This Week in Psychedelics - 2.10.17

Image by Dahtamnay, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Cannabis

• How Jeff Sessions Could Impact Legal Marijuana Immediately (ATTN:)
• Legalizing Marijuana Would Hurt Mexican Drug Cartels More Than Trump's Border Wall (Reason)
• Ministers endorse bill to export medicinal cannabis (The Times of Israel)
• Cannabis set to be licensed for medicinal use in Ireland (The Irish Times)
• Wisconsin May Be the Next to Legalize Medical Cannabis (Leafly)
• Vegas, Baby: Retail Cannabis Shops Could Open in July (Leafly)
• Colorado Agriculture Office Hosts Cannabis-Curious Officials From Other States (Leafly)
• The Underexplored Potential of Cannabis to Treat Opioid Addiction (Psych Central)
• Meet the Makers of Oregon's First Cannabis and Hemp Beer for Sale (Merry Jane)
• Will Falling Cannabis Prices Hurt Marijuana Stocks? (FOX Business)
• 9 Reasons Israel Is the Capital of Cannabis Research (Leafly)
• Leah Heise on the Power of Women – and Men – in Cannabis (Westword)
• San Francisco College Students Will Soon Be Able to Take a Class on Recreational Marijuana (TIME)
• Searching for Jack Herer, the 'Emperor' of American Cannabis (Leafly)
• Entrepreneurs Help Consumers Enjoy Cannabis Discretely (Forbes)
• Border officers find nearly 2 tons of weed camouflaged as limes (CNN)

LSD

• The Tim Scully Interview: Manufacturing 750,000,000 Doses of LSD to Save the World (High Existence)
• What An Acid Trip Reveals About How The Brain Creates Meaning (The Huffington Post)
• A microdose (of LSD) a day helped keep the doctor away (The Boston Globe)
• LSD: What's The Reality, Where's The Illusion And Does It Even Matter? (MensXP)
• Cruel thugs give hamster hallucinogenic drug LSD and then film its reaction in sickening video (Mirror)

Psilocybin/Magic Mushrooms

• Front Porch: Authority to talk about psychedelic mushrooms (The Daily Herald)

MDMA/Ecstasy

• Dad of ecstasy victim Leah Betts says family would be targeted by online trolls if photo was released today (Mirror)

Ayahuasca/DMT

• Ayahuasca Tourism: How a Psychedelic Therapist Can Help You Stay Safe When Traveling Abroad (Psychedelic Times)
• Super Bowl party leads police to drug lab (Tioga Publishing)

Synthetic Cannabinoids/Psychoactive Research Chemicals

• Here's what was in Melbourne's toxic batch of 'MDMA' (Mixmag)

Dissociatives

• Study shows ketamine may prevent PTSD symptoms (UPI)
• History of Psychosis May Not Exclude Ketamine for Depression (Medscape)

Opiates/Opioids

• Florida police seize thousands of packets of heroin featuring Donald Trump's face on packaging (New York Daily News)
• $8.5 Billion U.S. Counter Narcotics Effort in Afghanistan Boosts Opium Production (Liberty News Now)

Kambô

• Way of the Frog Medicine: Interview with Master Kambo Practitioner Simon Scott (Psychedelic Times)

Kratom

• Kratom: A weapon against drug addiction or dangerous alternative? (WRIC)

Kava

• Workshop to look at growth of kava culture in NZ (Radio New Zealand)
• Vanuatu body happy with kava licence to naturalised citizens (Radio New Zealand)

Khat

• Miraa not bad for sexual health - Kenyan experts (Nairobi News)
• 110 pounds of khat seized at Pittsburgh International Airport (Tribune-Review)

Miscellaneous Psychedelics/Psychoactives/Drug Policy

• Jeff Sessions, Fan of the Drug War and Asset Forfeiture, Confirmed as Attorney General (Reason)
• Museum series explores 'psychedelic science' (Farmington Daily Times)
• Neil Gorsuch Sympathizes With Drug Dealers (Reason)
• Three Ways College Campuses Are Influencing the Future of Psychedelics (Psychedelic Times)
• Psychedelic drugs like magic mushrooms and LSD have key differences – here's what you should know (Business Insider)
• So A Minister, A Rabbi, And A Buddhist Took Drugs For Science... (The Huffington Post)
• How psychedelics can revolutionize the way we live (Dazed)
• Psychedelics Being Tested For Use In Treating Various Conditions (CBS)
• The psychedelic renaissance (Boulder Weekly)

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 are presented by the mass media, which includes everything from the latest scientific research to misinformation.

