This Week in Psychoactives - 1.25.19

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CANNABIS

  • Does marijuana use really cause psychotic disorders? (The Guardian)

  • 2018 Was A Major Year For Cannabis Legislation And 2019 Is Shaping Up To Be Much Bigger (Marijuana Moment)

  • New Study on Cannabis and Autism Supports Parents’ Longtime Claims (Leafly)

  • Study Debunks Claim That Traffic Deaths Increase On The 4/20 Marijuana Holiday (Marijuana Moment)

  • Want To Minor In Cannabis? This SUNY Program Could Be For You (Forbes)

  • Virginia Medical Cannabis Bills Clear Senate Committee (NORML)

  • First Senate Marijuana Bill Of 2019 Would Force Study On Medical Cannabis For Veterans (Marijuana Moment)

  • Massachusetts Dispensary Replaces Lines With App (Ganjapreneur)

  • Most U.S. Mayors Support Legalizing Marijuana, Survey Shows (Marijuana Moment)

  • Cannabis Cafes Are Coming (Forbes)

  • Women And Baby Boomers Are Increasingly Embracing Marijuana, New Market Report Finds (Marijuana Moment)

  • Weed Website Offers Unpaid Federal Workers Free Medical Marijuana That They Can’t Legally Smoke (Reason)

  • Young people in liberal states use more cannabis, but have lower rates of dependence (The Verge)

  • DC Lawmaker Proposes Same-Day Medical Marijuana Access And Social Use Spaces (Marijuana Moment)

  • Cannabis equity aimed at helping those most affected by the war on drugs (The News Tribune)

  • Future Weed: Formulations, Patents and Where Cannabis Is Going Next (Rolling Stone)

  • Federal Judge Rules For Medical Marijuana Grower In Free Speech Case (Marijuana Moment)

  • CBS Blocked a Medical Marijuana Commercial From Playing During the Super Bowl (TIME)

  • Can Cannabis Actually Boost Concentration? (Civilized)

  • Lawmakers File Competing Medical Marijuana Research Bills Amid Language Dispute (Marijuana Moment)

  • Potential Contaminants in CBD and THC Oils (News-Medical.net)

  • Opioid Addiction Is Now A Medical Marijuana Qualifying Condition In New Jersey (Marijuana Moment)

  • On Pot and Psychosis: Five Questions for Alex Berenson (Undark)

  • Pennsylvania Governor Announces Statewide Marijuana Legalization Listening Tour (Marijuana Moment)

  • The Next Attorney General May Not Bar Progress On Cannabis Policy After All (Forbes)

  • Good Luck Getting Medical Cannabis On the NHS (VICE)

  • Cannabis can help with better sex, but low doses are key (Global News)

  • DC Mayor Considers How To Legalize Marijuana Sales In Light Of Congressional Block (Marijuana Moment)

  • 9 Governors Get 'A' Grades for Marijuana Reform, Up From 2 Last Year (Reason)

  • Potential 2020 Presidential Candidate Michael Bloomberg Calls Marijuana Legalization ‘Nonsensical’ (Marijuana Moment)

  • Where Presidential Candidate Kamala Harris Stands On Marijuana (Marijuana Moment)

  • Where Presidential Candidate Tulsi Gabbard Stands On Marijuana (Marijuana Moment)

  • Meet America's Youngest Cannabis CEO (Civilized)

  • If these Northeast states legalize adult-use marijuana, they could generate billions of dollars in sales (Marijuana Business Daily)

  • Hallucinogenic Strains of Cannabis (Seattle Weekly)

  • What LA's First Weed Rave Means for the Future of Cannabis and Nightlife (Civilized)

  • U.S. Surgeon General Deletes Tweet About Medical Marijuana And Children (Marijuana Moment)

  • Alex Berenson: Pot is not a cure-all medicine – I told the truth and the backlash has been incredible (Fox News)

  • The cannabis business is booming — but that’s not necessarily good if you’re an investor (CNBC)

