This Week in Psychoactives - 10.18.19

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CANNABIS

  • Study finds endocannabinoid system regulates sperm development (Leafly)

  • Canada Sold $1.1 Billion of Legal Weed in the First Year of Adult-Use Sales (MERRY JANE)

  • Mexican Senate Committees Will Introduce Marijuana Legalization Bill Next Week (Marijuana Moment)

  • Heavy Metal Poisoning May Be Causing the Vaping Illness Epidemic, Lab Suggests (MERRY JANE)

  • How mainstream media botched the vape lung story (Leafly)

  • New California Law Legalizes Medical Marijuana Use at K-12 Public Schools (MERRY JANE)

  • Two More Studies Show Patients Are Replacing Prescription Painkillers With Marijuana (Marijuana Moment)

  • Colorado Issues a Massive Statewide Recall for Moldy Weed (MERRY JANE)

  • Grading cannabis strength ‘will improve mental health of users’ (The Guardian)

  • Parkinson's patients to receive cannabis oil in 'pioneering' trial to test drug's effectiveness (iNews)

  • Weed Edibles Are Finally Legal in Canada, But They’re Still Not for Sale (MERRY JANE)

  • Cannabis extract may work as a treatment for cannabis addiction (New Scientist)

  • Thailand Plans Inaugural “World Ganja Festival” for 2020 (MERRY JANE)

  • CBD or THC? Common Drug Test Can't Tell the Difference (The New York Times)

  • Recreational Marijuana Would Create More Than 100,000 Jobs in Florida, Study Says (Miami New Times)

  • UK Government Approves the Country's First Legit Weed Grow for Medical Research (MERRY JANE)

  • Presidential Candidate Wants To Let Americans Legalize Marijuana Through National Referendum (Marijuana Moment)

LSD

  • Kacey Musgraves reveals she penned two songs while tripping and praises LSD for 'opening your mind' (Daily Mail)

MAGIC MUSHROOMS

  • Scientists Want to Try Using Shrooms to Revive People in Vegetative States (VICE)

  • DEA Tracks Down Alleged Denver Mushroom Dealer Using News Articles (Westword)

  • Magic mushrooms are a powerful way to treat depression, addiction, and anxiety (GOOD Magazine)

  • How Magic Mushrooms Can Help Smokers Kick The Habit (NPR)

  • Psilocybin: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know (Heavy.com)

MDMA

DMT

AYAHUASCA

  • Taking Ayahuasca When You’re a Senior Citizen (The New York Times)

  • Is Ayahuasca Made in the Laboratory or with Foreign Plants Just as Good? Enter Pharmahuasca. (Kahpi)

  • The Commodification of Ayahuasca: How Can we do Better? (Chacruna)

  • What's all the buzz about? Montreal woman seeks to demystify ayahuasca (Montreal Gazette)

5-MEO-DMT

MESCALINE

PEYOTE

KETAMINE

OPIOIDS

  • Combat troops at higher risk for opioid, heroin addiction, study says (Military Times)

  • The Opioid Crisis Cost the US Over $600 Billion in Just 4 Years (MERRY JANE)

  • Mindfulness May Benefit People on Methadone (Futurity)

  • The Democratic candidates are calling for locking up opioid executives (Vox)

  • Narcan, a life-saving anti-overdose drug, is now sold online in Tennessee (The Tennessean)

  • The US could learn from how Italy tackled its own opioid problem (Quartz)

  • Philadelphia high school students receive training on how to administer Naloxone (6ABC)

COCAINE

  • Revealed: How much cocaine Londoners are taking every day (Sky News)

  • The treatment of cocaine use disorder (Science Advances)

  • Man Who Was Sentenced to 15 Years for Cocaine Released After it Turned Out to Be Powdered Milk (People)

METHAMPHETAMINE

  • While millions are spent to fight the opioid epidemic, a meth crisis quietly grows in Wisconsin (MinnPost)

CAFFEINE

  • Study: Caffeine use may increase risk of miscarriage (KWWL)

  • Is mixing caffeine and alcohol bad? (Mic)

  • Could coffee byproducts fight inflammation? (Medical News Today)

TOBACCO

  • Judge puts Michigan’s ban on flavored nicotine vaping on hold (Detroit Metro Times)

  • Ohio “Tobacco 21” law goes into effect today (WHIO)

BENZODIAZEPINES

  • Lil Peep’s Mom Alleges His Manager Pressured Him to Abuse Xanax; They Deny It (Vulture)

ALCOHOL

  • National focus on overdose prevention should include alcohol too, study suggests (Medical Xpress)

  • Alcohol industry 'puts pregnant women at risk', researchers say (The Guardian)

KRATOM

  • What is kratom? The popular herbal supplement has caught flak from the FDA (NBC News)

  • Kratom In Indiana – The Legality, Effort, & Recent Update (Kratom Guides)

KAVA

MISCELLANEOUS

  • Scotland’s Ruling Party Unanimously Backs Drug Decriminalization Measure (Marijuana Moment)

  • '60 Minutes' segment explores psychedelics research at Johns Hopkins (The Hub)

  • Two Presidential Candidates Voice Support For Drug Decriminalization At Democratic Debate (Marijuana Moment)

  • How Psychedelic Exceptionalism Harms Drug Users (Filter)

  • Building the Infrastructure for Legal Psychedelic Therapy: Interview with Ronan Levy of Field Trip Psychedelics (Psychedelic Times)

  • People of Color Making a Difference in Psychedelic Healing (Chacruna)

  • Investors hope psychedelics are the new cannabis. Are they high? (The Economist)

  • Portugal Mayor Supports Recriminalizing Public Drug Use (Filter)

  • Stop teaching drug abstinence: Just say no to the era of ‘just say no’ (New York Daily News)

  • How psychedelic drugs treat mental illness differently than traditional medicine (Mic)

  • 10 Calls to Action: Toward an LGBTQ-Affirmative Psychedelic Therapy (Chacruna)

  • My Years in the Florida Shuffle of Drug Addiction (The New Yorker)

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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.