Culture

Several controversial psychedelic drugs now show promise as powerful therapeutic treatments for depression, anxiety, and PTSD. New data from YouGov suggests that public support for these therapies may have something to do with education level. A study by researchers from New York University and Johns Hopkins University showed that a single treatment with psilocybin (the active ingredient in hallucinogenic mushrooms) reduced anxiety and depression in 80% of cancer patients. Another...

32% of Albertans have talked to their physician about alcohol use in the last two years, which is the highest of any province. $14B The cost of alcohol-related harm in Canada, according to Jean Harvey with the Canadian Population Health Initiative.

Two addiction counselors at a suburban Philadelphia halfway house died of opioid overdoses inside the facility on the same day, authorities said Wednesday. "If anybody is wondering how bad the opioid epidemic has become, this case is a frightening example," said Chester County District Attorney Tom Hogan. "Opioids are a monster that is slowly consuming our population." Emergency responders were called to Freedom Ridge Recovery Lodge on Sunday afternoon after residents found the counselors...

Anti-drugs campaigners have expressed dismay after the police backed plans to allow festival goers to test substances such as cocaine and ecstasy for purity before taking them. The service, which will be offered at a string of live music events this summer, including the Reading and Leeds festivals, is intended to identify potentially dangerous drugs, so that users can make an informed choice. Festival goers will be able to take illegal drugs to a testing tent, where analysts from an...

Last week, a photo of a pigeon’s nest in a filthy sink of a Vancouver single-room occupancy hotel became international news, picked up by Buzzfeed, the Independent and the South China Morning News. The nest, three eggs included, was made entirely of discarded drug needles. It was a potent image, for sure, since it evoked ideas of nature corrupted within a dystopian urban hellscape where the building blocks of nature had been replaced with old hypodermics. It was also more than a little...

Former Black Flag frontman on Trump, punks and why marijuana prohibition in America is a scam In the 30 years since former Black Flag singer Henry Rollins intentionally smoked weed, he says he has never grown curious to try pot again. There was a secondhand smoke incident a few years ago in Colorado, when he was filming the cannabis episode of 10 Things You Don't Know About for the History Channel – and while that made his sandwich taste very good, his indifference to personal use didn't...

OAKLAND, Calif.— In a packed, cavernous space one weekend late in April, a crowd of thousands was becoming increasingly amped up. Rainbow hair was commonplace, purple silk pants were sighted, and the smell of marijuana drifted in from a designated smoking area nearby. Audience members watched the stage with avid interest, leaping to occasionally shoeless feet to applaud and cheer. This wasn’t Coachella, taking place the same weekend some 500 miles south, or any other music festival, but a...

But will doctors and patients normalize alternative therapies involving MDMA, LSD, ketamine, and other ‘unlawful’ drugs? Will we see prescription psychedelics in our lifetime There’s a bit by comedian Bill Hicks from 1989, where he asks, “Wouldn’t you like to see a positive drug story in the news?” Then, he does an impression of a newscaster, reporting about a young man on LSD who doesn’t try to fly by doing something stupid, like jumping off a building — as most news stories reported back...

A dance with the devil. That’s how 33-year-old Elizabeth Mooney describes her struggle with drug addiction, recalling the “little voice” that repeatedly overpowered her mind after she had been in recovery, once for as long as three years. She knows the consequences of using again, yet she’s relapsed five times. The desire became “stronger and stronger and stronger,” she said. The opioid epidemic ravaging the United States has brought new impetus to understanding how addiction hijacks the...

Sometimes, the most effective health policy is to acknowledge that people are going to make unhealthy decisions—and try to create an environment where those choices are a little safer. Las Vegas health officials agree. They’re installing clean-needle vending machines at three locations in the city, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. These vending machines will look just like the ones that distribute snacks, except they don’t take cash. Kits with 10 new syringes, a tourniquet, and a...

How racial bias and segregation molded a gentler response to the opioid crisis. When New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie discusses his compassionate approach to the ongoing opioid epidemic, he frequently brings up a close friend from law school. He describes this friend as perfect — incredibly smart, with a successful law practice, with a beautiful and brilliant wife and kids, and both good looking and athletic. “So we loved him, but we hated him,” Christie joked at a 2015 town hall. “Because...

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (KMOV.com) - A family physician believes those in his position should be trained to fight the battle of drug addiction. Dr. David Glick of the Queen of Peace Center, in the Central West End, provides care for patients fighting the effects of drug addiction. It's an arena that he was once scared to venture in to. "Most family physicians are terrified to do it," Glick said. "I will admit I was once terrified initially, but now I know this is very doable." Given the number...

CHICAGO (AP) _ A hospital system’s study of Chicago neighborhoods finds wide health disparities, including with post-traumatic stress disorder. The Sinai Urban Health Institute released a survey Thursday drawing upon responses from roughly 2,000 residents in nine Chicago neighborhoods. Roughly 7 percent of U.S. adults experience PTSD during their lifetimes. However, residents in some Chicago neighborhoods report PTSD symptoms at more than four times that rate. The report says 34 percent of...

PARIS (AP) - Blood tests determined Sunday that a suspected Islamic extremist consumed drugs and alcohol before a frenzied spree of violence that ended when he took a soldier hostage at Paris' Orly Airport and was shot dead by her fellow patrolmen. The Paris prosecutors' office said toxicology tests conducted as part of an autopsy found traces of cocaine and cannabis in the blood of the suspect, Ziyed Ben Belgacem. He also had 0.93 grams of alcohol per liter of blood when he died Saturday,...

American teenagers are growing less likely to try drugs — and smartphones may be the reason. Faced with evidence showing that fewer teens are trying and regularly using illicit drugs, alcohol and cigarettes, some experts — and young people themselves — are speculating that the declining rates may be due to increased smartphone use. Helena Walker, a senior at Marist College, in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., is studying fashion design and finds she rarely leaves the studio. “I can’t take long breaks,...