Happy New Year! The Erowid crew is now back at their desks tracking legislation, collaborating with researchers on a new survey into ketamine and health issues, moving the Erowid library to its new location, and keeping the ball rolling for ongoing projects like Shulgin lab book transcribing. Time keeps on slipping, slipping...

Analysis has shown that the chemicals in some Spice-like products (herbal smoking blends with synthetic cannabinoids deposited on them) are not deposited evenly on the plant material. This can result in potency that varies by as much as 3 to 10 times within a single package. Research into this issue is forthcoming.

Breaking Convention (April 2-3, 2011) in Canterbury, UK A Multidisciplinary Conference on Psychedelic Consciousness

http://ukcpsychedelics.co.uk/conference/

Windowpane to the Soul / Drugs of Boom An experience with eye-gazing results in a strong alteration in consciousness, and Portugal's decriminalization of "personal use" quantities of illegal drugs yields up specimens to photograph. Jon "Photo Geek" Hanna reports on the Boom Festival.

Gary Fisher Character Vault In the 1960s, Fisher investigated psychedelics in the treatment of schizophrenic and autistic children and briefly worked with Timothy Leary's group in Mexico. He is also an accomplished painter who has created amazing visionary art.

Mystical Insight and Drugs Erik Davis discusses three favorites among books that explore "pharmako-gnosis", or deeply transformative insights catalyzed by psychoactive substances.

5-MeO-DMT Timeline On Jan 19 2011, 5-MeO-DMT will become illegal to buy, sell, or possess in the United States without a license. In December 2010, roughly 75 years after it was first synthesized, The DEA completed the steps necessary to place 5-MeO-DMT in Schedule I.

1. The Psychozoic Press, Erowid Editions - Number 2 (PDF)
   The second issue of Erowid's newly typeset digital edition of the Psychozoic Press has now been posted. This quarterly publication produced in the 1980s provides an interesting historic view into psychedelic culture of the Reagan era.

• Kratom Shooters (Kratom), by Mishkin

• Is it possible to synthesize GHB using potassium bicarbonate?
• Can freebase cocaine be converted back to powder?

EcstasyData.org is a project of Erowid Center that conducts laboratory testing of street Ecstasy tablets and publishes these and other testing results online.

• 
  MONKEY (Orlando, FL)
  Contains Caffeine, Procaine, and MDMA.
• 
  YELLOW STAR (Houston, TX)
  Contains MDMA and Caffeine.

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