This Week in Psychedelics - 1.15.21

Cannabis

• South Dakota: Republican Governor Officially Backing Litigation to Reject Voter-Approved Marijuana Legalization Initiative (NORML)

• Montana Lawmakers Reject Funding To Implement Voter-Approved Marijuana Legalization Program (Marijuana Moment)

• Mississippi: Medical Organizations Join Legal Fight to Overturn Election Result Legalizing Medical Cannabis Access (NORML)

• Amsterdam doubles down on plans to restrict tourist access to cannabis coffee shops (CNN)

• New Jersey Is ‘On The Verge’ Of Implementing Marijuana Legalization, Governor Says In State Of The State Speech (Marijuana Moment)

• Mexico releases long-awaited medical cannabis regulations (Marijuana Business Daily)

• Activists Give Out Free Marijuana To Encourage COVID Vaccination With ‘Joints For Jabs’ Campaign (Marijuana Moment)

• USDA Releases Final Rule For Hemp, Two Years After Crop Was Federally Legalized (Marijuana Moment)

• UK grants second only licence to grow medical marijuana (Financial Times)

• Virginia Governor Unveils Bill To Legalize Marijuana As Lawmakers Schedule First Hearing (Marijuana Moment)

• New Mexico Governor Says Marijuana Legalization Is A 2021 Priority (Marijuana Moment)

• Kansas Lawmakers Push To Legalize Medical Marijuana In 2021 (Marijuana Moment)

• Colorado authorities issue recall of contaminated cannabis (Marijuana Business Daily)

• USDA Approves Hemp Regulatory Plans From Rhode Island And Another Indian Tribe (Marijuana Moment)

• The Future of Fully Legal Cannabis (Playboy)

• Top Texas Lawmakers Say Medical Marijuana Expansion Is On The Table For 2021 (Marijuana Moment)

• Survey: Most Americans Say Marijuana Possesses Less Abuse Potential Than Alcohol (NORML)

• North Dakota Activists Submit 2022 Marijuana Legalization Ballot Initiative (Marijuana Moment)

• North Dakota Lawmakers File Bill To Significantly Expand Marijuana Decriminalization Law (Marijuana Moment)

• Legalizing marijuana boosts junk food sales (The Academic Times)

• Medical Marijuana Leads To Reduced Opioid Use, New Study Finds (Marijuana Moment)

• Cannabis dispensaries struggle to find financial support amid pandemic (KRON4)

• FDA Unveils Plan To Fill CBD Research Gaps With ‘Real-World Data’ In 2021 (Marijuana Moment)

• Introducing Mode: The world's first smart cannabis dosing device (KVVU-TV)

• Arizona Prepares To Accept Marijuana Applications Next Week As New Draft Legalization Rules Are Issued (Marijuana Moment)

LSD

• LSD Could Be the Key to Alleviating the Mental Health Crisis—if Government Allows It (Foundation for Economic Education)

• MindMed Expands Psychedelic Microdosing Division, Adds Groundbreaking Study Evaluating LSD Microdosing Through Next-Gen Digital Clinical Markers (Psilocybin Alpha)

Magic Mushrooms

• Psychedelic Mushrooms Grew in a Man's Veins After He Injected Them (Gizmodo)

• NeonMind Engages Dr. C. Laird Birmingham to Develop Protocols for Phase 2 Clinical Trial Using Psilocybin to Treat Obesity (Psilocybin Alpha)

• Psilocybin is Being Studied to Help Treat Autism Spectrum Disorder (Baystreet)

• Psilocybin produces an immunology-related genetic response in the prefrontal cortex of pig brains (PsyPost)

• CBDV Begins Research on Psilocybin with Section 56 Exemption from Health Canada (Psilocybin Alpha)

• Core One Labs Announces Breakthrough in Solving Psilocybin Dosing Problems by Introducing Biosynthetic Psilocybin to its Patented Thinstrip Delivery Method (AccessWire)

• Silo Pharma Provides Details of Patent License Agreement for Psilocybin and Cancer Applications (GlobeNewswire)

• Revive Therapeutics Announces Research Collaboration with North Carolina State University for Natural Biosynthesis Enzymatic Platform To Develop Psilocybin (Psilocybin Alpha)

MDMA

• Should You Say “I Love You” While on MDMA? (DoubleBlind)

• Awakn Life Sciences Appoints CRO to Conduct Phase II Study of MDMA as a Treatment for Alcohol Use Disorder (Psilocybin Alpha)

Peyote

• Inside a Massive, Illicit Peyote Ceremony During Mexico's COVID Lockdown (VICE)

