This Week in Psychedelics

The New York Times reports on the use of psychedelics to ease end-of-life anxiety, Roger Sterling experiments with LSD in the latest episode of "Mad Men," and Sony prepares to release a PlayStation 3 game about a datura trip in this week's psychedelic news.

• The NY Times printed a 5-page article on how psychedelics can ease end-of-life anxiety. (NY Times)
  
• New York State Senator Jeffrey joined TV's Dr. Mehmet Oz to unveil a bill to ban deadly psychedelic drugs that are sold legally over the internet. (NY Daily News)
• The White House criticized the U.S. Drug Policy Council, recommending that policy focus on treatment over prison. (ABC7)
• Australia's Greens party in New South Wales called for the legalization of medical cannabis, while the NSW Police raided the only producer of a cannabis-derived health product in Australia. (Star Observer)
  
• Nigel Inkster, the former deputy head of MI6, attacked the global war on drugs in a study published by the International Institute for Strategic Studies. (Guardian)
• Foreign Policy Journal reports on evidence suggesting that approaches to drug policy based on treatment rather than punishment were far more effective in reducing consumption, HIV prevalence, and crime rates among users. (Foreign Policy)
• The Economist asks with the feds are cracking down on marijuana in states that allow it. (Economist)
  
• An editorial advises the Canadian government to replace the current drug war with a new option based on scientific research. (Edmonton Journal)
• A blogger for the Herald Sun argues against a recent report condemning Australia's war on drugs. (Herald Sun)
• Newspaper columnist Peter Hitchens told a committee of British MPs that he would like to see the government introduce a more hardline policy on drugs. (BBC)
  
• Sales of synthetic cannabis is "booming" in Australia after a proposed new law banning its sale lapsed with a change in government. (Adelaide Now)
• The Age reports that most Australians are buying illegal drugs from internet websites and having them delivered by regular post to their door. (The Age)
  
• Robert Wilbur reports on the use of hallucinogens to treat psychiatric illnesses. (Truthout)
  
• In "Far Away Places," a recent "Mad Men" episode with a non-linear plot line, Roger Sterling experiments with LSD at a dinner party with intellectuals. (Oregon Live)
  
• In honor of the latest lysergic episode of Mad Men, Badass Digest takes a look back at the time before LSD was outlawed. (Badass Digest)
  
• Kotaku examines datura, the psychedelic drug behind Sony's newest PlayStation 3 game about a trip gone horribly wrong. (Kotaku)
• On 4/20, digital media company Curious Sense released the video game "Grateful Dead Game: The Epic Tour," where players move from venue to venue, joining forces to shine the Dead's "love light" in dark places: "The 'light' represents the collective 'positive vibe' of the Dead, and it becomes a beacon as players show acts of kindness, cooperation and cultivation of flower gardens." (Reuters)
• Oprah interviews Ram Dass in Hawaii about his personal life, controversies, and influence as a cultural icon in the 1960s. (Oprah)
  
• LIFE Magazine celebrates Bicycle Day with a gallery of artworks created in the 1960s by a group called USCO, "the Us Company," a collective of artists, film makers, engineers, and poets who staged interactive, acid-inspired art shows in lofts, galleries, and museums across the country. (LIFE)
• Lady Gaga sparks controversy after making a reference to taking magic mushrooms. (Metro, Times of India)
• An author remembers when psychedelic concept designs fueled NASA's epic ambitions. (Co.Design)
  
• An article compiles the 10 most notorious drug-using pro athletes in recent memory. (Bleacher Report)
  
• Hypervocal features 12 nintelligible words of wisdom from people smoking salvia. (Hypervocal)
  
• In a new book titled "Mary's Mosaic: The CIA Conspiracy to Murder John F. Kennedy, Mary Pinchot Meyer, and Their Vision of World Peace," author Peter Janney links JFK's mistress to Timothy Leary and suggests the pair were involved with LSD. (Christian Post)
  
• A 26-year-old man was arrested in Vancouver after allegedly slashing two police officers while under the influence of LSD. (Canoe)
• A friend of a man accused of stabbing his mother to death told authorities that the alleged stabber may have been on a "hallucinogenic" called "Psychedelic DMT." (WREG Memphis)

"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. Share your psychedelic news links on the facebook page or twitter.

Image by Christopher Martin Adams.