Lil Wayne is one of the biggest names in hip-hop right now...We also know that the pint-size rapper has been unapologetically open about his drugs of choice which are of syrup and marijuana, but now marijuana is preventing the Louisiana native's Miami apartment from being sold for the listing price of $520,000. Potential buyers are turned off simply because it smells like marijuana.

He currently rents the three bedroom, two bathroom apartment that is being sold and a couple recently visited the property. The couple that remained anonymous told The NY Post about their experience visiting when they considered buying the South Beach property. The first oddity they claim is that broker asked them two direct questions when they expressed interest: "Are you offended by the smell of marijuana? And do you mind coming late in the afternoon? It's currently rented by Lil Wayne, and these are not morning people."

The couple went to the rental property anyway despite those upfront questions, but found it to be immersed inside in a cloud of marijuana smoke. The potential buyer said that, "Once we got there, a member of Wayne's posse opened the door to the overwhelming smell of marijuana. Two hot, rap-video-looking girls were walking around in nothing but a bra and underwear, blasting hip-hop. We just went in and looked around and tried not to stare," they revealed. "He had a perfectly organized closet of crisp T-shirts on hangers, neatly stacked piles of XXL magazine, and a fully stocked bar featuring multiple bottles of Hennessy Black."

The major active ingredient of the plant Salvia divinorum, salvinorin A (SA) has been used to treat gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms. As the action of SA on the regulation of colonic function is unknown, our aim was to examine the effects of SA on mouse colonic motility and secretion in vitro and in vivo. The effects of SA on GI motility were studied using isolated preparations of colon, which were compared with preparations from stomach and ileum. Colonic epithelial ion transport was evaluated using Ussing chambers. Additionally, we studied GI motility in vivo by measuring colonic propulsion, gastric emptying, and upper GI transit. Salvinorin A inhibited contractions of the mouse colon, stomach, and ileum in vitro, prolonged colonic propulsion and slowed upper GI transit in vivo. Salvinorin A had no effect on gastric emptying in vivo. Salvinorin A reduced veratridine-, but not forskolin-induced epithelial ion transport. The effects of SA on colonic motility in vitro were mediated by κ-opioid receptors (KORs) and cannabinoid (CB) receptors, as they were inhibited by the antagonists nor-binaltorphimine (KOR), AM 251 (CB1 receptor) and AM 630 (CB2 receptor). However, in the colon in vivo, the effects were largely mediated by KORs. The effects of SA on veratridine-mediated epithelial ion transport were inhibited by nor-binaltorphimine and AM 630. Salvinorin A slows colonic motility in vitro and in vivo and influences neurogenic ion transport. Due to its specific regional action, SA or its derivatives may be useful drugs in the treatment of lower GI disorders associated with increased GI transit and diarrhea.

Salvia, the plant that keeps on giving. And on a side note, how would you like to be a scientist who tracks mouse colonic motility? Fun!

I don’t mind the woo-woo galactic alignment/phase shift versions so much, though a lot of it strikes me as newage (rhymes with sewage). Most of the apocalyptic versions piss me off, though. I think that kind of crap is dangerous to the point of being potentially self-fulfilling. All the buzz surrounding the new disaster porn movie 2012 has me seething and stomping around the house, bemoaning the fate of thousands of naive children of all ages who got caught up in the brilliant “Search 2012″ advertising scheme and probably think that they only have three years to live now. The 2012 movie is rated PG-13. Apparently, depicting the violent death of billions of innocents is considered less damaging than an exposed girl-nipple. Grrrrrr! And sure, everybody has a right to say whatever they want. I just feel that if I were going to export my visions of the future, psychedelically inspired or otherwise, it would be important to me to project a reality that I wouldn’t mind helping bring into being. Most people who say that they believe the dramatic end of the world version are posers, in my cheeky opinion. I mean if you really thought that civilization was going to collapse in a few short years, you’d be burying canned goods and running up the credit cards. And some people are. Good on them. At least they’re not going around scaring gullible people while they hedge their bets in the background. The Teafaerie is calling you out, fearmongers!

