Easy Rider
‘Knights Templar’ Drug Cartel Calls For Truce During Pope’s Visit to Mexico
Reports the AFP via the Herald Sun:
The Knights Templar drug cartel is calling a short truce — but only to welcome Pope Benedict XVI to Mexico. They did put up signs announcing this,” a Guanajuato state government source told AFP privately on Sunday.
The Knights Templar are holding off on all violent action, we are not killers, welcome to the Pope,” the official said paraphrasing one of the signs put up in the town of Irapuato, Guanajuato state. The signs were seen in at least seven towns statewide.
The Pope arrives March 23 in Leon, in the neighbouring state of Michoacan, where the Knights Templar were founded. President Felipe Calderon has launched a military crackdown against the cartels battling it out for control of the lucrative drug trade, in which some 50,000 Mexicans have lost their lives since 2006.
LSD Gets Another Look As Alcoholism Treatment
Scott Hensley reports on NPR:
You might be tempted to chuckle about some Norwegian researchers peering back at experiments done during the ’60s and ’70s with LSD as a treatment for alcoholism.
But don’t.
Their rigorous analysis, combining data from six different studies, concludes that one dose of the hallucinogenic drug might just help.
The past studies randomly assigned patients to get a strong dose of LSD or something else (another drug, such as amphetamine, a low dose of LSD or nothing special). And the results provide evidence for a beneficial effect on abstinence from alcohol.
For what it’s worth, the analysis, just published online by the Journal of Psychopharmacology, was funded by the Research Council of Norway, not exactly a fringe outfit …
What Might Have Been: Dennis Kucinich, ‘Joe the Plumber’ Match Up
Via CBS News:
One district in northern Ohio made its fair share of news on Super Tuesday. “Joe the Plumber” won the Republican primary in the 9th congressional district, setting up a general election showdown against Rep. Marcy Kaptur, the veteran lawmaker who pulled out a win over Rep. Dennis Kucinich.
Samuel Wurzelbacher, who became known as “Joe the Plumber” during the 2008 presidential campaign, launched his first foray into professional politics in a newly redesigned district void of any Republican incumbent. The new northeastern Ohio district, which now spans from Cleveland to Toledo, is heavily Democratic and poses a challenge for the vocal and outspoken figure of the right.
Wurzelbacher ascended into the limelight in 2008 after he was videotaped asking then-candidate Barack Obama a question about potential taxes imposed on him for opening a small plumbing business. Then-Senator Obama’s response included a statement he wanted to “spread the wealth,” which became…
Pat Robertson Wants to Legalize Pot
Hell has frozen over. Mike Riggs writes on Reason:
Pat Robertson, America’s longest-serving eschatological bigot and spiritual leader, took to the airwaves of the 700 Club last week and denounced the war on weed, as well as liberals, all of whom write laws in a “punitive spirit.” Putting aside the fact that Robertson has, on occasion, invited God to smite people people of abominable politics and preferences, this time he is making (some) sense:
We here in America make up 5% of the world’s population, but we make up 25% of jailed prisoners…
Every time the liberals pass a bill — I don’t care what it involves — they stick criminal sanctions on it. They don’t feel there is any way people are going to keep a law unless they can put them in jail.
I became sort of a hero of the hippie culture, I guess, when I said I think we ought…
How Marijuana Impairs Short-Term Memory
Mo Costandi writes in the Guardian:
My latest news story for Nature describes a new study which explains how marijuana causes impairments in working memory, or the ability to retain information for short periods of time. This is a well known side effect of marijuana, which is unwanted with respect to medicinal use of the drug, but until now the underlying neurobiology was unknown.
The research shows that tetrahydrocanabinol (THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana) impairs working memory by inducing a form of synaptic plasticity that weakens neuronal connections. This could lead to new THC-related drugs that have therapeutic value but do not cause this unwanted effect. More interestingly, though, the findings provide compelling evidence that hitherto neglected brain cells called astrocytes are critical for brain function and play a direct role in cognitive processes.
There are two different types of synapitc plasticity. One of these, called long-term potentiation, strengthens the connections between neurons so…
California is America’s Most-Hated State
Dennis Romero writes in LA Weekly:
Don’t hate us because we’re beautiful. Or do.
