This Week in Psychedelics - 6.19.20

Cannabis

• Louisiana Governor Signs Medical Marijuana Expansion Into Law (Marijuana Moment)

• Pennsylvania: Supreme Court Rules That Medical Cannabis Use Is Permissible While on Probation (NORML)

• New Jersey Assembly Approves Marijuana Decriminalization Bill Ahead Of Legalization Referendum (Marijuana Moment)

• Switzerland releases details on recreational marijuana experiment, but full legalization likely years away (Marijuana Business Daily)

• Nevada Pardons More Than 15,000 People With Marijuana Convictions Under Governor’s Resolution (Marijuana Moment)

• Nebraskans hustle to get medical legalization on ballot, with July 3 deadline (Leafly)

• Science Reveals The Cannabis Industry’s Greatest Lie: You’re Buying Weed Wrong (And So Is Everyone Else) (Forbes)

• Ohio Marijuana Activists Plan Supreme Court Appeal After Federal Judges Deny Electronic Signature Case (Marijuana Moment)

• Using cannabis during pregnancy could be bad news for your baby: new research (The Conversation)

• Library Of Congress Highlights Racist News Coverage Used To Justify Criminalizing Marijuana A Century Ago (Marijuana Moment)

• Patients Who Use Medical Cannabis Report Being Happier and Healthier Than Those Who Don’t (Grit Daily News)

• Fed report urges doctors to treat cannabis users as drug addicts (Leafly)

• Colorado Governor Could Issue Marijuana Pardons Under Social Equity Bill Lawmakers Sent To His Desk (Marijuana Moment)

• Cannabis Can Increase Intimacy and Reduce Anxiety During Sex, New Study Finds (MERRY JANE)

• CDC Flooded With Comments On Marijuana And Kratom As Alternative Painkillers Ahead Of Deadline (Marijuana Moment)

• These 3 Marijuana Nonprofits Are Offering Real Responses To The Pandemic And Racial Injustice (Green Entrepreneur)

• A Founder Looks at 50: The Important Role of Medical Experts in Support of Legalization (NORML)

• Lawmakers Push USDA To Let Hemp Farmers Access Coronavirus Relief Funds (Marijuana Moment)

• Why the Cannabis Sector May be Turning a New Leaf (Investopedia)

Magic Mushrooms

• Combining therapy with the psychedelic drug psilocybin results in large reductions in anxiety and depression (PsyPost)

• Colorado Activists Likely To Pursue 2022 Psilocybin Ballot Measure After Poll Shows Support (Marijuana Moment)

• Numinus receives Health Canada OK for mushrooms research (PressReader)

• Palliative Canadians endure punishing waits while Health Minister delays approval of Psilocybin mushrooms; TheraPsil expands effort to Ontario (Globe Newswire)

• A Deep Dive Inside Oregon’s Path to Legalizing Psilocybin Therapy (DoubleBlind)

• Life Sciences Firm Expands Collaboration Efforts with Major US University to Develop Psilocybin-Based Medicines (StreetWise Reports)

• New Wave Holdings Corp- Launching the first publicly-traded Psilocybin-growing operation (Value the Markets)

• Cannabis Company Eyes Medicinal Magic of Mushrooms (Real Money)

• Psilocybin to Treat Anxiety and Depression in Cancer Patients (Psychedelic Science Review)

• Cute as Children, but Not Handsome as Adults: María Sabina, Life Magazine, and Cold War Propaganda (Chacruna)

DMT

• MindMed To Evaluate Ayahuasca's Active Ingredient DMT In Phase 1 Clinical Trial Collaboration (BioSpace)

• NeonMind Files Patent Application for Therapeutic Use of DMT (Yahoo! Finance)

Ayahuasca

• Is Ayahuasca Possibly Less than Five Hundred Years Old? (Chacruna)

Iboga

• Could ibogaine offer a revolutionary long-term solution to addiction? (Health Europa)

Synthetic Cannabinoids

• New K2 Compound in Canadian Heroin Supply Amid Surging Fatal ODs (Filter)

Nitrous Oxide

• Nitrous oxide use among young people is increasing in lockdown because it’s cheap and accessible (iNews)

Ketamine

• Why People are Using Ketamine Nasal Spray to Party (DoubleBlind)

• High Doses of Ketamine Can Temporarily Shut Down the Brain, Study Finds (MERRY JANE)

