Weekend Thoughts - 10.28.17

Image by Mydhili Bayyapunedi, 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 big change is coming soon to New York City's Metro: the MetroCard will be replaced with a more modern way to pay transit fares. The new payment options will support Apple Pay, Android Pay, and Samsung Pay in addition to "contactless cards" (credit and debit cards that use near-field communication technology). Not only will this be a more seamless method of paying for a ride on the Metro, it will also be more secure than traditional credit and debit cards, which do not use the same level of encryption as the modern forms of payments do.

2. If you're looking for some guidance in your own self-reflection practice, it may be worth checking out these thought-provoking questions from clinical psychologist Dr. Jordan Peterson. The goal is to spend some time thinking about your own answers for each question, thus becoming more in touch with the person that you currently are and the ideal version of yourself that you would like to strive to become. 

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

This Week in Psychedelics Announcement

Image by Dahtamnay, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Hello readers! I will out of town this week with extremely limited access to the Internet, so this week's "This Week in Psychedelics" column will be published sometime next week—most likely on Tuesday or Wednesday. (However, the "Weekend Thoughts" article will be published on Saturday as per usual.) Thank you for your patience!

Weekend Thoughts - 10.21.17

Image by Pexels, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

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

1. After some victories in the Chinese market, investors in the U.S. are hoping that bike sharing will be the next Uber. The key to the success in China has been the use of a dockless system that allows users to unlock a bike with an app on their mobile phone. That means when a user is done with their rental bike they can leave it wherever they would like—which will automatically lock the bike—and then the next renter will be able to unlock it with their mobile phone! This is pretty exciting for me as a regular cyclist because anytime the friction between renting a bicycle is decreased, it means that more people will be interested in renting them, which means more cyclists on the roads, which is a good thing for cyclists everywhere. Let's hope that the accomplishments in China translate to the United States, where cycling is not as common and the vast majority of roads are not designed with bicycles in mind (yet).

2. There are certainly tons of challenges to think and work through before autonomous vehicles on the roads become the norm, but the former Google self-driving car project Waymo is already starting to train police officers on how to respond to accidents involving self-driving cars. Cops and first responders will need to know how to access an autonomous vehicle after it is involved in an accident, which will be brand-new experience for them, and the cars will need to know how to navigate to a safe place on their own—out of the path of moving traffic. I'm encouraged to see so much work being regularly done in this space, and greatly anticipate the days when hopping in an autonomous vehicle is no big deal at all.

3. Speaking of cars, Electric Vehicle chargers are starting to pop up at Shell stations in the UK. Access to charging stations is an important problem to solve, because without them electric vehicles will not be able to go very far! Being able to pull into a "gas station" to plug in your self-driving electric vehicle is a vision of the future that I can get behind.

