I'm not sure what's more bizarre about this 1957 promotional film from Pfizer - the doped up disembodied hands, the way taking an old school anxiolitic causes money to descend from the sky on fish hooks, or the faces this dude makes when he hears the voices of his children. At any rate, apparently this is how drug companies used to promote their wares in the days before thirty second commercials.

Via MilkandCookies.

Well, if Henry Winkler, Cheryl Tiegs and Bruce Jenner are doing it, maybe I'll try it too!

Via MilkandCookies.

I'm not totally sure what the existing warnings were about Provigil, but in case you're taking it, you might be curious about some new warnings that Cephalon apparently issued recently:

Provigil, a prescription stay-awake drug, is getting new warnings about the risk of life-threatening rash, other serious hypersensitivity reactions, and psychiatric symptoms....

At least one person died of multi-organ failure shortly after starting Provigil, and there have been "rare" cases of serious or life-threatening rash in patients taking Provigil, states the drug's maker, Cephalon Inc....

Psychiatric symptoms including anxiety, mania, hallucinations, and suicidal thinking have also been reported in patients taking Provigil.

Just in case you're totally curious, the Provigil home page offers this warning right smack dab front and center (looks like it's been updated re this rash business):

PROVIGIL may cause you to have a serious rash or a serious allergic reaction that may result in hospitalization or be life-threatening. If you develop a rash, hives, sores, swelling, or trouble swallowing or breathing, stop taking PROVIGIL and call your doctor right away.

PROVIGIL is not approved for use in children.

If you experience chest pain, depression, anxiety, hallucinations, psychosis, mania, thoughts of suicide or other mental problems, stop taking PROVIGIL and call your doctor right away.

PROVIGIL does not replace sleep and may not stop your ES completely. Do not drive or do other dangerous activities until you know how PROVIGIL affects you. Avoid drinking alcohol while taking PROVIGIL.

PROVIGIL has the potential to be abused or lead to dependence. Please use only as directed.

Women who use hormonal birth control may have a higher chance for getting pregnant, while taking PROVIGIL, and for one month after stopping. Talk to your doctor about other birth control methods while taking PROVIGIL.

Common side effects of PROVIGIL are headache, nausea, nervousness, stuffy nose, diarrhea, back pain, anxiety, trouble sleeping, dizziness, and upset stomach.

So yeah. In case you were curious.

A Dutch prisoner accused of growing cannabis was accidentally given a hashish-laced cake being stored as evidence for another case. And people think American prisons are too cushy.

No word yet on whether the cake was left in the wooden shoes he placed outside his cell.

The hash cake had earlier been seized by police in an unrelated investigation and stored in a refrigerator - close to lunch packets served to suspects being held in cells at the police station in Goes, 110 miles south of Amsterdam.

"Clearly it looked a lot like the other lunch packets," Don said of the hash cake, which was served with a cup of coffee on Sunday.

But wait, imprisoned for growing cannabis in the Netherlands you say? Isn't pot legal there? How can this be?

It's not because he is the Kwisatz Haderach. The Netherlands is famous for its gedoogbeleid, or tolerance policy, with respect to so-called soft drugs (marijuana, hashish, mushrooms). It's even famous enough to get its own Wikipedia page.

This policy sets out national guidelines explicating under what circumstances a prosecutor should pursue a criminal case. The idea is that this promotes uniformity of enforcement. Although these are guidelines, the courts have found that they constitute de facto decriminalization and ruled against government prosecutions which violate the guidelines.

The policy tolerates use and small sales, but prosecutes production and wholesale distribution. Thus the plight - and good fortune - of our lucky evidence eater.

Looks like Fake Steve Jobs scooped us on this one:

Apple faithful, I'm outraged. Check out this horrific website called TestMyTeen.com where they sell products that let parents test their kids for drug use. They're actually calling one of these things the "iScreen." Big advantage is it's an oral swab so you don't need to force the kids to pee. Jesus. What's next? No more rolling papers for sale at Store 24?

Of course, I think he's just kicking himself because he didn't think to include this functionality in the iPhone, but there's still time to sue these guys into oblivion before the Christmas rush and then release a cleaner, snazzier, Bluetooth compatible version of this gizmo next year!

So I just found out about this LA graffiti artist named "The Mac" or "El Mac" who produces some amazing murals along with someone named Retna. I have included an older portrait here, but if you are into skulls, babes, and Buddha you should check out the work at the elmac.net site. Mac & Retna have been producing some mind-blowing stuff.

Dizzy is no stranger to childish freaks still playing 20-year-old games. This egg with hands and feet, along with his family, has been the hero of a large collection of adventure and arcade games, with versions for almost every computer and console available at its time, from Spectrum to PC. Also due to its attention-grabbing size, the series was popular and nowadays fans still write game hints, even do them as videos; some talented fans even create new unofficial Dizzy games. Others draw comics - which don't seem out of place here...

As mentioned, Dizzy has a large family, including his sister Dora, girlfriend Daisy, the cool Denzil, the always sleepy Dozy... and Dylan the hippie. In this particular comic - the topic is Dizzy's nightmares about an enemy he had defeated - he gives Dizzy an interesting piece of advice...

Comic Part 1
Comic Part 2
Comic Part 3
Comic Part 4
Comic Part 5
Comic Part 6
Comic Part 7
Comic Part 8
Comic Part 9
Comic Part 10
Comic Part 11

Canadian researchers have discovered that there are more than 4,000 substances in cannabis smoke - many of which aren't that good for you:

The scientists first analysed smoke that would be inhaled directly, but later examined "sidestream smoke", which accounts for 85% of the fumes you inhale if you sit next to a smoker. This smoke contained higher levels of almost every toxin measured, except for compounds known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which were more concentrated in directly inhaled cigarette smoke.

The chemicals combine to cause harmful health effects. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons have been linked to reproductive disorders and cancer, while, at high levels, ammonia can cause asthma.

"Cannabis contains similar carcinogens to tobacco, in particular volatile organic compounds," Stephen Spiro of the British Lung Foundation told New Scientist magazine.

"That these exist in similar or even higher proportions to tobacco smoke is a great worry."

While it's been known for some time that consuming cannabis is definitely a safer route for self-administration, and that mouth-smoking is safer for those who must smoke (Erowid published a report on this a few years back), it'll take more than a few scientific reports to get those bongs out of dormitory rooms across the world.

Woody and Owen are going tribal. I can't wait to see the film I'm sure will come out of this.

Just came across the news that Laura Huxley has died of cancer at the age of 96:

[Aldous] Huxley's fame in the 1950s owed much to his advocacy of the controlled use of the then legal hallucinogenic drug mescalin, detailed in his 1954 book The Doors of Perception. When Laura first watched him under the influence of the drug, she saw, she later wrote, "a timeless roundness [for him] on a cosmic level - while I, on the cosmetic one, was worrying about the new rinse". Her own first LSD experience prompted desperate sobbing as the chemical intensified the recent experience of visiting a Mexican orphanage. Next day, still aware of the drug's effect, she went to a funeral, where "an immense cosmic laughter exploded throughout my trillions of cells ... Tears were streaming down my cheeks. The unending, immeasurable laughter could, thank heaven, be interpreted as uncontrollable sobbing."