• Champignon’s Dr. Mcintyre / Canadian Rapid Treatment Centre of Excellence (CRTCE) Published in Two Peer Reviewed Study Journals (Globe Newswire)

Miscellaneous

• UNC to Receive $26.9M from DARPA to Develop Psychiatric Medicines (Psychedelic Science Review)

• Microsoft reportedly tried to sell facial recognition tech to the DEA (Engadget)

• Mira X Acquisition Corp. Announces Proposed Qualifying Transaction with Field Trip Psychedelics Inc. (Yahoo! Finance)

• Fixing American policing also requires an end to the war on drugs (Baker Institute Blog)

• Champignon Provides Corporate Update; Announces Name Change, Rebranding and Planned Spin Out (Globe Newswire)

• CFN Enterprises Launches Premier Psychedelics Stock Index Site: PsyIndex.com (Stockhouse)

• Beyond Stigma: How Researchers May Trigger Drug Users (Filter)

• Psychedelics Quickly Creating a Potential $100 Billion Market Opportunity (Baystreet)

• New Wave Holdings Corp Appoints Dr. Dennis McKenna to Psychedelic Research Advisory Board (PR Newswire)

• Seed crystal: on the contributions of Alexander Shulgin to the science of consciousness (Medium)

• Psychedelic Medical Start-Up AWAKN Life Sciences Enters the UK Market with Dr. Ben Sessa (Yahoo! Finance)

• Mota Ventures Appoints Roger C. Clinton as Member of Advisory Board to Verrian GmbH (MarketWatch)

• L’Chaim Psilocybin: How Psychedelics are Reigniting Judaism (DoubleBlind)

• Greenstar Biosciences Signs Agreement to Acquire 100% of Eleusian Biosciences Corp. (Yahoo! Finance)

• 2nd Gen Psychedelic Drugs For Depression Can Be Safer For Older Adults (Forbes)

• ‘Canada’s first psychedelic-enhanced psychotherapy centre’ changing how we treat depression (GlobalNews)

• Don’t Get Caught in a Trip Trap; Psychedelic Lessons for this Collective Moment (Lucid News)

• How psychedelic drugs could help our veterans (9News)

• Pure Extracts: The Second Wave of Psychedelic Operators (The Deep Dive)

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 Psychoactives - 10.11.19

CANNABIS

• California vape maker Kushy Punch caught making illegal products (Leafly)

• Mexican Senate Leader Says Marijuana Will Be Legalized This Month (Marijuana Moment)

• 9 States That Could Vote to Legalize Marijuana in 2020 (The Motley Fool)

• Study Funded By Feds Debunks Myths About Marijuana Legalization’s Alleged Harms (Marijuana Moment)

• California Bill Will Allow the Use of Medical Marijuana in Hospitals (MERRY JANE)

• Pilot Study Shows Marijuana Can Help Chronic Pain Patients Stop Taking Opioids (Marijuana Moment)

• Texas Officials Suddenly Shut Down Medical Marijuana Dispensary Licensing Process (Marijuana Moment)

• California's Massive Power Shut-Off Is Jeopardizing the State’s Weed Industry (MERRY JANE)

• Inventors File Patent Application For Scratch-And-Sniff Marijuana Packages (Marijuana Moment)

• Cannabis stocks have flamed out this year (CNN)

• This Michigan City Will Now Allow Cannabis Cafes and Outdoor Weed Festivals (MERRY JANE)

• Maine on track for legal marijuana sales by spring 2020 (Bangor Daily News)

• Number Of Banks Accepting Marijuana Business Grew Again Last Quarter, Feds Report (Marijuana Moment)

• The budding industry of cannabis tech (TechCrunch)

• Can Cannabis Treat Dementia? New Australian Study Aims to Find Out (MERRY JANE)

• Majority Of New Yorkers Say Marijuana Should Be Legalized, Poll Shows (Marijuana Moment)

LSD

• Beatles: ‘Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds’ About LSD? (Showbiz Cheat Sheet)

MAGIC MUSHROOMS

• Psychedelic drug to be tested for treatment-resistant depression in Houston (Medical Xpress)

• The Psilocybin Mushroom Story Could be the Next Big Investment Boom (PR Newswire)

• Canada’s Risky Online Mushroom Dispensary: Savior or Saboteur? (Psychedelic Times)

• Psilocybin-Assisted Therapy Showing Promise, but More Research Needed (Psychiatry & Behavioral Health Learning Network)

MDMA

• Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy: How MDMA Is Changing Treatment for PTSD (Psychiatry Advisor)