  • Goop CCO Is Eyeing CBD, THC, Psychedelics as Wellness Empire Expands (Cheddar)

LSD

  • Marc Emery Gave LSD, Ecstasy To Underage Girls: Ex-Employees (HuffPost)

  • Not a transit point, Kolkata now an LSD market: Cops (The Times of India)

  • Police: Ohio student on LSD attacked and grabbed staffers' breasts (NBC4 WCMH-TV)

MAGIC MUSHROOMS

  • Psilocybin combined with psychological support might correct pessimism biases in depression (PsyPost)

  • Most Oregon Voters Favor Legalizing Psilocybin Mushrooms For Medical Use, Poll Finds (Marijuana Moment)

  • Terminally ill patients to be given magic mushroom hallucinogen (Metro)

  • Magic mushrooms to soothe the dying (Crikey)

  • Dutch retreat claims magic truffles could be ‘the secret to improving your relationship’ — but do they really work? (The Sun)

  • 10 potential risks of taking 'magic' mushrooms (INSIDER)

MDMA

  • Will MDMA-assisted psychotherapy be covered by health insurance? (Psymposia)

  • How does ecstasy kill? (The Conversation)

  • Most ecstasy pills tested by WA’s ChemCentre found they contained no MDMA (PerthNow)

AYAHUASCA

  • Behind the scenes at Kenzo’s ayahuasca-fueled Fall/Winter 2019 show (Document Journal)

PEYOTE

  • The Supreme Court's 'peyote decision' limited freedom of religion. Is it in trouble? (Los Angeles Times)

SYNTHETIC CANNABINOIDS

  • Disturbing moment ‘spice zombie’ howls and writhes on ground in front of city centre shoppers in broad daylight (The Sun)

  • Police raid two Savannah businesses selling synthetic cannabinoids (11Alive)

NITROUS OXIDE

  • More women choosing nitrous oxide to help them through labor (KXAN)

  • Nitrous Oxide stolen from QA Hospital in Portsmouth (ITV News)

KETAMINE

  • Ketamine May Be Equally Effective in Anxious vs Nonanxious Depression (Psychiatry Advisor)

  • Ketamine Reduced Opioid Need in Severely Injured Subgroup (General Surgery News)

  • Hennepin Healthcare ketamine probe recommends more training, internal reviews (KMSP-TV)

OPIATES/OPIOIDS

  • Police and Media Keep Spreading the Myth That Merely Touching Fentanyl Can Kill You (Gizmodo)

  • Study Links Drug Maker Gifts for Doctors to More Overdose Deaths (The New York Times)

  • A New Drug Policy Approach Can Alleviate Poverty in Rural India (Talking Drugs)

  • Free naloxone kits, training being offered in Chico after mass overdose (KRCR)

  • FDA Pushing for Over-The-Counter Sales of Naloxone (Pain News Network)

  • What’s Taking So Long for Naloxone to Be Made Available Over the Counter? (Filter)

  • Wound Botulism Outbreak Linked to Heroin Raises Concern of Opioid Epidemic Effects (Contagion Live)

  • Thunder Bay paramedics report naloxone use jumped 5 times over previous year (CBC)

  • Buprenorphine May Be an Optimal Treatment for Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (Monthly Prescribing Reference)

  • Design team creates a naloxone dispenser (Medical Xpress)

  • Post-Naloxone Observation of ED Patients is Focus of Study (Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences News)

  • Yes, Opium Soaked Tampons Were Actually A Thing Roman Ancients Used To Cure Headaches (Rare)

  • Libraries saving lives: Pilot program trains employees to administer naloxone (KPTV)

  • The Importance Of Patient-Centric Opioid Prescribing Guidelines (Forbes)

  • Vermont prison staff will carry opioid rescue medication Narcan after rise in overdoses (Burlington Free Press)

  • Lancaster County tops list for charging heroin dealers with homicide (WITF)

  • Volunteer medical first responders not allowed to administer Naloxone (Regina Leader-Post)

