The cultural cachet of the "purple drug" has been increased through videos posted to YouTube featuring teen users as they experiment with the mind-altering plant. Experts describe salvia's power in the same breath as LSD, PCP, and hallucinogenic mushrooms.

Its emerging popularity has led several states to ban its sale and purchase, with more likely to follow. Doctors and drug recovery experts, still learning about salvia's effects, are wary about its long- and short-term effects on young adults.

But is salvia, a member of the sage family also known as "Magic Mint" and "Sally-D," a dangerous substance?

Jürg Gertsch, of ETH Zürich, and his collaborators from three other universities learned that the natural molecule can activate a protein called cannabinoid receptor type 2. When that biological button is pushed, it soothes the immune system, increases bone mass, and blocks pain signals -- without causing euphoria or interfering with the central nervous system.

A TOP booze executive has apologised for a marketing campaign that supplied free condoms with alcopops.

The promotion for Vodka Cruisers also offered the chance to win a free pole-dancing kit.

Independent Distillers executive chairman Doug McKay told a Senate inquiry he was "extremely embarrassed" by the campaign.

He blamed junior staffers for the idea.

Oh sure, "junior staffers" know how to line up promotional pole-dancing kits. Riiiiight.

"Super Strawberry Clock" is a typical "platform" game: you have to jump from platform to platform, avoid obstacles and traps, and get your character to the exit. This time it's not a little guy with a mustache (as in "Super Mario Bros"), not even a blue hedgehog (as in "Sonic"), but this one and only strange character from dreamland. The graphics are very simple, even primitive, the music is fairly captivating and mysterious for a banal platform game.

Yet another interesting aspect is the fact that the title seems an obvious hint to the 60s psychedelic pop/rock band Strawberry Alarm Clock. They were mostly known for a few songs like "Incense and Peppermints", "Rainy Day Mushroom Pillow" and "Good Morning Starshine". So that's the era - and the lifestyle? - the game's author draws inspiration from...

It's still cool to buy some weed and smoke a joint in one of Amsterdam's fine coffee houses, but the freedom-hating health nuts at the European Union have shoved their anti-tobacco agenda down that fair city's throat! This is a real problem for Amsterdam's stoners, since they enjoy the European tradition of mixing tobacco with their hash and Mary Jane.

"This city's famed marijuana bars have weathered many challenges over the years and are still smoking. But now they face an unwelcome blast of fresh air: On July 1, the Netherlands will be one of the last European countries to ban smoking in bars and restaurants in compliance with EU law.

"The Health Ministry says the ban will apply to cafes that sell marijuana, known as coffee shops. But this being Holland, which for centuries has experimented with social liberalism, there's a loophole: The ban covers tobacco but not marijuana, which is technically illegal anyway.

Petra Faile and her husband have bought a life raft and other survival equipment in preparation for Armageddon.

"In another four years it will all be over," she said.

"You know maybe it's really not that bad that the Netherlands will be destroyed. I don't like it here any more."

Mrs Faile said she was concerned that immigration was pushing the Netherlands, a low lying country protected by dikes and sea walls, beneath the waves.

"They keep letting people in. And then we have to build more houses, which makes the Netherlands even heavier. The country will sink even lower, which will make the flooding worse," she said.

Ha!

Eric Sears and Ben Fogelstrom went on a camping trip to Joshua Tree State Park in California. The two seventeen year olds had recently graduated from Carlsbad High School. Ben reported Eric missing the following day. He told authorities they had both drank a tea made from Jimson weed. Ben also gave conflicting statements about how Eric disappeared, and at one point stated he knew that Eric was dead and that he had disposed of his friend's body. Ben also told investigators that he had difficulty distinguishing hallucinations from reality. He remembered speaking to a bush, an Indian, and possibly to Eric. There was an intensive search and rescue operation, but Eric's body was not found until July 23rd. The cause of death could not be determined on autopsy because Eric's body was too badly decomposed. No obvious trauma was found. However, two chemicals, atropine and scopolamine, toxins found in Jimson weed, were found in his brain tissue. One way or the other, the use of Jimson weed by Sears and Fogelstrom, was a factor in Eric's death.

Crikey! Oh sure, I guess this could have just as easily happened on alcohol, or LSD, or whatever - but somehow, the idea of "speaking to a bush" while your friend is somehow getting himself killed just seems thoroughly unpalatable.

And the comments remind me just how much more articulate dosenation commenters are than so many other sites.