drugs
Ex-Tunisian Dictator was a World-Class Jewel Thief and Druggie
Jeff Neumann · 06/20/11 05:58AMThe trial of deposed Tunisian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali begins today in absentia, since Ben Ali is yukking it up with Saudi royals on his extended vacation there. Today's trial is the first of many, but this one is pretty juicy. Ben Ali is charged with theft, as well as drug and weapons possession, and the case is built on evidence recovered from two of his palaces outside of Tunis.
Libyan Rebels are Raging Potheads
Jeff Neumann · 06/17/11 06:51AMSeveral reporters have returned from Libya with tales of young gun-toting, hash-smoking rebels and really, can you blame these guys? By all accounts, the fighting in Libya is nasty and the alternative to victory over Qaddafi is death for most of them. But some rebels aren't feeling the front lines party vibe:
Don't Try to Pretend Like Your Baby Doesn't Have STDs
Hamilton Nolan · 06/16/11 04:49PMScientists Discover Magic Mushroom 'Sweet Spot'
Max Read · 06/15/11 07:22PMLook Around Before Hotboxing in a McDonald's Drive-Thru
Jeff Neumann · 06/15/11 06:40AMThere are very few instances when eating anything at all from McDonald's deserves a pass. Post-joint/blunt/bong rip/whatever is one of them. But when you're getting high in public it pays to be at least somewhat vigilant (when possible). Just ask flagrant 21-year-old Jose Barrera of Elgin, Illinois:
Homeless Mom, Accused of Education Theft, Arrested for Selling Crack
Jeff Neumann · 06/14/11 04:20AMTanya McDowell, the homeless Connecticut woman who was charged with larceny for heinously enrolling her son in an elementary school in a town where she doesn't live, now has a new pile of legal woes. She was arrested last Friday for allegedly selling crack and weed to undercover cops on three separate occasions, as well as offering them prostitutes. One of the alleged transactions occurred during her son's birthday party.
Breastfeed or Your Baby Will Die
Hamilton Nolan · 06/13/11 03:53PMDrug Trafficker: Hunger Games Is Real in Mexico
Maureen O'Connor · 06/13/11 02:29PMThe Houston Chronicle talked to a cartel trafficker this weekend, "in an interview arranged by intermediaries on the condition neither his name nor the location of his Texas visit be published." Anonymous Trafficker has either witnessed the most sadistic crimes imaginable, or is totally fucking with us:
New Retirement Home Hobby: Growing Weed
Jeff Neumann · 06/09/11 06:31AMGrownups Are Worried About The Chronic
Hamilton Nolan · 06/08/11 11:58AMIn the olden days, your parents used to smoke weed that was not chemically distinguishable from banana peels, which gave them a "hippy dippy" feeling, the most dangerous side effect of which was an affinity for neo-folk tunes. Today, you kids smoke chronic and shoot each other, or at least make up "freestyle raps" about same.
Flava Flav Blew $5.7 Million on Drugs
Maureen O'Connor · 06/07/11 12:55PMOnline Drug Market Vows to Fight U.S. Government Attacks
Adrian Chen · 06/06/11 02:51PMSnake Oil Salesmen Prove Their Mettle with 'Relaxation' Sodas
Jeff Neumann · 06/06/11 04:47AMSenators Already Trying to Shutter Online Drug Market
Lauri Apple · 06/05/11 03:47PMDon't Do Meth With Your Kids, Because They Might Die
Lauri Apple · 06/04/11 11:57AMOld People All Drinking 'Energy Shots' Now
Hamilton Nolan · 06/02/11 11:31AMWhile We're At It, Let's Free All Nonviolent Drug Offenders
Hamilton Nolan · 06/02/11 09:39AMAttorney general Eric Holder has come out in favor of reduced sentences for thousands of people currently imprisoned on nonviolent crack cocaine convictions. (A recent law corrected the insane sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine; Holder is simply recommending that the new sentencing guidelines be applied to some people already in jail.) That's a great first step. Then can we let out all the other drug war victims, too?
'Wal-Mart of Weed' Opens in Arizona
Jeff Neumann · 06/02/11 04:20AMYesterday afternoon, Arizona's first weGrow franchise — a "superstore-sized garden center" that sells everything you need to grow weed — opened for business in Phoenix. And it sounds great. Besides being a one-stop shop for all of your growing needs, there are doctors on hand to help diagnose those "back spasms" you're dealing with:
We Lost the War on Drugs
Max Read · 06/01/11 11:00PMA new report from the Global Commission on Drug Policy, an international group that includes former Secretary of State George Schultz, former Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker, and former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, finds that the international war on drugs is a big fat failure. (On the part of humans. Drugs seem to be doing A-OK.) "The evidence," the commission writes, "overwhelmingly demonstrates that... the war on drugs has not, and cannot, be won." Well, not with that attitude, guys! [BBC; image via AP]