Topic: DRUGS - on October 12, 2009 at 11:28:00 AM CEST
Pot legalisation moves into a higher gear in California
Marijuana advocates are gathering signatures to get as many as three pot-legalisation measures on the ballot in 2010 in California, setting up what could be a groundbreaking clash with the federal government over US drug policy.
At least one poll shows voters would support lifting the pot prohibition, which would make the state of more than 38 million the first in the nation to legalise marijuana.
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Topic: DRUGS - on October 11, 2009 at 11:14:00 AM CEST
The rise and rise of legal highs
Good trip? A personal investigation into the £10m-a-year market in legal drugs
How can you get high without breaking the law? A survey of friends and colleagues. "Smoke nutmeg," said an actor. "Find a dodgy Starbucks barista who'll sell you the nitrous oxide cans they use to whip cream," said a banker. "Ask around for something called Methedrome, or Mephedrone, or Mephedrome," advised an account manager. "Lick a newt," texted a doctor, "and don't ask me things like this again." One PR directed me towards news stories about Spice, an over-the-counter smoking mixture that was reported to have effects similar to cannabis; a web developer directed me to a recent issue of Mixmag, announcing the new popularity of "analogue drugs" such as Mephedrone (aha!) in British clubs. Something known as "that purple drank" was a favourite of American rappers in the 1990s, an A&R man told me: "I think it was a mixture of cough syrup and Sprite and it made everything move very slowly." A teacher remembered that a fistful of ProPlus worked when he was younger. A civil servant had tried snorting Dreft detergent, to no effect.
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Topic: DRUGS - on October 8, 2009 at 10:01:00 AM CEST
DEA vs. 'House'
Does the DEA control what we watch on TV? Active tvsquad.com commenter bruce is stirring up controversy with recent accusations about the TV show 'House'.
We have not been given, nor will we be given, an adequate explanation for why House's chronic pain is suddenly manageable without painkillers. Keep in mind House had a legitimate, verifiable medical condition (infarction leading to muscle death) in his leg, so it's not like fibromyalgia or bad headaches some other painful condition that is hard if not impossible to medically verify.
The DEA has been writing letters to Fox complaining about House's "flagrant use and abuse of narcotics without consequence" for years now, and finally the network, writers, and producers all caved in to the government's demands... in the worst possible way. They decided to make the vicodin House had been taking for over a decade into a sudden hallucinogen, causing him to see dead people. They showed him going through the painful detox, and now he's just fine and dandy, no reference to his pain at all. And there won't be any further reference to his pain, other than "it's all manageable."
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Topic: DRUGS - on October 8, 2009 at 9:57:00 AM CEST
Homegrown Pot Threatens Mexican Cartels
Stiff competition from thousands of mom-and-pop marijuana farmers in the United States threatens the bottom line for powerful Mexican drug organizations in a way that decades of arrests and seizures have not, according to law enforcement officials and pot growers in the United States and Mexico.
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Topic: DRUGS - on October 8, 2009 at 9:49:00 AM CEST
Carl Sagan on Pot
This account was written in 1969 for publication in Marihuana Reconsidered (1971). Sagan was in his mid-thirties at that time. He continued to use cannabis for the rest of his life.
It all began about ten years ago. I had reached a considerably more relaxed period in my life - a time when I had come to feel that there was more to living than science, a time of awakening of my social consciousness and amiability, a time when I was open to new experiences. I had become friendly with a group of people who occasionally smoked cannabis, irregularly, but with evident pleasure. Initially I was unwilling to partake, but the apparent euphoria that cannabis produced and the fact that there was no physiological addiction to the plant eventually persuaded me to try.
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Topic: DRUGS - on October 3, 2009 at 12:39:00 PM CEST
Mexico makes record drugs seizure
Mexican authorities say they have made their largest-ever seizure of chemicals used in the manufacturer of the synthetic drug methamphetamine.
A total of 37 tonnes were confiscated in two separate raids in different parts of the country.
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Topic: DRUGS - on October 3, 2009 at 12:37:00 PM CEST
Top 10 Most Powerful Drug Lords
We have all heard of wealthy businessmen like Bill Gates – but there is also an underworld of incredibly rich and powerful men who control much of the international trade in drugs. Their many successes makes one wonder whether there is any point in having a “war” on drugs – it seems to not be helping a great deal. This list looks at ten of the most powerful drug lords in modern history.
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Topic: DRUGS - on October 1, 2009 at 12:21:00 PM CEST
Female Stoners - Women Pot Smokers
They've got killer careers and enviable social lives. They're also major potheads. Why are so many smart, successful women lighting up in their off-hours?
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Topic: DRUGS - on October 1, 2009 at 12:17:00 PM CEST
Jamaica's Andrew Tosh found guilty of possession
Andrew Tosh, 42, son of the late Peter Tosh, was found guilty late Monday of possessing a small amount of marijuana. The court in St. Catherine parish ordered him to perform 200 hours of community service, according to court documents.
Andrew Tosh - Tribute to Peter Tosh 2006
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Topic: DRUGS - on October 1, 2009 at 12:15:00 PM CEST
Weder high noch sehr schlau
ugendliche haben kiloweise Hanf aus einem Feld geklaut. Der erhoffte Rausch bleibt aber aus: Es handelt sich um Futterhanf, der fast kein THC enthält.
Eigentlich sind die Hanfdiebe fast zu bemitleiden. Da sind sie nachts durchs Maisfeld geschlichen, um die darin versteckten Hanfstauden zu kappen, und haben bei jedem Autoscheinwerfer, der von der Usterstrasse her leuchtete, vor Schreck fast in die Hosen gemacht. Dann haben sie den erbeuteten Hanf tagelang unter grösster Geheimhaltung getrocknet, die Blüten aussortiert und schliesslich mit dem «Gras» einen ersten Joint gedreht, ihn geraucht – und nichts ist passiert. Bei dem Hanf, den sie von Biobauer Siegfried Bertschingers Feld in Dübendorf gestohlen haben, handelt es sich nämlich um Futterhanf. Betäubende Wirkung: Fehlanzeige.
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Topic: DRUGS - on October 1, 2009 at 12:06:00 PM CEST
Mexican Cartels Set Up Pot Farms in Texas - 10,000 plants
Several recent busts south of Dallas highlight what drug investigators describe as a growing trend: Mexican cartels setting up elaborate marijuana farms on U.S. soil to save time and money. Earlier this month, detectives in Ellis County discovered a pot growing operation containing nearly 10,000 plants worth an estimated $24 million.
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Topic: DRUGS - on October 1, 2009 at 12:05:00 PM CEST
1,5 Millionen-Euro-Ernte beschlagnahmt
Marihuana-Pflanzen mit einem Schwarzmarktwert von 1,5 Millionen Euro hat die Polizei jüngst in Gebäuden in der Region Würzburg gefunden. Das sei für die Rauschgift-Szene ein schwerer Schlag, sagte ein Polizeisprecher. "Das war auch für die Kollegen ein Fall, der über das normale Maß hinausgeht."
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