This Week in Psychedelics - 11.3.17

Image by Dahtamnay, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Cannabis

• Stanford Study Confirms Cannabis Users Have More Sex (Leafly)
• Trump's Commission Denies Evidence That Cannabis Can Mitigate Opioid Abuse (NORML)
• Domestic Hemp Production More Than Doubles In Past Year (NORML)
• Congressional Lawmakers Demand The VA Study Medical Marijuana (NORML)
• Federal Prohibition Left California Cannabis Farmers Without Insurance or Banks When Wildfires Struck (Reason)
• Virginia State Crime Commission Holds Hearing On Decriminalization (NORML)
• 'Corona, Lime, & Cannabis, Please': Big Brewer Enters Marijuana Biz (Leafly)
• Dazed and Confused: Regulations Remain Hazy as California Looks to Legalize Marijuana Sales (TIME)
• State Colleges Now Teaching Cannabis, and Harvard Is Playing Catch-Up (Leafly)
• Ontario's 'Cannabis Act, 2017': Provincial Control, Million-Dollar Penalties (Leafly)
• American Legion: One in Five Veterans Use Marijuana To Alleviate A Medical Or Physical Condition (NORML)
• Washington's Cannabis-Tracking Snafu Could Disrupt Sales (Leafly)
• Finding the 'Green Zone': How Specialty Realtors Are Cashing in on Cannabis (Leafly)
• Another cultural tipping point? Cannabis ads appear in TSA checkpoint trays at Ontario airport (Los Angeles Times)
• Using cannabis in place of anxiety meds (The Leaf Online)
• Is Obama Back on the Cannabis Train? We're Skeptical (Leafly)
• Cannabis Crunch – Majority of Republicans Support Pot and Sessions Can't Comment on Crackdown (Psychedelic Times)
• 6 Ways to Save Money by Making Your Cannabis Last Longer (Leafly)
• Basic Cannabis Growing Setups for Cultivators With Tight Budgets (Leafly)
• Can cannabis help you get in shape? (The Orange County Register)
• Pot Doesn't Cure Cancer and Stop Saying It Does, FDA Says (NBC)
• Medicinal cannabis not miracle epilepsy drug, says professor treating Victorian children (Herald Sun)

LSD

• Acid Trip: Denver's Underground LSD Labs Fueled the Psychedelic Revolution (Westword)
• Bootsy Collins: 'LSD was a big part of why I left James Brown's band' (The Guardian)
• Flashback to the 'Acid Test Graduation' 51 years ago (SFGate)
• Give Us This Day Our Daily Dose: Ergot, LSD and the Israelites (Reality Sandwich)

Psilocybin/Magic Mushrooms

• Legalizing Magic Mushrooms Could Save California Taxpayers Millions of Dollars (L.A. Weekly)
• Psilocybin Decreases Depressive Symptoms in Treatment-Resistant Patients (MD Magazine)

MDMA/Ecstasy

• What is pink champagne, is the MDMA party drug illegal and what are its side effects? (The Sun)
• Ecstasy warning after boy dies following Halloween rave in Wales (The Guardian)

Ayahuasca/DMT

• In Mid-Life, The Wonderful Non-Deliverance of Ayahuasca (Literary Hub)

Iboga/Ibogaine

• He pitched investors on a 'miracle cure' in the Bahamas. Now he faces felony charges. (Miami Herald)

Synthetic Cannabinoids/Psychoactive Research Chemicals

• Police investigating whether new designer hallucinogen has hit Winnipeg streets (Winnipeg Free Press)

Dissociatives

• Migraine pain could be eased with ketamine, study finds (American Pharmacists Association)
• Ketamine offers option for people suffering from severe depression (FOX31 Denver)
• Ketamine Infusions for Depression: Beware Pop-Up (Private?) Clinics (HuffPost)
• Lufkin PD: Man who crashed into parked vehicles at body shop was high on PCP (KTRE)

Opiates/Opioids

• Naloxone reverses 93% of overdoses, but many recipients don't survive a year (CNN)
• Trump's Weak Response to Opioid Overdoses (Reason)
• One in 10 Opioid Overdosers Treated With Naloxone Die (Medscape)
• DEA to establish team to fight heroin, fentanyl (The Register-Herald)
• Opioids Haven't Solved Chronic Pain. Maybe Virtual Reality Can (Wired)
• 'The Drug of Fighters.' Police Seize 24 Million Opioid Tablets Linked to ISIS (TIME)
• China is using fentanyl in a chemical war against America (The Bellingham Herald)
• Uruzgan women still give kids opium to silence them (Pajhwok Afghan News)
• Opioid Commission Mistakenly Blames Pain Treatment for Drug Deaths (Reason)
• What Doctors Facing the Opioid Crisis Need Next (TIME)
• In a New Jersey city ravaged by heroin, a needle exchange stalls (The Denver Post)

