This Week in Psychoactives - 1.24.20

Cannabis

• Cannabis compound could be weapon in fight against superbugs (The Guardian)

• Mexican Lawmakers Plan To Pass Amended Marijuana Legalization Bill Before End Of April (Marijuana Moment)

• No, A Study Didn’t Say Cannabis Impairs Driving Once You’re Sober (Forbes)

• Joe Biden Again Says No To Marijuana Legalization Without More Studies (Marijuana Moment)

• Four-in-ten U.S. drug arrests in 2018 were for marijuana offenses – mostly possession (Pew Research Center)

• Michigan recalls 9,380 marijuana vaping products over vitamin E acetate concerns (MLive)

• Cannabis store burglaries on the rise in Denver (Marijuana Business Daily)

• Virginia Lawmakers Approve Marijuana Decriminalization Bill (Marijuana Moment)

• Medical Marijuana Could Improve Sleep Quality for Chronic Pain Patients (MD Magazine)

• Yet Another Study Finds That Weed Helps with Endometriosis (MERRY JANE)

• Study: Cannabidiol may not ease sleep problems, especially for regular users (FOX40)

• Proposed 10% THC Limit in Washington Could Wreck Its Entire Weed Industry (MERRY JANE)

Magic Mushrooms

• Company Gets Trademark For The Word ‘Psilocybin,’ Frustrating Decriminalization Advocates (Marijuana Moment)

• Neuroscience study uncovers psilocybin-induced changes in brain connectivity (PsyPost)

• An American Psilocybin Marketplace Might Look Like This (PRØHBTD)

MDMA

• The FDA Just Expanded Access to MDMA as a Therapy for PTSD (VICE)

• Will MDMA Beat Cannabis to Gaining FDA Approval? (DoubleBlind)

• Gwyneth Paltrow reveals husband Brad Falchuk helped her through an 'emotional' MDMA trip in Mexico (Daily Mail)

Ayahuasca

• Drinking Ayahuasca Can Increase Mindfulness And Cognitive Flexibility For At Least 24 Hours (IFLScience)

• The Dangers of the Ayahuasca Tourism Boom (Kahpi)

Peyote

• Matthew McConaughey Reveals He Once Took Peyote In A Cage With A Mountain Lion (ET Canada)

Iboga

• A Hallucinogenic Root Is Pitched to Davos Set as Treatment for Opioid Addiction (Bloomberg)

Opioids

• Pharmaceutical Company Founder Gets 5 1/2 Years for Pushing Opioid (TIME)

• Just 2% of patients who need anti-opioid drug naloxone get it (UPI)

• People Rarely Die After Using Opioids Prescribed for Them (Reason)

• Why Harsher Fentanyl Penalties Will Exacerbate the Overdose Crisis (Filter)

Nicotine

• Nebraska only enforcing "Tobacco 19" amidst federal "Tobacco 21 Act" (KHGI)

• Vaping is still at least 95% lower risk than smoking - debunking a feeble and empty critique (The Counterfactual)

• Nebraska bill would move tobacco, nicotine use age to 21 (NTV)

• Bill raising Florida's legal tobacco age passes senate committee (WCTV)

Benzodiazepines

• Benzodiazepines might be a 'hidden element' of the US' overdose epidemic -- and doctor visits for prescriptions are increasing (CNN)

Alcohol

• Fewer Americans Are Binge Drinking, But Those Who Are, Are Drinking More (TIME)

Kratom

• Release the Kratom: Inside America's Hottest New Drug Culture (WIRED)

• Kratom set to be legalised in parts of the country (Bangkok Post)

• Benchmark for Kratom manufacturing and products in the US (News Anyway)

Khat

• The wild ride of East Africa's favorite stimulant (Washington Post)

Miscellaneous

• Tulsi Gabbard Endorses Legalizing Drugs (Forbes)

• New Vermont Bill Would Decriminalize Psychedelics And Kratom (Marijuana Moment)

• Psychedelics Can Be Used to Treat PTSD, Finds Yet Another Clinical Trial (VICE)

• Psychedelic Drugs Like LSD and Magic Mushrooms Linked to Transformative Experiences, Feeling Connected With Others (Newsweek)

• Idaho Senator Files Bill To Decriminalize Drug Possession (Marijuana Moment)

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.

Company Gets Trademark for the Word ‘Psilocybin’

Kyle Jaeger, writing for Marijuana Moment:

As psychedelics reform efforts pick up across the U.S., there’s an increasing weariness among advocates about the potential corporatization that may follow.

