This Week in Psychedelics - 2.26.16

Image by Dahtamnay, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Image by Dahtamnay, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Cannabis

  • Eric Holder Says Marijuana 'Ought to Be Rescheduled' (Reason)
  • "The Drug War Created Stronger Strains": 5 Ironic Contradictions in Cannabis (Leafly)
  • Study: Long-Term Cannabis Use Associated With Improved Pain Relief, Reduced Opioid Use (NORML)
  • 3 Reasons Athletes Pick Cannabis Over Alcohol (Civilized)
  • Are Mexican Tourists Coming to the US to Work in Cannabis Farms? (Latin Post)
  • Facebook shutting legal weed pages (Boing Boing)
  • Genius Girl Scout Starts Selling Cookies Across From Marijuana Dispensary (TIME)
  • Vermont Senate Votes to Approve Recreational Marijuana (TIME)
  • Canadian Court Orders Gov't to Let Medical Marijuana Users Grow Their Own (Reason)
  • These Investors Are Quietly Investing in Cannabis Companies (New Cannabis Ventures)
  • California Town Ditches Prison Economy, Embraces Cannabis Farms (MintPress News)
  • More Than Just Revenue: The Social Capital Benefits of Legal Cannabis (The Huffington Post)
  • Emergency Room Visits Double for Marijuana-Using Colorado Visitors (NBC)
  • Instagram's Cracking Down on Weed, But These Apps Love Pot (WIRED)
  • National NORML Board Endorses AUMA Marijuana Legalization Initiative in CA (NORML)
  • Australia has new medical cannabis laws, but you still can't smoke it (Mashable)
  • Practicing Marijuana Law and the Racist History of the Drug War w/ Moe Spencer (Disinfo)
  • Cannabis Ceviche? Edible Marijuana Goes Gourmet (Bloomberg)
  • U.S. Cannabis Cup might leave Denver for southern Colorado (The Cannabist)
  • Poll: 60 Percent of Likely California Voters Support Initiative Effort To Legalize Adult Marijuana Use (NORML)
  • Cannabis 2.0: Are Terpenes The Secret To Customizable Highs? (International Business Times)
  • Utah Senate gives tentative approval to medical marijuana bill (FOX 13)
  • 10 Cannabis Strains That Won't Make You (As) Hungry (Leafly)
  • Marijuana: From Societal Scourge to Small Town Salvation? (Reason)
  • No Matter Your Mood, Machine Learning Can Tell You What Cannabis is for You (PSFK)
  • 10 Celebs Who Share Their Names with Cannabis Strains (Leafly)
  • 10 top-rated states for medical marijuana (CNBC)

LSD

  • The Benefits of LSD Will Change the Way We Talk About Drugs and Being High (Inverse)
  • Step Inside San Francisco's LSD Museum (Mental Floss)
  • Man takes LSD, jumps through second-story window (The Norman Transcript)
  • Media jumps the gun to fear monger about 'LSD overdoses' in Pennsylvania (Raw Story)

Psilocybin/Magic Mushrooms

  • Spiritual leader? Take shrooms for science! (Boing Boing)
  • Watch: 61-year-old takes magic mushrooms for the first time (Boing Boing)
  • SJ man had 'shrooms at theater, cops say (Courier-Post)
  • Science seeks rabbis to do 'shrooms (Start-Up Israel)
  • Theft investigation leads to psychedelic mushroom operation bust (WKBT)
  • Convicted killer's appeal heads to 3-justice panel (Daily Republic)

MDMA/Ecstasy

  • New Study Confirms That Molly Users Don't Know What They're Taking (Reason)
  • Man Says Police Mistook Aspirin for Ecstasy, Settles Lawsuit (CBS)
  • B.C. man admits to flying helicopter full of ecstasy, pot across border, but says he was doing so to save his town (National Post)
  • Despicable E: Authorities just seized a load of Minion-shaped ecstasy pills (Metro)
  • California police intercept puzzle box filled with ecstasy pills (UPI)
  • 40% of Ecstasy users are taking 'bath salts, raising the risk of drug poisoning' (Daily Mail)
  • 'Blue ghost' ecstasy caused William McLaughlin's seizure and death, says coroner (Belfast Telegraph)
  • Disgraced soldier who snorted cocaine in the army jailed after dealing ecstasy in nightclub (Mirror)

Ayahuasca/DMT

Peyote/San Pedro/Mescaline

  • How Justice Scalia ruled on religious freedom – and why it matters (Deseret News)

