Weekend Thoughts - 11.11.17

Image by Silentpilot, 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 seemingly unlikely partnership between Uber and NASA was announced this week along with the news that Uber plans to add flying taxis to its line of service offerings by 2020. There are also some concept videos that show how these taxis may work that are worth taking a look at. The vehicles actually look just like helicopters, but imagine being able to call a helicopter to come pick you—and up to three of your friends—up and fly to your destination. All from your phone.

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

This Week in Psychedelics - 11.10.17

Image by Dahtamnay, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Cannabis

• Poland legalises medical cannabis (The Independent)
• Maine Governor Vetoes Retail Legalization Implementation (NORML)
• Election: Ohio City Completely Depenalizes Marijuana (NORML)
• Here's how to solve the NHS' chronic underfunding: legalise cannabis (The Guardian)
• Legalization Alone is Not Enough, How We Create A New Market Matters (NORML)
• Cannabis inhaler could help send Brits suffering with insomnia to sleep in ten minutes, inventors claim (The Sun)
• Election 2017: The Cannabis Races We're Watching Closely (Leafly)
• IBM's plan to regulate pot with blockchains isn't as crazy as it sounds (Ars Technica)
• Why Cannabis and Cryptocurrency Have Yet to Hit It Off (Leafly)
• FDA cracks down on claims that cannabis can cure cancer (CNN)
• Data Dive: Alaska's Cannabis Industry Grows for 7th Consecutive Month (Leafly)
• Election: Pro-Legalization Phil Murphy Wins NJ Governor Race (NORML)
• Scott Wiener says SF supervisors seem to be squelching cannabis industry (San Francisco Chronicle)
• Announcing Our First Book, 'The Leafly Guide to Cannabis' (Leafly)
• The Global Marijuana Market Will Soon Hit $31.4 Billion But Investors Should Be Cautious (Forbes)
• Marijuana Patients Shouldn't Be Denied Transplants (ATTN:)
• Snoop Dogg Joins The Cannabis Lab-Testing Game (High Times)
• Conservative Chinese push for SF cannabis ban could spark serious political benefits (San Francisco Examiner)
• Massachusetts Is Searching For A Cannabis Inspector (High Times)
• Anti-Marijuana Site Features Pro-Legalization Politician (For Some Reason) (Marijuana Moment)
• Cannabis ad brilliantly parodies prescription drug commercials (Boing Boing)
• Australian Cannabis Stocks Climb Amid Licensing Announcements (Leafly)
• Oakdale step closer to making way for cannabis businesses (KCRA)
• After Colorado Legalized Weed, Opioid Deaths Decreased (ATTN:)
• The Canadian Cannabis Act's Final Hurdle: A Contentious Senate (Leafly)
• SF supervisors offer more changes to recreational cannabis legislation (SFGate)
• The Witchy Woman Social Is A Supernaturally Feminine Celebration of Cannabis (Willamette Week)
• Cannabis activists say they still have work to do after legalization (Red Deer Advocate)
• The Real Risk of Buying Medical Marijuana Online (TIME)
• South Carolina Compassionate Care Alliance's Medical Cannabis Symposium (WPDE)
• Cannabis Crunch — FDA Warns CBD Companies, Maine Vetoes Pot Law And Poland Legalizes Medical Marijuana (Psychedelic Times)
• Arvin City Council moves forward with cannabis ordinance (The Bakersfield Californian)

LSD

• Watch Mormon Missionaries Try LSD for the First Time (Psychedelic Frontier)
• LSD Increases Primary Process Thinking via Serotonin 2A Receptor Activation (Frontiers in Pharmacology)
• Norway Relaxes Punishment For LSD Possession From Jail To Community Service (Konbini)
• In Silicon Valley, LSD is Becoming All the Rage (National Monitor)
• John Mayer is Ready for Dead & Company Tour Because He's Dropping LSD Jokes on Twitter (Relix)
• LSD is making a comeback, but not in the way you'd expect (WSB-TV2 Atlanta)
• Colorado Walmart gunman had voices in his head caused by bad LSD trip decades ago, stepsister claims (Fox News)
• Hallucinogenic Narcotics LSD Causes Constriction of Blood Vessels (Netral News)
• Naked Man on LSD Arrested (WGNS)

Psilocybin/Magic Mushrooms

• Psychedelics: California Could Become First State to Decriminalize Magic Mushrooms (Newsweek)
• Can Psilocybin Treat Severe Depression? (NEJM Journal Watch)
• Ecology, biology professor provides insight to psychedelic mushrooms (UT Daily Beacon)
• California Legalizing Magic Mushrooms? Side Effects Of Psilocybin (International Business Times)

