Culture

'The old perception of students as hard-boozing party animals may now be a dated one' Students are worried that their peers might be alcoholics, survey finds ( Getty ) One in four students know someone at university who they believe is an alcoholic, according to a new poll. Despite concerns that their classmates are dependent on alcohol, the majority (52 per cent) of students said they did not get drunk on a typical week, according to the YouGov research. The survey, of more than 1,000...

Over the last year, at lunches with various Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, I have been offered: Several chances to microdose on LSD (pass!); at least four suggestions that magic mushrooms will help me become a better reporter (maybe); three declarations that Ecstasy will make me a nicer person (doubt it); and now that it is legal in California, weed, weed and more weed in every conceivable delivery method (yum, gummy bears!). And, of course, ayahuasca, a brew made from plants that includes...

America's drug problem may be even worse than officials realize. And illicit drugs are consumed at a higher rate during celebratory events. Those are just two of the conclusions scientists have drawn from recent studies of drug residues in sewage. America's drug problem may be even worse than officials realize. And illicit drugs are consumed at a higher rate during celebratory events. Those are just two of the conclusions scientists have drawn from recent studies of drug residues in sewage....

Class A drug use is rising among young middle-class professionals. Yes, we're hypocrites, they tell David Bates as British authorities blame them for fuelling gang wars. Among Britons aged 16 to 24, 4.1 per cent use drugs more than once a month, statistics say. But young Londoners reckon the figure is closer to 90 per cent. The evening had followed a familiar trajectory: a few beers, raucous laughter, the customary decompression after five days of work for four twenty-something men with...

The Home Office “would not stand in the way” of drug testing at clubs and festivals, it said. It follows calls from experts and campaigners for music events to provide the service after two people died and 13 others were hospitalised at Hampshire’s Mutiny festival. Eleven people have died at festivals in the last two years even though drug use is not increasing, suggesting that illegal substances now have higher levels of toxicity. Currently, drug testing facilities are offered at an...

J.G. is a lawyer in his early 30s. He’s a fast talker and has the lean, sinewy build of a distance runner. His choice of profession seems preordained, as he speaks in fully formed paragraphs, his thoughts organized by topic sentences. He’s also a worrier—a big one—who for years used alcohol to soothe his anxiety. J.G. started drinking at 15, when he and a friend experimented in his parents’ liquor cabinet. He favored gin and whiskey but drank whatever he thought his parents would miss the...

Opioid overdose deaths in the United States were five times higher in 2016 than in 2000. – Centers for Disease Control and Prevention In the winter of 2014, Chris Abert and a few friends began riding their bikes around Bloomington, Indiana, offering jackets, hot coffee and friendship to people who were homeless. Their outreach focused on building relationships and sought to give a voice to underserved members of the community. Almost immediately, people said they needed clean syringes and...

The US government secured a criminal conviction against Purdue Pharma in the mid-2000s but failed to curb sales of the drug after Giuliani reached a deal to avoid a bar on Purdue doing business Connecticut-based Purdue Pharma is facing a wave of civil lawsuits as New York, Texas and five other states have joined a growing number actions against the company. Photograph: Douglas Healey/AP The US government missed the opportunity to curb sales of the drug that kickstarted the opioid epidemic...

The first time I had a weed brownie, I ate way too much. Someone told me to just have half, and, like the idiot novice I was, I stuffed the entire thing in my mouth. It kicked in an hour or so later, when I found myself running through a Brooklyn park thinking I was being chased by evil fairies. Then, I went home, considered calling 911, made my roommate babysit me instead, spilled water in my bed and spent the whole night dreaming I was on a boat. I was fine in the morning. Weed is...

‘Crystal tourism’ is a boom industry thanks to markets run by Asian migrants in the Czech Republic that attract methamphetamine users from neighbouring Germany It seems to be a well-honed ritual: the fashionably dressed German woman in her mid-20s gets a manicure while her toddler keeps herself entertained with a tablet computer on the nail studio’s couch. Meanwhile, in a nearby storage room filled with gaudy goods of questionable origin — from counterfeit Barbie dolls and neo-Nazi T-shirts...

