This Week in Psychoactives - 3.15.19

CANNABIS

• Alaska Is Officially The First State To Legalize On-Site Marijuana Consumption (Marijuana Moment)

• Missouri Police Searching for Marijuana in a Stage 4 Cancer Patient's Hospital Room Incites a Viral Video (TIME)

• Vermont Bill To Legalize Marijuana Sales Moves To House (Marijuana Moment)

• House-Passed Legal Marijuana Bill Advances In New Mexico Senate (Marijuana Moment)

• New Hampshire House Passes Bill to Allow Home-Grown Medical Cannabis (High Times)

• Legal Marijuana Sales Don’t Increase Use, But Allowing Possession Does, Study Finds (Marijuana Moment)

• The SAFE Banking Act Reintroduced (NORML)

• Congressional Bill Would Let VA Doctors Recommend Marijuana To Veterans (Marijuana Moment)

• New York marijuana: What to know about cannabis edibles, hospitalizations, poison control (The Journal News)

• Independent Voters Support Marijuana Legalization, Regardless Of Partisan Lean, Poll Shows (Marijuana Moment)

• Where’s the Cheapest Cannabis? A State-by-State Comparison (Leafly)

• Marijuana Tourism From China To Amsterdam: Study Sheds Light On Motivations (Marijuana Moment)

• Florida: State Lawmakers Vote to Restore Patients’ Right To Smoke Medical Cannabis (NORML)

• Bipartisan Bill Shields Federal Workers From Being Fired For Marijuana (Marijuana Moment)

• Missouri House Approves Bill To Expunge Marijuana Records For Medical Patients (Marijuana Moment)

• We Finally Know What’s in New Jersey’s Cannabis Legalization Bill (Leafly)

• Colorado Lawmakers Considering Allowing Marijuana Deliveries (Marijuana Moment)

• Cannabis Black Market Thriving Despite Legalization (Forbes)

• New York Senate And Assembly Include Marijuana Legalization In Budget Proposals (Marijuana Moment)

• Black Lawmakers to Block Legalized Marijuana in N.Y. if Their Communities Don’t Benefit (The New York Times)

• Where Presidential Candidate Beto O’Rourke Stands On Marijuana (Marijuana Moment)

• New Mexico Bill to Create State-Run Dispensaries Appears Dead (Leafly)

• Minnesota Senate Committee Kills Marijuana Legalization Bill (Marijuana Moment)

• Aurora Cannabis Just Hit a Dubious Milestone (The Motley Fool)

• CBD sport drug testing (Natural Products Insider)

• Parents warned of ‘hallucinogenic’ fake cereal bar ‘laced with CANNABIS’ being sold to London schoolchildren that makes kids ‘violently ill’ (The Sun)

LSD

• Can American Troops Win Wars by Dropping Acid? (The Daily Beast)

• Stanford U. Employee Pleads Not Guilty to Near-Fatal Stabbing (Patch)

• Sailor from Navy carrier's nuclear department admits to 'wrongfully' bringing LSD aboard (Task and Purpose)

• LSD-Fueled Innovation From Your Friends at Silicon Valley (71 Republic)

• The Acid King, Leonard Pickard, in his own words (Rooster)

MAGIC MUSHROOMS

• Psychedelic Mushrooms Can Help Depression, Anxiety, Addiction (NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth)

• Psychedelic Mushrooms Can Boost Creativity and Empathy for a Week (Futurism)

MDMA

• The environmental impacts of MDMA production warrant consideration (Earth.com)

• Greens candidate who said you should be able to buy packets of MDMA at Woolies says her ‘turn of phrase’ was ‘incorrect’ (news.com.au)

• Highly Accredited Doctor States “MDMA Not Too Dangerous” (EDMTunes)

• Drug testing service finds 'potentially dangerous' MDMA levels in pills at New Zealand festivals (TVNZ)

