You Can’t Overdose on Fentanyl by Touching It

German Lopez, writing for Vox:

The latest horror story in America’s opioid epidemic: Police officers are supposedly overdosing just by coming in contact with the synthetic opioid fentanyl. In the most recent example, a Vermont state trooper, acting Sgt. Brett Flansburg, last week reportedly fell ill and collapsed in a parking lot after he was exposed to small quantities of a drug.

This isn’t the first time a similar story has been widely reported. This genre of stories really took off with national reports that an East Liverpool, Ohio, police officer collapsed after he brushed fentanyl residue off his uniform. And there have been similar reports in California, Massachusetts, Michigan, and Pennsylvania.

But there’s one problem: Overdosing on fentanyl just by touching it or by simply being in proximity to it is extremely unlikely, if not impossible. Yet overdose by contact has been a persistent myth about fentanyl since it began supplanting heroin in much of the US’s illicit opioid supply.

Still, these stories and the myth they perpetuate really matter. They suggest that helping people who use drugs can be dangerous. That can lead to unnecessary caution or new requirements, like forcing officers to put on certain equipment when they respond to an overdose — which could then lead to people in need of quick, unhesitating emergency help getting hurt or killed as they wait.

This myth needs to die, and fast.

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Four-Year Blogiversary!

Today marks the four-year blogiversary of the Think Wilder blog. It’s a bit hard to believe that it’s already been four years since I first got the ball rolling on this project, but it’s the truth. In case you’re new or have forgotten, here’s what I did during the first three anniversaries:

To commemorate my first year of blogging, I announced a site redesign that was aimed at making it easier to navigate the site.

For my second year, I made a commitment to write more feature posts for the site.

And last year I celebrated my third year by creating three new pages: Start Here, Hire Me, and Support. I also created a Patreon account to let readers who would like to support my work contribute a monthly donation. I also created a one-time donation option with PayPal.

This year I have two announcements to go along with this blogiversary. The first is that a friend of mine created two new logos for me. The full-text logo can be seen at the top of this blog post, and you can go see the “letters logo” at the top-left of the blog as well as on all of my social media accounts—just look for the new profile picture/badge icon. This is a big step for Think Wilder, as it means that there will finally be professional-looking branding on all of my online presences. Plus, I think they look pretty awesome. Please let me know what you think of them—I’d love to know!

The second announcement is the creation of a Link Posts page that will archive all of my link posts moving forward. No matter where you are on the blog, you can always get to this page by hovering over the “Categories” link at the top of the blog and clicking on the “Link Posts” category. I’ve realized for a while now that it’s kind of difficult to find everything on the blog and this is just one of the steps I am taking to make it easier for readers to discover content.

I hope that you like these updates and I’m looking forward to making the fifth year of this blog the best one yet. While there is a lot I have accomplished, there’s so much more I want to do, so you’ll just have to stay tuned! Until next time, keep thinking wilder.

Banner image by Psychedelic Astronaut.

How Psychedelic Virtual Reality Can Help End Society’s Mass Bad Trip

Jenny Valentish, writing for The Guardian:

So tonight there’s the opportunity to try out virtual reality and augmented reality experiences that go beyond recreational use – there’s no diving with sharks or rollercoaster rides here. But users should strap in tightly anyway: these experiences are designed to expedite a different kind of journey.

Mimicking synesthesia, visual meditation apps leveraging biofeedback, exposure therapy, and a full-blown near-death experience—this is the kind of stuff that makes VR interesting.

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Missouri Man Spikes Coworkers’ Drinks With LSD

Emily Cole, writing for KOLR:

There are plenty of ways to handle a coworker who is getting on your nerves.

One Missouri man had an interesting way of dealing with this every day problem...

He spiked their drinks with LSD. […]

Police say the man told them his coworkers at Enterprise Rent-A-Car had "negative energy," and he wanted them to mellow out. So the 19-year-old put LSD in three people's water bottles and coffee cups.

This is a HUGE no-no. But I must admit that in my younger days, when I first encountered psychedelics, I was a loud-and-proud evangelist for them and genuinely believed that our society would be better off if people were dosed with LSD without their knowledge, just like this young man did to his coworkers.

However, now I understand how important it is to give people the chance to consent before sending them on a psychedelic journey (or any drug experience, for that matter). I firmly believe that no one should ever dose someone with a powerful psychedelic like LSD who is unprepared to go on the voyage.

Dosing other people without their knowledge is just plain fucked up. Don’t do it.

