This Week in Psychedelics - 10.19.18

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Cannabis

  • Canada becomes second country to legalise recreational marijuana (BBC)

  • Congressman Issues ‘Blueprint To Legalize Marijuana’ For Democratic House In 2019 (Forbes)

  • Democrats And Republicans Clash Over Which Party Will Lead On Marijuana In 2019 (Marijuana Moment)

  • Still More Evidence That All Weed Is the Same (Motherboard)

  • Marijuana Research Is Exploding In The Age Of Legalization, New Study Finds (Marijuana Moment)

  • As Canada Legalizes Marijuana, It Moves to Pardon Pot Possession (TIME)

  • Cannabis May Be Worse for Teen Brains Than Alcohol (Healthline)

  • Thousands Respond To FDA’s Marijuana Rescheduling Comment Request (Marijuana Moment)

  • Canada Has Legalized Marijuana. Here's What That Means For American Travelers (TIME)

  • Marijuana and the midterms (The Hill)

  • Cannabis Legalization in Canada Is a Giant, Imperfect Leap Forward (Filter)

  • High-end marijuana retailer MedMen just spent $682 million on the largest US cannabis acquisition in history (Business Insider)

  • DECRIM, an Inference from a Year of Data in Atlanta – Most Cops Don’t Care (NORML)

  • CEO Predicts Cannabis Industry Can Bank Legally By Christmas (Forbes)

  • Cannabis health products are everywhere – but do they live up to the hype? (The Guardian)

  • Doctors Who Use Weed Off-Duty Are Getting Their Licenses Suspended (Tonic)

  • Why Big Tobacco Entering The Cannabis Space Makes Sense (Forbes)

  • Trump Administration Has Calm Response To Canadian Marijuana Legalization (Marijuana Moment)

  • Review: Thousands Of Peer-Reviewed Studies Specific To Medical Cannabis Have Been Published Over Past Decade (NORML)

  • Legalizing cannabis is the best way to protect kids from its harmful effects (CNN)

  • Is the Midwest Ready for Recreational Marijuana? (Governing)

  • Michigan Officials: Legal Marijuana Will Create Even More Revenue Than Activists Predicted (Marijuana Moment)

  • Cannabis could disrupt a $500 billion market, says CEO of top marijuana maker after deal with DEA (CNBC)

  • Marijuana And Tobacco Appear In Almost Half Of Popular Music Videos, Study Shows (Marijuana Moment)

  • Canada cannabis legalisation: ‘We know the world is watching’ (BBC)

  • Marijuana Ingredient Reduces Anxiety During Public Speaking, Study Shows (Marijuana Moment)

  • MS sufferer avoids jail for importing cannabis-based drug (BBC)

  • Zzz Natural: The Cannabis Brand Aiming To Solve America's $400 Billion Sleeping Problem (Forbes)

  • SXSW Goes Big On Marijuana Panels For 2019 (Marijuana Moment)

  • Banking Lobby Surveys Members On Problems Serving Marijuana Businesses (Forbes)

  • GOP Congressman Visits Marijuana Dispensary With Bus Full Of Senior Citizens (Marijuana Moment)

  • Cannabis edibles will soon be a $4 billion business (Yahoo! Finance)

  • Marijuana Legalization in Canada Has Companies Chasing a Green Rush (The New York Times)

  • Man Sends Marijuana Samples To Feds… To Make A Legal Point (Marijuana Moment)

  • Cannabis and coffee: the hippie speedball has been perfected (Rooster Magazine)

  • North Dakota’s Marijuana Legalization Supporters Outraised By Opponents, Filings Show (Marijuana Moment)

  • Voters in One Wisconsin Town Face 7 Marijuana Ballot Questions (Reason)

  • Watch: 80-Year Old Michigan Marijuana Patient Recounts Possession Arrest In New Documentary (Marijuana Moment)

  • Melissa Etheridge Talks Art, Culture and Marijuana Advocacy In The Legalization Era (Marijuana Moment)

LSD

  • How LSD influenced Western culture (BBC)

  • LSD turns 75 as scientists again consider medical benefits (Sky News)

  • Russian Faces 10 Years in Prison for LSD Mail Order From Britain (The Moscow Times)

Psilocybin/Magic Mushrooms

  • Different cognitive effects of dextromethorphan and psilocybin observed in new study (PsyPost)

  • Beyond Psilocybin: Mushrooms Have Lots of Cool Compounds Scientists Should Study (Discover Magazine)

