The substance NRG-1, a so-called legal high, should be made illegal, the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) has said.

It advised the government that the chemical naphyrone, which is sold as NRG-1, should be made a Class B drug.

The ACMD said the drug could "cause real harm due to its potency and associated health effects".

The body also urged the home secretary to impose an immediate import ban on naphyrone in its recommendations.

Prof Les Iversen, who chairs the ACMD, said: "Users of 'legal highs' should be aware that just because a substance is being advertised as legal does not make it safe, nor may it be legal.

"Test purchasing has demonstrated that what you think you are buying is often not what is in the packet. The harms and effects of your purchase may be different and/or greater than you expect."

Harris and Jones have been in and around Mendocino County since 2001, growing, smoking, tie-dyeing, and accumulating friends. Although they consider themselves small-time growers, there's nothing small-time about their lifestyle. They remodeled their beautiful home in the hills, which has a view that stretches for miles. They take yearly vacations in Hawaii, where they rent nice cars and stay in nice hotels. Harris was recently able to retire from her job as a statistician at UCSF.

They'll admit it: The pot business has been good to them, and a lot of the good has come from breaking the law. But as marijuana has become more widely accepted, to the point where its legalization has landed on California's November ballot, Harris and Jones have established themselves not as criminals, but as a beloved, model couple in their community. Their ascent demonstrates that crime really does pay, and that it isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Throughout the year, the Nitrous Mafia travels from state to state, selling balloons at concert sites. The scene in Williamsburg is only a small preview of what happens in summer, when the outdoor festival season kicks into gear. During these campground events, which last two to four days, the Mafia, which is divided into two rings, based in Boston and Philadelphia, can burn through hundreds of nitrous tanks. With the ability to fill up to 350 balloons per tank, which they sell for $5 and $10, they can bank more than $300,000 per festival, minus expenses. Year after year, security guards at these events attempt to crack down on the illicit business, but, in most cases, they're outmatched by a phalanx of menacing gas dealers who have little regard for unarmed concert personnel.

And for some musicians and their fans, the illicit trade is a bummer. "It has a negative impact on the entire scene," says Don Richards, the tour manager for Umphrey's McGee, ranked the No. 4 jam band in a recent Rolling Stone poll. "It's a very controlling group, to the point where I've seen people get beat up."

"It's something that should be left to the dentist's office," says Josh Clark, the lead vocalist for the San Francisco–based jam band Tea Leaf Green.

[Thanks Luke!]

If you've ever wondered why witches used to fly around on broomsticks and what it was that Santa Claus drank that made him launch into the air with his reindeer, then this book is a must. The Long Trip is a slightly revised and updated version of Devereux's original 1997 excursion into psychedelia's prehistory, as well as its ancient and recent history.

The main message of this book is that psychedelic substances have been used the world over for millennia, not just recreationally but primarily for magico-spiritual and healing purposes, that is, as sacramental substances. Delving into aspects of archaeology many academics would choose to ignore, The Long Trip embarks on a journey to unearth the visionary past of our ancestors, leaving little doubt that for almost as long as human culture has been around, us humans have been using substances to alter our consciousness.

Imagine... you are strolling along the Esplanade at Burning Man, and something catches your eye. Bands of lights are rapidly moving up and down a 30 foot high pyramid, from Red at the bottom, through Orange, Green, Turquoise, Indigo, Violet, and finally White light at the top. Nothing too unusual, but look! Projected on 10 by 10 screens to either side of it are complex geometric patterns pulsing like fractal mandalas. You say, "What's the big deal, I see that everywhere?" But upon closer inspection you learn that the people waiting in line are eagerly anticipating the moment they will stick their finger into a Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) meter, measuring the electrical conductance across their skin. It's like a lie detector test, measuring just how calm or agitated these Burners are. This in turn produces a tone, which varies according to the relative stress of the Burner. The tone is then translated into a geometric pattern by a cymatics device. This consists of a transducer, which is basically a speaker, underneath a flat (now vibrating) metal plate with grains of salt on top. The salt, sand, water, or even cornstarch, is now creating beautiful geometric patterns, which is finally projected onto a screen for all to witness.

US socialite Paris Hilton and a former Playboy Playmate appeared in a World Cup Court in Port Elizabeth early on Saturday morning on charges of cannabis possession.

"The charges have been withdrawn by the State, step down please," Magistrate Xolile Dlulisa told Hilton, 29, shortly after midnight. She then left court 19 by a side door.

Her co-accused, Jennifer Rovero, 31, Playboy's Playmate of the Month in July 1999, was fined R1000 (roughly $120) or 30 days in prison after she pleaded guilty to possession of one marijuana cigarette.

The magistrate said he had considered various options, but thought the sentence was appropriate. The offence she had committed was "rife" in the Eastern Cape.

A replica World Cup trophy seized by anti-drugs police in Colombia is made out of cocaine, lab tests have confirmed.

Artist creates replica sculpture of World Cup trophy. Medium? Why, cocaine of course.

The following is a deconstruction of the methodology employed by Martin W. Ball Ph.D. in his essay 'Terence on DMT: An entheological analysis of McKenna's Experiences in the Tryptamine Mirror of the Self'. It is not intended to be reaching any particular 'truth' over the claims made in the essay's conclusions, rather, it intends to be an exposition of the analytical framework that Ball names the 'entheological paradigm'. The references are to a PDF copy of the essay, kindly passed onto PsypressUK by its author. All images are by drfranklin.

Martin W. Ball examines three talks given by Terence McKenna (1946-2000) on the topic of DMT and 5-MEO-DMT: 5-MEO-DMT and nn-DMT, Too much DMT and The Strangest Things Happen on DMT. He chose these talks as being typical of all the available material demonstrating McKenna's reading of, and relationship with, DMT and 5-MEO-DMT. Ball's aim is to critically analyse McKenna's reading and, in order to do so, he employs what he terms as the 'entheological paradigm' as a form of analysis. The question concerning this essay is: How does the 'entheological paradigm' function as a discourse; in both what it posits as 'truth' and necessarily excludes in its analysis?