Iboga

• Ibogaine vs. Iboga Alkaloids for Treating Addiction (Psychedelic Science Review)

Nitrous Oxide

• Police investigation launched after cargo of nitrous oxide canisters discovered in Ribble Valley (Burnley Express)

Ketamine

• A Deadly ‘Ketamine Cocktail’ Is Causing Overdoses on the Streets of Bangkok (VICE)

• Novamind Expands Psychedelic Medicine Access in Utah (Psilocybin Alpha)

Miscellaneous

• Somerville, Massachusetts Decriminalizes Naturally Occurring Psychedelics (DoubleBlind)

• COMPASS Pathways establishes Centre of Excellence with Sheppard Pratt to accelerate research and improve patient experience in mental health care (COMPASS Pathways)

• New York, Virginia And Other States Consider New Drug Decriminalization Bills (Marijuana Moment)

• The World's ‘Largest Illegal Darknet Marketplace’ has Been Shut Down (VICE)

• UFC looks into Johns Hopkins study on psychedelic drugs as potential therapy for fighters (ESPN)

• Michigan Prosecutor Won’t Pursue Most Marijuana Or Psychedelics Cases, ‘Regardless Of The Amount’ (Marijuana Moment)

• DEA Agents Report Agency’s Lack of Basic COVID-19 Safety Measures (Filter)

• When Getting High Is a Hobby, Not a Habit (New York Times)

• How This Black-Led Psychedelic Collective Is Combining Anti-Racism With ‘Sacred Plant Medicine’ (Vogue)

• Eleusis Accelerates Psychedelic Drug Discovery and Development Team with Appointment of David Nichols, Ph.D., as Director of Molecular Pharmacology (Psilocybin Alpha)

• Coping with Antidepressants and Psychedelics (Spirit Pharmacist)

• Psychedelic Illusions are Not Pathological, and May Even Help You See Better (Chacruna)

• Engineering Psychoplastogens: Toward a Safer Alternative for Treating Depression (Psychedelic Science Review)

• Silo Pharma Enters into Sponsored Research Agreement for Potential Multiple Sclerosis Treatment Approach with University of Maryland, Baltimore (Psilocybin Alpha)

• Revealing Trends in Russia’s Dark-Web Drug Markets (TalkingDrugs)

• Numinus Wellness Forges Forward into Psychedelic Discovery Research with the Orbitrap Exploris 120 Mass Spectometer (Cision)

• Having A Bad Trip On Psychedelics: Is There Some Value? (Healing Maps)

• The Emerging Revival of Psychedelics in Neuroscience (Psychology Today)

• Mental Health Demand For Development Of Psychedelic Drug Therapies Is Increasing (PR Newswire)

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 Psychedelics" does not censor or analyze the news links presented here. The purpose of this column is solely to catalog how psychedelics are presented by the mass media, which includes everything from the latest scientific research to misinformation.

DarkMarket Goes Dark

Gavin Butler, writing for VICE:

The primary operator behind DarkMarket, a website that prosecutors have described as "probably the largest illegal marketplace on the Darknet", has been arrested in Germany.

Authorities apprehended the 34-year-old Australian man during a raid in the south-western city of Koblenz over the weekend. The website was shut down and the server was turned off on Monday.

DarkMarket, which had nearly 500,000 users and more than 2,400 vendors, allowed anyone with a Tor browser and some cryptocurrency to buy and sell drugs, forged money, forged or stolen credit cards, anonymous SIM cards and malware. The site had processed more than 320,000 transactions, with some $170 million USD worth of Bitcoin and Monero cryptocurrencies having been exchanged.

Another one bites the dust.

---

Post Permalink

This Week in Psychedelics - 7.17.20

Cannabis

• Argentina To Allow Cannabis Sales In Pharmacies And Home Cultivation (Benzinga)

• Idaho Medical Marijuana Activists Ask State For Electronic Signature Gathering Option Following Court Ruling (Marijuana Moment)

• Missouri: Kansas City Council Eliminates Local Penalties for Marijuana Possession Offenses (NORML)

• Israel passes Germany as world’s largest importer of medical cannabis flower (Marijuana Business Daily)

• The World Health Organization Says Reschedule Cannabis: Will The UN Agree? (Forbes)

• “Father of Cannabis Research” Identifies EPM301, a Cannabis Substance Stronger than THC or CBD (HealthMJ)

• Study: Cumulative Use of Cannabis Not Associated with Heart Abnormalities at Middle Age (NORML)

• CBD Is A ‘Promising’ Therapy In Treating Cocaine Misuse, Meta-Study Finds (Marijuana Moment)