In terms of costs per capita the opioid epidemic sweeping across the United States of America has hit West Virginia, Washington D.C., and New Hampshire the hardest by far, according to a new analysis released on Tuesday (03/20/18) by the American Enterprise Institute. This study breaks down costs identified by the White House Council of Economic Advisors, which estimated that the epidemic cost the country $504 billion in the year 2015 alone in mortality costs, healthcare costs, productivity...

Charlize Theron got the full story of her mom's pot purchase at this week's premiere of "Gringo." (CNN) - Charlize Theron may have the coolest mother ever. The "Atomic Blonde" star appeared on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" on Wednesday to promote her new film, "Gringo." In the dark comedy, she and Joel Edgerton play a pair who run a company that makes medical marijuana pills. Theron told Kimmel she's had some experience with cannabis. "I'm always willing to try anything," she said. "I mean,...

(Full title: Spring breakers gone wild: College students’ annual rite of debauchery continues despite towns’ attempts to curb it) Spring break crackdown: New rules in Fort Lauderdale College students' annual rite of debauchery during spring break continues despite towns' attempts to curb it. Just when you thought spring break couldn’t get any weirder, this happened. College students from across the country gathered this week in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to take swigs out of a half-naked...

A pop star has questioned the police's use of social media after officers posted a tweet about discovering a cannabis farm in a house. Former One Direction singer Louis Tomlinson has 33m Twitter followers (BBC RADIO 1)Former One Direction singer Louis Tomlinson accused West Yorkshire officers of "gloating" over the raid. In a Twitter post the Doncaster-born star said: "Surely as law enforcement you should be rising above 'venting' to your followers." Police discovered the Keighley cannabis...

CONCORD, NC (WBTV) - Law enforcement and fire agencies have seen a spike in emergency responses to Cabarrus County high schools for symptoms suggestive of e-cigarettes and/or vaporizer pens being used for Cannabidiol (CBD) oil or synthetic cannabinoids. There have been 18 cases of suspected use identified since Jan. 1 at local high schools. “Students, parents, teachers and the community must understand the seriousness of this problem and the potential to cause major medical issues,” said...

WASHINGTON (WJLA) - As e-cigarettes and vapes help adults quit the tobacco habit, the JUUL is booming in popularity among teenagers. As e-cigarettes and vapes help adults quit the tobacco habit, the JUUL is booming in popularity among teenagers. (WJLA)Why? For starters, teenagers like that it can be hidden in plain sight. It looks like a flash drive and charges by USB. It comes in flavors like crème Brulee, which smells almost as tasty as a caramel macchiato. There are several kinds of...

Two heroin addicts share the stories of their lifelong addictions to heroin, in hopes that they will serve as a warning to others and possibly save lives. This story contains graphic language and imagery. Reader discretion is advised. Atlanta (CNN) - We hear about those who've kicked addictions, inspiring hope. We shake our heads in sadness and despair when we learn about those who've lost the battle and instead found early graves. Our hearts ache when surviving family members and friends...

SOURCE They asked Faulkner what’s the best job for a writer, in order to maintain a flow of day to day money and still have the time for his prose. His answer was to manage a whore house, reason being that the writer would glean material from people coming to get drunk and act bad with loose women. Further, the whore house environment would stimulate the scribe and expose him to new vernacular, resulting in better writing than can be had sitting around in some coffee house. AUTHOR "DG...

HUNTINGTON — When Kari Kidd envisions her future, she sees herself as the owner of a food truck, serving Southern cuisine, employing addicts and serving customers that some restaurants might turn away. "No matter what you have going on in your life or how poor you are, people always have to eat," she said. Participants of the Cabell County Adult Drug Court attend a healthy cooking class Thursday at Huntington's Kitchen. Photos by Lori Wolfe/The Herald-Dispatch To help jump-start that...

If you grew up as part of the D.A.R.E. generation — kids of the 1980s and ’90s who learned about drugs from alarmist public service announcements — you know all too well the dangers of so-called gateway drugs. Go to bed with marijuana or beer, you were taught, and risk waking up with cocaine or heroin. Three decades later, scientists and politicians still debate whether using “soft” drugs necessarily leads a person down a slippery slope to the harder stuff. Critics note that marijuana has,...