This Week in Psychedelics - 8.19.16

Image by Dahtamnay, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Cannabis

• Why We Should Demand That Congress Reschedule Marijuana (NORML)
• 9th Circuit Says Feds May Not Prosecute State-Legal Medical Marijuana Suppliers (Reason)
• Arizona Is the Fifth State Where Voters Will Decide Whether to Legalize Pot This Year (Reason)
• Canada to allow medical patients to grow own cannabis (Fox News)
• Medical cannabis in Israel to become more accessible (Haaretz)
• Post-Traumatic Marijuana: Some Military Veterans Are Embracing the Drug as Scientists Scramble to Study it Effects (TIME)
• Cannabis and Blue Dreams of Unity at the DNC Convention (The Weed Blog)
• When Treating Bipolar Disorder with Cannabis, Research Suggests the Amount of CBD May Be Key (Psychedelic Times)
• Poll: Two-Thirds Of Californians Support Legalizing Retail Sales Of Marijuana To Adults (NORML)
• Is Cannabis Better for Chronic Pain Than Opioids? (Leafly)
• The NHS are testing a cannabis product for the first time (The Independent)
• Majority back decriminalisation of cannabis use, poll suggests (Radio New Zealand)
• How an Ailing Artist Helped Unite Italians Around Cannabis (Leafly)
• SF pot dispensary vibe: The country club of cannabis clubs (San Francisco Chronicle)
• Reasonable Doubt: the history of marijuana law in Canada (NOW Magazine)
• Marijuana Advocates to DEA: Talk to the Hand (ATTN:)
• Oregon's cannabis fair celebrates growing pot industry (KHOU)

LSD

• The secret LSD-fueled experiment that inspired Stranger Things (The Guardian)
• How to build IKEA furniture on LSD (The Boston Globe)
• New study shows LSD's effects on language (Medical Xpress)

Psilocybin/Magic Mushrooms

• Psychedelic mushrooms growing alarmingly popular among middle schoolers (WTVM)

MDMA/Ecstasy

• Why So Many People in the UK Are Dying from Ecstasy Overdoses (VICE)
• Science Reveals Whether Sex Feels Best on MDMA, Alcohol or Weed (Maxim)
• Why Do So Many Women Keep Dying At This Music Festival? (Broadly)
• Mixmag Launches Campaign for Safe Ecstasy Usage (EDM Tunes)
• Expert discusses MDMA research (Medical Xpress)
• Brit holidaymaker in hospital after suspected overdose in Ibiza nightclub (The Sun)
• Man jailed after supplying ecstasy to friend who died at Sterosonic festival (The Guardian)

Ayahuasca/DMT

• Ayahuasca Benefits And Risks: Hallucinogenic Drug May Enhance Meditation (Medical Daily)
• Visions, purging and Peru: what happened when I went to an ayahuasca retreat (Yahoo! Lifestyle)

Peyote/San Pedro/Mescaline

• CBP Reminds Public that Peyote is Prohibited Item (KRGV)

Iboga/Ibogaine

• Iboga Healing and the Collective Unconscious (Reality Sandwich)

Synthetic Cannabinoids/Psychoactive Research Chemicals

• 'Zombie Drug' Paranoia Resurfaces After Teen's Terrifying Homicidal Outburst (Reason)
• Proposed N-Bomb drug law change too harsh, contends Drug Foundation (Stuff.co.nz)

Dissociatives

• Ketamine May Be The Next Great Hope In Treating Mental Illness (The Huffington Post)
• Australia's largest trial of ketamine to treat depression begins (Scimex)
• Could ketamine help heavy drinkers cut down on booze? (Dazed)
• Apparently intoxicated, half-naked man blocks roadway; police suspect PCP (The Examiner)

Opiates/Opioids

• FDA paves a path for OTC naloxone (Behavioral Health)
• People Are Overdosing on 'Game of Thrones' Heroin (TIME)
• A Life-Saving Overdose Drug Is Getting Harder to Afford (ATTN:)

Absinthe

• This Isn't Your Grandfather's Absinthe (Munchies)

Kratom

• How Can Kratom Be a Stimulant, Sedative, and Hallucinogen, too? (Kratom Project)
• 3 Things Pharmacists Should Know About Kratom (Pharmacy Times)
• PTSD and Kratom (Kratom Project)
• What are the best ways to take Kratom? (Kratom Guides)

Kava

• Methodist church relaxes certain conditions of smoking and kava ban (Fijivillage)
• Kava company reached out to the world (The Fiji Times)

