Mexican soldiers on Wednesday seized a large drug catapult that smugglers were using to launch packages of pot into a remote area of Arizona.

U.S. National Guard troops at the Naco Border Patrol station about 80 miles southeast of Tucson tipped off the Mexican Army after a surveillance camera spotted several traffickers hurling bundles of weed over the border last Friday night.

The soldiers found the launcher about 20 yards from the border on a flatbed platform towed by an SUV, according to The Associated Press.

[Thanks Luke!]

A video question about legalizing drugs from a former deputy sheriff has come in first place in YouTube's "Your Interview with the President" competition, where users submitted and voted on questions to be posed to President Barack Obama.

Obama is scheduled to answer the top-voted questions today, Thursday, Jan. 27, at 2:30 PM EST in an interview that will be streamed live online at http://www.youtube.com/askobama

The first-place question is from MacKenzie Allen, a retired deputy sheriff and a current member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP).

“As a proud American with a career in law enforcement behind me, I find it frustrating that many elected officials pay little or no attention to the serious harms caused by our failed drug policies," said MacKenzie Allen, a retired deputy sheriff who served in Los Angeles, CA and King County (Seattle), WA. "That's why I took advantage of what is likely my only opportunity to pose a question to our president, via the Internet. I’ve watched for decades as we throw good money after bad and, more importantly, life after life, at a 'War on Drugs' that is waged with counterproductive tactics and an overall flawed strategy. For the sake of those law enforcers who are still bravely on the front lines of the 'Drug War,' I hope our politicians will heed the call to finally discuss a new approach to drug control."

The Obama White House has previously asked citizens to submit and vote on questions via the web several times, with marijuana and drug policy issues rising to the top virtually every time. During a town hall meeting following one such round of voting in 2009, President Obama laughed off a marijuana legalization question, saying, "I don't know what this says about the online audience."

A new mobile phone application called aDose has been released by New Freedom Applications which induces a variety of drug-like effects in users, including increased energy and focus, relaxation, enhanced creativity and even hallucinations.

The app, which is available on the Android market, uses specifically tuned patterns of sound and light to create synchronized brainwave patterns in users. The process is known as Audio Visual Entrainment and the effects have been known since the early 20th century, although this is the first time that the technology has been so widely available and convenient. Medically, it has been shown through a review of 20 studies on brainwave entrainment that AVE is effective in improving cognition and behavioral problems, and alleviating stress and pain.

Five men linked to organized crime have been arrested in the largest Canadian bust involving the drug ketamine.

More than 1,000 kilos of ketamine, worth an estimated $15 million, were intercepted last month by the Canada Border Services Agency. CBSA official Colleen Pinvidic said the white powder was vacuum-sealed in bags and secreted in boxes containing mugs that arrived at the Port of Vancouver in a container from Hong Kong.

"This is the largest seizure ever made in Canada of ketamine," she said.

Suspicious CBSA agents both X-rayed and searched manually until they found the ketamine hidden under the mugs in 84 of the 402 boxes.

"When CBSA officers examined the goods, they noticed discrepancies in the X-ray image and a full examination of the container was conducted," she said.

When the drug was tested, it was positively identified as ketamine, which is a tranquillizer with hallucinogenic properties that can cause amnesia, depression and long-term memory and cognitive problems.

"Sometimes known as Special K, ketamine is a substance that can be mixed with ecstasy or can be used on its own and has been used as a date-rape drug," Pinvidic said.

Click through for pictures of a huge pile of Ketamine. Mmm...

[Thanks Jeff!]

Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), a group of police officers, judges, prosecutors and federal agents, is standing in support of a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent who was fired for saying in a casual conversation that legalizing and regulating drugs would help stop cartel violence along the southern border with Mexico. After sharing his views with a colleague, the fired agent, Bryan Gonzalez, received a letter of termination stating that his comments are "contrary to the core characteristics of Border Patrol Agents, which are patriotism, dedication, and espirit de corps." Last week, with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico, Gonzalez filed a lawsuit seeking damages.

"There's no doubt that the so-called 'war on drugs' is a gigantic failure and that it causes violence, hurts our economy and forces dedicated law enforcers to risk their lives in the line of fire for a lost cause," said Terry Nelson, a former U.S. border patrol agent who is now a board member for LEAP. "But whether you think we should legalize drugs or not, you have to support the right of brave law enforcers like Bryan Gonzalez to exercise the First Amendment and share their views on policies that impact them on a daily basis."

Gonzalez, the fired agent, specifically mentioned LEAP and its website as a part of the conversation that led to his being fired.

AUSTRALIA'S national floral emblem, the iconic wattle, could be banned for its hallucinogenic properties if a proposed schedule of controlled plants currently before the Attorney-General is approved.

The discussion paper, which also targets common ornamental garden plants like datura (angel’s trumpet), various succulents and other plants like Diviners Sage, Kratom and Khat, has ecologists and plant enthusiasts up in arms.

What began as a legitimate attempt to shut down the drug trade’s access to illicit drug precursors in 2008 by then Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, has been extended to more obscure drugs like DMT and mescaline -- hallucinogens which hold little prominence in the drug trade and are predominantly extracted from wattle bark and cacti, respectively.

Responding to questions from The Northern Star yesterday, the Acting Minister for Home Affairs and Justice, Robert McClelland, moved to quell fears of a ban.

A spokeswoman for the Minister said claims that backyard plants would be banned or their growers prosecuted were ‘ridiculous’.

[Thanks Jake!]

[N]ew research, published in the British Journal of Criminology, documents just how much things have changed in Portugal. Coauthors Caitlin Elizabeth Hughes and Alex Stevens report a 63 percent increase in the number of Portuguese drug users in treatment and, shortly after the reforms took hold, a 499 percent increase in the amount of drugs seized — indications, the authors argue, that police officers, freed up from focusing on small-time possession, have been able to target big-time traffickers while drug addicts, no longer in danger of going to prison, have been able to get the help they need.

“Often, there are lot of fears, misconceptions, and mythology around decriminalization and what might be the consequences,” Hughes said. “This reform has shown that it is possible to decriminalize illicit drugs...without necessarily increasingly drug-related harm, without increasing the burden on the criminal justice system, and without increasing drug use.”

I devised another experiment where everyday I took a different drug and drew myself under the influence. Within weeks I became lethargic and suffered mild brain damage. I am still conducting this experiment but over greater lapses of time. I only take drugs that are given to me.

I think the images speak for themselves. You can read more about this experiment in an interview with the artist at Dinosaur City.

[Thanks Mason!]