DMT

• Blindness MIRACLE cure: Experts in huge breakthrough with 'God molecule' psychedelic drug (Daily Star)

• Microdosing Psychedelic Drugs Was Just Found to Reduce Anxiety and Depression (Esquire)

AYAHUASCA

• Ayahuasca Can Help Us Heal Deep Wounds of Global History (Kahpi)

• Ayahuasca in Asia: Amazonian hallucinogenic plant medicine finds following in the East despite shady status (South China Morning Post)

PEYOTE

• Native American Church Works to Conserve, Sustain Peyote (Voice of America)

SYNTHETIC CANNABINOIDS

• Efficacy of Cannabinoids for Agitation, Aggression in Alzheimer Disease Inconclusive (Psychiatry Advisor)

• Assessing Personality Traits of Youth Who Use Synthetic Cannabinoids (Clinical Advisor)

• Scientists Produce Active Ingredients in Marijuana Using Yeast (Haaretz)

• Synthetic Weed: The Furthest Thing from Real Cannabis (Greencamp)

NITROUS OXIDE

• A Brief, 200-Year History of Humanity’s Love for Laughing Gas (VICE)

• Laughing Gas Parties Were A Big Hit With 19th Century Society (Ancient Origins)

KETAMINE

• Is Esketamine the Game-Changer for Depression We Want? (Rolling Stone)

• Louisiana doctor uses FDA-approved ketamine to treat depression (WWLTV)

• NYC club kids divided on using ketamine for depression (Page Six)

OPIATES/OPIOIDS

• “Yellow Peril”—How Blaming China for Fentanyl Continues a Racist Legacy (Filter)

• Deregulating buprenophine prescribing for opioid use disorder will save lives (STAT)

• Trump’s budget proposal does nothing for the opioid epidemic (Vox)

• The Washington Post Blames Obama for Fentanyl Deaths (Reason)

• Va. bills on naloxone in schools, nuisance animal control signed by Gov. Northam (WTOP)

• Indy coffee shop owner saves man’s life just hours after store hosted naloxone training (Fox 59)

• New trend in drug abuse: Youth mix opium with weed (GhanaWeb)

• State health officials encourage people to carry naloxone (WPRI)

COCAINE

• New way of testing for cocaine discovered (Phys.org)

• How Brit cocaine users have blood on their hands and are complicit in the UK’s knife crime epidemic (The Sun)

ALCOHOL

• Agreement reached to increase alcohol limits on beer in Utah (The Washington Post)

• Instacart's Expanded Coverage Is Increasing Competition In The Alcohol Market (Forbes)

• Alcohol marketing awareness linked to 'higher risk' drinking among UK teens (EurekAlert!)

• House bill would require signs: 'Pregnancy and alcohol do not mix' (Detroit Free Press)

• Alcohol may not be as good for the heart as once thought (WILX)

• What Happens When You Give Up Alcohol For A Month? Here's What Happened When I Tried (Bustle)

KRATOM

• Kratom Industry Group Has First Qualifier For Its GMP Standards Exceeding FDA's (HBW Insight)

• Kratom banned in Caledonia (The Dispatch)

• Mixing Ayahuasca And Kratom: What You Ought To Know This Combination (Kratom Guides)

• DEA calls this widely used supplement a ‘drug of concern’ (MDLinx)

• Lowndes County officials to decide on Kratom ban (WVTA)

• Dietary Supplement? Or Drug? The Kratom Regulation Debate (Filter)

• Kratom-Related Poisonings Are Soaring, Study Finds (Get Smart About Drugs)

• Advocates decry Ohio pharmacy board vote to ban kratom (The Columbus Dispatch)

KAVA

• New kava bar finds its roots in downtown Phoenix (The State Press)

KHAT

• The Flower Men of Saudi Arabia (Al Jazeera)

MISCELLANEOUS

• The UN Chief Executives Board unanimously endorses decriminalisation of people who use drugs (Transform)