  • Is Medically Prescribed Heroin the Answer to the Opioid Crisis? (Healthline)

  • Rantz: Seattle public health officials give tips to be a better heroin user (KTTH)

COCAINE

  • Cocaine in London river is making eels 'hyperactive,' researchers say (Fox News)

  • Scientists Kept Rats Sober by Deleting Memories of Cocaine (Futurism)

  • Steve-O from Jackass admits he once snorted cocaine splattered with HIV-positive blood (Newshub)

  • Cocaine found in singer Chris Brown's hotel room not his, he wants to sue rape accuser for defamation: Lawyer (The Straits Times)

METHAMPHETAMINE

  • Why Crystal Meth Has Made a Big Comeback in Philadelphia (Filter)

  • Amid South Dakota's meth epidemic, recovering addict helps others find sobriety (The Dickinson Press)

ALCOHOL

  • Alcohol-Linked Disease Overtakes Hep C As Top Reason For Liver Transplant (Kaisser Health News)

  • New study finds areas in brain that cause alcohol addiction (The Drinks Business)

  • Alcohol marketers face sobering times as moderation trend grows (Ad Age)

  • Singapore lifts ban on sale of food products containing alcohol (The Drinks Business)

  • This Is Why Anne Hathaway Has Given Up Alcohol (Marie Claire)

  • Many migraine sufferers wary of alcohol as a headache trigger (Reuters)

ABSINTHE

  • Chasing the green fairy: Absinthe, fact and fiction (Earth.com)

NOOTROPICS

  • Nootropics, or ‘Smart Drugs,’ Are Gaining Popularity. But Should You Take Them? (TIME)

KRATOM

KAVA

  • Fiji Kava Applauds Australian Government’s Decision To Ease Kava Import Regulations (Fiji Sun)

  • Drinking kava can tackle the root of your stress problems (The Daily Texan)

MISCELLANEOUS

  • How can we take power away from criminal gangs? Legalise drugs (The Guardian)

  • The Pentagon Spent Billions Fighting the War on Drugs Without Even Asking for a Plan (Motherboard)

  • A Brief History of Microdosing Research (Psychedelic Times)

  • Needle and syringe programmes cost-effectively prevent hepatitis C transmission (Medical Xpress)

  • More people in recovery from substance use problems are quitting smoking than ever before (EurekAlert!)

  • ‘Example to the world': Sri Lanka president plans to copy Duterte's war on drugs (The Guardian)

  • More Companies Should Offer Bathroom Syringe Disposals Like Starbucks (Filter)

  • I'm 'coming out' about drugs: it's time get real about pill testing (The Sydney Morning Herald)

  • Drug deaths at music festivals: one overdose victim 'took up to nine MDMA pills' (The Guardian)

  • Three Charts on who uses illicit drugs in Australia (The Conversation)

  • SW's resistance to pill testing will drive dealers to sell 'more dangerous drugs', ACT warns (The Guardian)

  • Combining Psychedelics with Capitalism May Cause Unintended Side Effects (Chacruna)

  • Which ACT politicians have tried cannabis, MDMA and acid? (The Sydney Morning Herald)

  • Cosmic Sister and #PsychedelicFeminism: Interview with Zoe Helene (Psychedelic Times)

  • A Supervised Drug Use Site? Meet the Leaders Behind Denver's Push. (Westword)

  • Psychedelics & Meditation – How They’ve Informed Each Other On My Path (Maps Of The Mind)

  • Should all drugs be legalised now? (The London Economic)

  • Carbondale hosts ‘non-hallucinogenic’ psychedelic seminar (The Aspen Times)

  • Reforming Regulation to Promote Medical Use of Psychedelic Drugs (The Regulatory Review)

  • Injecting centre for Cork drug addicts still under evaluation (Echo Live)

  • What Is Harm Reduction, Anyway? (Filter)

  • 'War on drugs' doesn't tackle the drug problem (The Hill)


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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.