The ever provocative Gawker blog came across an article in a NY magazine about the prevalence of pill-popping in the Big Apple. The article itself doesn't seem to be online, but Gawker neatly summarizes:

In this weekend's Page Six magazine, we met "Andy," a 30-year-old financial manager who occasionally supplements his Propecia, Ambien, Viagra, and Effexor regimen with a Valium or three when a day is "rougher than usual" and the occasional Oxy to improve his beer buzz. We also encountered Kenny, a 27-year-old graphic designer who loves Concerta, Wellbutrin, Klonopin and grapefruit seed extract, and, most sadly, Sylvia, a 31-year-old lawyer who gets through her days with Prozac, Klonopin and Adderall: "I have a big fear of addiction with [Klonopin], but today was a bad depression day so I took it at work." Holy shit, this makes it seem like people take a ton of prescription drugs! Feeling undermedicated, we immediately started asking everyone we know whether they were on something.

Which, you know, sounds like a great question to ask right here on DoseNation! What gets you through the day these days? Is your pill collection bigger than the average CD collection, or do you just muddle by on caffeine and, sob, that little bit of hope you've got left over from childhood that hasn't been mercilessly stomped by the brutal whims of modern reality?

This sounds promising:

For the first time in a large-scale study, transcranial magnetic stimulation has been shown to be an effective, non-drug treatment for major depression. Current antidepressant therapies are not beneficial for at least a third of depressed individuals, leaving many with a lack of adequate treatment options. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), a non-invasive technique that excites neurons in the brain by magnetic pulses introduced through the scalp, has previously been identified as a potential new treatment for depression but prior, smaller studies have shown conflicting results. This new study, published in the December 1st issue of Biological Psychiatry, now shares its findings.

O’Reardon and colleagues present the results from the first large scale, multi-center, double-blind, sham-controlled study of TMS as a treatment for people with depression who had not responded to prior antidepressants and who were not taking antidepressant medications during the study. After 4-6 weeks of active or sham TMS, response and remission rates with active TMS were approximately twice those of sham. This study was also associated with a low dropout rate, due to generally mild side effects, indicating that the treatment was well-tolerated by patients.

Reading this brought to mind a few different devices that circulated through the psychedelic community at various points in the early to mid '90s (the Mondo 2000) years, which always seemed like quackery to me and whose names I can't recall. Maybe someday, though, you'll start seeing hand-held units surfacing on Gizmodo that cheer you up without the unpleasant side effects caused by a regimen of actual meds...

I know I'm a bad person for this, but I can't help but wish I had the wherewithal to sign up for an "around the world pub crawl," despite my nagging suspicion that it is, in fact, a generally bad idea:

The 28-day tour, which claims to be the first of its kind, takes in at least 60 pubs and bars in Britain, Germany, the Czech Republic, Austria, Iceland, Thailand, New Zealand, Hawaii and Mexico.

Run by Perth-based Thirsty Swagman, it invites travellers to see the world through the bottom of a glass and promises no boring sightseeing.

"It's designed to take people to unique destinations to party," Thirsty Swagman boss Kenneth Hart said. "The only sightseeing they'll do is the inside of a bar."

I know, I know, this sort of thing probably encourages binge drinking - as this news article makes sure to helpfully point out for us...

Australia Medical Association Victorian president Dr Doug Travis said the tour risked glorifying binge drinking.

"While having a tour that visits pubs in itself isn't evil, we certainly would not want this to be an encouragement of binge drinking or drinking to excess," he said.

"The safe level of drinking is two standard drinks a day. Anything in excess of that puts your health at risk."

Drug and Alcohol Research Training Australia's Paul Dillon said people were more likely to drink heavily in groups, and drinking every day for a month without at least two alcohol-free days a week was dangerous.

Which, okay, memo to me on that part about "alcohol-free days." I've heard of those. They remind me of distant youth, the sweet smell of mother cooking breakfast before I ran off to kindergarten, the manner in which I needed my vocabulary to mature before I could properly ask for a stronger pour. And yeah, there's also this factor:

Mr Dillon said the trip was likely to appeal to young men who were traditionally risky drinkers.

Which, okay, so I guess this trip isn't likely to appeal to supermodels and captains of industry, meaning the company is potentially going to be less than stellar.

Still. 60 pubs in 9 countries in 28 days? If I had the vacation time...

For those of you who have read Rick Strassman's book, DMT: The Spirit Molecule, you may be interested to know that there is currently a movie in production based on this work. I am flying to New York this weekend to shoot an interview segment for this film, along with another dozen or so "experts" who will be added to the long list of contributors who have already been interviewed. I guess the producer was looking for someone with contrary opinions when my name came up, but I may be a lone dissenter on this one. Time will tell how the movie turns out, and if I'm in it at all...