• Teen who died at Leeds Festival had MDMA, cocaine and ketamine in her system (ExaminerLive)

• Listen In concert: MDMA linked to hospitalisations, four arrested for climbing marquee (Stuff.co.nz)

AYAHUASCA

• Rythmia Scholarship Program Democratizes Access to Life-Changing Retreat (Yahoo! Finance)

• How I Lived Twelve Years in a Colombian Ayahuasca Cult Led by a Sexual Abuser (Chacruna)

• Montreal conference will put spotlight on hallucinogenic ayahuasca (CTV News)

• I have HIV and ayahuasca and psilocybin have saved me (Chacruna)

5-MEO-DMT

• Toad Venom May Be The Next Psychedelic Frontier (The Fix)

• Naturalist and Artist Team Up to Save Sonoran Desert Toads (Psychedelic Times)

PEYOTE

• Ultimate Peyote Guide: Effects, Common Uses, Safety (Reality Sandwich)

SAN PEDRO

• Ultimate San Pedro Cactus Guide: Effects, Common Uses, Safety (Reality Sandwich)

IBOGA

• Ibogaine: Promising Addiction Treatment or Snake Oil? (The Fix)

NOVEL PSYCHOACTIVE SUBSTANCES

• Scottish prisons 'awash' with synthetic drugs linked to violence (BBC)

SYNTHETIC CANNABINOIDS

• Florida Prison Neglect Contributes to Synthetic Cannabinoid Deaths (Filter)

• The shocking number of Birmingham people hospitalised by spice and cannabis last year (Birmingham Live)

KETAMINE

• Ketamine infusion therapy: A promising way to treat mental illness (News8000.com)

OPIOIDS

• Sesame Street takes on opioids crisis as muppet's mother battles addiction (The Guardian)

• Addicts will get heroin twice a day under pioneering crime-slashing plan in town where the killer class A drug is cheaper than cigarettes (Daily Mail)

• Addiction Experts Are Outraged A Pharma Lobbyist Is On A Federal Drug Abuse Panel (BuzzFeed News)

• Community responders more likely to seek help during overdose when naloxone does not work (Medical Xpress)

• Kenya struggles to cope with growing number of heroin users (Reuters)

• Washington health officials suggest everyone carries Naloxone as fentanyl use rises (KING5.com)

• Beyond the Sacklers: Free-trade policies contributed to the opioid epidemic (STAT News)

• Police oppose naloxone overdose kits: 'not our job to save lives' (The National)

COCAINE

• Tulsi Gabbard Says Country Should Move To Legalize Drugs Like Cocaine And Heroin (Marijuana Moment)

• Face to face with a cartel assassin: 'I'll never do cocaine again after realising the human cost of the drug' (iNews)

METHAMPHETAMINE

• Home buyers, beware: Contamination from cooking meth can linger for years (Ars Technica)

• Party drug, LSD prices remain flat in contrast to meth mayhem (Stuff.co.nz)

CAFFEINE

• Study finds the differences between coffee and tea drinkers (New York Post)

• What Rising Temperatures Mean for Coffee-Bean Farmers (The Wall Street Journal)

• Does caffeine have an effect on your sex life? (MDLinx)

TOBACCO

• E-Cig Vaping May Cause Lung and Bladder Cancer, Study Finds (MERRY JANE)

• Smoking Fewer Than 5 Cigarettes a Day Damages Your Lungs Almost as Much as Smoking a Whole Pack, Study Says (TIME)

• Schools Across the Country Are Installing Vape Detectors to Sniff Out Students (MERRY JANE)

• 'We Vape, We Vote': How vaping crackdowns are politicizing vapers (CNN)

• Oregon and Rhode Island Have Joined the Flavored Vape Ban (MERRY JANE)

• New York’s Vape Flavor Ban Has Been Blocked—For Now (Filter)

• Juul Is the New Big Tobacco (Bloomberg)

• How tobacco smuggling costs Minnesota hundreds of thousands of dollars a year (TwinCities.com)

• India Banned E-Cigarettes — But Beedis And Chewing Tobacco Remain Widespread (NPR)

ALCOHOL

• Are Whiskey Pods A Stealth Way For Teens To Get Alcohol? (Forbes)

KRATOM

• Coroner: Garden City inmate dies from meth, kratom in his cell (Idaho News)

• Kratom, the herbal supplement from Indonesia that has US drug agencies worried (South China Morning Post)