A man who says he spent two decades collecting Ecstasy pills of all colours and shapes as a hobby has turned to police for help after they were stolen — because he says some of them are poisonous.

Police say the 46-year-old man, who was not identified, decided to report the theft despite the illegal nature of the collection because he was worried about the possible consequences if anybody were to swallow one of the poisoned pills.

It was not immediately clear why about 40 red-and-white pills out of the 2,400-pill-strong collection would be poisoned, but the police say they fear the drugs could be lethal if swallowed.

“That’s really the main reason he came to the police,” said police spokeswoman Esther Naber, adding the man “knows he’s not going to get his collection back.”

The science of cognitive enhancement is evolving, which means the business of cognitive enhancement is evolving. Supplying cognitive enhancement to the masses can be viewed through the lens of any commodities marketplace. Human experience is already commoditized through drugs that pack mood and performance into portable units -- pills or doses -- that can be easily traded and consumed, and the drug market is one of the biggest on the planet. The same can be said for audio and visual experience. The platforms and hardware for trading audiovisual experience -- Tvs, computers, media players, telecomm, cell phones, software -- are huge markets with influence over every facet of our lives. The media and drug markets are built upon the ideal of commoditizing consumer moods and experiences. The cognitive enhancement industry is now poised to undergo a similar market revolution.

Read in the web format or download the PDF for browsing. It is a nice looking magazine. Should be in print, but print is last century's paradigm, right? The singularity came along and ruined everything!

Thanks Johnathan!

U.S. House and Senate negotiators agreed on Tuesday on the final details of the FY 2010 Consolidated Appropriations Act, which contains at least three BIG victories for reformers:

* Washington, DC will finally be allowed to implement the medical marijuana initiative that voters overwhelmingly approved in 1998 but has been blocked by Congress each year since then.

* Funding for the White House "drug czar's" ad budget has been slashed by more than a third of its size last year. Studies have repeatedly shown that these ads actually cause teens to use more -- not fewer -- drugs.

* Washington, DC will be able to use federal funds to implement syringe exchange programs.

In a significant blow to medical marijuana caregivers in Los Angeles, the city council voted Tuesday to limit the number of allowed dispensaries to just 70, ultimately forcing hundreds of shops out of business.

Almost 1,000 dispensaries operate in Los Angeles today. The drug was authorized for sale for medicinal purposes in 1996.

The city council said on Tuesday 137 dispensaries would remain open for now, but it intends to reduce the number to no more than 70 over time.

The council also decided to enact a series of new restrictions in the sale of marijuana.

"Councilman Jose Huizar proposed a cap to ensure that dispensaries would not be concentrated in any one neighborhood," The Los Angeles Times added. "Currently, with no ordinance in place to control their location, dispensaries have clustered in some neighborhoods, such as Eagle Rock, Hollywood and Woodland Hills, drawn by empty storefronts or by proximity to night life."

Obama Fail.

[Thanks John!]

A British prisoner convinced guards his marijuana plants were tomato plants -- and they even allowed him to decorate one as a Christmas tree, a source said.

Mohamed Jalloh, 28, of Brent, North London, grew his pot plants at Verne Prison in Portland, Dorset, in southern England, and for five months, guards admired his gardening, The Sun reported Saturday.

But after another inmate told guards what the plants really were, they checked out photos of marijuana plants on the Internet, and the jig was up.

The Czech government today approved the list of hallucinogenic plants and mushrooms, including hemp, coca, mescaline cactus and magic mushrooms, and decided that people would be allowed to grow up to five pieces of such plants and keep 40 magic mushrooms at home, a CTK source said.

The cabinet was today also expected to discuss artificial drugs and a permitted amount of these drugs in people's possession.

However, it postponed the debate for two weeks, the source said.

The new Penal Code, which will take effect on January 1, is designed to specify the government's directive. It contains a special provision on the growth of hemp and magic mushrooms.

Moving into another age...