Interview Magazine recently ran a nice chat with Sasha and Ann Shulgin:

MARTIN: In the film, you seem to have a large social circle. Who are those people who are always hanging out at the house?

SASHA: [laughs] You handle that one, Ann.

ANN: There are a lot of people in the world who are interested in the action of these materials. And I don’t know how many people have come up to Sasha, or to both of us, and said, “You’ve changed my life.” Many have found perhaps they were in a state of severe depression, and they’ve taken MDMA.

SASHA: We haven’t changed their lives—they’ve changed their own lives.

ANN: And MDMA helped them gain access to parts of themselves that they hadn’t been able to open up before. It’s a very important experience for a lot of people. We have friends who don’t use psychoactive materials but who are still interested in how the brain works and psychology and spiritual training. It’s a very large and very intelligent bunch of people. We have two big parties each year where people bring food and drink and get to know each other. It makes a very good party.

SASHA: We have two rules: One is that you can’t come before noon. The other rule is you can stay as long as you want.

Video trailer for Michael DiCerto's feature film "Triptosane," starring Trace Beaulieu of Mystery Science Theatre 3000.

From the official description:

Rupert Graham (J Paul Nicholas) never much questioned his existence. His life was a pragmatic, 3D reality one where day to day work ruled and big dreams were long dead. There was no point in looking upward or inward. It was all in front of your face.

But when his Shaman grandfather (Victor Pagan) dies, Rupert begins to have odd dreams, visions, odd synchronicities. His psychiatrist (JIm Lavin) tells him they are a problem and they attempt to medicate it all away. Until he meets psychedelic researcher Dr. Ken Rennet who tells him to embrace it all. Rupert sets off on a inward journey and must struggle between the fear and the wonder (and the sabotaging efforts of Dr Rennet's egomaniac computer A.I., Syd (voiced by Trace Beaulieu of Mystery Science Theatre 3000, Cinematic Titanic) It becomes a race between pharmaceutical dependence and psychedelic sanity.

UPDATE: The bill has been removed from the House schedule, and is highly unlikely to be reconsidered in this legislative session. Thanks to everyone who spoke up against this awful bill!

House Democrats have scheduled a horrible drug war bill for a vote tomorrow (Wednesday). The Drug Trafficking Safe Harbor Elimination Act of 2010 (H.R. 5231), written by Rep. Lamar Smith (a Republican drug war extremist), would expand problematic drug conspiracy laws, apply mandatory minimum drug sentences to more people, increase racial disparities, and subject Americans to incarceration for drug offenses and public health interventions that are legal in the foreign country in which they’re committed. It expands the drug war at a time that most Americans want major drug policy reform.

PLEASE: Call Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi at 202-225-0100. When the receptionist answers, say something like: "I'm calling to urge Speaker Pelosi to cancel the vote on the Drug Trafficking Safe Harbor Elimination Act that is scheduled for tomorrow. It is shameful that Democrats are considering expanding the war on drugs, a war that is being waged primarily on young people and communities of color. I can’t believe Democrats are doing this."

Please “Share” this Note with your Newsfeed so your friends and family can take action.

An Austrian zoo has fired a zookeeper after discovering that he had been secretly growing a cannabis plantation in the rhinoceros enclosure he was in charge of. It was a clever scheme because the 59-year-old man had exclusive access to the enclosure at Salzburg Zoo, and the presence of the notoriously irritable one-ton beasts was likely to deter the curious.

Police discovered the 33 cannabis plants after getting a tip-off from a drug user that the cannabis grower had been supplying. The zookeeper had been in charge of the animals for a number of years.

"It was appalling. We had never thought something like that could happen in our zoo," the director of the zoo, Sabine Grebner, told local newspaper Salzburger Krone. "We cater for families and children -- we don't want anything to do with drugs and these people."

Media reports said that the cannabis plants had been well camouflaged and that the unsuspecting rhinos did not have access to the calming vegetation.

[Thanks Barnaby!]

With high unemployment and the veterans returning from war, MCU, Inc launches an online university to help train instructors to properly educate those wanting to help our chronically ill and veterans suffering from defending our country through the use of Medical Cannabis Therapy.