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

This Week in Psychedelics - 10.20.17

Image by Dahtamnay, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Cannabis

• Study: Colorado's Adult Use Cannabis Access Law Associated With Reductions In Opioid Deaths (NORML)
• Colorado Made $1 Billion in Legal Marijuana Sales (ATTN:)
• After the smoke clears: What's next for Northern California's cannabis industry? (The Cannabist)
• ACLU Pennsylvania: Blacks Eight Times More Likely Than Whites To Be Arrested For Marijuana Possession (NORML)
• The Rise of 'Canna-Vlogging': What to Expect When Creating Cannabis Video Social Media (Leafly)
• Is Weed Legalization the Gateway Drug to Psychedelic Legalization? (Disinfo)
• Another country is getting ready to vote on legalizing cannabis (CNBC)
• Denver's Public Libraries Expand Cannabis Collections (High Times)
• A healing drug: Former NFL players advocate the use of cannabis (AZCentral)
• Michigan Update: Mad Dash for Licenses, NMU Launches Cannabis Program (Leafly)
• Weed Edibles and Cannabis Chefs Popping Up At Food Festivals (High Times)
• Medical Marijuana Can Help Pets (ATTN:)
• Ellementa Founders Educate Women About Cannabis But Face Funding Stigmas (Forbes)
• A Guide to Federal Drug Rescheduling (And What It Means for Cannabis) (Leafly)
• Marijuana industry gets back to business of cannabis (Fairbanks Daily News-Miner)
• 4 Best Practices When Designing Your Cannabis Business Website (Leafly)
• Meet the 24-year-old founder behind the career site for cannabis jobs (CNBC)
• The Home Grower's Guide to Simple Cannabis Breeding (Leafly)
• Feds Admit Their Prosecution of Medical Marijuana Users in Washington Was Illegal (Reason)
• What Makes a Medical Cannabis Program Succeed? (Leafly)
• A Michigan University Is Offering the First-Ever Degree in Marijuana Studies (TIME)
• Melissa Etheridge's Cannabis Mugshot Is Amazing (Leafly)
• Watch: Cannabis activists seek end to 'current wild west system' (Times of Malta)
• In California, Feinstein Challenger De León Seen as a Cannabis Progressive (Leafly)
• Cannabis Crunch – Weed May Fight Liver Disease, Burning Marijuana Farms and 12-Year-Old Justice Reformers (Psychedelic Times)
• How to Support Your Cannabis Garden with Trellising (Leafly)
• 'Never Share a Joint With a Stranger. Especially Bill Maher': This Week in Cannabis Quotes (Leafly)

LSD

• Here's What It's Like Taking LSD And Magic Mushrooms (BuzzFeed)
• Alicudi, Italy's LSD island (CNN)

Psilocybin/Magic Mushrooms

• Magic mushrooms might help depression by resetting the brain (The Verge)
• One Stoner Politician's Lonely Quest to Legalize Shrooms (VICE)
• The spore you know: As research into psilocybin's heath benefits grow, Californians face slim chance to legalize magic mushrooms (Sacramento News & Review)

MDMA/Ecstasy

• How MDMA Went From Club Drug to 'Breakthrough Therapy' (The Wall Street Journal)
• FDA Action On MDMA Gives New Hope To Researchers And Victims Of PTSD (Mint Press News)
• Ecstasy-related deaths are at a record high - but what can be done about it? (Mixmag)
• Calum Gill death: Student died after taking MDMA (BBC)

Synthetic Cannabinoids/Psychoactive Research Chemicals

• Potent drug disguised as ecstasy causes mass overdose in Newcastle (Lakes Mail)
• WARNING: 'Blue Superman' pills responsible for a mass overdose are not ecstasy! (Rave Jungle)
• Boy aged 15 was in life-threatening condition after taking what he thought was MDMA from drug dealer Joseph Pearce (Cornwall Live)

Dissociatives

• Ketamine: The Future of PTSD Treatment? (Texas Standard)
• Ketamine Not Associated With PTSD Development in Military Trauma Setting (Psychiatry Advisor)
• PC: Suspect high on PCP when he shot at ISP trooper, K-9 Apache (WRTV)

Opiates/Opioids

• 14-Year Trend of Rising Opioid Deaths Reversed in Colorado After Marijuana Legalization (Reason)
• People Are Dying Because of Ignorance, not Because of Opioids (Scientific American)
• President Trump Is 'Looking Into' Report That His Drug Czar Pick Made the Opioid Crisis Worse (TIME)
• Naloxone giveaway participants help researchers gather lifesaving data (WTHR)
• The Pros and Cons of a Heroin Shortage (Reason)
• What is Opioid Use Disorder? (Pain News Network)
• The Terrifying New Trend in Heroin Addiction (VICE)
• Opioid Addiction Is a Mental Health Crisis, Not A Crime Wave (NBC)
• PBS Explores The Science of Opioid Addiction (The Fix)
• The Justice Department Is Now Going After Chinese Fentanyl Manufacturers (Reason)
• Why do we keep prescribing heroin to patients? (Medical Economics)
• With rules established, pharmacists can begin prescribing drug that can reverse opiate overdoses (Citizen Tribune)