• Does Kratom Help Treat Arthritis Pain? (Kratom Guides)

KAVA

• Australia to ease kava import limits as part of Pacific diplomacy push (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

MISCELLANEOUS

• The Future of Drug Education Is So Much Better than D.A.R.E. (VICE)

• Is it time you got yourself a shaman? (London Evening Standard)

• Parents Are Using Magic Mushrooms, LSD To Be Better Parents, Be More ‘Present’ For Their Kids (The Inquisitr)

• SNP set to back decriminalisation of drugs in bid to tackle death toll crisis (Daily Record)

• How the Drug War Blob Took Over The Washington Post (New Republic)

• Regulatory Hurdles Facing Psychedelics (Psychedelic Science Review)

• An open letter to the newly founded Center for Psychedelic Research at Johns Hopkins (Psymposia)

• Drug dealers get rich and stay legal by outsourcing to China (Rooster Magazine)

• Nothing has changed since I was sacked. Drugs policy still doesn’t work (The Guardian)

• Binghamton Group Gets Grant For Substance Abuse Policy Change (News Break App)

• Florida Student Gets Suspended for Handing Out “End the Drug War” Flyers (MERRY JANE)

• Amanda Feilding has spent 54 years experimenting with psychedelics — for the sake of science (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

• The War on Drugs Is a War on the Climate (Gizmodo)

• We need a more nuanced discussion about drugs and suicide (iNews)

• Trippy Talk with Psychedelic Legend Dennis Mckenna (Reality Sandwich)

• Psychedelics and the Workplace (Medium)

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.

Film Review - Psychonautics: A Comic's Exploration of Psychedelics

The documentary Psychonautics: A Comic’s Exploration of Psychedelics, featuring stand-up comedian Shane Mauss delving into the fascinating world of psychedelic drugs, debuted at the Dances With Films festival last June but wasn’t released to the general public until just last month. I was waiting with eager anticipation to watch this film from the moment I first heard about it, and now that I’ve watched it a few times since its release, I figured I’d share my thoughts on it.

Unless you’re already familiar with him, you might be asking yourself, “Who is Shane Mauss?” Well, as I mentioned earlier, Shane is a stand-up comedian with a wacky sense of humor. He’s also the host of the comedy science podcast Here We Are and a fellow psychonaut. After spending the last few years exploring psychedelics in a lot of his work, Shane was inspired to make a documentary about the topic in order to show the world that these drugs aren’t necessarily as scary as someone who is psychedelically-naïve might expect.

Psychonautics starts off mighty strong—and fast. The film opens up with a shot of Shane painted from head to toe in glow-in-the-dark body paint made from the MAOI Peganum harmala (also known as Syrian rue), right as he’s about to smoke DMT on camera. He looks at the camera in a slightly creepy way, ignites his lighter, and then leans in to take a hit.

Before he has a chance to inhale the DMT vapor, the film cuts to a stand-up comedy routine where Shane is telling the crowd that he was just let out of a psych ward two weeks earlier because he overdid it with psychedelic drugs. So much for trying to show the world the psychedelics are completely harmless!

A proper introduction follows these two opening scenes, and Shane shares a few stories about his upbringing in Wisconsin, his relationship to drugs, and his career as a comedian, Next, some of his fellow comics talk about him for a little while. Then the movie starts to talk about some of the scientific research concerning psychedelics before launching into the first section of the film: psilocybin mushrooms.

During the mushrooms portion, Shane accompanies Eric Osborne (the founder of a legal psilocybin retreat center in Jamaica at MycoMeditations) as they go hunting for mushrooms in an undisclosed location somewhere in Kentucky and talk shop about everything related to psilocybin mushrooms. This is a pretty laid back part of the movie and it’s chock-full of humor and silliness, just like the rest of the film.

After the mushrooms section, the film goes over a few other classic psychedelics: MDMA, LSD, ketamine, DMT, and ayahuasca. As Shane progresses through the various drugs, things start to get more and more intense until he reaches the mental breakdown that was foreshadowed in the beginning of the film.

So what were my overall impressions of the film? Well, first off I should mention that I’m a pretty big fan of Shane’s work. I saw his psychedelic-themed comedy routine called A Good Trip a few years ago when he came to Raleigh, NC and laughed my ass off for two hours straight. That’s where I found out his podcast Here We Are, which blends together the odd bedfellows comedy and science, two things that I definitely enjoy. After going home, I started listening to his podcast, and have kept up with it ever since.

