use in U.S. reaches "alarming" 20-year high (CBS News)
• Walgreens Leads Fight Against Prescription Drug Abuse in Washington with New Programs to Help Curb Misuse of Medications and the Rise in Overdose Deaths (PharmiWeb.com)
• Why Are Dealers Cutting Fentanyl into Recreational Drugs? (VICE)
• What Gary Johnson Should Have Said About Heroin (Forbes)
• Popping pain pills: Opiate addiction has become bigger problem than heroin, cocaine in the past (Naples Daily News)
• Poppylands: Understanding Myanmar's addiction to heroin (Al Jazeera)
• 5 steps to reverse an overdose: How to use naloxone (CBC News)
• Mexico is growing 61000 new acres of opium (The Sydney Morning Herald)

Kratom

• The Ins and Outs of Using Kratom as an Alternative Addiction Treatment (Psychedelic Times)
• What to Do When You Are Addicted to Kratom (Kratom Project)
• Kratom, the obscure tea that NC senators want to keep away from the kids (The News & Observer)
• Kratom Experience – How Does Kratom Make You Feel (Kratom Project)

Kava

• The Rise Of The Kava Bar (VinePair)
• Vanuatu's kava cup runs low as thirst increases for drink of choice (The Guardian)
• Call to regulate kava consumption age (The Fiji Times)
• Mid City Now Has a Kava Bar (Eater New Orleans)

Khat

• Kenya: Muguka Farmers Demand Inclusion in Miraa Taskforce (AllAfrica)

Miscellaneous Psychedelics/Psychoactives/Drug Policy

• Michael Pollan Explains Why Psychedelic Drugs Are the Ultimate Meal for Your Mind (Mother Jones)
• How Getting High and Listening to Music Games Your Dopamine Reward System (Inverse)
• Is Brazil the New Epicenter of Psychedelic Science in the World? (The Huffington Post)
• Drugs and Violence: It's More Complicated Than You Think (VolteFace)
• Psychedelics on the Dark Web (Deep Dot Web)
• Here's a Plan: Drug-Test the Rich (ATTN:)
• Drug trafficker gets 20 years thanks to emails he never sent (Engadget)
• Beyond Psychedelics 2016: Global Psychedelic Forum in Prague Takes a Holistic Approach (Psychedelic Times)

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 - 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.

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