This Week in Psychedelics - 10.20.17

Image by Dahtamnay, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Image by Dahtamnay, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Cannabis

  • Study: Colorado's Adult Use Cannabis Access Law Associated With Reductions In Opioid Deaths (NORML)
  • Colorado Made $1 Billion in Legal Marijuana Sales (ATTN:)
  • After the smoke clears: What's next for Northern California's cannabis industry? (The Cannabist)
  • ACLU Pennsylvania: Blacks Eight Times More Likely Than Whites To Be Arrested For Marijuana Possession (NORML)
  • The Rise of 'Canna-Vlogging': What to Expect When Creating Cannabis Video Social Media (Leafly)
  • Is Weed Legalization the Gateway Drug to Psychedelic Legalization? (Disinfo)
  • Another country is getting ready to vote on legalizing cannabis (CNBC)
  • Denver's Public Libraries Expand Cannabis Collections (High Times)
  • A healing drug: Former NFL players advocate the use of cannabis (AZCentral)
  • Michigan Update: Mad Dash for Licenses, NMU Launches Cannabis Program (Leafly)
  • Weed Edibles and Cannabis Chefs Popping Up At Food Festivals (High Times)
  • Medical Marijuana Can Help Pets (ATTN:)
  • Ellementa Founders Educate Women About Cannabis But Face Funding Stigmas (Forbes)
  • A Guide to Federal Drug Rescheduling (And What It Means for Cannabis) (Leafly)
  • Marijuana industry gets back to business of cannabis (Fairbanks Daily News-Miner)
  • 4 Best Practices When Designing Your Cannabis Business Website (Leafly)
  • Meet the 24-year-old founder behind the career site for cannabis jobs (CNBC)
  • The Home Grower's Guide to Simple Cannabis Breeding (Leafly)
  • Feds Admit Their Prosecution of Medical Marijuana Users in Washington Was Illegal (Reason)
  • What Makes a Medical Cannabis Program Succeed? (Leafly)
  • A Michigan University Is Offering the First-Ever Degree in Marijuana Studies (TIME)
  • Melissa Etheridge's Cannabis Mugshot Is Amazing (Leafly)
  • Watch: Cannabis activists seek end to 'current wild west system' (Times of Malta)
  • In California, Feinstein Challenger De León Seen as a Cannabis Progressive (Leafly)
  • Cannabis Crunch – Weed May Fight Liver Disease, Burning Marijuana Farms and 12-Year-Old Justice Reformers (Psychedelic Times)
  • How to Support Your Cannabis Garden with Trellising (Leafly)
  • 'Never Share a Joint With a Stranger. Especially Bill Maher': This Week in Cannabis Quotes (Leafly)

LSD

  • Here's What It's Like Taking LSD And Magic Mushrooms (BuzzFeed)
  • Alicudi, Italy's LSD island (CNN)

Psilocybin/Magic Mushrooms

  • Magic mushrooms might help depression by resetting the brain (The Verge)
  • One Stoner Politician's Lonely Quest to Legalize Shrooms (VICE)
  • The spore you know: As research into psilocybin's heath benefits grow, Californians face slim chance to legalize magic mushrooms (Sacramento News & Review)

MDMA/Ecstasy

  • How MDMA Went From Club Drug to 'Breakthrough Therapy' (The Wall Street Journal)
  • FDA Action On MDMA Gives New Hope To Researchers And Victims Of PTSD (Mint Press News)
  • Ecstasy-related deaths are at a record high - but what can be done about it? (Mixmag)
  • Calum Gill death: Student died after taking MDMA (BBC)

Synthetic Cannabinoids/Psychoactive Research Chemicals

  • Potent drug disguised as ecstasy causes mass overdose in Newcastle (Lakes Mail)
  • WARNING: 'Blue Superman' pills responsible for a mass overdose are not ecstasy! (Rave Jungle)
  • Boy aged 15 was in life-threatening condition after taking what he thought was MDMA from drug dealer Joseph Pearce (Cornwall Live)

Dissociatives

  • Ketamine: The Future of PTSD Treatment? (Texas Standard)
  • Ketamine Not Associated With PTSD Development in Military Trauma Setting (Psychiatry Advisor)
  • PC: Suspect high on PCP when he shot at ISP trooper, K-9 Apache (WRTV)

Opiates/Opioids

  • 14-Year Trend of Rising Opioid Deaths Reversed in Colorado After Marijuana Legalization (Reason)
  • People Are Dying Because of Ignorance, not Because of Opioids (Scientific American)
  • President Trump Is 'Looking Into' Report That His Drug Czar Pick Made the Opioid Crisis Worse (TIME)
  • Naloxone giveaway participants help researchers gather lifesaving data (WTHR)
  • The Pros and Cons of a Heroin Shortage (Reason)
  • What is Opioid Use Disorder? (Pain News Network)
  • The Terrifying New Trend in Heroin Addiction (VICE)
  • Opioid Addiction Is a Mental Health Crisis, Not A Crime Wave (NBC)
  • PBS Explores The Science of Opioid Addiction (The Fix)
  • The Justice Department Is Now Going After Chinese Fentanyl Manufacturers (Reason)
  • Why do we keep prescribing heroin to patients? (Medical Economics)
  • With rules established, pharmacists can begin prescribing drug that can reverse opiate overdoses (Citizen Tribune)

Absinthe

Kratom

  • DEA Petitioned With Open-Records Request To Provide Details Of Ongoing "Shadow Campaign" Against The Botanical Kratom (PR Newswire)
  • The Top 15 Health Benefits Of Kratom (Kratom Guides)
  • Does Boiling Kratom Destroy The Alkaloids? (Kratom Guides)
  • Natural kratom gains attention as a possible solution to opioid addiction, with science explaining how (The Georgia Straight)
  • What Are Liquid Kratom Extracts? Benefits, Side-Effects, And Dosage (Kratom Guides)
  • Opioid-mimicking substance becomes popular in Chattanooga area (WTVC)
  • How To Get Most Out Of The Kratom Capsules? (Kratom Guides)

Kava

Khat

Miscellaneous Psychedelics/Psychoactives/Drug Policy

  • Want To Stop Climate Change? Science Suggests Psychedelics Will Help You Love Nature (Psychedelic Times)
  • Psychedelic Compound Yields Therapeutic Effects on Miniature Human Brains (Seeker)
  • Study Suggests Psychedelic Drugs Could Reduce Criminal Behavior (Newswise)
  • E-cigs are being adapted to smoke heroin, crack cocaine and ecstasy to make detection harder (The Sun)
  • The Importance of Using Reagent Test Kits (Psychedelic Times)
  • Mainstreaming Psychedelics: Secularizing spirituality with the aid of Eastern religion (Rick Strassman MD)
  • Can Underground Psychedelic Therapy Ever Go Mainstream? (Pacific Standard)
  • President Trump Says Rep. Tom Marino Is Withdrawing His Name for Drug Czar (TIME)
  • Breaking Boundaries in Berlin: Altered Conference 2017 Set to Revamp Drug Use (TalkingDrugs)
  • Indonesia's Drug Czar is Threatening a Duterte-Style War on Drug Dealers (TIME
  • Researchers Think Psychedelic Drugs Might Do More Than Get You High (Newsy)
  • Kiwi MDMA, LSD users being conned (Newshub)

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.