Miscellaneous Psychedelics/Psychoactives/Drug Policy

• Which Drugs Make Your Dick Shrink the Most and Why (VICE)
• Philippine Leader Duterte Calls U.N. 'Very Stupid' For Criticizing His Drug War (TIME)
• The global drug wars have failed, how can DU30's 'war' succeed? (The Manila 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 - 8.13.16

Image by Matsukin, 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 was fortunate to attend a fantastic art exhibition with Salvador Dali's works at the North Carolina Museum of Art earlier this year, and so when I came across this article titled The Mystical World of Salvador Dali, I thought it would be worth sharing on this week's edition of Weekend Thoughts. For those who are not familiar with Dali, I would suggest checking out his profile page at Artsy, which includes a biography, over 340 of his works, exclusive articles, and up-to-date exhibition listings.

2. I find this video of extended-release pills dissolving to be mesmerizing. Not only is the feat of developing and manufacturing a pill that will slowly release its contents impressive, but watching them dissolve into stunning color-rich art is a tad psychedelic as well.

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

This Week in Psychedelics - 8.12.16

Image by Dahtamnay, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Cannabis

• DEA Rejects Marijuana Rescheduling but Eliminates a Research Barrier (Reason)
• The FDA Quietly Approved a Synthetic Form of Marijuana as Medicine (ATTN:)
• Share of Americans Who Admit Current Pot Use Nearly Doubles in Three Years (Reason)
• Hillary Clinton Campaign Says She Would Reschedule Marijuana (TIME)
• Marijuana Haters Say They Have Millions to Spend Against Legalization Effort (L.A. Weekly)
• Robbery of Portland Cannabis Dispensary Points Out a Glaring Vulnerability: Cash (Willamette Week)
• People Are Shaming Malia Obama for Smoking Marijuana (ATTN:)
• Canada to allow medical patients to grow own cannabis (Reuters)
• Study: Frequent Marijuana Consumers Not More Likely To Access Health Care Services (NORML)
• Weed spit test can detect if you're driving high in 3 minutes (Engadget)
• Arizona Will Vote On Legalizing Marijuana in November (TIME)
• Build Your Own Cannabis Library with These Must-Read Books About Marijuana (Leafly)
• Dumped Signatures Push Medical Marijuana Initiative off Missouri's Ballot (Reason)
• 7 Scientific Effects of Marijuana That Experts Want to Study (TIME)
• Lupus Can Be Treated by Cannabis (Green Rush Daily)
• Libertarian presidential candidate's staffers set up booth at cannabis conference (KATU)
• How to Talk to Your Kids About Pot (TIME)
• How Cannabis Helps With Glaucoma (Green Rush Daily)
• Even Cheech and Chong would be impressed with this "Happy Kit" (Boing Boing)
• Justin Trudeau Lights Up Canadian Cannabis Stocks (New Cannabis Ventures)
• Warning over using butane to produce super-strength cannabis (BBC)
• Two dozen people treated for overdose after eating cannabis-laced sweets (The Telegraph)

LSD

• AVN Awards News: 'South Park' Creators Apparently Took Acid At Racy Ceremony [VIDEO] (Enstarz)
• The Beatles' Revolver and a Half-Century of LSD (TIME)
• John Waters Remembers 'Multiple Maniacs', His LSD-Fueled Cavalcade of Perversion (VICE)
• Couple take LSD then attempt to build flat-pack furniture (Daily Star)

MDMA/Ecstasy

• When Psychiatrists Fought Like Hell to Keep MDMA Legal (Inverse)
• The Party Drug With The Power To Ease Anxiety, Depression, And PTSD (GOOD Magazine)
• LETHAL ECSTASY WARNING: British Clubbers in Ibiza warned over deadly pills after bust uncovers drugs with FIVE times the normal strength circulating on the party island (The Sun)

Ayahuasca/DMT

• Scientists Developed a Way to Make DMT Trips Last Longer Than Ever (VICE)
• When Headaches Won't Stop: Why Some People Are Choosing DMT and Ayahuasca to Treat Chronic Migraines (Psychedelic Times)
• An Artist Documented Ayahuasca's Secrets as Sounds and Textile Art (The Creators Project)
• Tripping on the Psychedelic Ayahuasca, Without the Trip to Peru (Dallas Observer)
• 9 Investigates: DEA orders Orange County church to stop psychedelic tea ceremonies (WFTV)

Synthetic Cannabinoids/Psychoactive Research Chemicals

• N-Bomb: The new drug on Narcotics Control Bureau's radar (The Indian Express)
• DRUG TEEN TRAGEDY: Cops find body in search for 16-year-old boy who was last seen 'tripping' on 'N Bomb' drug and running naked near river (The Sun)