Weekend Thoughts - 2.4.17

Image by Dan Cederholm, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

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

1. A new (well, old) 540 million year-old fossil of the earliest-known human ancestor has been found. The animal has been dubbed "Saccorhytus", and it seems to have eaten and shat through the same orifice on its body. My, how far we have come.

2. Another discovery from this week was a lost continent hidden underneath the ocean, directly below the tiny island Mauritius. It's a bit crazy to think that it was hanging out down there this whole time without us knowing about it.

3. Across the country, police are obtaining location services data without the need for a warrant and using it to surreptitiously track and catch suspects. This data is falling into the hands of officers because of the "third-party doctrine", which states that any data a user provides to a third party is susceptible to police usage. Many suspects have argued in court that this process overrides their Fourth Amendment rights, and the cases' results have varied. It is worth considering whether or not to strengthen the privacy laws on the books so as to further protect citizens from the snooping eyes of the government.

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

This Week in Psychedelics - 2.3.17

Image by Dahtamnay, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Cannabis

• Marijuana Prices Are About to Change (ATTN:)
• Colorado Report Says Adolescent Marijuana use 'Has Not Changed Since Legalization' (Reason)
• What Happens to Your Brain If You Start Smoking Weed Before 17 (ATTN:)
• Where Is The Future For Marijuana Banking Reform? (NORML)
• Burger King Drive-Thru Workers Arrested After Allegedly Selling Marijuana at the Drive-Thru (TIME)
• Maine Becomes Eighth State to Eliminate Marijuana Possession Penalties (NORML)
• California Looks to Build $7 Billion Legal Cannabis Economy (Leafly)
• Neurobiologist illuminates the under explored potential of cannabis to address opioid addiction (Science Daily)
• Alaska Rejects Plan to Allow On-Site Consumption at Cannabis Stores (Leafly)
• Hemp and Pot Restrictions Not Dying Fast Enough (Reason)
• Understanding Medical vs. Adult-Use Cannabis Dispensaries (Leafly)
• Cannabis, the hottest new pet supplement (The Signal)
• What Does Gorsuch Think About Cannabis? Not Much. (Leafly)
• Will Cannabis Have Appellations Like Wine? (Merry Jane)
• Cannabis Tax May Not Cure Ailing State Budget (GoodTimes)
• The Many Ways the Cannabis Industry Lacks Traditional Marketing Expertise (Entrepreneur)
• Taxes and Red Tape Keep Colorado's Marijuana Black Market Profitable (Reason)
• Canadian Cannabis Producer to Begin Exports to Chile (Leafly)
• Fun Cannabis History Facts That Will Impress People (Merry Jane)
• How Cannabis Ecommerce Challenges Are Driving Web Innovation (The Advocate)

LSD

• Science Has Finally Discovered Why LSD Trips Last So Long (Maxim)
• LSD's grip on brain protein could explain drug's long-lasting effects (Science News)
• LSD Helps Explain How Our Brains Assign Meaning to Experience (Seeker)
• Russell Brand compares being a dad to LSD trip (Daily Star)
• How 'micro-dosing' LSD helped a woman to 'improve her mental health and save her marriage' (The Independent)
• Give us this day our daily dose: Ergot, LSD and the Israelites (Psychedelic Press UK)
• Denzel Nkemdiche lost passion for football, experimented with LSD at Ole Miss (The Comeback)

Psilocybin/Magic Mushrooms

• A psychedelics expert says magic mushrooms will be approved for depression by 2027 – here's why (Yahoo! Finance)
• Magic Mushrooms as Mental Health Treatment (U.S. News and World Report)
• A man who took magic mushrooms for a scientific study said it helped him see a basic truth about relationships (Business Insider)
• Magic mushroom' drug eases cancer patient anxiety (Knowridge Science Report)

MDMA/Ecstasy

• Government-Approved Study of MDMA for PTSD Accepting Applications for Participants Soon (The Joint Blog)
• Someone Tried To Make A POV Experience Video Of MDMA (Stoney Roads)
• Three pupils 'collapse after taking ecstasy at prestigious school' (Metro)
• Teen drug dealer admits selling ecstasy which killed tragic schoolgirl and left two others in hospital (Mirror)

Ayahuasca/DMT

• 9 Investigates: Local church offering 'legal' ayahuasca (WFTV)

Peyote/San Pedro/Mescaline

• ART SEEN: Artist explores contemporary meaning of peyote and ayahuasca (Vancouver Sun)