• Millions of Dollars in Cannabis Vape Product Inventory Remains in Quarantine in Massachusetts (Cannabis Business Times)

• We got the inside story of the downfall of Civilized, a cannabis media startup that raised $7 million, then had to shut down after a takeover offer fell through (Business Insider)

• Survey: Majority of Health Care Professionals Endorse Cannabis Use Instead of Opioids in Chronic Pain Patients (NORML)

• The Cannabis Tax Experiment (Forbes)

• Cannabis Use Rising Among Chronic Pain Patients (NORML)

LSD

• Americans Increase LSD Use—and a Bleak Outlook for the World May Be to Blame (Scientific American)

• LSD and Psilocybin May Alleviate Cluster Headaches (Psychedelic Science Review)

• Basel: The birthplace of hallucinogenic science (BBC)

Magic Mushrooms

• New psychedelic research sheds light on why psilocybin-containing mushrooms have been consumed for centuries (PsyPost)

• The Growing Evidence for Psilocybin-Facilitated Smoking Cessation (Psychedelic Science Review)

• How to Harvest Magic Mushrooms (DoubleBlind)

• Get to Know the Beta Carbolines – Newcomers to the Science of Magic Mushrooms (Psychedelic Science Review)

• The legalization of psilocybin: Is it necessary? (Portland Tribune)

MDMA

• I’m a Paraplegic Who Used to Smuggle Ecstasy in My Wheelchair (VICE)

• How MDMA-assisted therapy could be the key to helping trauma patients (MEAWW)

• Dave Franco Did MDMA With Alison Brie To Prepare For ‘The Rental’ (ET Canada)

5-MeO-DMT

• Rains in Sonora bring with them the specimen bufo alvarius (Explica)

Iboga

• Ibogaine Can Help Us Better Understand Addiction, but Will it Solve the Opioid Crisis? (DoubleBlind)

Ketamine

• Anesthesiologist calls for 'national conversation' about forced ketamine use following McClain case (9News)

• Cost-effectiveness of esketamine for depression (Science Daily)

Miscellaneous

• It’s 2020 and White Men Still Dominate Psychedelic Conferences (Lucid News)

• We Need to Talk About MAPS Supporting The Police, The Military, and Violent White Supremacism (Psymposia)

• Lessons for Psychedelic Advocacy from the Front Lines of Cannabis Reform (Chacruna)

• To Prevent Corruption, Psychedelics Researchers Call for Ethics Guidelines (Lucid News)

• GOP Congressman Withdraws Amendment To Block D.C. Psychedelics Decriminalization (Marijuana Moment)

• The Power of Psychedelics (Scientific American)

• Magical (Psychedelic) Thinking in the Era of Climate Change and COVID-19 (Psymposia)

• The Uptight Girl’s Guide To Psychedelics (Bustle)

• AWAKN Life Sciences Partners with Drug Science in the UK (Psilocybin Alpha)

• Psychedelic journeys brought peace to this Holocaust survivor. Now he’s helping others on their own journeys. (The Jewish News of Northern California)

• How the dark web facilitates illicit drug trade across borders (MEAWW)

• Psychedelics and Canada's Regulatory Landscape (Lexology)

• The Psychedelic Renaissance: A Guide for College Students (Reality Sandwich)

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 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 - 7.3.20

Cannabis

• Virginia’s Marijuana Decriminalization Law Officially Takes Effect (Marijuana Moment)

• As Signature Deadlines Approach, Here’s Where Marijuana And Drug Policy Reform Campaigns Stand (Marijuana Moment)

• Arizona Marijuana Activists Turn In 420,000 Signatures To Qualify Legalization Measure For Ballot (Marijuana Moment)

• Nebraska Medical Marijuana Campaign Submits 182,000 Signatures To Qualify For Ballot (Marijuana Moment)

• Colorado Governor Signs Marijuana Social Equity Bill Letting Him Expedite Possession Pardons (Marijuana Moment)

• Researchers Are Looking At Cannabis As A Potential Way To Prevent COVID-19 (Forbes)

• Pennsylvania and California Both Move to Expunge Thousands of Minor Pot Charges (MERRY JANE)

• Virginia Lawmakers Announce Plans To Legalize Marijuana, One Day After Decriminalization Takes Effect (Marijuana Moment)

• Texas: Austin Police to Cease Making Arrests, Issuing Citations for Minor Marijuana Offenses (NORML)

• Treasury Department Issues Updated Guidance On Hemp Banking Rules (Marijuana Moment)