Kratom

• Withdrawing Off Of Opioids Using Kratom: Read This Guide (Kratom Guides)
• The Fight to Keep Kratom Legal: Interview With an Industry Leader & Latest News (Heavy)
• Can kratom plant help fix opioid crisis? (KSAT)
• The Kratom Controversy: Herbal supplement or dangerous drug? (WBIR)

Kava

• Will kava be the cannabis of 2018? (Stockhead)
• How To Use Kava Kava For Anxiety And Panic Attacks? (Kratom Guides)
• Does Kava Kava Help With Kratom Withdrawal? (Kratom Guides)

Khat

• Feature: Yemen's unpaid teachers become Khat sellers (Xinhua)

Miscellaneous Psychedelics/Psychoactives/Drug Policy

• International Drug Policy Reform Conference Brings Harm Reduction into Spotlight (Psymposia)
• Psychedelic Drugs Appear to Make People Less Likely to Commit Crimes (Science Alert)
• Enlisting Marijuana and MDMA to Fight PTSD (Reason)
• Psychedelics and Drug Addiction (Brain Blogger)
• Psychedelics Are Making a Comeback Through Microdosing (Westword)
• Mainstreaming "Psychedelic Medicine" (Rick Strassman MD)
• The Day the Grateful Dead, Timothy Leary and LSD Turned On City Park (Westword)
• Smart drugs for stupid people? An argument against the liberal use of pharmacological cognitive enhancers (University College London)
• Spirit trip: an interview with a psychedelic monk (Political Critique)
• Your Brain on Psychedelic Drugs (Psymposia)
• An Arrest Warrant Has Been Issued for Rose McGowan in Connection to Drug Charge (TIME)
• Fear and Loathing on Flatbrush Avenue (Psymposia)

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.

This Week in Psychedelics - 10.27.17

Image by Dahtamnay, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Cannabis

• A Record High 64% of Americans Say Cannabis Should be Legal (Leafly)
• Legal Marijuana Is Becoming the Norm (Reason)
• Study: Cannabis Use Inversely Associated With Fatty Liver Disease (NORML)
• Israel Decriminalized Marijuana (ATTN:)
• Digital Currency Looks to Solve Cannabis Industry's Cash Problem (The CoinTelegraph)
• Washington Tops $1.1 Billion in Cannabis Sales at 9-Month Mark (Leafly)
• Arizona Judge Rules Medical Cannabis Extracts Are Illegal (High Times)
• People Who Smoke Pot Have More Sex, Study Says (TIME)
• #ACT: Medical Marijuana Could Be On The Line (NORML)
• Five Things Canada's Cannabis Act Will Legalize Besides Possession (Leafly)
• Eventbrite Is Pulling Some Cannabis Events From Its Site, Leaving Organizers Frustrated (Forbes)
• Can Cannabis Treat Asthma? (High Times)
• Marijuana Can Replace Deadly Prescription Drugs (ATTN:)
• South Carolina Congressman Co-Sponsors Cannabis Business Bill (Leafly)
• Former NFL Players Say League Should Allow Players to Use Marijuana to Treat Pain, Injuries (Reason)
• Ex-policewoman's cannabis use to relieve pain from MS (BBC)
• Sessions Continues to Push 'Gateway Drug' Myth About Marijuana (Reason)
• Companies That Drug Test for Marijuana Are Losing out on Good Employees (ATTN:)
• Jeff Sessions: We Will Do Our Best To Enforce The Laws As We're Required To Do (NORML)
• Colorado's Top Doc Debunks Legalization Fears (NORML)
• Legal Cannabis Grow and Retail Operations Enjoying Continued Growth and Increasing Revenue Opportunities (MarketWatch)
• Are Stoned Motorists Driving Amok in Post-Legalization Colorado? (Reason)
• Non-Antagonistic Medication with Cannabis Oils from Craft 1861 (Forbes)
• N.J. Cops Say Someone Might Distribute Marijuana Edibles on Halloween (Reason)
• Police investigate after 65 pounds of weed included with Orlando couple's Amazon order (WFTV)
• Cannabis Crunch – Texas Medical Marijuana, Weed Delivery Driver Sting And New Zealand Considering Cannabis Legalization (Psychedelic Times)
• Take Control of Mites in Cannabis Crops (Greenhouse Grower)
• Facebook is slammed after cannabis seeds including 'lemon haze' and 'double bubble' were brazenly sold on its site (Daily Mail)

LSD

• Mind-blowing secret of Italy's 'LSD Island' where locals were once so high 24/7 they saw flying witches (The Sun)
• Could LSD Lessen Lawlessness? (Pacific Standard)
• Why Colorado Tokers Love LSD (Westword)

