Psychedelics in the News

This Week in Psychedelics

temp1.jpg“This Week in Psychedelics” is a Reality Sandwich column that follows the multifaceted media appearances of this class of chemicals and their effects in popular culture.

  • A Johns Hopkins study suggests that “magic mushcrooms” can reliably induce transcendental experiences, offering long-lasting psychological growth without negative effect. (Time)
  • A sold-out panel at the Los Angeles Public Library discusses Aldous Huxley’s relationship to psychedelics. (LA Times)
  • An article suggests that psychedelic drugs could become prescription medications within 10 years. (AlterNet)
  • Portugal celebrates its 10 year anniversary of decriminalizing drugs, which has resulted in “decreased youth drug use, falling overdose and HIV/AIDS rates, less crime, reduced criminal justice expenditures, greater access to drug treatment, and safer and healthier communities.” (AlterNet)
  • Study demonstrates that a nonhallucinogenic analog of LSD alleviates cluster headaches. (Science)
  • The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration released a decision claiming that marijuana has no medical uses. (NY Magazine)
  • Author of The End of Faith, discussing drugs and the meaning of life, argues that “[o]ne of the great responsibilities we have as a society is to educate ourselves…about which substances are worth ingesting, and for what purpose, and which are not.” (Huffington Post)
  • Buyers raced to purchase synthetic substances that mimic marijuana and LSD before a Minnesota ban went into effect. (Star Tribune)
  • An opinion piece warns that the current generation of teenagers lacks knowledge about the risks of LSD, “mak[ing] them vulnerable if the drug returns to popularity.” (New Brunswick Patch)
  • Leaf Fielding’s memoir, To Live Outside the Law, discusses LSD dealing in Britain in the 1970s. (Independent)
  • Former mob boss Whitey Bulger is arrested after an extensive FBI search; defense might link killings to LSD tests performed on Bulger by the CIA. (Boston HeraldModern Times
  • Marijuana, mushrooms, LSD, and ecstasy are confiscated from suspects headed toward the Electric Forest Music Festival. (Holland Sentinel)