  • Magic Mushroom Drug Evolved to Mess with Insect Brains (Scientific American)

  • Far-Out Facts About Psychedelic Mushrooms (Maxim)

MDMA/Ecstasy

  • We’re Too Excited About MDMA’s Potential for Treating PTSD (Slate)

  • Sheffield student's MDMA death: Dealers are jailed (BBC)

  • Chilling moment laughing men spike drink with MDMA before forcing woman to down it and sexually assaulting her (The Sun)

  • 'Like a hug from everyone who loves you' — how MDMA could help patients with trauma (The Pharmaceutical Journal)

  • Octopuses on MDMA (University Observer)

  • Ecstacy warning issued by judge as man admits to offering the drug to people in Stealth (Nottinghamshire Live)

Ayahuasca/DMT/5-MeO-DMT

  • No charges after death investigation at ayahuasca church (WFTV)

  • Rythmia Review: My Week At a Legal Luxury Plant Medicine Retreat Center in Costa Rica (High Existence)

  • Multiple (and Subtle) Bodies: Entheogenic Incorporation in the Santo Daime Tradition (Part 2) (Reality Sandwich)

  • Ayahuasca ceremonies: Meet the Irish people who've tried the 'key to the universe' (Independent.ie)

Peyote/San Pedro/Mescaline

  • The Peyote People: Interview with Mario Gómez Mayorga on Huichol Plant Medicine Traditions (Psychedelic Times)

Dissociatives

  • Ketamine could be legal as an NHS depression treatment in 18 months (Metro)

  • Can ketamine for pain replace opioids in emergency care? (Medical News Bulletin)

  • Springfield man, arrested after firing a gun on Maple Street, found to be in possession of PCP and cocaine, police say (MassLive)

Opiates/Opioids

  • Injection site client's fatal OD raises concerns of new naloxone-resistant drugs (Ottawa Citizen)

  • Miami police say they’ll offer opioid addicts rehab instead of arresting them (Miami Herald)

  • Southeast Asia swapping opium with coffee (Geographical)

  • Congress Needs an Opioid Intervention (Reason)

Absinthe

  • Lawrenceville Distilling looks to lift spirits by producing absinthe drink (TribLIVE)

  • Drinking Absinthe With Rupert Everett (And Talking About Oscar Wilde) (Forbes)

Kratom

  • Ohio Plans to Ban Kratom—And the DEA May Be Close Behind (Filter)

  • PurKratom Vendor Reviews: Strains, Pricing, Coupons (Kratom Guides)

Kava

Khat

  • Depression, anxiety, and stress and their association with khat use: a cross-sectional study among Jazan University students, Saudi Arabia (Dove Medical Press)

Miscellaneous Psychedelics/Psychoactives/Drug Policy

  • How meditation and psychedelic drugs could fix tribalism (Vox)

  • Historian Explains How Women Have been Excluded from the Field of Psychedelic Science (Chacruna)

  • Here Comes the Legal Case for Medicinal Psychedelics (VICE)

  • FDA Calls Out Vaping Company for Putting Erectile Dysfunction Drugs in Its Products (TIME)

  • High court orders thousands more drug cases dismissed (Cape Cod Times)

  • On Treading Lightly Through the Lion’s Den: The Path to Psychedelic Legitimacy (Chacruna)

  • The Hidden Victims of Britain's Ecstasy Deaths (VICE)

  • Psychedelic moral enhancement (ResearchGate)

  • Recreational drug use in Australia is now ‘mainstream’ and how it’s dealt is changing rapidly (news.com.au)

  • Trump Slams ‘Very Unfair’ Drug Sentences (Reason)

  • The bid to ban 'poppers': public health necessity or an act of discrimination? (The Sydney Morning Herald)

  • The UK should emulate Canada and legalise cannabis – it makes sense from an economic and moral perspective (The Independent)

  • Ohio Will Vote on a Sentencing Reform Bill in November (Reason)

  • An enlightened approach to “illegal” drugs will revolutionise medicine and science (ScienceNordic)

  • California Makes a Fool of VP Mike Pence (Drug WarRant)

  • How MDMA, magic mushrooms and LSD help cancer patients cope, and cure addictions (South China Morning Post)

  • Having a ‘Good Trip’ with comedian Shane Mauss (City Pulse)

  • Acid test – Are hallucinogenics finally shaking off their taboo? (Irish Medical Times)

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.

Image by Dahtamnay, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.