the swiss chemist most noted for discovering LSD albert hoffman died this last tuesday, april 28th, of heart failure at his home in switzerland at the ripe old age of 102. seems like only yesterday we were celebrating LSD’s birthday. albert hoffman was born january 11th, 1906. rest in peace, mr hoffman!
Tag Archive for 'drugs'
introduced by representative barney frank (democrat - maryland) and co-sponsored by ron paul (republican - texas), maurice hinchey (democrat - new york), sam farr (democrat - california), and dana rohrabacher (republican - california), the bill HR 5842 - the Medical Marijuana Patient Protection Act - has been introduced in congress. the bill proposes to reclassify marijuana from a Schedule I drug (which cannot be prescribed) to a Schedule II drug, recognize the medical value of marjiuana, and bolster states rights by protecting state run medical marijuana dispensaries from DEA raids & federal prosecution. NORML has a web page submission form where you can email your representative in support of this legislation.
it’s friday, and this weekend you may be heading out on a lukewarm to semi-hot date. need advice? no problem! that funny fella dan clark is here to help you with the conceptual art that is dating. first, please watch and learn with dan clark’s 10 reasons not to take drugs on a date.
next, to make sure you arrive okay, here’s 10 ways not to arrive for a date …
good advice!! last but not least, & this is very important: 10 things you should not say after sex.
as if it needs mentioning, the drug methamphetamine is absolutely horrible. to drive that point home further, jezebel is hosting a short clip from the A&E show Intervention of Cristy, the 24 year girl who has been a meth user & addict for 10 years. it is very very sad and disturbing. longer video clips of this episode are available on youtube. if that isn’t enough, there’s an informative page via pbs frontline on how meth destroys the body. this is the worst drug. just awful. seeing what meth use does to people is the best deterrent. please avoid at all costs.
though it’s not coming to any victoria’s secret shop anytime soon, it does make smuggling contraband so much more exciting and sexy! yes, it’s the plunderbra - as in to plunder, steal, or loot (click the pic to the left for a more detailed image). very inventive & ingenius. this custom made bra was used to smuggle $195,540 (£100,000) of cocaine into Britain. special! one can only wonder of the undetected plunder brought in prior to the plunderbra’s final blunder. yes …
i just read this story titled drug czar gives warning: federal official calls marijuana growers dangerous terrorists. terrorists? i have to do a double take on the use of the word ‘terrorists’. really? are you serious? yes, i guess you are. John P. Walters, the director of National Drug Control Policy in the US states is noted as saying ‘the people who plant and tend the gardens are terrorists who wouldn’t hesitate to help other terrorists get into the country with the aim of causing mass casualties.‘ wow. that is pretty heavy. so marijuana growers are classified as terrorists? i have yet to see any pot growers bomb embassies or fly planes into buildings. but he must know what he’s talking about. Mr. Walters, directing a message at marijuana smokers & users, is also quoted as saying “Don’t buy drugs. They fund violence and terror.” really? okay. i agree on that - funding violence and terror is a bad thing.
hey, speaking of funding violence and terror and the war on drugs, did you know that in may of 2001 the united states gave $43 million dollars to the Taliban government in afghanistan for declaring the cultivation of opium poppies illegal? yes. with US tax dollars that could have gone to any number of domestic policy issues, the bush administration gave $43 million dollars in funding to the Taliban regime. nevermind that, at that time, the Taliban government was giving sanctuary to Osama bin Laden (wanted then for the 1998 bombing of the US embassies in Africa), the Taliban government was providing a base of operations for the al-Qaeda network, the Taliban government was known for committing massive human rights violations, or that the opium ban was never enforced and was actually used by the Taliban to drive up opium prices and raise more money (brilliant marketing move though).
“Don’t buy drugs. They fund violence and terror.” i love the irony of our federal government. really. it’s fantastic! take the profit out of pot and legalize marijuana already. this war on drugs is just idiotic.
wow. hats off to this brave canadian fellow and his very heroic dose of salvia divinorum. i mean that. and good that his friends are looking out for him too. salvia divinorum is a plant and it’s perfectly legal. it grows in parts of mexico. the name salvia divinorum literally translates to “sage of the seers”. it is a plant with a sense of humor and known for it’s shamanistic qualities. salvia divinorum contains a powerful psychoactive called salvinorin A. you can purchase salvia divinorum as an extract where the potency is increased 5X, 10X, 15X, and even 20X. oh boy. be warned though, it’s a rough ride (peep the video). there an informative salvia guide at sagewisdom.org that goes into more detail about the mighty plant. and the youtube clip is a good way to show that salvia is not a party drug. sometimes fun, sometimes not so fun. it’s always an interesting experience, but not a party drug. no. oh no.
today is 4/20 - so act accordingly. especially at 4:20pm. while you are at it, why not read up on 10 Things Every Parent, Teenager, & Teacher Should Know About Marijuana. good information there. attitudes seem to being changing more and more from one of ‘reefer madness’ to one of ‘reefer rad-ness!’ that is a good thing.
on april 16th, 1943 a young swiss chemist named albert hoffman accidentally discovered the interesting effects of lysergic acid diethylamide, better known as LSD. it is safe to say that nothing in modern society (from baseball, to the military, to art, to health and science) has been the same since. one small yet big example: francis crick, noble prize winner and geneticist, was under the influence of LSD when he first deduced the structure of human DNA. more? okay: nobel prize winning chemist dr. kary mullis came up with the idea for the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) process used in the amplification of specific DNA sequences from an experience he had while under the influence of LSD. quoting albert hoffman from the wired article:
“I think that in human evolution it has never been as necessary to have this substance LSD,” he said at a symposium in 2006, marking the centennial of his birth. “It is just a tool to turn us into what we are supposed to be.”
so happy birthday LSD! you’re 64 years old today!
what drugs are dangerous according to their level of addictiveness? a new report by the Science and Technology Select Committee in the united kingdom urges that drugs should be considered harmful or dangerous based on their level of addictiveness. there’s even a handy bar graph to keep track of drug danger levels (according to how addictive the drug is considered) which is handy for when you’re out shopping (even smaller chart here). the danger levels/harm ratings on the drug chart are listed as being rated by “independent experts” (note: tommy chong & cheech marin were not available for comment). so it looks like ecstasy is the new gateway drug as it is rated as the least addicitve (g$: i told you so!), whereas the lazy lettuce is listed as middle of the road. both are less addictive than alcohol though. i find it odd that the graph lists heroin as more addictive than tobacco. i know lots of people who’ve kicked heroin, but none of them have been able to stop smoking. go figure.
it’s friday & we’re totally peaking! actually, just wrapping up the semi-unofficial week of the brain with this is your brain on ecstasy. it’s a highly informative slideshow (created by emanuel sferios & brought to you by the rad folks at dancesafe) outlining what takes place on a chemical level in your brain when you drop one of those special little MDMA pills or capsules. good stuff (the slideshow too).
here’s a really smart opinion piece in the LA times on why all drugs should be legalized. it’s written by the former police chief of the Seattle Police Department & a cop for 34 years, Norm Stamper. Stamper is the author of “Breaking Rank: A Top Cop’s Expose of the Dark Side of American Policing” (Nation Books, 2005). give it a read if you’ve got time.