• 56% of New Zealanders Say They'll Vote "Yes" on Weed Legalization This Fall (MERRY JANE)

• Ohio Senate Votes To Expand Marijuana Decriminalization To Cover 200 Grams (Marijuana Moment)

• 90% of College Students in New York Want Weed Legalization Now, New Poll Shows (MERRY JANE)

• Cannabis pandemic sales uptick not enough to save struggling sector (Medical Xpress)

• Congress Votes To Let Researchers Study Marijuana From Dispensaries (Marijuana Moment)

• What’s the best minimum legal age for cannabis? (Leafly)

• Nashville DA to Stop Prosecuting Minor Pot Possession, Effective Immediately (MERRY JANE)

• California cities begin embracing cannabis in desperate search for cash (Politico)

• CBD Helps Treat Osteoarthritis and Increase Mobility in Dogs, Study Finds (MERRY JANE)

• Military Members Who Used Marijuana Could Reenlist Under Measure Approved By Congressional Committee (Marijuana Moment)

• Consuming Pharmaceutical THC May Help Treat Alzheimer's Symptoms, Study Says (MERRY JANE)

• Cannabis research stalled by federal inaction (Chemical and Engineering News)

LSD

• NCIS warns sailors to stop buying LSD on the dark web (Connecting Vets)

Magic Mushrooms

• Oregon Psilocybin Measure Has Enough Signatures For November Ballot, Activists Say (Marijuana Moment)

• Invading Cicadas May Turn Into Sex-Crazed Zombies This Summer (VICE)

• There's A Case For Non-Medical Psilocybin (Green Market Report)

• What I Learned While Working to Decriminalize Psilocybin in California (Chacruna)

• New Psilocybin Company Enters The Market (Green Market Report)

MDMA

• Study finds impulsivity and psychological distress predict problematic ecstasy use (PsyPost)

Ayahuasca

• Bringing Indigenous Healing and Psychoactive Plants to Global Mental Health (Mad in America)

Nitrous Oxide

• Nitrous oxide may bring relief to veterans suffering from PTSD, new study suggests (EurekAlert!)

Ketamine

• Proposed Patent for Ketamine Treatment Challenged by Clinicians (Lucid News)

• Elijah McClain was injected with ketamine before he died. Is that legal? (USA Today)

• Trying Something New in Isolation (The Cut)

Miscellaneous

• Oregon Drug Decriminalization And Treatment Measure Qualifies For November Ballot (Marijuana Moment)

• DC Psychedelics Campaign Gets Boost From Denver Psilocybin Activists As Signature Deadline Looms (Marijuana Moment)

• Beckley Psytech raises £3m Series A (UK Tech News)

• How COVID-19 will Affect the Psychedelic Renaissance (Volteface)

• Using Zebrafish as an Experimental Model in Psychedelic Research (Psychedelic Science Review)

• Are psychedelic drugs headed for the mainstream? (Sifted)

• The Foster System Is a Battleground for the Racist War on Drugs (Truthout)

• The Technodelic Experience: Achieving a Psychedelic State Without Psychedelics (Sam Woolfe)

• Field Trip Psychedelics Launches Therapeutic Program For Vets, First Responders (Benzinga)

• The DEA’s Most Recent Abuse of Power Should Renew Calls for Divestment (Common Dreams)

• Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out: A Previously Unpublished Interview with Timothy Leary (DoubleBlind)

• From Hippies to Modern Psychotherapy, A Psychedelics Handbook for the Willful Skeptics (Interesting Engineering)

• South African Network of People Who Use Drugs Welcomes the Announcement of the National Drug Master Plan by the Department of Social Development on 2020 Global Day of Action (AllAfrica)

• MindMed Building Diverse Pipeline and Leadership Position in Psychedelic Inspired Medicines Industry (PR Newswire)

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 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 - 6.5.20

Cannabis

• Marijuana Legalization and the Fight for Racial Justice (NORML)

• Joe Biden’s New Disability Plan Includes Boosting Medical Marijuana Research (Marijuana Moment)

• Dangers of Cannabis Use During Pregnancy May Be Overblown, Two Studies Suggest (MERRY JANE)

• West Coast cannabis dispensaries report looting in weekend rioting (Leafly)

• Trump Reelection Campaign Attacks Biden As ‘Architect’ Of The War On Drugs (Marijuana Moment)

• Louisiana: Bills Facilitating Expanded Cannabis Access Sent to Governor’s Desk (NORML)

• Weed Sales on the Dark Web Surged Early in the Pandemic (WIRED)