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This Week in Psychoactives - 3.22.19

CANNABIS

• Two years after voters approved it, Florida legalizes smoking medical marijuana (CNN)

• Legal weed for N.J. takes a huge step forward. We now expect final votes next week. (NJ.com)

• New Mexico Lawmakers Send Marijuana Decriminalization Bill To Governor (Marijuana Moment)

• Minnesota: Attorney For State’s Largest County To No Longer Criminally Prosecute Marijuana Possession Offenses (NORML)

• Top Ten Equity Must-Haves in Any Legalization Bill (LinkedIn)

• Legalizing Marijuana, With a Focus on Social Justice, Unites 2020 Democrats (The New York Times)

• Support for US Cannabis Legalization Reaches New High, Poll Finds (Leafly)

• Daily Marijuana Use And Highly Potent Weed Linked To Psychosis (NPR)

• NORML Responds To Latest Cannabis and Psychosis Claims (NORML)

• Marijuana Consumers Gain Less Weight Than Non-Users, Study Confirms (Marijuana Moment)

• Oklahoma: Governor Signs Medical Marijuana Regulatory Measure (NORML)

• Marijuana Activists Protest John Boehner’s SXSW Speech (Marijuana Moment)

• Denver’s Teen Marijuana Education Campaign Seems To Be Working, Survey Finds (Marijuana Moment)

• Medicinal cannabis: 'Patients still in limbo' (BBC)

• CBD Is In Jelly Beans, Pet Food and Shampoo. But Many Benefits Are Untested (Discover Magazine)

• U.S. Postal Service Issues Advisory On Mailing Hemp-Derived CBD (Marijuana Moment)

• Cannabis 101 At The University Of Connecticut (WUNC)

• Hawaii Lawmakers Approve Marijuana Decriminalization Bill In Joint Committee Hearing (Marijuana Moment)

• NHL Alumni Study Centres on CBD, Puts THC on Ice (Leafly)

• Wisconsin Voters Will Decide On More Marijuana Ballot Questions In April (Marijuana Moment)

• CVS Pharmacy, America's Largest Drug Store Chain, Will Carry CBD Products (Reason)

• Family sues after Pennsylvania man with 10 pot plants is crushed by bulldozer in police chase (NBC News)

• South Carolina Lawmakers Approve Medical Marijuana Bill In Subcommittee Vote (Marijuana Moment)

LSD

• Beto O'Rourke Said He's Never Done LSD (Esquire)

MAGIC MUSHROOMS

• Most Oregon Voters Favor Legalizing Psilocybin Mushrooms in 2020 Election (Reset.me)

• Mazatec Mushroom Usage: Notes on Approach, Setting and Species for Curious Psilonauts (Reality Sandwich)

• Veteran hopeful Denver will vote to decriminalize psilocybin mushrooms (ABC15 Arizona)

• The Decriminalization Train Keeps Rolling – Up Next Psilocybin? (Longmont Observer)

MDMA

• Genetic reductions in serotonin transporter may cause some people to respond differently to MDMA (PsyPost)

• UN report attributes rising ecstasy use in South America to electronic music events (Resident Advisor)

• Ecstasy can cause the user to develop memory problems: study (Top Health Journal)

• Less cocaine, more MDMA found in Antwerp waste water (The Brussels Times)

AYAHUASCA

• The “Traditional” Ayahuasca Ceremony Is Probably a Recent Invention (Kahpi)

• What Does Ayahuasca Have To Do with Ancestors and the Dead? (Kahpi)

• Ayahuasca Integration Means Facing the Shadow in Daily Life (Kahpi)

• Integrating Ayahuasca Experiences Requires an Integrated Approach (Kahpi)

• What Is DMT? How Ayahuasca Tea Affects Your Brain (YourTango)

5-MEO-DMT

• Short-acting psychedelic offers promising new treatment pathway for depression and anxiety (New Atlas)

• I Was Recorded During A 5-MeO DMT Ceremony Without My Consent (Psymposia)

PEYOTE

• Two Merida women imprisoned for growing peyote (The Yucatan Times)

IBOGA

• What Is Ibogaine? New Details About What Gwyneth Paltrow Calls The 'Next Big Thing' In Wellness (YourTango)

SALVIA DIVINORUM

• Salvia divinorum: from recreational hallucinogenic use to analgesic and anti-inflammatory action (Dove Press Medical)

SYNTHETIC CANNABINOIDS

• Even low doses of synthetic cannabinoids can impair cognitive performance (EurekAlert!)