That’s why many found it alarming when a California-based company announced on Thursday that it had successfully trademarked the word “psilocybin,” the main psychoactive constituent of so-called magic mushrooms.

Psilocybin™ is a brand of chocolates that do not contain the psychedelic itself but are meant to “begin educating, enlightening and supporting the community in upgrading their inner vibrations in order to get everything they want of their time here on earth,” according to a mission statement.

It’s been more than ten years since I took a mass media law class in college to earn my journalism undergraduate degree, but even armed with the info I learned in that course I have to admit that I was surprised to see that this kind of a thing is even possible, much less something that actually happened already.

After looking into it I discovered that two other companies have submitted requests to trademark drug terms. Weed Cellars trademarked “weed” last year and MedMen attempted to trademark the word “cannabis” a couple years ago, although that would’ve only applied to printing the word on clothing.

The fact that these brands are getting exclusive rights to use widely-accepted names of drugs is beyond dumbfounding—it’s just plain dumb.

---

Post Permalink

Are Bioplastics Really Better for the Environment?

Troy Farah, writing for Ars Technica:

To put it plainly: not all bioplastics are created equal. So which ones may be key to a genuinely “greener” future? In 2020, five candidates seem to be rising to the eco-friendly top.

Until reading this article, the concept of transitioning to eco-friendly bioplastics were simply filed away in my brain as an obvious no-brainer, something that humanity must switch to as soon as possible if we want to avoid the climate catastrophes looming around the corner. But it turns out there’s more to the equation than just transitioning away from fossil fuel plastics and toward plant plastics. Farah does an excellent job of sharing some basic information about these plant-based materials before launching into the pros and cons of each one in this list.

Readers of this blog might not be surprised to learn that hemp is more viable than many of the other options (polylactic acid, polyhydroxybutyrate, and polybutylene succinate). But the winner might turn out to be lignin, “a blackish biodegradable byproduct of paper manufacturing”. This material can apparently be used to make just about anything. But bioplastics are struggling to compete with petroleum-based plastics on cost:

However, there is still a lack of investment in this market because it’s difficult or not worth the effort for companies to transition to using these materials. The cost of all bioplastics remains relatively high due to low oil prices.

There are still problems to solve before societies around the world can make the transition to eco-friendly plastics but it’s refreshing to see that they are being actively worked on.

---

Post Permalink

Pema Chödrön Steps Down as Senior Teacher at Shambhala

Matthew Abrahams, writing for Tricycle:

The American Buddhist nun and bestselling author Pema Chödrön has stepped down as an acharya (senior teacher) at Shambhala International in response to the group’s handling of the allegations of sexual abuse against Shambhala lineage holder Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche. Pema Chödrön, who had remained a part of the organization after the Sakyong stepped away from teaching and administrative duties, decided to resign after the Sakyong announced that he would resume teaching and a transitional board of directors invited him to lead an upcoming event in France.

In her letter to the board, released publicly on January 14, 2020, Pema Chödrön wrote, “I have decided to step down as an acharya. As you know, I haven’t actually served as an acharya for a long time, and I have been considering retiring for a few years. And now, the time has come.”

I haven’t followed Chödrön’s career closely, and still haven’t gotten around to reading her classic book When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times. But even though I’m not intimately familiar with her ideas or the alleged sex abuse that took place at Shambala, her reaction seems to be completely reasonable.

---

Post Permalink

This Week in Psychoactives - 1.17.20

Cannabis

• Hawaii’s Marijuana Decriminalization Law Is Officially In Effect (Marijuana Moment)

• Scientists discover the reason why anxious people smoke marijuana (Inverse)

• Pot seizures jumped at U.S. border in the year after Canada legalized cannabis (CBC)

• Black Swan: rare Jamaican cannabis strain could treat pancreatic cancer (Health Europa)

• Report: Federal Marijuana Prosecutions Declining (NORML)

• New Jersey: Court Affirms Employer Must Reimburse Worker for Medical Marijuana Expenses (NORML)

• Medical Marijuana Is an Ideal Replacement for Opioids, Another Study Confirms (MERRY JANE)

• New CDC Report Highlights the Risks of Black-Market THC Vapes (Reason)

• Weed impairs driving skills long after the high is gone (FOX6Now.com)

• New Approach Montana aims to put two legalization measures on 2020 ballot (Leafly)