• Can LSD and magic mushrooms help win wars? This Marine officer says ‘yes’ (Marine Corps Times)

• New Alabama law would require residents to pass drug tests to get food stamps (The Hill)

• Nicotine 101: The Truth About What It Is and What it Does (Filter)

• Stop Funding Southeast Asia’s Brutal Drug War (The New York Times)

• Addressing federal conflicts over supervised drug consumption sites (The Hill)

• How to Become a Psychedelic Therapist (Psychedelic Support)

• Women of Visionary Art: Interview with David Jay Brown and Rebecca Ann Hill (Psychedelic Times)

• Blinded by the White: Addressing Power and Privilege in Psychedelic Medicine (Chacruna)

• Art, Ecological Awareness, and Femininity: Interview with David Jay Brown and Rebecca Ann Hill (Psychedelic Times)

• The mind’s horizon: The coming age of psychedelics, part one (AZ Daily Sun)

• Iowa Lawmaker Introduces Bill To Legalize Psilocybin, MDMA and Ibogaine (Reset.me)

• ‘Suicide’ headaches? Magic mushrooms or LSD could offer relief (Genetic Literacy Project)

Think Wilder is reader-supported. If you enjoyed this week’s update, please consider helping out by becoming a patron, making a one-time donation, or sharing this post with a friend. Thank you for your support.

Disclaimer: "This Week in Psychoactives" 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.

Image by Psychedelic Astronaut.

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On the Monday following each edition of “This Week in Psychoactives,” I post a “Last Week in Psychoactives” video recap to my YouTube channel. After that is done, I retroactively add the video to the corresponding blog post. Here is this week’s video recap:

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Alaska Is Officially the First State to License On-Site Marijuana Consumption at Cannabis Stores

Chris Roberts, writing for Marijuana Moment:

Adults 21 and over can buy regulated and taxed cannabis from licensed storefront dispensaries in a growing number of U.S. states—but until Alaska Lt. Gov. Kevin Meyer (R) signed new regulations into law on Tuesday, no states had been in the business of issuing permits authorizing on-site consumption.

There are some dispensaries in California that allow cannabis users to consume their purchases on-site in accordance with local policy—nearly all of which are in San Francisco, which permitted such use in the medical marijuana era—and businesses in Denver can apply for permits to allow vaporizing.

But other than that, thus far in the legalization era, a safe place (other than one’s own private home) to sit and consume legally purchased cannabis has been elusive. As in every other state where marijuana is legal, outdoor smoking is illegal. Cannabis consumers in certain rental housing risk fines or eviction for using the legal substance.

Now, licensed retail businesses in Alaska will be able to begin applying for a “special onsite use endorsement” from the state beginning April 11.

It remains to be seen when these cannabis consumption spaces will be open for business, but keep your eyes peeled—it’s expected to happen later this year.

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The UN Chief Executives Board Unanimously Endorses Decriminalization

Transform Drug Policy Foundation:

The Chief Executives Board of the UN, representing 31 UN agencies, has adopted a common position on drug policy that endorses decriminalisation of possession and use. This comes just days before a key meeting of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs in Vienna, which will review, the UN’s 10-year Global Drug Strategy, and plan for the next one.

People are always going to use drugs. Criminalizing possession and use does nothing to help users or the wider society, but it does cause a lot of unnecessary harm. This is good news coming out of the UN, but we’ll have to see if this advice is heeded.

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Missouri Police Search for Marijuana in a Stage 4 Cancer Patient's Hospital Room

Tara Law, writing for TIME:

A stage 4 pancreatic cancer patient says he feels his rights have been violated after police search his hospital room for marijuana in a video that has since been viewed more than 500,000 times on Facebook.

In the clip, which was first streamed on Facebook Live on Thursday, a pair of police officers search bags that belong to Nolan Sousley, a patient with pancreatic cancer who was hospitalized in Missouri.