Psychonautics is engaging and well-polished. The narrative arc is tight and easy to follow, it keeps the viewer’s attention the whole way through, and it supplies a fairly thorough overview of everything related to psychedelics, including the relevant scientific research, the history of the drug war, and the harms of prohibition. If you’re a hardcore psychonaut like me, a lot of the material might be familiar, but reviewing what you have learned over and over again is a tried and true method that can help you really internalize the information, so it’s still well worth a watch. And if you’re brand-new to psychedelics or want to introduce someone else to them in a lighthearted (and somehow serious) way, this is a solid option for those purposes too. Mixing science with humor can make new information a bit easier for some people to swallow, after all.

A bunch of well-known leaders in the psychedelic movement are featured in the film, including Rick Doblin, Dennis McKenna, James Fadiman, David Nichols, Emanuel Sferios, and some of the world’s top psychedelic researchers and comedians. No psychedelic documentary would be complete without a few super trippy visual representations of psychedelic experiences that can be had with the different drugs discussed in the film, and fortunately Psychonautics doesn’t disappoint. Each psychedelic drug has a unique visualization style that is similar to what you could expect from taking said drug, which certainly helps keep things interesting.

Shane is currently on a stand-up tour across America (dates can be found on his website, linked above) so he might come somewhere near you soon, and you should go see him if you get the opportunity. But if that’s not an option, then you can at least watch Psychonautics to get a feel for what he’s all about.

Bottom line: if you’re into psychedelics and have a sense of humor, you should definitely check out this documentary.

This Week in Psychoactives - 2.15.19

CANNABIS

• Senator Files '420' Marijuana Bill To Legalize It Federally (Forbes)

• Mexican Senate Report Lays Out Marijuana Legalization Considerations (Marijuana Moment)

• New Mexico Lawmakers Approve Marijuana Legalization Bill At Committee Hearing (Marijuana Moment)

• Oregon has more legal cannabis than the state can consume in six years (Quartz)

• States With Legal Medical Marijuana Have Lower Teen Use Rates, Large-Scale Study Finds (Marijuana Moment)

• Why CBD Works Better With a Little THC (Even If You Don’t Want to Get High) (Leafly)

• Study Shows How Marijuana Component CBD Can Help People With Substance Use Disorders (Marijuana Moment)

• Veterans Medical Marijuana Access Legislation Introduced In House and Senate (NORML)

• European Parliament Approves Medical Marijuana Resolution (Marijuana Moment)

• Bill to Provide Greater Access for Virginia Medical Cannabis Patients Succeeds (NORML)

• Missouri Lawmakers Approve Marijuana Expungement Bill For Medical Cannabis Patients (Marijuana Moment)

• Kamala Harris Got So High Smoking Weed in College She Thought She Was Listening To Snoop Dogg and Tupac (Reason)

• Where Presidential Candidate Amy Klobuchar Stands On Marijuana (Marijuana Moment)

• Michigan’s First Cannabis Lounge Is the Chill Alternative to Bars (Leafly)

• Marijuana possession bill reintroduced in state Senate (Winston-Salem Journal)

• Maury Povich Smoked A Marijuana Strain Named After His Wife, Journalist Connie Chung (Marijuana Moment)

• Dan Bilzerian's Weed Company Is Keeping Sexist Cannabis Ads Alive (VICE)

• If you support marijuana legalization, you should support safe injection sites (The Philadelphia Inquirer)

• Here's How New Mothers are Using CBD to Combat Baby Brain (Civilized)

• Aurora Cannabis earnings show big growth in pot sales, but worrisome profit trend (MarketWatch)

LSD

• The Man who Mapped LSD (OUPblog)

• Microdoses of LSD change how you perceive time (Big Think)

• Amanda Feilding: ‘LSD can get deep down and reset the brain – like shaking up a snow globe’ (The Guardian)

MAGIC MUSHROOMS

• $1m kicked into campaign for magic mushroom therapy (The Sydney Morning Herald)

• Push to legalize psychedelic mushrooms gains traction in Eugene (KEZI)

• Hallucinogenic Mushrooms Are Having a Moment. Here's What It's All About. (Cheddar)

• Magic Mushrooms Show Promising Results for Treating PTSD and Depression (San Diego Entertainer Magazine)

MDMA

• MDMA Users May Have a Social Advantage Over People Who Use Other Drugs (Inverse)

