What does drug money laundering look like in the 21st century? Can you believe Wachovia, Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, Bank of America, CitiBank, the Federal Reserve, and the biggest banks in the world, were intimately involved with Mexican drug cartels? And that the cash liquidity of the underground cocaine market is the only thing keeping the global financial sector running? Watch the video, read the story that broke in the Guardian, and make your own conclusions. Watch the sound byte pulled at the 7:00 minute mark. According to the UN investigators, in times when other bubbles burst, the only thing keeping banks afloat is the unceasing global demand for cocaine. What a trip!

The authorities uncovered billions of dollars in wire transfers, traveller's cheques and cash shipments through Mexican exchanges into Wachovia accounts. Wachovia was put under immediate investigation for failing to maintain an effective anti-money laundering programme. Of special significance was that the period concerned began in 2004, which coincided with the first escalation of violence along the US-Mexico border that ignited the current drugs war.

Criminal proceedings were brought against Wachovia, though not against any individual, but the case never came to court. In March 2010, Wachovia settled the biggest action brought under the US bank secrecy act, through the US district court in Miami. Now that the year's "deferred prosecution" has expired, the bank is in effect in the clear. It paid federal authorities $110m in forfeiture, for allowing transactions later proved to be connected to drug smuggling, and incurred a $50m fine for failing to monitor cash used to ship 22 tons of cocaine.

More shocking, and more important, the bank was sanctioned for failing to apply the proper anti-laundering strictures to the transfer of $378.4bn -- a sum equivalent to one-third of Mexico's gross national product -- into dollar accounts from so-called casas de cambio (CDCs) in Mexico, currency exchange houses with which the bank did business.

"Wachovia's blatant disregard for our banking laws gave international cocaine cartels a virtual carte blanche to finance their operations," said Jeffrey Sloman, the federal prosecutor. Yet the total fine was less than 2% of the bank's $12.3bn profit for 2009. On 24 March 2010, Wells Fargo stock traded at $30.86 -- up 1% on the week of the court settlement.

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Cocaine's reputation as a safe drug at middle-class dinner parties is to be examined by the Government's drugs advisers.

Professor Les Iversen said the year-long review will look at the harms posed by the growing popularity of cocaine, but added there are no plans to consider changing its illegal class A status.

The review follows concerns over a three-fold rise in the number of cocaine users over the last 10 years and "a popular misconception, at least as far as powder cocaine is concerned at middle-class dinner parties, (that) it's a safe drug", Prof Iversen said.

"We want to examine the pharmacology in detail and see whether or not powder cocaine really is safe," he said. "I don't believe it."

Originally published in 2011 'Trippers' by William T. Booker is based on the author’s adventures around Britain in 1971. Set against the backdrop of travels, acid trips and a haze of cigarette and cannabis smoke, the book explores the role of 'freaks' in early Seventies British society as well as some of the colourful, and darker, characters of the subculture. In many senses a very personal book, but one that paints a vivid picture.

Bill Booker is walking the tight-rope of decisions that is early adulthood in Leicester. Caught between the relentless social push of a steady job, and the yearnings for new experiences and alternative pathways, Bill is a character trapped trying to balance the pressures of life. The book opens with a disintegrating friendship, with a boy named Eric and this really sets the scene for new beginnings, as Bill falls in with a new crowd, who together plan a trip to Weymouth. The book largely centres around the seaside town and their adventures hitch-hiking to and from, and finishes with a party in Leamington Spa, as Bill and his friends explore what it is to be themselves, in light of their culture and LSD experiences.

Newsy compiles recent news on reaction to the rise of underground stimulants called 'bath salts'.

The Times-Tribune explains why the drug is such a big deal in the first place, and quotes Timothy Cannon, the director of the University of Scranton's Neuroscience program:

“That compound works in the brain like amphetamines, forcing the brain to release an abnormal amount of norepinephrine and dopamine to the neurotransmitters' receptors, causing increased vigilance, aggression and paranoia and even symptoms of schizophrenia.”

