Culture

‘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,...

In a society where almost all drugs have negative associations, it's hard to have an open and rational discussion about their potential miraculous effects. For almost 50 years LSD was banned worldwide and under no circumstances was any scientific experimentation allowed. Only now are we starting to take another look at this long neglected area of science. David Nutt is the man pioneering this rediscovery. His LSD brain imaging experiment has been called the discovery of 2016, more important...

During the 1950s, a researcher gave an artist two 50-microgram doses of LSD (each dose separated by about an hour), and then the artist was encouraged to draw pictures of the doctor who administered the drugs. Nine portraits were drawn over the space of eight hours. We still don't know the identity of the artist. But it's surmised that the researcher was Oscar Janiger, a University of California-Irvine psychiatrist known for his work on LSD. The web site Live Science has Andrew Sewell, a...

The frequently arbitrary nature of our drug classification schemes is causing more and more confusion During the 1970s, the U.S. began what has now become known as the “war on drugs,” a reaction to the counterculture and drug-fueled climate of the 1960s. To the government’s dismay, these policies did nothing to quell the use of illicit drugs; rather, it opened a huge market for the illegal development, distribution and importation of psychoactive and hallucinogenic substances like...

Musician who co-founded Australian rock legends in 1973 with brother Angus Young dies following battle with dementia. Malcolm Young, guitarist and co-founder of AC/DC, died Saturday at the age of 64. Young had been suffering with dementia for the past three years, an illness that forced his retirement from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame-inducted band he founded with his brother Angus Young in 1973. "Today it is with deep heartfelt sadness that AC/DC has to announce the passing of...

A controversy has erupted over the safety of women in Alcoholics Anonymous and other 12-step fellowships in recent months—and not for the first time. To suggest that sexual harassment is the norm in meetings would be inaccurate. But one exploitative practice is common enough to have earned a widely known nickname: “13th stepping” occurs when a regular member, usually someone with years of sobriety, makes sexual advances towards a new member. This is obviously inappropriate. Merriam-Webster...

Las Vegas’ reputation as a place where you can indulge your vices and have a good time helps it lure some 43 million visitors a year. But tourists heading to Sin City hoping to consume newly legal cannabis have a problem: There are few places in town, other than private homes, where someone can legally light up a joint. In Nevada and the seven other states that allow people to consume marijuana for fun, it’s typically illegal to smoke or ingest the drug in dispensaries, bars, restaurants,...

A study from the Recovery Research Institute at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) has estimated, for the first time, the number of Americans who have overcome serious problems with the use of alcohol or other drugs. More than 9 percent of those responding to their survey of a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults indicated they had previously had such a problem but no longer did, and a little more than half of them reported accomplishing this with some sort of assistance. Only...

American teens underestimate their use of amphetamines, likely because many don't know that the attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) drug Adderall is an amphetamine, a new study suggests. High school and college students sometimes use Adderall, a type of stimulant medication, without a doctor's order because they believe it will boost their mental function and school performance. Use of amphetamines without a doctor's order, known as nonmedical use, carries a high risk of abuse...

The continued fragmentation of modern Western culture is driving us towards social isolation. However, humans are emotional beings; we learn through relationship. Without relationship we are stuck, unable to grow or evolve, much less survive. We live in a society that glorifies independence, when in reality, we are in greatest harmony when we are interdependent. For each of us co-authoring this article, entheogens and psychedelics have evoked a deep understanding of how critical community is...