Sousley tells them that all he has are pills containing THC, which he says is to treat his cancer. The officers claim that they have been tipped off that there was a marijuana smell coming from Sousley’s room.

The dude is literally dying from stage 4 pancreatic cancer. A sane society would let him have as much cannabis as he wants and leave him in peace. Instead, these cops tore through his room looking for weed. And to top it all off?:

The officers did not find anything illegal in the room.

Just try to watch the video without your blood starting to boil.

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This Week in Psychoactives - 3.8.19

CANNABIS

• Bipartisan Legislation To End Marijuana Prohibition Filed (NORML)

• As of 2019, Legal Cannabis Has Created 211,000 Full-Time Jobs in America (Leafly)

• Marijuana Decriminalization Bill Passes New Mexico Senate (Marijuana Moment)

• New Mexico House Passes Marijuana Legalization Bill (Marijuana Moment)

• Hawaii Lawmakers Approve Marijuana Decriminalization Bill (Marijuana Moment)

• Trump Administration Wants More Input On Marijuana Rescheduling (Forbes)

• North Dakota’s First Medical Cannabis Dispensary Is Open for Business (Leafly)

• Elon Musk Could Lose His Pentagon Security Clearance Over Video of Him Smoking Pot (TIME)

• Higher education: Colleges add cannabis to the curriculum (AP News)

• Liberal Hawaii Decides Again Not to Legalize Cannabis (Leafly)

• Cannabis conundrum: California researchers struggling to get their hands on it (The Mercury News)

• Why scientists are using yeast to make marijuana compounds (The Verge)

• Amazon Vet Joins Cannabis Site Leafly As New CEO (Forbes)

• Majority Of Americans Support Legalizing Marijuana And Expunging Records, Poll Finds (Marijuana Moment)

• Hawaii Dispensaries Can Now Serve Out-of-State Cannabis Patients (Leafly)

• Marijuana Use Before Sex Leads To More Satisfying Orgasms, Study Finds (Marijuana Moment)

• Regulations Are Choking Out California's Legal Weed Industry (VICE)

• Bernie Sanders Hits Campaign Trail With A Big Focus On Marijuana Reform (Marijuana Moment)

• Beto O’Rourke Rallies Support Around Marijuana Reform Ahead Of Potential 2020 Run (Marijuana Moment)

• Where Presidential Candidate John Hickenlooper Stands On Marijuana (Marijuana Moment)

• Where Presidential Candidate Jay Inslee Stands On Marijuana (Marijuana Moment)

• How I Use CBD to Treat Endometriosis (Civilized)

• Texas Lawmakers Hold Marijuana Decriminalization Hearing (Marijuana Moment)

• Texas Sheriffs Stand Against Marijuana Policy Reform (The Appeal)

• The DEA Wants Help Differentiating Marijuana From Hemp (Marijuana Moment)

• Facebook May Loosen Marijuana Restrictions, Internal Company Presentation Says (Marijuana Moment)

• Guns or cannabis? Ohio patients must choose. (Cincinnati.com)

• South Africa's Cannabis Policy is Wildly Confusing, Despite "Dagga" Being Part of the Culture for Centuries (Civilized)

• Florida Poised to Repeal State Ban on Smokable Cannabis (Leafly)

• Massachusetts dogs suffering from “cannabis toxicity” now that pot is legal (The Takeout)

• Meghan McCain Says Marijuana Might Have Extended Her Father’s Life (Marijuana Moment)

• Boulder company conducting study on effects of CBD on brain injury (Boulder Daily Camera)

• Where Do The Major North American Sports Leagues Stand On Cannabis? (Yahoo! Sports)

LSD

• Stanford admissions employee charged in LSD stabbing of girlfriend (Los Angeles Times)

• How LSD Makes Us Trip, and Why It Might Be Good for Us (Esquire)

• Taking LSD every morning ‘could be beneficial’, say scientists (Metro)

• Gaspar Noé provokes again, this time with LSD as lubricant, in 'Climax' (The Boston Globe)

