TresSugar

Flashback: Rehab, 1929

TresSugar — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 01:00:00 -0800

For $2, you too could have rid yourself of that pesky moonshine and opium problem, or "no pay." Maybe it's just the nostalgia, but this makes me want a moonshine and opium problem!

Source

Which Will Be Legalized First: Pot or Gay Marriage?

TresSugar — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 07:00:46 -0800

Can you believe it used to be against the law in America to have a nice cold beer or a refreshing glass of wine? I can't! Perhaps that's what future generations will say when they look back at some of our more moralistic laws, specifically those banning marijuana and gay marriage.

Slate ran a piece yesterday arguing that America will soon get rid of these modern prohibitions. In fact, Maine is voting today on a referendum that would legalize gay marriage and another that would legalize medical marijuana, so I guess we'll get to test that thesis soon.

Now that we have a justice department that will not prosecute medical marijuana possession - not to mention a president who once said: "I inhaled. . . frequently. That was the point." - it's not such a stretch to think Americans might soon be able to get high without fear of the jail time. And while many states still have all-out bans on same-sex marriage, the public seems increasingly supportive of marriage equality. Which do you think has a better chance of becoming fully legalized first?

UK Report Calls Date-Rape Drug a Myth

TresSugar — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 14:00:00 -0700

Well this is depressing. A UK Daily Mail article titled Date-Rape Drug? No Dear, You Just Had Too Much to Drink claims that date-rape drugs are mostly an urban myth. The paper quotes academic research, recently published in the British Journal of Criminology, to argue that women are "willing to 'hide behind' the idea that a stranger poured poison in their drink - rather than face up to the fact that they had simply been binge drinking."

The original report claims that women often confuse binge-drinking induced blackouts and dizziness with drink-spiking, and researchers worry that this could cause women to be less careful about more common factors that put them at risk for rape - like heavy drinking. Unfortunately, this attitude suggests that because women are responsible for their binge drinking, they're also responsible for any assault they might endure. (What about the rapist?)

In addition, the authors say that "despite popular beliefs, police have found no evidence rape victims are commonly drugged with substances such as rohypnol." It seems like quite a leap to say that women getting drugged and then raped is an urban myth just because it might not be as common as a drunk woman getting raped.

It's troubling that some experts and the media cannot find a way to remind people about the dangers associated with binge drinking without discrediting women who have been victims of sexual abuse.

Coasters That Detect Date-Rape Drugs in Drinks

TresSugar — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 04:00:00 -0700

Getting reminders that there are predatory men out there willing to spike your drink with date-rape drugs kinda keeps me from ever wanting to leave my apartment again, but at least for the brave bar flies out there, there are now coasters that can be used to detect two "popular" date-rape drugs, GHB (aka "Roofies") and ketamine.

Some bars are willing to fork over the 40 cents-per-coaster to hand these out to women so that they feel safe enough to drink at their bars. It's pretty shocking that this is common enough that a whole industry has been built around it. In case you didn't know, there's also the lip gloss that detects date-rape drugs. Sigh. To watch a news clip about a reserve law enforcement officer who was busted by a bartender using one of these coasters, read more.

Stranger Than Fiction: Preschool Teachers Eat Pot Brownies

TresSugar — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 15:00:00 -0700

Snack time gets scandalous! Several teachers at a Los Angeles preschool got sick last year after eating a batch of brownies that one of the teachers purchased from "what she thought was a church bake sale." But after munching on one brownie each, the teachers got a serious case of the munchies, not to mention some silliness and confusion.

You can probably guess how this turns out: the supposed "church bake sale" was actually a random sidewalk vendor, and the brownies were actually pot brownies. The truth was reported five months later in the the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report of the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention. Apparently, none of the teachers had smoked or ingested pot before and didn't like it one bit.

Though accidentally eating pot brownies has been played for laughs everywhere from the season one finale of 90210 to the movie Taking Woodstock, it would be pretty horrifying if you thought you were eating regular brownies and suddenly came down with a serious case of stonedness. However, I find it weird that the teacher supposedly thought she was buying the brownies from a church bake sale. Do you buy that story?

Anal Beer Bongs, Vodka-Soaked Tampons (Those Crazy Teens!)

TresSugar — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 11:30:00 -0700

What is going on with today's teens? I just read a study that said there's been a 76 percent rise in emergency room visits between 1998 -2005 among teens who are abusing ADHD drugs like Adderall. (They crush the meds, which may or may not have been prescribed to them, snort them, and can experience side effects that mimic cardiac arrest.)