Using modern technology such as streaming video and video conferencing, future instructors gain much needed employment utilizing the internet to train those entering the Medical Cannabis Industry and already in the industry how to properly care for veterans and the chronically ill from a purely scientific and compassionate standpoint. These courses are available live with instructors and are available in other formats similar to a standard learning management system 24/7 for learn-from-home convenience.

[Thanks Wouldpkr!]

It all begun in 2008. One man decided to open a shop selling 'smart drugs' (legal highs) in the city of Lodz - before this these substances were sold only on the Internet. A few days before the opening a Hummer limo full of hostesses in miniskirts started to drive around the city, inviting young people to come to see the new shop.

The owner of this first store was a Polish guy, who was working in England as a cleaner. In London he saw some legal high shops on Camden Town and he thought it would be good idea to start one in Poland. AWhen he returned home he borrowed money from a friend and started the business... now he is owner of over 100 shops, a couple of Porsches and a mansion on the Cote d'Azur in southern France.

The second shop was opened in Warsaw, very close to my university so I witnessed myself what is going on there. The photo above this article was taken at the opening the shop.

The first network of 'smart drugs' stores is called "dopalacze.com" what can be translated to "uppers.com". But now at least 10-15 networks that sell 'smart drugs' have been opened. They all work on a franchise basis, just like Mc'Donalds or Nike stores. So all you need to have is some money for the begining (about 2000 pounds) and the wholesaler will provide you all the substances, advertisement, legal support and so on. Every network have it's own products but the composition is often the same as in other stores.

Legal high stores started to grow very fast all around Poland. Now you can barely find a town with more than 5000 citizens, that doesn't have one. In 2009 over 500 shops were opened and about 150 only this summer! Sometimes on the main streets of popular holiday towns there are more smart drugs stores than ice-cream stands. There are even vending machines with smart drugs in some liquor stores: you just have to show your ID card to the clerk.

[Thanks Jim!]

From The Periodic Table of Videos.

[Thanks Luke!]

Poland's Council of Minister is to submit draft bill which would decriminalise possession of recreational drugs for personal use.

Under the proposed law, the attorney general and courts could drop charges citing the crime's low risk to society. This way the government wants to focus only on pursuing drug producers and dealers, a commendable step forward, claims Boguslawa Bukowska, deputy head of the National Bureau for Drug Prevention:

"It is important to separate two distinct situations. It is one thing when an individual possesses a small dose of narcotics for his or her own use and does not sell it or incite drug use," Bukowska told Polish Radio.

"It is an altogether different case, however, when someone has a larger amount of drugs and distributes it. The legal system needs to differentiate between the two and so the punishment should also vary," she said.

The bill proposes the introduction of track records of repeat offenders, allowing courts to refer drug addicts to treatment centres rather than prison.

[Thanks Jamie!]

From Mason Tvert at Huffpo:

According to a recently filed campaign finance report, the campaign to defeat a marijuana legalization initiative in California is receiving substantial funding from the alcohol industry. Now marijuana advocates are fighting back, calling on the opposition campaign to explain why it is working with Big Alcohol to keep marijuana illegal.

On September 7th, the California Beer and Beverage Distributors contributed $10,000 to the No on Prop. 19 campaign, which calls itself "Public Safety First." Proposition 19 would establish a legally regulated marijuana market in which marijuana is controlled and taxed in a fashion similar to alcohol.

It's clear why the alcohol industry is in this fight -- to protect its turf and keep Californians drinking. This is the same California Beer and Beverage Distributors gave $100,000 to oppose Proposition 5, the Nonviolent Offender Rehabilitation Act (NORA), which would have reduced marijuana possession from a misdemeanor to an infraction. With marijuana being the second most popular recreational substance (despite its prohibition), the booze industry must recognize the threat legal marijuana poses to its bottom line. Thus, it has a vast financial interest in keeping marijuana illegal and steering Californians away from using it.

[Thanks Wouldpkr!]

Just your average drug war morality cartoon set to trance music. Doctor Seuss would be proud?

[Thanks Romik!]