This Week in Psychedelics

New Jersey begins issuing medical marijuana identification cards, the Olympic Games end with psychedelic fanfare, and a "Caravan of Peace" travels from the Mexican border to protest the drug war in this week's psychedelic news.

• Tim Doody profiles Dr. James Fadiman, who conducted psychedelic drug research in the 1960s and continues to argue for the medicinal value of psychedelics today. (Morning News, Daily Beast)
• New Statesman interviews Amanda Feilding of the Beckley Foundation about mystical experiences, psychedelic therapy, and drug law reform. (New Statesman)
  
• Over 100 activists are traveling from the Mexican border to Washington, DC in a "Caravan of Peace" to push the US to reconsider its failed drug war policies. (The Nation)
  
• A new study from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine suggests that synthetic "bath salts" are just as addictive with potential for abuse as other hard drugs like cocaine. (RTT News)
• Security researchers at Carnegie Mellon University determined that the anonymous online marketplace Silk Road is selling $1.9 million worth of illegal drugs and other black market items worth. (Wired UK, New Scientist)
  
• In a unanimous vote, the city council of Lake Stevens, WA passed a six-month moratorium banning "collective gardens," a term referring to patients sharing the resources to process medical marijuana. (Lake Stevens Journal)
• New Jersey patients with doctors' recommendations to use marijuana to treat certain health conditions can register for identification cards beginning Thursday 8/9 as the state prepares for its first legal dispensary to open next month. The announcement comes as the state's first legal dispensary, Greenleaf Compassion Center in Montclair, N.J., grows its first crop of legal pot for patients. (NBC)
  
• American wrestler Stephany Lee, who missed the Olympics because she tested positive for marijuana, speaks out about misguided and hypocritical marijuana policies. (USA Today)
• Comedian Russell Brand climbed aboard a psychedelic bus dressed as Willy Wonka to perform The Beatles' "I Am The Walrus" during the Olympics closing ceremony. (Mirror)
  
• A Science Blog writer describes the effect of climate change on psychedelic Jimson Weed. (Science Blog)
• Australia's 7 News featured a sensationalized story on the "hidden farm" Shaman Australis, a plant nursery specializing in species containing "powerful drugs" that it sells online to "anyone with a credit card." (7 News)
• An Australian woman who believes marijuana has been provided to humanity by God told a magistrate her drug charge were illegal, unconstitutional, and in conflict with the words of the Bible. (Brisbane Times, Sunshine Coast Daily)
  
• The Guardian reports on a resurgence in psychedelic garage pop within San Francisco's rock underground: "It's just like 1967 again, with psychedelia exploding in the city." (Guardian)
  
• The Olympic's Closing Ceremony featured Ed Sheeran alongside "psychedelic legends" from Pink Floyd. (Channel 24) 
• Friends and musicians celebrate the late Grateful Dead frontman Jerry Garcia's 70th birthday. (Bay Citizen)
• Rock Cellar Magazine examines LSD's top 11 musical moments in rock history. (Rock Cellar Magazine)
• Rolling Stone reports that Neil Young and Crazy Horse's next album will be called "Psychedelic Pill." (RTT News)
  
• Artist Bryan Lewis Saunders produced a series of self portraits from a period of painting under the influence of a different drug every day. (Happy Place)
  
• Westword describes the new EP by electronic musician "Glucose" as mixing "a podcast conversation about telepathic octopuses with a psychedelic experience on DMT." (Westword)
• Death and Taxes warns against dropping acid before watching Animal Collective's psychedelic new music video for the track "Today's Supernatural." (Death and Taxes)
• Dreamlab features Christian psychedelic music from the '60s and '70s. (Aux.Out.)
• "Skidoo," the 1968 LSD-fueled movie set on Alcatraz Island, was rereleased on DVD. (Boing Boing)
  
• Adidas Originals reveals its new "'Psychedelic' JS Bear shoes," which includes an upper faux fur teddy bear torso and "flower power" aesthetic. (Examiner)
  
• The iPhone app "Synesthetic" offers a "psychedelic experience" while listening to your songs of choice. (Touch Arcade)
• A Vermont farmer, protesting his arrest for marijuana possession, crushed 7 police cars with a tractor. (Raw Story)
• Reason magazine describes the severe mandatory minimum laws for drug possession in Florida in light of a recent case involving LSD. Florida laws consider the weight of confiscated blotter paper - rather than determining the amount of LSD on the paper - when determining sentences. (Reason)
• A former congressional candidate was arrested in an LSD sting involving a confidential informant after a 9-month investigation into LSD and marijuana trafficking. (5 News)
  
• Police dogs in Beacon, NY have been trained in narcotic detection with the purported ability to detect "marijuana, heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, PCP, LSD, and painkiller ingredients. (Poughkeepsie Journal)
  
• A Washington Times writer speculates on possible causes leading up to the Aurora, CO theater shooting, including possible chemical influences: "Holmes may have been experimenting with drugs or he may have experienced a psychotic break…. Compounds such as LSD…can cause psychiatric reactions such as anxiety or delusions, and drugs such as PCP, commonly known as angel dust, cause brain damage and produce hallucinations, paranoia, suicidal impulses and aggressive behavior." (Washington Times)
• A camping trip in the woods with drugs went awry for a Massachusetts couple, resulting in charges of heroin possession with intent to distribute, assault and battery on a household member, assault and battery on a police officer, resisting arrest, trespassing, and mayhem. (Eagle Tribune)
• A North Vancouver teen was found running naked down a highway while high on mushrooms and marijuana. (Open File)
  
• The Wyoming Highway Patrol confiscated 200 dosage units of LSD, their largest seizure in the last 12 years, after stopping a speeding vehicle on I-80. (Daily Ranger, SF Gate)
  
• A stuffed kookaburra, a carpet python, weapons, marijuana, ecstasy, and LSD were seized during a raid on a home in Sydney. (Herald Sun)

Disclaimer: "This Week in Psychedelics" does not censor or analyze the "news" links presented here. The purpose of this blog is to catalogue how psychedelics are presented by the mass media, which includes everything from the latest scientific research to misinformation. This presentation format encourages an open dialogue, and allows for misinformation to be noticed and addressed by interested and informed parties. We provide the content; you provide the analysis and debate.

Image by Christopher Martin Adams.

"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.