Dissociatives

• Talking Psychedelic Spectacles with the Co-director of "Ketamine: The Musical" (Papermag)

Opiates/Opioids

• It's Opium Season in America (Pretend You Don't Know) (Inverse)
• Treating Heroin Addicts (The New York Times)
• FDA Supports Greater Access to Naloxone to Help Reduce Opioid Overdose Deaths (FDA Voice)
• Opioid overdose: What Naloxone can and cannot do (The Weston Forum)
• Shift in care could reverse the opioid epidemic (The Hill)
• This man turned an opium field into a sustainable coffee farm in Thailand (Eco-Business)

Kratom

• What is Kratom and why won't the FDA approve it as medicine? (KPCC)
• Can Kratom be detected in Urine test or drug tests? (Kratom Project)

Kava

• Kava flowing after Fiji's win (Māori Television)
• Kava Stall Mysteriously Burns At Market (Fiji Sun)

Miscellaneous Psychedelics/Psychoactives/Drug Policy

• Philippines President Duterte on vigilante drug war: "You can't stop me" (CBS News)
• DEA regularly mines Americans' travel records to seize millions in cash (USA Today)
• Integrating a Psychedelic Experience Through Personal and Spiritual Practices (Psychedelic Times)
• Two Photos Show the Consequences of the World's War on Drugs (ATTN:)
• The Chemicals Found in Meth (ATTN:)
• The Diverging Mind (VolteFace)

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 - 8.6.16

Image by Radosław Kut, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

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

1. When flossing was first introduced as a dental care technique, there was no proof required when suggesting remedies. As a result, the majority of us in the Western world have been taught by our parents (who learned from our dentists and the mainstream media) that flossing is an essential technique. However, it turns out that an analysis of the scientific evidence did not find that flossing prevents gum disease and cavities. Due to this finding, the federal government's "Dietary Guidelines for Americans" will no longer list suggestions for flossing, much to the dismay of the American Dental Association, which still advocates for the practice. This simply means that the recommendation has been removed from the guidelines due to a lack of scientific evidence. But it doesn't mean that flossing doesn't actually help prevent gum disease and cavities—there is just currently a lack of scientific evidence, so the government has to remove the recommendation unless a new body of evidence is presented that will back up the claim.

2. As a young nerd, I had a subscription to the video game magazine Nintendo Power for several years. I gave away my collection of magazines a few years ago in an ongoing attempt to lessen my physical possessions and assumed I would never see them again. However, the first 13 years of the magazine have now been added to Archive.org. Fellow nerds can take a trip down memory lane (or explore them for the first time) by perusing the Archive.org collection.

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

This Week in Psychedelics - 8.5.16

Image by Dahtamnay, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Cannabis

• THE STONED AGE: Scientists discover humans have been using cannabis for over 10,000 YEARS (The Sun)
• Study Finds Lifelong Cannabis Users Are Healthy (Reset.me)
• A Pathway Towards Marijuana Legalization: The Significance of the Democratic Platform (NORML)
• DEA: Marijuana Seizures Decline In 2015 (NORML)
• Illinois Is the Latest State to Decriminalize Small Amounts of Marijuana (TIME)
• Here's how many cannabis plants Alaskans can now legally possess at home (Alaska Dispatch News)
• DEA Continues to Delay Decision on Rescheduling Cannabis (Merry Jane)
• A Police Veteran Explains Why Law Enforcement Should Embrace Marijuana (ATTN:)
• Drug Warriors Start Pulling in Millions to Fight Marijuana Legalization (Reason)
• How Medical Marijuana Farming in Israel Could Help California's Cannabis Industry (L.A. Weekly)
• Louis Armstrong and Cannabis: Celebrating the Jazz Legend's Lifelong Love of "the Gage" (Leafly)
• What Are the Side Effects of High-THC Cannabis? (Leafly)
• Blue ribbons all round as Oregon hosts America's first cannabis growers fair (International Business Times)
• Is cannabis really getting stronger? (The Conversation)
• An Edible Marijuana Pioneer Is Ready for Billion-Dollar Cannabis Brands (Bloomberg)
• Calif. Cops Are Using Meth Lab Law to Keep Going After Legal Medical Marijuana Companies (Reason)
• Minnesota Medical Cannabis Program Takes New Step Adding Intractable Pain (KSTP)
• The Twisty Glass blunt makes rolling papers obsolete (Boing Boing)
• Detroit's Marijuana Dispensaries Get Lit At Night (Wired)
• Cannabis chef takes fine dining to new high (Times of India)
• Is cannabis getting stronger? Scientists claim increased strength can puts users at risk of developing mental health problems (Mirror)