• Israel's Health Ministry Approves Compassionate Use of MDMA to Treat PTSD (Haaretz)

• MDMA Expanded Access is almost here. What’s it all about? (Psymposia)

• Use of Ecstasy spreading in Cebu: PDEA 7 (Sun.Star)

• Police issue a warning for yellow octopus ecstasy pills (Mixmag)

• Daniel Eades, 19, took MDMA at Halo and Wetherspoon (Bournemouth Echo)

• Young dad dies after taking ecstasy on New Year's Eve (Derbyshire Live)

AYAHUASCA

• The First Indigenous Ayahuasca Conference (Yubaka Hayrá) in Acre Demonstrates Political, Cultural and Spiritual Resistance (Chacruna)

• Ayahuasca Shows Huge Potential As a Treatment For Severe Depression (Reset.me)

• What Ayahuasca is Trying to Teach Us: An Interview with Dennis McKenna (Reality Sandwich)

• Mindful Eating as a support for Ayahuasca Dieta (Tam Integration)

SYNTHETIC CANNABINOIDS

• Severe bleeding associated with use of tainted synthetic cannabinoids (AAP News)

• Colorectal cancer: Scientists halt growth with cannabinoid compounds (Medical News Today)

• Children as young as THREE are treated in hospital after taking Spice as Britain's synthetic drug crisis deepens (Daily Mail)

NITROUS OXIDE

• Laughing gas now an option for women giving birth (Everything Lubbock)

• Residents 'disgusted' after piles of 'hippy crack' canisters dumped outside Cambridge home (Cambridgeshire Live)

• Everything you need to know about nangs, the worrying craze growing amongst Aussie teens. (Mamamia)

KETAMINE

• Taking Ketamine Can Feel a Lot Like a Near-Death Experience (Tonic)

• F.D.A. Panel Recommends New Depression Treatment (The New York Times)

• Ketamine Clinics of Los Angeles Commemorates Five Years of Patient Success Stories (New Kerala)

PCP

• Man who killed USA Today reporter in PCP-fueled crash sentenced to six years in prison (The Washington Post)

OPIATES/OPIOIDS

• When the Cure Is Worse Than the Disease (The New York Times)

• Mapping the Opioid Epidemic (New America)

• Overdose remedy naloxone now carried by all Ventura police officers (Ventura County Star)

• Mass. Issues Guidelines After Boston Nurse Was Denied Life Insurance For Carrying Naloxone (WBUR)

• Even in best-case scenario, opioid overdose deaths will keep rising until 2022 (Los Angeles Times)

• Opioid-Related Deaths Decreasing in Iowa, Report Shows (WHO-TV)

• Veterinarian sentenced to 6 years for stitching heroin into puppies and turning them into drug mules (INSIDER)

• Why the Rural Opioid Crisis Is Different From the Urban One (CityLab)

• Opium cultivation business squeezed by market shift towards meth (Myanmar Times)

• Vet saves Victoria puppy with naloxone injection (Maple Ridge News)

• Offer: help solve the opioid crisis, have your student loans forgiven (Rooster Magazine)

• Indy coffee shop is the newest place to offer life-saving drug naloxone (Fox 59)

• Coroner: No carfentanil spike locally, but OD deaths are up (Dayton Daily News)

• 'Church Of Safe Injection' Offers Needles, Naloxone To Prevent Opioid Overdoses (NPR)

• It's too late to save my son's life, but this drug can save others (The Sacramento Bee)

• Houston Cop Involved in Deadly Drug Raid Relieved of Duty Due to 'Ongoing Questions' (Reason)

• Naloxone training could help save numerous lives (KVAL)

METHAMPHETAMINE

• Crystal Meth Is North Korea's Trendiest Lunar New Year's Gift (The New York Times)

• Officials: Iowa sees higher-quality meth, increased drug use (The Daily Nonpareil)

BENZODIAZEPINES

• The Deadly Worst Case Scenario for America's Xanax Obsession (VICE)

ALCOHOL

• Beer before wine, you'll feel fine? Not according to a new study (CTV News)

• More than 100 dead after drinking bootleg alcohol in India (Reuters)

• Man 'under influence of alcohol' allegedly beats stepdaughter to death (Jakarta Post)

• How heavy drinking might boost your appetite for alcohol (Health24)

• Alcohol Problems Grow as Booze Gets a Bigger Kick (WebMD)

• Alcohol’s effects on the brain (The Ithacan)

