DoseNation contributor HellKatonWheelz is producing a pilot for a documentary series about psychoactives called The Secret Life of... The series is described as:

An explorer's look at the history and culture of psychoactive plants and compounds, and an examination of how they are currently viewed. Each episode will take an in depth look at the story of a particular substance in a given city, and will then connect that narrative to how the substance is treated there today. The pilot episode [The Secret Life of Mushrooms] focuses on the history of psychedelic mushrooms in Huautla de Jiminez, Mexico, with R. Gordon Wasson's exposure to Mazatec curandero rituals, the resulting recreational popularization of mushrooms, and what effect narco-tourism has had on Huautla today.

She's down to the last stages of production and promotion, and is using IndieGoGo to help finance completing the pilot. Here's an excerpt in which "Dan and Job go mushroom hunting on their way to the top of Chikon Tokoxo, the Holy Mountain":

Head over to IndieGoGo and chip in!

Originally published in 1991 "PiHKAL - A Chemical Love Story" by Alexander and Ann Shulgin is one of the finest examples of psychedelic literature to have graced the printers. A combination of science, romance, insight, history and travel; of trip reports, biography, friendship and culture. The book is an exemplary blend of both authority and personality and pushes out the boundaries of psychedelic literature.

At 978 pages (2007 edition) PiHKAL (Phenethylamines I Have Known And Loved) contains a huge amount of information. It is split into two books. Book one is composed of three sections; the first is the narrative voice of Shura, the second is the voice of Alice and the third is a combination of the two. The second book is an index of 179 phenethylamines, which includes formula, synthesis, dosage, duration, qualitative comments and some extra commentary. One is immediately presented by the two key elements in the human-drug relationship -- objective chemistry and subjective experience...

This Daily Mail article provides interesting insights into the designer drug trade leading from China to the UK.

Young, rich and brimming with energy, Eric embodies the entrepreneurial spirit of modern China. He sits at his desk beneath a cabinet of spirits and cigars that he dispenses liberally to his overseas clients while secretaries totter in and out carrying samples and price lists.

Eric, 35, wears designer clothes, drives a Buick SUV and works such long hours his wife moans that he treats the luxury villa where they live like a hotel. But for all his infectious charm as he chats and jokes at his office in an up-market Shanghai apartment block, there is a sinister side to the business that has made this chemistry graduate conspicuously wealthy.

The booming and rapidly expanding company he heads produces designer drugs that supply tens of thousands of British youngsters with a legal - and potentially lethal - high. These new drugs could take over as a legal replacement for mephedrone, the amphetamine-like drug some users have called 'meow meow', which was banned by the Government ten days ago after legislation was rushed through. This followed media reports that cited its use by some users before their deaths. One of those was Lois Waters, 24, of North Yorkshire who died last month having taken mephedrone several days before.

With a laboratory near the city's international airport (whose neighbours include offices of Glaxo Smith Kline, Novartis and Astra Zeneca) and a factory with 65 workers three hours from Shanghai, Eric claims his company manufactures and ships hundreds of kilograms of drugs to Britain every week.

Despite the ban on mephedrone and other related-compounds, Eric and many other Chinese businessmen like him are ahead of the game. They beat customs controls using know-how and corruption and are creating and preparing new drugs that will deliberately dodge our classifications and continue to offer profitable, legal kicks in the UK.

Reader Bill sent us world of the artist Lumi 9, and psychedelic artwork from Atlanta. This piece is called "Ossoluta". Here's a link to a gallery of work entitled Ephemateria. Enjoy!

Hey kids, don't try this at home.

This video features an instructional "how to" on the creation of several different nonexistent substances. It is important to note that these substances do not produce any kind of high when ingested and may cause undesirable side effects such as death, itching, nasal infection, esophageal damage, and stomach or liver poisoning.

Hey stoners, if you're in need of a bong or pipe, you'd be wise to buy one while you can.

A bill passed Wednesday will make it illegal in Florida to sell the drug paraphernalia in most head shops.

The so-called "Bong Bill" passed by the Senate and then overwhelmingly passed 115-0 in the House now heads to Gov. Crist for final approval.

The bill prohibits the sale of the items by businesses that don't make at least 75 percent of their money from tobacco sales or make over 25 percent from sale of the prohibited items.

Violators could face up to a year in jail.

[Thanks Don!]

If that's not a band name, then I don't know what is. This short snippet in Popular Science says that the Taser company is testing the cardiac safety of using their products on people who are whacked out on meth by shocking anesthetized sheep who are also on an IV drip of methamphetamine. The article sagely mentions, "There's at least some scientific reasoning behind all the apparent madness."

However, I think they are missing something very important: testing it on anesthetized sheep, while possibly more humane, totally misses the point that the actual mind of a meth-head is doing something different than usual, and the heart rhythm will very much respond to changes in the level of conscious freak-outing-ness. I imagine it's very likely that the this would be a big part of it in cases where this became a problem, and they're going to totally miss that. Another casualty of scientific materialist reductionism.

Stephen Colbert gets trippy in this segment on treating the elderly with psychedelics. Cheating Death with Dr. Stephen T. Colbert, DFA - Tobacco Mints, Breast Milk & Hallucinogens.

Reader Beth sends us this news:

Ireland's head shops are under attack. Over the last three months seven retail stores which sell legal drugs, have been the target of deadly bomb attacks. Police are unsure whether the perpetrators are vigilantes concerned about the recent craze of legal highs or disgruntled drug dealers who are losing money as head shops cut into their business.

While the bombings have (excuse the pun) reignited the debate about Irish drug policy, which fails to deal with the proliferation of new drugs, they haven't succeeded in slowing business. In fact store owners are expanding their services by offering home delivery.

Thanks Beth, more on this story at the link below.

A hard and excellent DJ set mix by Axcys. Three Axcys volumes exist at his soundcloud page. Danger for your ears. Axcys - Silver Light Electro Vol. 1 Psychic Mirrors - Disc 2 Part C.