I don't really know much about t 7L & Esoteric, but every time I hear this track it gives me a rush. Opening with a sample from Bomb the Bass' laced "Bug Powder Dust," this track from "A New Dope" (2006) features Kool Keith, meth-induced lyrics, and a snappy breakbeat that'll keep you moving even if you forgot to sleep last night.

It makes me skate faster too...

I just ran across an interesting new article on Ketamine neurotoxicity and thought I'd pass it along. The interesting bits are included below:

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine... have found that ketamine leads to the impairments in brain circuitry observed in both drug abusers and schizophrenic patients by causing increased production of a toxic free radical called “superoxide.”

...

It was known that ketamine initially impairs the inhibitory circuitry in the brain’s cortex and hippocampus by blocking the NMDA receptor, a molecule on the cell surface that controls the activity of neurons. But the UCSD researchers discovered that, as a result of blocking the receptor, ketamine also substantially increased the activity of NADPH oxidase, causing further disruption of neuronal signaling.

“Ketamine causes a ‘disinhibition’ of brain circuitry, taking the brakes off the system and causing overexcitation of the brain in response to a stimulus,” said Behrens. “This overexcitation activates NADPH oxidase, which then produces superoxide – resulting in detrimental changes in key synaptic proteins and profoundly affecting nervous system function.”

The result is impairment of the brain circuitry involved in memory, attention and other key functions related to learning. Loss of such functions sets up individuals for psychosis and deficits in information processing, resulting in symptoms such as hallucinations and delusions, as well as social withdrawal and cognitive problems, according to Behrens.

Speaking from some experience I can say that there is definitely some adverse affect in cognitive rationality associated with chronic Ketamine use, but it also appears to be reversible. Given that Ketamine is hot in the research community right now, I'm sure this is not the last we're gong to hear on this subject.

Shrooms appears to follow in that steadfast slasher flick tradition. Take a group of college kids out for a camping trip. Add experimentation with taboo subjects (in this case, taking mushrooms), add scary superstitions, break the taboo by trying the scary thing, all hell breaks loose, kids that didn't die learn a hard lesson, the end. OTOH, the kids are hot and it's about drug taking, so, you know, cool.

I realize the appeal of using drug culture symbolism to try to market a product, but this particular ploy has the alcoholic in me up in arms:

The Portman Group has cracked down on a range of cannabis-flavoured drinks from Spanish producer Beveland SA.

A publican from Bristol complained about three products; Perigan's Cannabis-Flavoured Gin, Iganoff Cannabis-Flavoured Vodka and Rodnik's Cannabis-Flavoured Absinthe.

I guess cannabis is just the latest in the burgeoning trend toward more creative flavors for vodka and gin: pomegranate, plum, blueberry, you name it. But seriously - cannabis? That passed somebody's taste test for a beverage? I mean, gins can have a floral quality, sure, but this stuff sounds kind of revolting ("Here's your bong water and tonic, dude!").

Update: OK, so for starters, I admit my prejudice against the flavor. But secondly, I was at a Seattle bar tonight called MOE Bar where the drink menu specialized in infusions - for instance, a roast beef-infused vodka that was used in a house bloody mary. Our fascination with the infusion menu led us to a conversation in which we heard tell of a true cannabis vodka infusion that purportedly tasted sweet, and got people majorly high. So fine, I get it - if there's a real cannabis effect involved, that's one thing, and I guess if you're a solid, serious smoker, you might have developed an affection for the taste. But if cannabis is just a flavor for reference, and not an actual psychoactive component of the liquor, is there really a true call for this stuff?

Expect continuing LSD shortages on the West Coast in the coming months: $2,000,000 worth of LSD was just snagged in a drug bust in Watsonville, CA. That's 200,000 doses, according to the DEA, who helpfully pointed out:

“LSD is a drug we have not seen for a while in the Bay Area; however, this sizable seizure proves there still is a market for the substance,” said Pena. “This alarming amount, for instance, could provide every citizen of Watsonville with four doses each.”

Of course, providing every citizen of Watsonville with four doses of LSD is an idea whose time has truly come, and if this DEA pilot program succeeds, the good citizens of Watsonville can each hope for a few hundred milligrams of MDMA someday, just for good measure.

On a separate note: yes, there is still a market for pretty much anything that will get someone high in nearly any fashion. You know, just in case there was some memo floating around suggesting that this thing called "demand" had been addressed or eradicated in any way, shape or form.

Hmm, I wasn't planning on going to see Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, but this scene featuring Tim Meadows trying to warn John C. Reilly off of trying marijuana is pretty hi-larious:

Via MilkandCookies.