• Plan to raise alcohol limits in beer at Utah stores approved (Cache Valley Daily)

• Report says Utah has lowest alcohol consumption per capita in country (KUTV 2News)

• Thousands sign petition to stop ban of alcohol on some Michigan rivers (WXYZ)

• I Stopped Drinking For 30 Days — & My Skin Got So Much Better (Refinery29)

• Giving up alcohol made our lives better — and turned us into terrible guests (The Washington Post)

ABSINTHE

• Does absinthe really make drinkers hallucinate? (Fox News)

NOOTROPICS

• Brain‑Enhancing 'Smart Drugs' Promise a Boost in Creativity, Memory (The Swaddle)

• Seven Mental and Athletic Performance Benefits of Nootropics (Youth Health Magazine)

• Noopept: one of the most potent brain boosters on the market (London Post)

KRATOM

• Kratom Is A Drug, But Indonesia Really Wants It To Remain An Unlicensed Supplement (Science 2.0)

• The FDA is wrong about kratom (The Washington Post)

• Regulations Are On Hold as Kratom Debate Rages (WebMD)

• Kratom No Longer Allowed In Columbus (WCBI)

• What Is Kratom & Why Is It Being Used For Opiate Self-Detox? (Psychology Today)

• Miracle treatment or dangerous drug? (The Star Online)

MISCELLANEOUS

• El Chapo, the Notorious Drug Kingpin, Has Been Found Guilty in His U.S. Trial (TIME)

• 'Kitty Flipping' and the Psychonaut Obsession with Mixing Drugs (VICE)

• FDA explores using blockchain to track drug supplies (Engadget)

• How Brexit Will Shape Britain's Drug Supply (VICE)

• GOP Iowa lawmaker proposes decriminalizing psychedelic drugs for medical use (The Hill)

• Sri Lanka hiring hangmen, inspired by Philippines' war on drugs (Reuters)

• Will El Chapo's conviction change anything in the drug trade? (The Guardian)

• Victoria city councillors call on B.C. to provide safe-inhalation sites for drugs (Times Colonist)

• Tennessee bill would charge pregnant women using drugs if baby born addicted (KMPH)

• Students Turn To Study Drugs And Alcohol To Cope With Campus Life (Forbes)

• Is there something divine about gender and psychedelics? (The Psychedelic Scientist)

• Microdosing Hallucinogens Has Positive Effects—but Not What You Might Suspect (Pacific Standard)

• Riverstyx: A Small Family Foundation That Funds Psychedelic Research and Other Fringe Causes (Inside Philanthropy)

• Sex On Drugs (PSU Vanguard)

• The case for drug decriminalization in Baltimore (The Baltimore Sun)

• Japan managed to win its war on drugs, why can’t we? (The Spectator)

• Trip Sitters and Conscious Bachelorette: Interview with Chi of Truffles Therapy (Psychedelic Times)

• Psychedelics Live Up to Early Promise (Discover Magazine)

• How 'Russian Doll' flirts with psychedelic therapy (The Outline)

• Becoming an Entheogen (Medium)

• Psychedelic Meditation (The Third Wave)

---

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:

---

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.

This Week in Psychedelics - 6.2.17

Image by Dahtamnay, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Cannabis

• France to quash prison terms for cannabis users (RFI)
• Will Cannabis Businesses Find It Easier To Put Money In The Bank? (East Bay Express)
• Why People Are 'Microdosing' Marijuana (ATTN:)
• DOJ Turns Attention to Cannabis Enforcement (Leafly)
• New Hampshire Cannabis Decriminalization Bill Heads to Governor (Leafly)
• Veterans Affairs Head 'Interested' in Medical Marijuana (ATTN:)
• Say What? Why 'Cannabis' Is Rising and 'Marijuana' Is Fading (Leafly)
• Here Are The Top 5 Financial Leaders In The Cannabis Industry (Forbes)
• The Holidays People Smoke the Most Marijuana (ATTN:)
• Nevada Cannabis License Applications Stream in as Deadline Approaches (Leafly)
• Why More Seniors Are Using Cannabis to Sleep (Leafly)
• The Ultimate Stoned Staycation: Take a Virtual Cannabis-Fueled Train Ride (Leafly)
• Smoking pure cannabis is better for your health than smoking it with tobacco, new research reveals (The Sun)
• Melissa Etheridge: 'Anybody Who Smokes Cannabis Is Using it Medicinally' (Leafly)
• Cannabis Is A Gateway Drug (Disinfo)
• Medical Cannabis Is The Next Boom, but When Will It Bust? (Delaware Law)
• San Diego Cannabis Festival Will Keep Trying After Venue Loss (Leafly)
• Medical Journal slams Cannabis Act for failing to protect youth (KamloopsBCNow)
• Court to Grandma: You Shouldn't Lose Your House Just Because Your Dumb Son Sold Some Weed There (Reason)
• 6 of the Best Cannabis Bath Products on the Market (Leafly)
• Cannabis growers overcome the powerful scent (North Day Business Journal)