• State-regulated marijuana vape cartridges aren’t safe, doctor and whistleblower say (Hawaii News Now)

• Australia's biggest medicinal cannabis plant to be built in secret Melbourne location (The Age)

• In Case You Needed Clarification: Weed Doesn't Cause Strokes, New Study Says (MERRY JANE)

• Vermont Senate Votes To Double Amount Of Marijuana That Can Be Possessed And Grown Without Jail Time (Marijuana Moment)

• Illinois offering $31 million in cannabis tax revenue to repair drug war damage (Leafly)

• People who use high-potency cannabis could have a higher risk of anxiety, study finds (Insider)

• Virginia: Marijuana Arrests Decline Year-Over-Year (NORML)

• New Jersey Lawmakers File Marijuana Decriminalization Bill Ahead Of Broader Legalization Referendum (Marijuana Moment)

• After Apple Bans Vape Apps From App Store, PAX Creates Website for Vape Management (MacRumors)

• Aphria, Aurora And Other Big Ag Cannabis Companies Pull Out Of Jamaica (Forbes)

• US agency funds dubious study to relieve cannabis withdrawal with nicotine (Leafly)

LSD

• LSD Is Surging in Popularity. New Research Unpicks the Trends. (Filter)

• MindMed Launches Project Lucy Focused on LSD Experiential Therapy For Anxiety Disorders (PR Newswire)

• MindMed's Microdosing Division Further Expands Phase 2 Clinical Trial of Microdosing LSD For Adult ADHD (PR Newswire)

• New Wave Holdings Corp Provides Funding for LSD Research Study (BioSpace)

Magic Mushrooms

• Breakthrough psilocybin study uncovers neurochemical origins of human ego (New Atlas)

• Field Trip Collaborates with Jamaican University Researchers to Investigate New Psilocybin Therapies (Lucid News)

• UK Researchers Raise Nearly $70,000 to Research Psilocybin's Impact on OCD (MERRY JANE)

• NeonMind Files for U.S. Provisional Patent to Use Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy for Weight Loss (Yahoo! Finance)

• TheraPsil launches program to assist patients in accessing legal, psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy (Globe Newswire)

• Magic Truffles Firm Gets Canadian Stock Market Listing (High Times)

DMT

• CB Therapeutics Achieves Another Breakthrough with the Biosynthesis of DMT and Related Tryptamine-based Compounds (Yahoo! Finance)

Ayahuasca

• Can Learning to Navigate Ayahuasca Hallucinations Help in Psychosis Treatment? (Kahpi)

5-MeO-DMT

• Spanish Porn Star Charged With Manslaughter in Connection With Toad Venom Ritual (Rolling Stone)

Salvia Divinorum

• What is Salvia divinorum? (Psychedelic Science Review)

Nitrous Oxide

• Largest study of its kind of women in labor finds nitrous oxide safe, side effects rare (EurekAlert!)

• Use of nitrous oxide or 'hippie crack' on the rise during pandemic (TheJournal.ie)

Ketamine

• Anesthetic drug Ketamine uses serotonin receptors to relieve depression (News-Medical.net)

Datura

• Toé (Brugmansia suaveolens): The Path of Day and Night (Chacruna)

• Ask a Ranger: Sacred Datura of Southwest part of history of hallucinogens (Arizona Daily Sun)

Miscellaneous

• The DEA Has Been Given Permission To Investigate People Protesting George Floyd’s Death (BuzzFeed News)

• Paranormal Psychedelic Experiences Surveyed in Comprehensive Study (Lucid News)

• Scientists Explain How Psychedelic Drugs Can Lead People to Lose Their Sense of Self (The Swaddle)

• U.N. Condemns 'Deep-Seated Impunity' in Philippines' Drug War (TIME)

• Whistleblowers Report Facebook for Ignoring Illegal Drug Sales on Platform (MERRY JANE)

• Global Drug Survey predicts that "following lockdown, many regions will be flooded by high purity drugs" (Hot Press)

• Psychedelic Studies Have Marginalized LGBTQI+ Communities for Years—These Researchers Are Changing That (DoubleBlind)

• Studies Into Psychedelic Drugs Reveal Significant Medical Potential (PR Newswire)

• Biden-Bernie “Unity Task Force” Makes Dispiriting Criminal Justice Reform Picks (Filter)

• Sacred Reciprocity: Supporting the Roots of the Psychedelic Movement (Chacruna)

• Taking Drugs Like A Nerd (Maps of the Mind)

• Psychedelics will see a boom much like cannabis. Here's how entrepreneurs can stay ahead of the curve. (Business Insider)

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 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.