And now, a news report says that not only are many teens abusing alcohol and drugs - they're delivering those substances to their systems in bizarre and harmful ways. In Phoenix, AZ, they're snorting vodka, and some teens are soaking vodka in their tampons, which, as one expert said, can damage their reproductive systems. (And I would rather not visualize what an anal beer bong is.)

This is just sad. I was a pretty innocent teen, and although there were some bad girls in junior high who brought alcohol to school, I don't think they were doing drugs.

The woman in the video who specializes in dealing with teen substance abuse says that drug use triples between sixth and eighth grade. Did you see this in your schools growing up?

Marijuana vs. Booze: Between Pot and a Hard Place

TresSugar — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 04:00:34 -0700

When Michael Phelps partied at the University of South Carolina last November, he was reportedly slamming beers and acting obnoxious. But it was smoking marijuana out of a bong that got him suspended from swimming and dropped by sponsors. In the forthcoming book Marijuana Is Safer: So Why Are We Driving People to Drink?, authors Steve Fox, Paul Armentano, and Mason Tvert wonder if our country has it all backwards.

You can read an excerpt from the book, which comes out in September, on Alternet. In it, the authors point out that the Phelps bong photos hit the web on Super Bowl Sunday, as millions of Americans were drinking beers and watching beer commercials on TV - activities that are expected and encouraged.

Marijuana Is Safer looks at the laws governing both substances and attempts to shatter many of the myths associated with marijuana use. When you consider alcoholism and drunk driving, not to mention revenue that legalizing marijuana could bring, do you think our country has it backwards? Which substance do you think is safer?

Book Bag: This Is Your Country On Drugs

TresSugar — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 13:00:00 -0700

Americans are so addicted to drugs that our government had to declare war on them! This Is Your Country On Drugs: The Secret History of Getting High in America, a new book by Ryan Grim, explores the unlikely consequences of the so-called War on Drugs. Some examples? Ronald Reagan may have inadvertently caused the crack epidemic. The fastest-growing drug today is a legal hallucinogen you can buy on the Internet. Past antidrug campaigns actually encouraged drug use. And, Americans have stopped using LSD altogether.

In fact the disappearance of LSD, or acid, prompted Grim to research US drug habits. In the book, he writes:

Strolling around Burning Man and being unable to find acid is something like walking into a bar and finding the taps dry.

According to one review of the book, Grim demonstrates how "the American passion for getting high turns enforcement-centered strategies into a vast game of Whack-a-Mole." As government policies target marijuana and cocaine, they end up encouraging the meth trade.

Obama Still Bans Needle Exchange Funding

TresSugar — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 07:00:00 -0700

Why were 26 anti-AIDS activists arrested yesterday at the Capitol Rotunda in Washington DC? Because the protesters chained themselves together at the landmark in protest of President Obama's ban on funding needle exchange programs as a part of federal HIV/AIDS prevention.

Despite promises made on the campaign trail that AIDS prevention funds should go to needle-exchange programs that help reduce infection among drug users (and the people who have sex with them), the Obama administration kept a previous ban on such programs in this year's budget. A spokesperson explained that the White House did not want a debate about the controversial program to slow down the budget process, so they left a ban in. In the meantime, support of needle exchange programs has been removed from the White House website.

Do you find needle exchange programs controversial?

Source: Flickr User Todd Huffman

Supreme Court: Strip Search of Girl Was Unconstitutional

TresSugar — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 11:00:00 -0700

I've been following the story of Savana Redding for a while now. When Savana was 13, she was strip searched at school on the false suspicion that she brought prescription-strength Ibuprofen pills to campus.

Well, today the Supreme Court handed down the ruling that it was unconstitutional for the school officials to conduct that nude strip search of Savana. "They asked me to pull out my bra and move it from side to side," she said of the ordeal. "They made me open my legs and pull out my underwear.”

To see what the court said in the 8-1 decision, read more.

The court ruled that there was no reason to suspect that Savana was such a danger to other students that she had to be strip searched, considering the school thought she only had prescription drugs equivalent to two Advil.

Despite ruling that the search was unconstitutional, the court said that Savana cannot sue the school officials because it would have been hard for them to know they were breaking the law.

Do you think the court made the right decision about saying the strip was illegal, or is it important that officials are able to implement a drug-free policy as they see necessary? Even if you think the strip was wrong, should Savana be able to sue?