• This sailor brought acid aboard his carrier (Navy Times)

MAGIC MUSHROOMS

• A single dose of psilocybin enhances creative thinking and empathy up to seven days after use, study finds (PsyPost)

• B.C. counsellor wants Health Canada to approve psilocybin to treat death anxiety (Vancouver Sun)

MDMA

• Israeli approves compassionate use of MDMA to treat PTSD patients (420 Intel)

• MDMA is purer, more readily available than ever in New Zealand (Newshub)

• Man died plunging into Amsterdam canal after taking MDMA (Rave Jungle)

• Schoolgirl, 15, collapsed and died on first day of summer holidays after experimenting with ecstasy (The Sun)

DMT

• Scientists Microdosed Rats With DMT, and It Was Both Good and "Concerning" (Inverse)

• The DMT Trip and the Mysteries of Hyperspace Travel (Chacruna)

• Meet the real-life people probing one part of an Alex Jones DMT conspiracy theory (Rooster Magazine)

AYAHUASCA

• Ritualistic ayahuasca users tend to have positive health and psychosocial well-being (PsyPost)

• Six Playful Lessons from a Transgender Journey Through Ayahuasca Integration (Chacruna)

• Shipibo Women Healers on the Challenges and Opportunities of the Ayahuasca Boom (Psymposia)

• What I Learned During 15 Years as an Ayahuasca Scientist (Kahpi)

5-MEO-DMT

• 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine (5-MeO-DMT) used in a naturalistic group setting is associated with unintended improvements in depression and anxiety (Taylor and Francis Online)

SALVIA DIVINORUM

• What It’s Like to Smoke Salvia for Science (Motherboard)

NOVEL PSYCHOACTIVE SUBSTANCES

• 2C-B Is the Drug Taking Over the UK's Clubs (VICE)

• What is party drug 2CP and what are the side-effects after first UK death? (Metro)

• Examining the Tragic Bestival Drug Death of Louella Fletcher-Michie (VICE)

SYNTHETIC CANNABINOIDS

• Synthetic cannabinoid use can affect psychological outcomes (Healio)

• Government moves to increase synthetic cannabinoids penalties (Radio New Zealand)

• Spice ‘zombies’ triggering NHS cost crisis (Metro)

NITROUS OXIDE

• Boca Regional Offering Nitrous Oxide Therapy For Patients In Childbirth (Boca Newspaper)

• Why ‘nos’, the nitrous oxide party drug, is no laughing matter (The Times)

KETAMINE

• A ketamine-like drug is the first new antidepressant to get FDA approval in years (Vox)

• Esketamine is not a breakthrough new drug: Why the nasal spray for depression is old news (KevinMD.com)

• How Is Taking Ketamine for Depression Different From Falling Into a K-Hole? (Gizmodo)

• Driver high on ketamine ploughed into woman walking in Kings Heath (Birmingham Live)

PCP

• Bryan police: Man charged after resisting arrest, assaulting officer (Bryan-College Station Eagle)

OPIATES/OPIOIDS

• Maryland to distribute fentanyl test strips to allow users to test drugs (The Baltimore Sun)

• How One Group Is Expanding Access to Overdose-Reversing Drugs Through the Mail  (Tonic)

• French poppy seed bread found to contain dangerous levels of morphine (The Telegraph)

• Good News: Opioid Prescribing Fell. The Bad? Pain Patients Suffer, Doctors Say. (The New York Times)

• Investigation: Where Are Naloxone Confiscations Happening the Most? (Filter)

• 'Opium-addicted' parrots terrorize Indian poppy farmers (The Jerusalem Post)

• The Opioid Dilemma: Saving Lives in the Long Run Can Take Lives in the Short Run (The New York Times)

• Naloxone kits will be added to 29 city-owned public buildings (CBC)

• Staten Island nonprofit will include naloxone training in CPR classes (SILive.com)