• New Mexico Marijuana Legalization Bill Filed After Governor Puts Issue On 2020 Agenda (Marijuana Moment)

• Weed Delivery Drones Are Coming to Seattle This Spring (MERRY JANE)

• Colorado lawmakers want to stop employers from firing people for using weed in their personal time (The Denver Post)

• Marijuana Record Expungement Movement Growing Rapidly, Report Shows (Marijuana Moment)

• Can Workers Still Get Fired For Using Marijuana In Legal States? (BroBible)

• New Hampshire Lawmakers Take New Approach To Marijuana Legalization For 2020 (Marijuana Moment)

• More pets accidentally eating marijuana (WNEM)

• Florida Marijuana Legalization Campaign Shifts Focus To 2022 Instead Of This Year (Marijuana Moment)

LSD

• Study Finds ALD-52, 1P-LSD, and 1B-LSD Are Prodrugs of LSD (Psychedelic Science Review)

Magic Mushrooms

• A Single Dose of Psilocybin Mushrooms Can Reduce Anxiety for Nearly Five Years (MERRY JANE)

• COMPASS Pathways Granted Patent Covering Use of Its Psilocybin Formulation in Addressing Treatment-resistant Depression (PR Newswire)

• Psychedelic Events Are Going Mainstream, Where The Much-Maligned Mushroom Industry Focuses On Mental Health (Forbes)

Ayahuasca

• We Are Harvesting the Ayahuasca Vine at an Alarming Rate (Kahpi)

• 'I wake up and I'm a baby': an NFL star's journey into ayahuasca (The Guardian)

• How Can You Drink Ayahuasca Legally in the U.S.? (Chacruna)

• Ayahuasca, Nazis, and the Life of Gerardo Reichel-Dolmatoff (Kahpi)

Novel Psychoactive Substances

• The World’s First LSD Microdosing Kit is Here (DoubleBlind)

Nitrous Oxide

• Laughing gas can ease symptoms of depression in just two hours by acting on a brain chemical with no side-effects, new research suggests (Daily Mail)

• Justice secretary hits back at criticism of nitrous oxide ban (The Guardian)

• UAMS first hospital in central Arkansas to offer laughing gas for women in labor (KTHV)

Opioids

• Up to a third of opioid overdose deaths might be suicides, researcher concludes (Medical Xpress)

• Heroin, Fentanyl Deaths Drop in Medicaid Expansion States (U.S. & News Report)

Cocaine

• A Cocaine Nasal Spray Just Received FDA Approval (MERRY JANE)

Methamphetamine

• Meth overtakes marijuana, now most reported drug in Tennessee crime labs (WJHL)

Caffeine

• Using caffeine as a tool to study information processing (Medical Xpress)

Nicotine

• Vaping crackdown: School system will send e-cigarette users to alternative school (AL.com)

Benzodiazepines

• Benzodiazepine prescriptions reach ‘disturbing’ levels in the US (New Scientist)

Alcohol

• The Latest Findings on Why It’s So Hard to Quit Drinking (Elemental)

Kratom

• Kratom to Be Removed as Type-5 Narcotic in Thailand (Chiang Rai Times)

• Kratom Business From Colorado Breaks New Ground in Oregon (Westword)

• The Kratom Debate: Helpful Herb Or Dangerous Drug? (NPR)

• Kratom Lab Testing and Why It Matters (Kratom Guides)

Kava

• Vanuatu stops issuing kava export licences, moves to tighten regulations (Radio New Zealand)

Miscellaneous

• Explosive growth of plant medicine movement aims to help heal the world (Chacruna)

• Activists Take Steps To Decriminalize Psychedelics In Washington, D.C. (Marijuana Moment)

• How researchers and advocates of color are forging their own paths in psychedelic-assisted therapy (WHYY)

• The DEA seized her father’s life savings at an airport without alleging any crime occurred, lawsuit says (The Seattle Times)

• A Report From the Rocky Path to Legal Psychedelics (Playboy)

• Johns Hopkins Scientists Give Psychedelics the Serious Treatment (Scientific American)

• Ukraine paves the way for innovative harm reduction in the EECA region (TalkingDrugs)

• Roadside drug tests failed by 185 drivers during festive campaign (BBC)

• BBC Duped into Promoting Marketing Scheme for Microdosing Psychedelics (Psymposia)

• NYC To Host Economics Of Psychedelics Investing Summit (Benzinga)

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.