MDMA/Ecstasy

• The Promise of Ecstasy for PTSD (The New York Times)
• MDMA's Journey from Molly to Medicine (Scientific American)
• Scientific history behind MDMA reveals potential benefits (The Blue Banner)
• $7.5 Million Worth Of Ecstasy Seized in Massive STING Operation (YourEDM)
• A teenager has died after taking MDMA at a nightclub (WalesOnline)

Ayahuasca/DMT

• Why Won't DMT Go Away? (Rick Strassman MD)
• Ayahuasca Appropriation and the Divine Feminine: A Conversation with Eleonora Molnar (Psychedelic Times)
• Treatment for Depression and Alcoholism Discovered in Psychedelic Plant-Based Drug Ayahuasca (Newsweek)
• Psychedelic shaman potion could cure mental illness (New York Post)
• The pineal gland and higher consciousness (Inquirer)

Peyote/San Pedro/Mescaline

• From Chocolate to Peyote: Hendrix Professor Co-edits New Book on the Desire for Ingestible Commodities (Hendrix College)

Synthetic Cannabinoids/Psychoactive Research Chemicals

• Rogue Pill Testing Finds Deadly Substances In Party Drugs at Music Festival (YourEDM)
• German therapist faces trial for handing out banned hallucinogens (The Telegraph)

Dissociatives

• Controversial drug changing lives of patients with chronic pain, depression (WGRZ)
• We visited a clinic that delivers 45-minute ketamine infusions for depression – here's what it was like (Business Insider)

Opiates/Opioids

• Denver heroin users could use supervised injection site if proposal passes multiple hurdles (The Denver Post)
• In clinical trials, medications show promise for treating heroin addiction (The Washington Post)
• Basic Painkillers Are Just As Effective as Opioids, Study Finds (TIME)
• In Uruzgan, Afghan Mothers Feed Their Children Opium to Make Them Sleep (Al-Bawaba)
• Markos Koulanakis: China uses fentanyl in 'Opium War' against America (The Morning Call)
• Walgreens Stocking Overdose Reversal Drug in Stores Nationwide, No Prescription Needed (The Joint Blog)
• We've Known for 40 Years How to Help Heroin Users (Reason)
• America's opioid crisis & modern anxieties prove the limits of capitalism (RT)

Kratom

• Is Kratom The Solution To The Opioid Epidemic? (Kratom Guides)
• Kratom: Herbal supplement or dangerous drug? (KSDK)

Kava

• How To Use Kava For Opiate Withdrawal? Does It Really Work? (Kratom Guides)

Khat

• Miraa farmers in court to challenge Nacada's 'mututho' time (Zipo)

Miscellaneous Psychedelics/Psychoactives/Drug Policy

• Whitewashing Psychedelics: A Lack of Diverse Voices in the Psychedelic Movement (Psymposia)
• Psychedelic drug use linked to decreased criminal behavior (Healio)
• YouTube under fire for featuring programme that shows Dutch presenters taking MDMA and cocaine (International Business Times)
• Hot Digital Shaman: New App Wavepaths Guides Users Through Therapeutic Trips (Rolling Stone)
• Treating Drug Overdoses As Homicides May Be Deadly (Reason)
• Ecstasy pill tests 'will save lives', says Perth researcher (Perth Now)
• A day in the life of a consultant psychiatrist and psychedelic drug researcher (Psymposia)
• Adderall Found in 8-Year-Old Girl's Halloween Candy, Police Say (TIME)
• This Activist is Prying Loose Missouri Drug Task Force Records One Lawsuit At a Time (Reason)
• Anti-drugs awareness campaign (The Arunachal 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 are presented by the mass media, which includes everything from the latest scientific research to misinformation.

Weekend Thoughts - 11.4.17

Image by azazelok, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

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

1. To continue on with the series of weekends that I've linked to articles about self-driving vehicles comes this thought experiment: how would you feel about putting your children on a self-driving school bus? That's what a Seattle-based design studio named Teague is currently working on. Their autonomous school bus concept has enough space for six students, and allow for remote intercom usage for disciplining the kids as well as the ability to reroute to a hospital if there is an accident or fight that breaks out. Ultimately, we'll know when self-driving cars have reached peak acceptability when parents are willing to let their kids ride them to school each day.

2. Germany's wind turbines were able to produce enough energy to power over half of the country this year—and they produced so much excess energy from wind power that they had to pay the German citizens to use it!

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

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.