• Identifying Metabolites of Synthetic Cannabinoids (News-Medical.Net)

• Owner of Madison convenience store chain gets 30 months in prison for synthetic marijuana, contraband tobacco (Madison.com)

• Yeast Could Help Fill Demand for Cannabinoid Compounds (Drovers Magazine)

NITROUS OXIDE

• Some Women Turning To Laughing Gas As Alternative To Drugs During Childbirth (CBS Philly)

KETAMINE

• Scientists Gave Alligators Ketamine and Headphones to Understand Dinosaur Hearing (Motherboard)

• High Holy Strangeness: A Playlist for Ketamine by Eric Sienknecht (Chacruna)

• Ketamine Prohibition Across the Globe Has Deadly Effects (71 Republic)

• VA to offer new ketamine-based nasal spray to help combat depression (Task and Purpose)

• Long known as a party drug, ketamine now used for depression, but concerns remain (San Francisco Chronicle)

PCP

• Monroe man found staggering in the streets arrested for PCP (The Ouachita Citizen)

OPIATES/OPIOIDS

• FDA to Review Higher Dose Naloxone Injection for Opioid Overdose Treatment (Monthly Prescribing Reference)

• Opium prices plummeted as much as 80% in 2018, hurting farmers (Mexico News Daily)

• Methadone Helped Her Quit Heroin. Now She’s Suing U.S. Prisons to Allow the Treatment. (The New York Times)

• Fentanyl-Linked Deaths: The U.S. Opioid Epidemic's Third Wave Begins (NPR)

• Naloxone use up as overdose deaths begin to plateau (WBIR)

• Puerto Rico approves sale of naloxone amid opioid crisis (Medical Xpress)

• Former DEA official now working for OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma (NBC News)

• Naloxone now available at every emergency room in the state (Journal Inquirer)

• Vermont state trooper exposed to suspected heroin revived with Narcan (UPI)

• Vermont’s police chief said cops risk death from opioid exposure. He’s wrong. (PolitiFact)

• Opioid response team offers help, hope to overdose survivors (KENS5)

COCAINE

• Bristol named cocaine capital of Europe (Mixmag)

• Cocaine Poses Silent US Drug Threat as Production Nears Record Levels (Homeland Security)

METHAMPHETAMINE

• Changing the Way We Think About Meth (VICE)

• Methamphetamine Is Flooding Into U.S., Drug Officials Say (The Wall Street Journal)

ALCOHOL

• Scientists hunt down the brain circuit responsible for alcohol cravings (ScienceDaily)

• Elementary school bans kombucha over alcohol content (The Takeout)

• Big Alcohol Is Bracing for a More Sober Future (Bon Appetit)

• The dangers of alcohol extend to those who don’t even drink (Earth.com)

• Contrary to folklore, alcohol does not help with rheumatoid arthritis (Cosmos)

• Now, There Is Zero Proof That Alcohol Is What Makes A Great Cocktail (NPR)

• March Madness Alcohol Study Shows One Demographic Is Affected the Most (Inverse)

• Is ‘Breaking the Seal’ When You Drink Alcohol Really a Thing? (SELF)

KRATOM

• Lowndes County Supervisors Vote to Ban Kratom (WCBI)

• Kratom Addiction: Colorado Clinics' Widely Different Reports (Westword)

• Commentary: Why We Should Regulate Kratom (U.S. News & World Report)

• Is there a difference between Kratom, Kratum, and Cratum Capsules? (Baltimore Post-Examiner)

KHAT

• Somalia- Khat-Munching: A Connecting Factor in East Africa (MENAFN)

MISCELLANEOUS

• Activists Plan Initiative To Decriminalize Psychedelic Drugs In Oakland (Marijuana Moment)

• First supervised drug injection site in U.S. offered lease in Philadelphia’s Kensington district (Philly.com)

• It’s Time to Reject the Racist “Drug Dealer” Stereotype (Filter)

• 'It's about saving lives': inside the UK's first licensed drug testing service (The Guardian)

• Germany named drug use capital following Europe-wide sewage study (Deutsche Welle)

• Psychedelic pioneer, consciousness researcher Ralph Metzner dies in Sonoma (Sonoma Index-Tribune)

• “Addicted to the War on Drugs” Is Right, Despite the Rhetoric (Filter)

• What Groovin the Moo musicians think about the pill testing trial (The Canberra Times)

• The European Psychedelic Renaissance: Interview with Dr. Henrik Jungaberle (Psychedelic Times)

• Hallucinogen Therapy Is Coming (Nautilus)

• From “Meth Crisis” to “Opioid Crisis” to “Fentanyl and Meth Crisis” to… (CATO Institute)

• Legalization Is the Only Viable Drug Policy (Project Syndicate)

• Here are the 10 most seductive drugs — and their fascinating histories (AlterNet)

• What's the deal with microdosing? (The Telegraph)

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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