Iboga/Ibogaine

  • Justin Hoffman Opens Ibogaine After-Care in Nevada to Help Addicts the Holistic Way (PR Newswire)
  • Iboga Experiences and the Global Ibogaine Conference: An Interview with Jonathan Dickinson (Psychedelic Times)

Synthetic Cannabinoids/Psychoactive Research Chemicals

  • Lots of people might be taking the scary synthetic drug 'bath salts' by accident (Tech Insider)
  • Dateline: Synthetic Drugs Targeting Teens like Tara Fitzgerald (2paragraphs)
  • Violence-inducing bath salts may be common hidden ingredient in party drug (Ars Technica)
  • Mason teen sold bulk amounts of LSD, designer drugs, officials say (WLWT)

Dissociatives

  • The Science of Treating Depression with Ketamine (Reality Sandwich)
  • Is Ketamine a Safe and Effective Rescue Treatment for Severely Agitated ED Patients? (NEJM Journal Watch)
  • CBS News Features Dr. Ashraf Hanna Discussing How IV Ketamine is Successfully Treating Lyme Disease (PR Newswire)
  • Role of hippocampal p11 in the sustained antidepressant effect of ketamine in the chronic unpredictable mild stress model (Translational Psychiatry)
  • Ketamine for the difficult-to-sedate ER patient (EurekAlert!)
  • Hartford Couple Smokes PCP, Kisses, And Chunk Of Tongue Bitten Off (Hartford Courant)
  • Judge bemoans 'terrible' PCP in sentencing Westcott man for stabbing he doesn't recall (Syracuse.com)
  • 'I Don't Feel Trapped On Earth': Ketamine Lifts Many From Depths Of Major Depression (WBUR)
  • Police say PCP bust in Jersey City made cops sick -- literally (NJ.com)
  • Middletown Police Find PCP, Marijuana In Car With Broken Windshield (Hartford Courant)

Opiates/Opioids

  • Opium-Soaked Tampons Were the Midol of Ancient Rome (Atlas Obscura)
  • America's Opium War in Afghanistan (Counter Currents)
  • Mayor wants space where addicts can inject heroin safely (WLS-TV)
  • U.S. Governors Act to Tackle Heroin Epidemic (TIME)
  • Kroger makes overdose drug available at its pharmacies (The News Record)
  • Naloxone, remedy for heroin overdose, closer to being sold over the counter at Walgreens (ABC 7)
  • Myanmar Activists Say Destruction of Opium Fields Blocked (Voice of America)
  • Australian opium companies to capitalise on billions of people with little or no access to pain relief (ABC)

Kratom

  • Bill That Would Ban Kratom, Synthetic Opioids Clears Kentucky Senate (WKMS)
  • Users Positive Experience and Thoughts (Kratom Guides)
  • Controversial drug Kratom legally sold in Pennsylvania (WPXI)
  • Poorly Regulated 'Herbal Supplements' Could Be Your Worst Nightmare (Forbes)
  • White Vein Borneo Kratom (Kratom Guides)

Kava

Khat

  • Tanzania: Over 836 Farmers Remove Khat From Their Farms (AllAfrica)

Miscellaneous Psychedelics/Psychoactives/Drug Policy

  • 'Narconomics': How The Drug Cartels Operate Like Wal-Mart And McDonald's (NPR)
  • Artist Creates Psychedelic Illustrations While On 20 Different Drugs (Elite Daily)
  • Lift the Ban! Kofi Annan on Why It's Time To Legalize Drugs (Spiegel Online)
  • Why More Young Professionals Are Turning to Psychedelic Microdosing (Psychedelic Times)
  • Anxiety Drug Overdoses in U.S. Hit Record Levels (TIME)
  • The drug war in popular fictional entertainment (Drug WarRant)
  • The Search for the Elusive Soma: Nectar of the Gods, Fountain of Youth (Reality Sandwich)
  • What Is Plant Medicine Healing? Finding the Roots of Psychedelic Therapy (Psychedelic Times)
  • A vice president at JP Morgan introduced Timothy Leary to psychedelics (Tech Insider)
  • Long Beach Author Investigates Psychedelics and Aldous Huxley in New Book ALDOUS HUXLEY'S HANDS (Long Beach Post)
  • The Media Narrative Around Drug Use Is Shifting, But the Harsh Policies for Drug Crimes Are Not (Reason)
  • Artist's Interpretations of Various Substances Will Put You Off Drugs For Life (THUMP)
  • Scalia on Drugs (Reason)

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 (and other psychoactives) are presented by the mass media, which includes everything from the latest scientific research to misinformation.