Iboga/Ibogaine

• Recovering From Addiction: Interview with Ibogaine Aftercare Provider Justin Hoffman (Psychedelic Times)
• New York Times Carries a Full Page Ad about Plant Medicine Ibogaine to Combat the Opiate Epidemic Presented by Social Movement "Your Mind Has Rights" (Satellite Press Releases)
• The Latest Addiction Treatment is Making Noise – Ibogaine Claims to Offer Addiction Interruption (Military Technologies)
• Global ibogaine: A lucrative safe-haven for the cannabis industry? (The Leaf)
• Ibogaine Aftercare and Integration: Interview with Justin Hoffman and Tishara Lee Cousino (Psychedelic Times)

Synthetic Cannabinoids/Psychoactive Research Chemicals

• Teen died after taking LSD-type drug, stripping and jumping into river (Exeter Express and Echo)

Dissociatives

• How Ketamine Could Be Used to Treat Alcoholism (Munchies)
• Ketamine's Versatility Makes it a Powerful Tool for EMS (JEMS.com)
• Can Craving for Cocaine Be Blocked in Addicted Individuals? (Psychology Today)
• Antidepressants Induce Resilience and Reverse Susceptibility (Science Daily)
• How Ketamine could cure depression (Drug Target Review)
• Lawyer says client on PCP when he lit fire in Springfield courthouse (MassLive)

Opiates/Opioids

• Life-saving naloxone prices soar along with its usage (Lancaster Online)
• Afghanistan: As Taliban Depends More on Heroin Anti-Cultivation Efforts Plummet (Breitbart)
• Health groups want to increase access to naloxone (The Washington Times)
• DEA seizes $1.8 million in heroin, fentanyl (Boston Herald)
• Kroger pharmacies make Naloxone available without a prescription (WHSV)
• Fix Narcotic Abuse Cycle Before Throwing Naloxone at Every Overdose Patient (JEMS.com)
• Could THIS stop heroin addictions? Scientists discover electroshock therapy helps to reduce cravings (Daily Mail)

Absinthe

• When Happy Hour Was "Green Hour" in Paris (Smithsonian)

Kambô

• Five Methods to Reduce Overall Risk When Taking Kambo (Psychedelic Times)

Kratom

• National Institute of Health study on "Dangers of Kratom" references evidence that doesn't exist (MuckRock)
• DEA Asked Public To Comment On Its Proposed Kratom Ban And 99 Percent Opposed It (The Huffington Post)
• DEA withdraws plan to ban kratom (Gates-Chili Post)
• Controversial Kratom Growing in Popularity (Monthly Prescribing Reference)

Kava

• Krave Kava Bar opens in Greensboro (Greensboro News & Record)
• Greater Binghamton's first kava bar to open on First Friday (Binghamton Homepage)

Miscellaneous Psychedelics/Psychoactives/Drug Policy

• Ethan Nadelmann's Farewell Letter to Drug Policy Alliance Staff (Drug Policy Alliance)
• Rodrigo Duterte Just Put the Philippines' Drug War on Hold (TIME)
• Senate Judiciary Advances the Nomination of Marijuana Prohibitionist Jeff Sessions to be the Attorney General (NORML)
• Here's That Time Jeff Sessions Wanted to Execute Drug Dealers (Reason)
• A Healing Crisis to Make You Whole: Breaking Down the Benefits of Holotropic Breathwork (Psychedelic Times)
• The truth about 'microdosing', which involves taking tiny amounts of psychedelics like LSD (Business Insider)
• Bluenosers latest, literal drug trip doc in the works (The Chronicle Herald)
• Repairs Uncover Cocaine Worth $434K in Airplane's Nose Gear (NBC 6 Miami)
• Bay Area Patients Find Psychiatric Relief From Psychedelic Therapy (CBS San Francisco)

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 are presented by the mass media, which includes everything from the latest scientific research to misinformation.

Weekend Thoughts - 1.28.17

Image by William Chew, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

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

1. The Great Firewall has been strengthened this week because unapproved VPNs will now be illegal to use in China. That means that the Chinese will be unable to access popular websites like Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, and many others while inside the country's borders. The new law is in effect now and the government plans to leave it in place until at least March 31st, 2018. China certainly isn't the only country that censors Internet access—Egypt, Russia, Cuba, Bahrain, Turkey, Vietnam also limit Internet communications, against the advice from the United Nations Human Rights Control, which argued against the state-sponsored disruption of Internet access and described online privacy as an essential facet of freedom of expression.