It turns out the left-most state is also America’s most-hated, according to a recent survey by Public Policy Polling. And California’s left-leaning politics seem to have a lot to do with it. The Golden State is the most-disliked in the union, and Hawaii is the most-liked. In fact, ours was one of only five states that received majority-negative views by our fellow Americans, according to PPP:
Americans generally have a favorable view of most states. Only five are in negative territory, led by California (27% favorable and 44% unfavorable), Illinois (19-29), New Jersey (25-32), Mississippi (22-28), and Utah (24-27).
Barack Obama’s home state of Hawaii was the most-loved, with 54 percent of us viewing it positively. (Of course — it’s America’s vacation state) …
Marijuana Use At 30-Year High Among U.S. Teenagers
Anahad O’Connor reports in the NY Times:
One out of every 15 high school students smokes marijuana on a near daily basis, a figure that has reached a 30-year peak even as use of alcohol, cigarettes and cocaine among teenagers continues a slow decline, according to a new government report.
The popularity of marijuana, which is now more prevalent among 10th graders than cigarette smoking, reflects what researchers and drug officials say is a growing perception among teenagers that habitual marijuana use carries little risk of harm. That perception, experts say, is fueled in part by wider familiarity with medicinal marijuana and greater ease in obtaining it.
Although it is difficult to track the numbers, “we’re clearly seeing an increase in teenage marijuana use that corresponds pretty clearly in time with the increase in medical marijuana use,” said Dr. Christian Thurstone, medical director of the adolescent substance abuse treatment program at Denver Health…
Missouri is the U.S. Meth Capital, Again
Walter White has some serious competition. Chad Garrison writes in the Riverfront Times:
Missouri has once again been ranked as the nation’s biggest meth-producing state based on the number of drug labs busted last year.
According to Missouri Highway Patrol figures published in the Post-Dispatch, law enforcement seized 1,774 meth labs in 2009 — up 20 percent from the 1,487 confiscated in 2008.
Missouri outpaced the No. 2 state — Indiana — which had 1,096 meth lab busts in 2009. Jefferson County, Missouri, led the state with 227 labs confiscated last year.
The news comes as Missouri legislature considers a bill that would require pseudoephedrine — the key ingredient for meth — to be sold only as a prescription.
The True Cost of Commuting
Photo: Minesweeper (CC)
Via Mr. Money Mustache:
It was a beautiful evening in my neighborhood, and I was enjoying one of my giant homebrews on a deck chair I had placed in the middle of the street, as part of a nearby block’s Annual Street Party.
I was talking to a couple I had just met, and the topic turned to the beauty of the neighborhood. “Wow, I didn’t even realize this area was here”, the guy said, “It’s beautiful and old and the trees are giant and all of families hang out together outside as if it were still 1950!”. “Yeah”, said his wife, “We should really move here!”.
Then the discussion turned to the comparatively affordable housing, and the other benefits of living in my particular town. By the end of it, these people were verbally working out the details of a potential move within just a few months.
Except their plan was…
5 Tons of Marijuana Seized in Indianapolis, State’s Largest Drug Bust
Mary Beth Schneider reports in the Indianapolis Star:
An investigation that started in March with money falling from a hidden compartment in a truck ended last week as apparently the largest drug bust in Indiana history.
More than 5 tons of marijuana and more than $4.3 million are now in law enforcement hands, with four men in the Marion County Jail on charges that could put them in prison for life.
The size of the bust has law enforcement confident that they have, at least for now, halted a large drug distribution operation in Indianapolis and probably affected a Mexican drug cartel …
Obama’s Crackdown on Medical Marijuana
Photo: O'Dea (CC)
Justin Elliott writes in Salon:
Back in July, I interviewed a drug policy expert about an apparent change in Justice Department policy that suggested a crackdown on medical marijuana — which is legal in many states but illegal under federal law — might be coming.
Now, with the announcement last week by California’s four U.S. attorneys that pot dispensaries will be targeted with harsh criminal sanctions, the shift feared by drug policy reform advocates appears to have come to pass. The rhetoric from candidate Barack Obama about not prioritizing medical marijuana cases now seems a distant memory.
To learn more about what’s happening in California, I spoke to Bob Egelko, a veteran reporter who covers courts for the San Francisco Chronicle and has been following the story.
Marijuana Will Make You Sad (If You Are Prone To Be Depressed)?