Apparently the salts are also wreaking havoc on health care workers--Pennsylvania’s WFMZ says the number of cases being treated is on the rise.

From the Kickstarter plea:

Terence McKenna is a legend in the psychedelic community: He is remembered as a radical philosopher, futurist, raconteur, and cultural commentator. He was and is one of the most articulate spokesmen for the post-psychedelic zeitgeist. He is one of the prime originators of the 2012 mythos with all its attendent apocalyptarian anxiety. I am the younger brother of Terence McKenna. I want to write a memoir telling the real story of our intertwined life together over the last 60 years, and of the ideas, adventures, and explorations (both inner and outer) that we shared. I am Terence’s only brother; I am the only one who can tell this tale, from this unique perspective. Terence died in 2000, but his ideas live on the Net and in his books (e.g. True Hallucinations, Food of the Gods, The Archaic Revival, The Invisible Landscape and others). The time has come to tell his story; in reality, it is our story.

Jay Mohr's radio account of sherming (smoking marijuana laced with PCP) in an alley behind a fire station with Tracy Morgan, in Boston. From the Opie and Anthony show. Mildly offensive, but hilarious.

Cut to the 1:00 minute mark to start the tale...

[Thanks Sam Hell!]

The first store to sell marijuana will appear in Russia in Nizhny Novgorod. However, it is not going to sell the psychotropic substance to everyone. Persons under 18 years of age will not be allowed to purchase this product, and pregnant women will not be able to enter the store either. The opening is planned for June. At the moment, the store chain management is holding negotiations with suppliers.

It has been decided to open a network of similar stores later in Moscow, Irkutsk and Samara.

It will be recalled that, as of December 2010, it is allowed by law to sell marijuana in Russia. The State Duma approved the project to distribute the psychotropic substances for medical purposes. Marijuana is also known as an anesthetic, antiepileptic, anticonvulsive, and antiemetic medicine.

Paranoia is one of the most unpleasant "side effects" of marijuana. It's also a key experience shared by marijuana smokers and people with schizophrenia. But exactly how does smoking a joint cause the feeling that dark forces are conspiring to do you wrong?

...The findings, published in the Journal of Neuroscience, suggest that activity in the basolateral amygdala is involved in marijuana-induced paranoia (the state of becoming afraid of things that wouldn't normally trigger fear). That means marijuana is actually enhancing a type of learning about fear, leading the brain to jump to conclusions about mild experiences involving particular places or things, and to perceive them as scarier and more strongly connected than they are.

The sprawling campus of the University of Kent, in Canterbury, became host to the UK’s first psychedelic consciousness conference on the second and third of April, 2011. The campus’ Wolfe building was a thronging hive, as all the psychedelic bees gathered to share their research, their experiences and their ideas in a sweet-honey-melting-pot. At the heart of this vibrant buzzing lay one of the more uniquely endearing qualities of Breaking Convention; it was a rich tapestry of different disciplines and backgrounds, brought together by common purpose. Here’s some notes from the thread of my journey through the event:

It began on Friday night, Ram Dass appeared over three large screens in the main lecture hall, beamed in from Hawaii. One of the legends of 1960s psychedelic research, Ram Dass worked his webcam like a master -- as early, forlorn and wandering eyes, suddenly flicked straight through the cornea of the lens at the words "unconditional love," and continued to grow and glow as he told of his psychedelic and mystical unravelling in India. The audience were rapturous and it was the ideal seed for the conference...

For those of you who missed it, this is a classic piece of paranoia press from Matt Lauer and NBC on the Today Show. Good thing underground chemists keep coming up with new legal highs, otherwise the press would have to stop running these cheesy drug packages. Your kids could be getting high on bath salts right now, or your parents, or your grandparents! Soon we will all be hallucinating and attacking each other with knives!