Psilocybin/Magic Mushrooms

• Magic Mushrooms Show Promise As Depression Remedy By 'Resetting' The Brain (Forbes)

MDMA/Ecstasy

• Ecstasy users are increasingly young adults with higher education, study finds (PsyPost)
• The FDA says this recreational drug is 'breakthrough' treatment for PTSD (Metro)
• Partiers Confuse Ecstasy and Molly Confound Rates of U.S. Drug Use (Inverse)
• Law Student Dies En Route to BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend After Consuming 2.3 Grams of Molly (YourEDM)
• Girl, 14, hospitalised after taking 'ecstasy' at Dorset nightclub party as boy, 15, is arrested on suspicion of supplying Class A drugs (The Sun)

Ayahuasca/DMT

• Sacred jungle medicine tested for hard-to-treat depression (Scienceline)
• Petroglyphs of Polish (Atlas Obscura)
• Ayahuasca for the masses (Thrive Global)

Dissociatives

• Ketamine may help treat migraine pain unresponsive to other therapies (EurekAlert)
• PCP-addled woman hits pedestrian at Lazarre Park: WMPD (The News Star)

Opiates/Opioids

• Narcan Opioid Overdose Spray Is Now Stocked By All Walgreens Pharmacies (NPR)
• How the DEA Changed the Overdose Numbers (Pain News Network)
• FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb Goes to Bat For Evidence-Based Opioid Policies (Reason)
• President Trump Revealed His Plan to Deal With the Opioid Crisis. Here's What Experts Think (TIME)
• Heroin: A Clear And Present Danger (HuffPost)
• The Hidden Tragedy of the Opioid Crisis (TIME)
• Why Are Local Officials Shutting Down Needle Exchange Programs During an Crisis? (Reason)
• Puppy That Collapsed From Opioid Overdose Is Saved by Reversal Drug (TIME)
• U.S. urges Mexico to tackle "increase" in heroin trafficking (CBS)
• IACP Quick Take: Why the fight against the opioid crisis can't stop with naloxone (PoliceOne)

Kratom

• American Kratom Association Questions DEA on Kratom Concerns (KNWA)
• Turning to Kratom For Opioid Withdrawal (WebMD)
• Critics slam reports linking controversial supplement Kratom to recent deaths (WRIC)
• Can the kratom plant help fix the opioid crisis? (CNN)
• Kratom For Pain Relief In Pets: Is That Good Or Bad? (Kratom Guides)
• "Fake News" Of Kratom Deaths Spurs Demands For Tennessee TV Station Retraction, Reprimands By Georgia County And State Coroners Group (PR Newswire)

Kava

• No Kava For New Chief (Fiji Sun)
• Increasing theft of kava plants in Vava'u (Matangi Tonga)
• Traditional ceremony to be held during the installation of Roko Tui Bau (Fijivillage)

Khat

• Khat consumer population reaches 16 percent in Ethiopia : Study (Borkena)

Miscellaneous Psychedelics/Psychoactives/Drug Policy

• Neuroscientists improve human memory by electrically stimulating brain (Medical Xpress)
• New study suggests psychedelic drugs may reduce criminal behavior (EurekAlert!)
• An Oxford professor explains what it feels like to take a "true" smart drug (Quartz)
• The Shadow of Underground Entheogenic Use: Interview With Eleonora Molnar (Psychedelic Times)
• Massachusetts Mulls Whether to Classify Drug Dealers as Murderers (Reason)
• Overcoming the trauma through the psychedelic in One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest (Journal of Advances in Humanities and Social Sciences)
• Thailand Drug Decriminalization Edges Forward - With Little Fanfare (Khaosod English)
• Senator Elizabeth Warren Discusses Jailing Low-Level Drug Offenders (ATTN:)
• James Fadiman Discusses the Many Benefits of Microdosing (Psychedelic Frontier)
• Donald Trump Wants to Spend Big on Anti-Drug Ads. Here's Why They Don't Work (TIME)
• 'Stranger Things' Actor Charlie Heaton Denied U.S. Entry Over Drugs, Official Says (TIME)
• Jeff Sessions Says MS-13 Is a Major Player in the Narcotics Trade. The DEA Disagrees. (Reason)
• Misguided Mainstreaming of Psychedelic Drugs: Challenging Experiences (Rick Strassman MD)
• Scientists have developed "mini-brains" to test the way psychedelic drugs affect the brain (Addiction Now)
• Psychedelics and Mental Health (Psymposia)
• Misplaced Ecstasy? Questioning the Role of Psychedelics as Therapy (Medscape)
• The necessity of legalizing ecstasy and LSD (The Massachusetts Daily Collegian)
• Shane Mauss – A Good Trip (Alt Media)
• This british conservative thinks drug prohibition is about as intelligent as alcohol prohibition in US (Psymposia)

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 - 10.28.17

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.