LSD

• 'A voice told me to turn on the world': Hippy chemist who made purest LSD in the 1960s (Mirror)
• Bill Ward on the early days of Sabbath and drumming on LSD (TeamRock.com)

Psilocybin/Magic Mushrooms

• Measure To Legalize Psilocybin Proposed At Oregon Psychedelics Conference (OPB News)
• Global Survey Says Magic Mushrooms Are The Safest Recreational Drug (Forbes)
• Death and Family Healing with Psilocybin: A Conversation with Dennis McKenna (Psychedelic Times)
• Woman will share results of her year of psilocybin microdosing (Boing Boing)

MDMA/Ecstasy

• Ireland takes MDMA more than any other country in the world (Mixmag)
• The dude who makes Ecstasy artwork is having his own exhibition (Stoney Roads)
• Justin Bieber's Been Searching For 'MDMA' On YouTube And There's Receipts To Prove It (We The Unicorns)
• Drug users warn 'bad batch' of MDMA drug called Gold Bars is on streets following tragic death of teenager (Mirror)
• 21-year-old remains in 'serious condition' after taking MDMA at Plymouth house party (Plymouth Herald)

Ayahuasca/DMT

• Path of the Shaman doc goes deep with B.C. ayahuasca healer (MetroNews Canada)
• Holy Shit, People are Finally Building a DMT/Alien Contact Device! (Disinfo)

Iboga/Ibogaine

• Treatment of opioid use disorders with ibogaine: detoxification and drug use outcomes (Taylor Francis Online)

Synthetic Cannabinoids/Psychoactive Research Chemicals

• N-bomb alert in Mumbai: Cheapter LSD-like drug has cops on their toes (NYOOOZ)
• One New West teen dead, one critical after taking what they thought was MDMA (CTV News)

Dissociatives

• Ketamine may not reduce post-surgery pain, delirium (Medical News Today)

Opiates/Opioids

• In Mexico, The Price of America's Hunger for Heroin (The Washington Post)
• Overdose mapping system could be used in fight against heroin (WHAS)
• Baltimore makes overdose-reversing drug naloxone available over the counter (The Washington Times)
• North Carolina Police Found 2,000 Pounds of Opium While Looking for a Cannabis Grow-Op (Merry Jane)
• What you need to know about naloxone (Vancouver Sun)
• Dad overdoses on heroin to teach his addict son a lesson (New York Post)
• Opium Dens Are a Terrible Theme for Bars (CityLab)

Kratom

• Susan Ash Steps Down As American Kratom Association Chair (Inquisitr)

Miscellaneous Psychedelics/Psychoactives/Drug Policy

• Ross Ulbricht Loses His Appeal Over Conviction and Sentencing in Silk Road Case (Reason)
• Mind-altering drugs lower suicide risks; study suggests (Business Recorder)
• Why you can't blame mass incarceration on the war on drugs (Vox)
• GLOBAL DRUG SURVEY 2017: 40% of the Novel Psychoactive Substances taken in Ireland are bought on the internet (Hot Press)
• The Long, Hard Road to a Science of Bad Drug Trips (Motherboard)
• Federal Prosecutors Say They Never See Low-Level Drug Offenders (Reason)
• Study: 'Donald Trump' Tops List of New Meth Nicknames (Rolling Stone)
• The World's Safest and Most Dangerous Recreational Drugs (ATTN:)
• Trump's Repeal of a Welfare Drug-Testing Regulation Backfires (Thankfully) (Reason)
• Psychedelics touted as solution for society (Ashland Daily Tidings)
• Magick & Psychedelic Novelty With Maja D'Aoust (Disinfo)
• Convicted Drug Trafficker Schapelle Corby Has Been Deported to Australia After 12 Years in Indonesia (TIME)
• This Pigeon Exposes a Hole in President Trump's Plan to Stop Drug Trafficking (ATTN:)

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.