Psilocybin/Magic Mushrooms

• Psilocybin Helps Sufferers of Body Dysmorphic Disorder See Themselves Again (Psychedelic Times)
• Beat the blues with magic mushrooms (The Hindu)

MDMA/Ecstasy

• Taboo-Shattering TED Talk Reveals How MDMA Can Improve Your Psychological Immune System (High Existence)
• Ecstasy And Cocaine Use Surges Among Households Earning More Than £50,000 (The Huffington Post)
• Las Vegas's Clark County Coroner Confirms EDC Death was Drug-Related (Thump)
• 'I lost my 15-year-old daughter to ecstasy but I want drugs to be legal' - Mum's fight for change in laws (Mirror)
• Bristol man died after huge ecstasy overdose from single pill (Bristol Post)

Ayahuasca/DMT

• 'Ayahuasca is changing global environmental consciousness' (The Guardian)
• AP Photos: In Brazil's Amazon, worship with psychedelic tea (The Washington Post)
• A Hallucinogenic Plant, Two Indigenous Tribes And A Trip To Remember (Worldcrunch)
• Ayahuasca rituals becoming big business in Brazil's Amazon jungles (Fox News Latino)
• Ayahuasca Shaman Dreading Another Week Of Guiding Tech CEOs To Spiritual Oneness (JWZ.org)
• In Brazil's Amazon, Worship with Psychedelic Tea (Tempo.co)
• The Mystery of DMT, Free Will and the Keys to Creative Success with Mitch Schultz (Disinfo)

Iboga/Ibogaine

• How a hallucinogen from Africa may have cured N.J. woman's addiction (NJ.com)

Dissociatives

• This Brooklyn Nightclub Created a Musical Entirely About Ketamine (Thump)
• Cleveland Clinic team approved for $11.8 million to study treatment-resistant depression (Cleveland.com)
• Anaesthetically pleasing: 'Ketamine the Musical' opens in Bushwick (Brooklyn Paper)
• Salem County man nabbed with PCP in drug investigation (NJ.com)

Opiates/Opioids

• Big Pharma is jacking up the price of the 'antidote' to the overdose crisis (Business Insider)
• Teen athletes less likely to abuse opioids, study finds (CNN)
• BRIEF-CVS Health to increase access to FDA-approved nasal naloxone for patients without insurance (Reuters)
• This man turned an opium field into a sustainable coffee farm in Thailand (Ensia)
• The opium armies: Drugs and war across the ages (Livemint)
• Fentanyl Is Also Dangerous For Law Enforcement Officers And Dogs (Forbes)

Absinthe

• The strange and intriguing history of absinthe (Chattanooga Pulse)
• Exploring The Myth And Reality Of Absinthe (Uproxx)

Kratom

• Kratom: New 'Emerging Public Health Threat', Says CDC (Forbes)
• Kratom – A Creative Solution to America's Addiction Epidemic (Kratom Project)
• Opioid-Like Herbal Supplement to Stay on Shelves in Texas, At Least For Now (KUT)
• Kratom Basics for New Users (Kratom Project)
• Can there be adequate control? (New Straits Times)
• Kratom's effects on skin (Kratom Project)

Khat

• New bill seeks to control miraa sale (The Standard Digital)
• Hope as talks over miraa exports from Kenya to Somaliland begin (The Standard Digital)

Miscellaneous Psychedelics/Psychoactives/Drug Policy

• The Hidden Psychedelic History of Philosophy: Plato, Nietzsche, and 11 Other Philosophers Who Used Mind-Altering Drugs (High Existence)
• The Philippines' New War on Drugs Has Killed Hundreds in Just Over a Month (Reason)
• Obama's Biggest Commutation Announcement Yet Will Help More than 200 Imprisoned in Drug War (Reason)
• Ross Ulbricht's Conviction, Sentencing for Running Silk Road Should be Overturned, Argues New Reply Brief (Reason)
• Making Sure Ecstasy is Ecstasy: Volunteers Test Drugs at U.K. Music Fests (NPR)
• Here's what happens when you take weed, cocaine, LSD, charas, meth or heroin (The Health Site)
• This Photo Has Given the War on Drugs in the Philippines a Human Face (TIME)
• Olympic Athletes Are Turning to an Unexpected Drug This Year (ATTN:)
• Young adults taking less LSD, mephedrone and ketamine (Police Professional)

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.