Absinthe

• Absinthia Brings Organic Absinthe to Oakland (East Bay Express)

Kratom

• DEA Petitioned With Open-Records Request To Provide Details Of Ongoing "Shadow Campaign" Against The Botanical Kratom (PR Newswire)
• The Top 15 Health Benefits Of Kratom (Kratom Guides)
• Does Boiling Kratom Destroy The Alkaloids? (Kratom Guides)
• Natural kratom gains attention as a possible solution to opioid addiction, with science explaining how (The Georgia Straight)
• What Are Liquid Kratom Extracts? Benefits, Side-Effects, And Dosage (Kratom Guides)
• Opioid-mimicking substance becomes popular in Chattanooga area (WTVC)
• How To Get Most Out Of The Kratom Capsules? (Kratom Guides)

Kava

• Kava bar helps relax the stressed (Orlando Sentinel)
• Huge demands depleting Vanuatu kava, beef (One Papua New Guinea)

Khat

• Somalia's Bakool bans miraa consumption (The Standard)

Miscellaneous Psychedelics/Psychoactives/Drug Policy

• Want To Stop Climate Change? Science Suggests Psychedelics Will Help You Love Nature (Psychedelic Times)
• Psychedelic Compound Yields Therapeutic Effects on Miniature Human Brains (Seeker)
• Study Suggests Psychedelic Drugs Could Reduce Criminal Behavior (Newswise)
• E-cigs are being adapted to smoke heroin, crack cocaine and ecstasy to make detection harder (The Sun)
• The Importance of Using Reagent Test Kits (Psychedelic Times)
• Mainstreaming Psychedelics: Secularizing spirituality with the aid of Eastern religion (Rick Strassman MD)
• Can Underground Psychedelic Therapy Ever Go Mainstream? (Pacific Standard)
• President Trump Says Rep. Tom Marino Is Withdrawing His Name for Drug Czar (TIME)
• Breaking Boundaries in Berlin: Altered Conference 2017 Set to Revamp Drug Use (TalkingDrugs)
• Indonesia's Drug Czar is Threatening a Duterte-Style War on Drug Dealers (TIME) 
• Researchers Think Psychedelic Drugs Might Do More Than Get You High (Newsy)
• Kiwi MDMA, LSD users being conned (Newshub)

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 - 10.14.17

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

1. The scientists who have been studying the Yellowstone supervolcano have reported that it may erupt sooner than they originally thought, potentially wiping out all life on the planet. In fact, the conditions needed for it to spew lava may come together within the next few decades. This is contrary to the previously-accepted narrative, which estimated that it would take centuries for the volcano to erupt. However, it seems like we don't need to worry for the immediate future because Yellowstone is one of the best monitored volcanoes in the world. Still, it’s nice to know that our scientists are assessing this potentially-apocalyptic situation well ahead of time.

2. The California Department of Motor Vehicles released its revised regulations for the rollout of autonomous vehicles on the state's roads, and it turns out that self-driving cars will be allowed on California roads starting next year. This will mark the first time that vehicles without steering wheels, foot pedals, mirrors, and human drivers will be approved for testing on public roads. However, the state is not changing its position on self-driving trucks at this time—any vehicle over 10,000 pounds will need to go through a separate rule-making process. At any rate, this is exciting news in the autonomous vehicle area!

3. With the rise of drone technology comes the rise of drone crime. These unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have been used for smuggling, spying, countering police surveillance, and intimidating the public, and the rate of surreptitious drone usage for nefarious purposes has been increasing year over year. In response, police departments all across the globe have been ramping up to combat this trend. UAVs are just like any other technology—they can be used for good or evil, but it's easy to see how the scale could tip in the wrong way, leading to a Black Mirror-esque world.

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