2. An artist tied one knot every day of 2016, and it makes for some beautiful art.

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

This Week in Psychedelics - 1.27.17

Image by Dahtamnay, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Cannabis

• Pot Protesters Welcome President Trump With 4,200 Joints (Reason)
• Georgia eases draconian law on cannabis use (The Guardian)
• Israel's Ariel University opens first academic course on medical cannabis (The Jerusalem Post)
• NORML Chapters Organize State Lobby Days for Marijuana Law Reforms (NORML)
• Maine Poised to Push Back Retail Cannabis Until 2018 (Leafly)
• Cannabis and Epilepsy Treatment (Leafly)
• Authorities seize 3,000 pounds of marijuana disguised as watermelons (CBS7)
• Israel to fund research for medical cannabis crops (The Times of Israel)
• Trump's AG Nominee Continues to Waffle on Cannabis (Leafly)
• Using Veganics for Growing Organic Cannabis (Leafly)
• Cannabis workshop educates on new program, future potential (The Guam Daily Post)
• Texas Judge Says Teacher Shouldn't Be Disciplined for Consuming Cannabis in Colorado (Reason)
• How Cannabis Became Illegal in Israel in the First Place (Haaretz)
• Can You Trademark a Cannabis Brand? 'Stash' Case Offers Two Answers (Leafly)
• Inside the #Trump420 Movement (TIME)
• Cannabis Drug Company Zynerba Is Gearing Up For A Big Summer (Forbes)
• Great-grandmother battles Ministry of Healthy over medicinal cannabis products (Stuff.co.nz)
• High Hopes for the Legal Cannabis Industry (PR Newswire)

LSD

• Ever Had a Really Long Acid Trip? Now Science Knows Why (WIRED)
• The Micro-Dose vs. The Mystical Experience: Has LSD Turned its Back on the Psychedelic Revolution? (High Existence)
• When Nixon's Henchmen Plotted to Assassinate a Journalist with LSD (The Daily Beast)
• 'A Really Good Day' Recaps A Month-Long Adventure Of Microdosing LSD (NPR)
• Here's how underground chemist Tim Scully planned to save the world with LSD (The Verge)
• How Tripping On Acid Makes Music More Meaningful (Inverse)
• Why I take LSD at work, a true story (Well+Good)

Psilocybin/Magic Mushrooms

• How Microdosing Psilocybin May Keep Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD) at Bay (Psychedelic Times)
• Magic Mushrooms Can Manage Anxiety And Depression In Cancer Patients; According To Research (iTech Post)

MDMA/Ecstasy

• Three Ways You Can Get Involved With the Phase 3 Trials of MDMA as a PTSD Treatment (Psychedelic Times)
• MDMA By Any Other Name: How Street Names Harm the Reputation of Psychedelic Therapy (Psychedelic Times)
• MAPS Looks to Make MDMA into an FDA-Approved Psychotropic Agent (Monthly Prescribing Reference)
• MDMA: a tool for psychotherapy? (The McGill Daily)

Ayahuasca/DMT

• Tourist boom for ayahuasca a mixed blessing for Amazon (The Guardian)

Salvia Divinorum

• Murder suspect Harris Binotti filmed losing control while flipping out on mindbending drugs (The Scottish Sun)

Dissociatives

• Researchers Build Multi-Regional Brain Chip to Study PCP's Effects on Brain (medGadget)
• Taking ketamine 'could help alcoholics quit booze', experts claim (Metro)

Opiates/Opioids

• Heroin injection sites may open soon in U.S. (Lancaster Online)
• How Repealing Obamacare Could Impact the Drug Crisis (ATTN:)
• The Story Behind the Viral Photo of an Opioid Overdose (TIME)
• Recent deaths prompt state warning about carfentanil (Centre Daily Times)
• Bill Maher: Heroin 'a Gateway to Being a Republican' (Rolling Stone)

Kratom

• America's war against opioid addiction - and the battle for kratom, the dietary supplement that has changed thousands of lives (The Telegraph)
• Kratom: What We Know (Medscape)
• Another blow to fighting opium addiction with the scheduling of Kratom (Psychedelic Press UK)

Kava

• Santo kava farmers fear 'silent killer' investor threat to their production (Asia Pacific Report)
• Board: Women's Kava Drinking Worrying (Fiji Sun)
• Woman Clan Leader Says Men Also Abuse Kava (Fiji Sun)

Miscellaneous Psychedelics/Psychoactives/Drug Policy

• BREAKING: Attorney General Vote Delayed (NORML)
• How College "Psychedelic Clubs" are Changing the Conversation on Drugs (Leafly)
• Monero, the Drug Dealer's Cryptocurrency of Choice, Is on Fire (WIRED)
• Why psychedelic drugs are having a medical renaissance (PBS)
• Pill testing sounds like a great idea, but there's a catch (The Age)
• Better living through mushrooms (City Pulse)

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 are presented by the mass media, which includes everything from the latest scientific research to misinformation.