This Week in Psychoactives - 2.21.20

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Cannabis

  • Leafly investigation: Vape lung injuries date back to 2007 (Leafly)

  • New Hampshire House Approves Marijuana Legalization Bill (Marijuana Moment)

  • New Study Claims Americans See Marijuana as the “Safest” Party Drug (EDMTunes)

  • Mike Bloomberg Attacks Marijuana Legalization In Controversial Resurfaced Recording (Marijuana Moment)

  • Everyone Scared of Legal Weed Was Freaking Out Over Nothing: Report (VICE)

  • Kentucky House Approves Medical Marijuana Legalization Bill (Marijuana Moment)

  • Colorado Marijuana Money Funds Cleaner Highways And Anti-Bullying Programs (Marijuana Moment)

  • There's a New Synthetic Weed Drug Coming That's Basically Marinol Chewing Gum (MERRY JANE)

  • Medical Marijuana Patients With ADHD Use Fewer Prescription Drugs, Study Finds (Marijuana Moment)

  • Alabama Lawmakers Approve Medical Marijuana Legalization Bill (Marijuana Moment)

  • New Utah marijuana bill clarifies that private employers don’t need to allow its use (Deseret News)

  • NFL Would End Marijuana Suspensions In Deal Approved By Team Owners (Forbes)

  • Marijuana May Have Caused 12-Hour Erection, Doctors Say (Marijuana Moment)

  • Pregnant Women with Anxiety or Depression More Likely to Smoke Weed, Study Finds (MERRY JANE)

  • Flying high: Are cannabis drone deliveries the future or merely fantasy? (Leafly)

  • Mike Bloomberg Calls For Marijuana Decriminalization And Expungements In New Plan (Marijuana Moment)

  • The cannabis industry's next big threat: Hacks and fraud (CNN)

  • New Arizona Bill Attempting to Limit Medical Marijuana to 2% THC (Arizona Marijuana)

  • Hemp Is For Horses? New Study Examines CBD’s Calming And Painkilling Effects In Animals (Marijuana Moment)

Magic Mushrooms

  • Mushroom Advocates Eyeing Boulder As Next Decriminalization Target (Westword)

  • Man Magically Regains His Sense of Smell Using Psilocybin Mushrooms (DoubleBlind)

  • DC mom leads effort to decriminalize magic mushrooms after treating postpartum depression (WJLA)

  • Can A Legal Magic Mushroom Industry Avoid the Pitfalls of Recreational Weed? (East Bay Express)

  • Therapists Are Fighting for Psilocybin Mushroom Legalization in Canada (Euro Weekly News)

DMT

  • DMT and the Psychedelic Underground in Mainland China—An Insider’s Story (Kahpi)

Ketamine

  • Use of ketamine among partygoers could be underreported (UPI)

  • Ketamine Could Be Useful Alternative for Pain Relief, Sedation in ICU (MD Magazine)

  • Ketamine use can prevent postanesthetic shivering without severe side effects (Medical Dialogues)

Opioids

  • Insurance companies can’t penalize people with prescriptions for life-saving opioid overdose medication, state says (The Denver Post)

  • Opioid vending machine opens in Vancouver (The Guardian)

  • Johns Hopkins Will Test Epidiolex to See If It Can Help with Opioid Withdrawal (MERRY JANE)

  • Naloxone Administration to Be Used as “Probable Cause” for Drug Charges in Indiana (Filter)

  • Progress Slows In Massachusetts: Death Rates Flat In Opioid Crisis (WBUR)

  • Police Scotland officers set to trial drug overdose spray (BBC)

  • U.S. states reject $18 billion proposal to settle opioid lawsuits, discussions ongoing: sources (Reuters)

Methamphetamine

  • Meth is back and flooding the streets of Ohio and Kentucky, and it's uglier than ever (Cincinnati.com)

Caffeine

  • From khat to coffee: revitalising an age-old Yemeni crop (The Guardian)

  • How natural caffeine compares to synthetic caffeine, according to health experts (MSN)

Nicotine

  • Journal Retracts Study That Falsely Associated E-Cigarettes With Heart Attacks (Filter)

  • Could tobacco cure coronavirus? Don’t laugh. (Politico)

  • The great vape debate: are e-cigarettes saving smokers or creating new addicts? (The Guardian)

  • Study Researches Whether Nicotine Patch Can Help People With Memory Loss (NBC4 Washington)

  • Governor Cuomo Launches Campaign to Ban Flavored Nicotine Vaping Products and Restrict Vaping Ads Aimed at Youth (NY.gov)

  • Why One of the World’s Largest Tobacco Companies Is Struggling (The Wall Street Journal)

  • Teen vaping is bad. Nicotine makes it worse, says researcher (Science)

  • Foods That Flush Nicotine Out of Your Body (Thrive Global)

Alcohol

  • Higher alcohol taxes to fund NHS would benefit poor – study (The Guardian)

  • Beer goggles: the truth about alcohol and romantic judgment (The Guardian)

  • A Utah bill could prevent offenders from buying alcohol at state stores (The Salt Lake Tribune)

GHB

  • New report shows illicit drug GHB deaths could be prevented (UNSW Newsroom)

Kratom

  • Missouri House passes bill requiring more kratom regulation (KSDK)

  • Michigan debates future of kratom, an herbal remedy linked to 9 state deaths (Bridge Michigan)

  • Oregon House Moves to Ban Underage Sales Of Kratom, A Botanical Used For Pain Or Fun (The Lund Report)

  • Popular Kratom Vendor Shows How Kratom Is Manufactured (Benzinga)

  • Reports of Kratom Causing Acne: Is That True? (Kratom Guides)

Miscellaneous

  • Ballot Language Approved For Washington, D.C. Psychedelics Decriminalization Measure (Marijuana Moment)

  • A quarter of street drugs are fake and dangerous to users (The Guardian)

  • Drug use will change significantly in the 2020s – here’s how (Dazed)

  • #ThankYouPlantMedicine Creates Wave of Gratitude for Ayahuasca, LSD, and Mushrooms (The Third Wave)

  • Business gets ready to trip: How psychedelic drugs may revolutionize mental health care (Fortune)

  • Virtual Reality Can Replicate Mystical Psychedelic Experiences, Study Says (MERRY JANE)

  • The influence of drugs on murder rates is being overstated (TalkingDrugs)

  • Psychedelic drugs have lost their cool. Blame Gwyneth Paltrow and her Goop (The Guardian)

  • Rampaging Vikings were fuelled by hallucinogenic herbal tea that made them feel less pain and become 'highly aggressive' say scientists (Daily Mail)

  • First Psychedelics-Centered PR Agency Launches In Toronto (Benzinga)

  • Psychedelics for systems change: could drugs help us save the planet? (openDemocracy)

  • The Conservative Drug Policy Reform Group: driving reform in the UK (Health Europa)

  • Study shows Dublin hospital has third highest number of drug-related medical emergencies (Irish Examiner)

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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.