Global Ganja Report

Bob Weir, who helped define the sound of the Grateful Dead, flagship band of the 1960s San Francisco scene, died Jan. 10 at the age of 78. His life was synonymous with the Dead, which he saw through its various incarnations—from its early roots in the Bay Area folk revival and bluegrass circuit to preeminent symbol of the youth counterculture, to an American institution and grand-daddies of the "jam band" tradition.

Indonesia repatriated two Dutch nationals, one of whom had been on death row, to the Netherlands on Dec. 8, following a bilateral agreement signed between the two countries. Both were convicted of smuggling illegal substances and had been serving lengthy sentences under the Indonesian drug laws before their repatriation.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on June 11 signed a bill creating a consortium of universities, hospitals and pharmaceutical firms to conduct clinical trials on ibogaine, in hopes of receiving US Food & Drug Administration approval. The press release on the signing hails ibogaine as an "emerging treatment for neurological and mental health conditions." Lawmakers approved $50 million to support the effort, making Texas the global leader in psychedelic research investment. (Texas Tribune)

The long-promised crackdown on unlicensed cannabis sales is finally arriving in New York City. The permanent cannabis carnival in Washington Square has been cleared by the police, and unlicensed stores are being raided. Yet, in a bitter irony, obstacles to the licensed retail sector, including legal challenges, continue to mount.

Peter Lamborn Wilson, celebrated "underground intellectual" and a pivotal figure in the revival of American anarchism over the past 40 years, died May 23 at his home in Saugerties, NY, reportedly from a heart attack. A controversial as well as inspirational figure, Wilson was the author of several cult classics, ranging from ecstatic rants to anti-authoritarian interpretations of history and what he called "drop-out culture."

Peter Gorman, the acclaimed journalist, naturalist and adventurer who aggressively covered cannabis and the drug war beat for over 30 years, died at his home in Texas on April 24 at the age of 71. He had just returned from a long-planned river journey into a remote area of the Peruvian Amazon that he had first visited in 1984, and where he first encountered the psychoactive shamanic substances that would define much of his life's work.

A Bollywood celebrity was arrested for supposedly using hashish and other drugs on a cruise ship off Mumbai—one of a slew of high-profile cases that have embarrassed India's entertainment industry and political establishment. Apart from providing fodder for the gossip columns, however, the affair raises serious concerns about civil rights in "the world's largest democracy."

Further adventures of Peter Gorman are chronicled in this quasi-memoir, Magic Mushrooms in India & Other Fantastic Tales. Gorman's best known for his work in the Peruvian Amazon, where he's spent the good part of the last three decades hunting for rare flora and connecting with curanderos who turned him on to ayahuasca and other exotic hallucinogens.

Gorman was a contributing editor at High Times in the '90s, where many of these stories first appeared—visits to India seeking mushrooms and bhang, and to Morocco on the kif trail.