Via Science Daily:
Young people who are genetically vulnerable to depression should be extra careful about using cannabis: smoking cannabis leads to an increased risk of developing depressive symptoms. This has emerged from research carried out by Roy Otten at the Behavioural Science Institute of Radboud University Nijmegen that is published in the online version of the scientific journal Addiction Biology. Two-thirds of the population have the gene variant that makes one sensitive to depression.
Many young people in the Netherlands use cannabis. Nearly 30% of 16-year-olds indicate that they have used cannabis on at least one occasion, and 12% that they have used it during the past month. Besides worse performances at school, the use of cannabis also increases the risk of developing schizophrenia and psychosis. Smoking hashish and weed were thought to increase the risk of depression but no conclusive evidence for this was available to date. Otten suspects that…
Was Shakespeare A Fraud? Is Hollywood Officially Out of Ideas? (Video)
Is Hollywood officially out of ideas to tackle the Shakespeare authorship question in film called (Nudge, nudge, wink, wink …) Anonymous?
Senate Candidate Elizabeth Warren: ‘There Is Nobody in This Country Who Got Rich On His Own’
Prescription Drug Use Now Kills More People Than Traffic Accidents
Photo: 51fifty (CC)
Via the Inquisitr:
In 1979 the U.S. Government began tracking drug-related deaths and for the first time those deaths have surpassed the number of traffic fatalities on an annual basis. The most recent statistics which were taken in 2009 shows that 37,485 people died in traffic related accidents while 36,284 people died from drug related activities in a one year period.
Surprisingly the main culprit of those deaths were not street illegal drugs but rather prescription options including Xanax, OxyContin and the main culprit Vicodin which killed more people than cocaine and heroin combined.
Speaking to the Los Angeles Times a Santa Barbara sheriff said: “The problem is right here under our noses in our medicine cabinets.”
The study also revealed that traffic related fatalities have actually fallen by a third since the 1970s even as the number of drivers using American roadways continues to increase, while drug related deaths have doubled in…
Gibson Guitars Vs. the U.S. Government
Via Brooklyn Vegan and Gibson.com:
The Federal Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. has suggested that the use of wood from India that is not finished by Indian workers is illegal, not because of U.S. law, but because it is the Justice Department’s interpretation of a law in India. (If the same wood from the same tree was finished by Indian workers, the material would be legal.) This action was taken without the support and consent of the government in India.
On August 24, 2011, around 8:45 a.m. CDT, agents for the federal government executed four search warrants on Gibson’s facilities in Nashville and Memphis and seized several pallets of wood, electronic files and guitars. Gibson had to cease its manufacturing operations and send workers home for the day, while armed agents executed the search warrants. Gibson has fully cooperated with the execution of the search warrants.
Tylenol, Extra Strength, Is the Number One Cause of Liver Failure
Big Pharma being responsible? Are we living on Htrae? Via USA Today:
TRENTON, NJ — Johnson & Johnson said Thursday that it’s reducing the maximum daily dose of its Extra Strength Tylenol pain reliever to lower risk of accidental overdose from acetaminophen, its active ingredient and the top cause of liver failure.
The company’s McNeil Consumer Healthcare Division said the change affects Extra Strength Tylenol sold in the U.S. — one of many products in short supply in stores due to a string of recalls.
Starting sometime this fall, labels on Extra Strength Tylenol packages will now list the maximum daily dose as six pills, or a total of 3,000 milligrams, down from eight pills a day, or 4,000 milligrams. Beginning next year, McNeil will also reduce the maximum daily dose for its Regular Strength Tylenol and other adult pain relievers containing acetaminophen, the most widely used pain killer in the country.
Besides Tylenol, acetaminophen…
RAAF Airman Discovers Smoking and No. 2 Don’t Mix
Really terrible way to find out … Marissa Calligeros reports in the Sydney Morning Herald:
A member of the Royal Australian Air Force was seriously burnt when a portable toilet exploded in central Queensland [a few days ago].
The airman was using the toilet about 9.30 am when he lit a cigarette, a Department of Community Safety spokeswoman said.
‘‘It’s believed he was lighting a cigarette at the time.’’ The airman suffered third-degree burns to his head, face, arms, chest and airways, the spokeswoman said.
He was taken by ambulance to Rockhampton Hospital in a serious condition.