• Naloxone credited with decrease in overdose reports in Lima region (Lima Ohio)

• Scott Gottlieb was one of the few Trump officials taking on the opioid crisis. Now he’s out. (Vox)

• Fulton commission considering ban on synthetic opioids (MDJOnline.com)

• Report: Man overdosing on heroin crashes into restaurant (News 12 Westchester)

• Saira Khan: Stop doctors creating a nation of addicts (Mirror)

• Charges dropped in historic opium poppy bust in Catawba County (WCNC)

• Why aren’t slots for opioid treatment filled? City tries to turn the tide. (The Philadelphia Inquirer)

• Training Day: Naloxone indications and administration (EMS1.com)

• Naloxone saves lives and experts say it's easier to get than most people think (9News.com)

COCAINE

• Insta-gram: How British cocaine dealers got faster and better (Mixmag)

METHAMPHETAMINE

• Local dentists show dangers of meth (KRQE)

ALCOHOL

• Alcohol Reduces Fibromyalgia Pain (Pain News Network)

• Why You Can't Buy Alcohol on Election Days in Some Countries (VinePair)

• Drinking Alcohol Is More Harmful To Young People Than Previously Thought, According To Study (Bustle)

• Push to allow more alcohol in Utah beer hits stumbling block (Standard-Examiner)

• Locals reflect on first year of having Sunday alcohol sales (WTHI-TV)

• Is It More Difficult for Women to Quit Drinking Alcohol? (The Bold Italic)

• More than a dozen Clayton businesses caught selling alcohol to minors (WRAL)

KRATOM

• Kratom recalled after salmonella bacteria found in products sold by Oregon company (Statesman Journal)

• Chester County family sues kratom distributor in death of son (The Philadelphia Inquirer)

• US Poison Control Is Being Inundated With Calls About an Opioid-Like Herb (ScienceAlert)

• Two Parents' Kratom Stories: One Nightmare, One Miracle (Westword)

• Monroe County sheriff to ask for banning of Kratom (WCBI)

MISCELLANEOUS

• Psychedelics and Dying Care: A Historical Look at the Relationship between Psychedelics and Palliative Care (Taylor and Francis Online)

• The IRS Targets Drug Policy Reformers (Reason)

• Gwyneth Paltrow thinks psychedelics are the next big wellness trend (Quartz)

• Labour supports trials of consumption rooms to cut drug deaths (The Guardian)

• “Never Give Up”—State Commission Urges Mass. to Move for Supervised Consumption Sites (Filter)

• Leaving The Third Wave: Team Statement (The Psychedelic Scientist)

• Reframing Psychedelic Integration into a Continuum with Community (Psychedelic Support)

• Alex Jones Says Secret Government Program Uses Psychedelics To Communicate With Aliens (Marijuana Moment)

• Can We Quantify the Placebo Effect in Psychedelic Medicine? (Psychedelic Support)

• Wavepaths Conversations — Jon Hopkins (Medium)

• Record Number in US Dying From Alcohol, Drugs, Suicide (Newsmax)

• Teens Need the Truth About Drugs (The Wall Street Journal)

• Male drug-related deaths up 98% in Northern Ireland (BBC)

• Yale researchers bolster conversations on psychedelic science (Yale Daily News)

• Could Microdosing Psychedelics Treat Mood Disorders? (The Fix)

• Psychedelic Drugs Heal, Too (Washington Square News)

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On the Monday following each edition of “This Week in Psychoactives,” I post a “Last Week in Psychoactives” video recap to my YouTube channel. After that is done, I retroactively add the video to the corresponding blog post. Here is this week’s video recap:

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Think Wilder is reader-supported. If you enjoyed this week’s update, please consider helping out by becoming a patron, making a one-time donation, or sharing this post with a friend. Thank you for your support.

Disclaimer: "This Week in Psychoactives" 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.

Image by Psychedelic Astronaut.