There has been an abandoned Kentucky Fried Chicken in Palms, slumping sadly these past few months on the corner of Exposition Blvd. and Hughes Ave. What, locals wondered, would replace it? A new burger joint? A Peruvian rotisserie chicken stand? It turns out that the KFC has been replaced by... a KFC. In this instance, though, the KFC stands for "Kind For Cures", and while they do sell things that are edible, you can't buy them, or even ask about them, without a prescription.

Thanks to 23 Wolves for the kind links.

Two doctors account for more than a third of the patients on Colorado's medical-marijuana registry, and five doctors account for more than 50 percent of the patients, according to statistics from the state health department.

In all, of the 10,000 medical-marijuana patients on the state's registry, 75 percent of those received their recommendations from one of only 15 doctors.

The clustering of so many patients on the registry from so few doctors has raised the suspicions of state officials.

"It's a cause for concern," said Jim Martin, executive director of the state Department of Public Health and Environment. "At least in any other area like this, we would want to be sure that the physicians are meeting the standards of care."

State Attorney General John Suthers went a step further, suggesting the state Board of Medical Examiners investigate the top pot-recommending docs.

Thanks Sharan!

The pulse of dance-club music plays like a jungle beat, as thumping bass notes flirt with flashing lights, liquor and ecstasy of the pharmaceutical kind.

Miles and miles away, a little-known multi-billion dollar battle is playing out in the remote wilderness of Cambodia, linking the club scene to the jungle in a more nefarious way.

Clandestine factories deep in the Cardamom Mountains of western Cambodia are producing safrole oil — also known as sassafras oil — the main ingredient in the party drug Ecstasy...

There is a growing price being paid by the local environment. Trees containing the viscous, fragrant, safrole oil are felled during the manufacturing process. Their oil-rich roots are mechanically shredded and boiled in large cauldrons. The resulting mixture is then distilled over fires that require enormous quantities of firewood to fuel them.

Safrole oil manufacturing is a big business, and as a result, severe deforestation and erosion scar the mountainous areas around the factories. The ramshackle, jury-rigged distilleries are perilous at best, and explosions are not unknown. Nearby streams that provide water for processing are soon fouled by factory waste, their delicate ecosystems poisoned. Even the oil itself is carcinogenic.

Thanks Jessica!

Before condos in Williamsburg started selling at a loss and weekend flights to L.A. dropped to under $200, New York's cocaine dealers were supplying good times to people who indulged like the party wouldn't end. Before the recession, "I was making deliveries every night of the week," says Eddie, a middle-aged man who exclusively deals cocaine. (All names have been changed.) At the height of his career, in early 2008, Eddie sold eight-balls to hipsters, financiers, and Upper West Side high-school students. "Back then, I could afford to pick and choose. If I didn't know the address — forget it. If I didn't like their accent — forget it. On most nights, there were more people wanting than I could get to." Sammy, another coke dealer, was equally aloof. "On weekends, I was making twenty house calls per night," he says, "And there were always 20 to 25 that got shafted."

Then the stock market crashed, and people started losing Sammy’s number. But he didn’t lose theirs. "It was a 646 number," says Nate, 26, who works at an investment bank; he got three calls from Sammy in one week. (Sammy's contacts — five years' worth — are stored in a small black notebook with cross streets, physical descriptors, and even sketches corresponding to each name.) When Nate called back, Sammy picked up right away: "He was like, Hey Nate, it's me, Sammy, where ya been?" Last November, Nate was forced to switch jobs, and took a notable pay cut. "It's not all fun and games anymore. I told him thanks but no thanks."

Thanks Travis?

We've heard a lot about the terrible death toll Mexico has suffered during the drug war — over 11,000 souls so far. This helps to account for the startling lack of controversy that greeted last week's news that Mexico had suddenly decriminalized drugs — not just marijuana but also cocaine, LSD, and heroin. In place of the outrage and threats that U.S. officials expressed when Mexico tried to decriminalize in 2006 was a mild statement, from our new drug czar, that we are going to take a "wait and see" approach.

Still, we've heard nothing about the American death toll. Isn't that strange? So far as I can tell, nobody has even tried to come up with a number.

Until now. I've done some rough math, and this is what I found:

6,487.

To repeat, that's 6,487 dead Americans. Throw in overdoses and the cost of this country's paralyzing drug laws is closer to 15,000 lives.

90 per cent of drugs from Afghanistan go to former Soviet republics. 80 per cent of the world’s drugs are produced in Afghanistan. They’ve outdone the South American countries, such as Columbia. Thirty thousand young people in Russia die from drug use every year. And, sadly, some of the leaders of the CIS countries don’t really want to interfere. In other words, there are too many people who make money on this.

I don’t make anything up. Americans themselves admit that drugs are often transported out of Afghanistan on American planes. Drug trafficking in Afghanistan brings them about 50 billion dollars a year – which fully covers the expenses tied to keeping their troops there. Essentially, they are not going to interfere and stop the production of drugs. They engage in military action only when they are attacked. They don’t have any planned military action to eliminate the Mujahideen. Rather, they want to make the situation more unstable and help the Taliban to be more active. They even started negotiations with them, trying to direct them to the Central-Asian republics, to destabilize the whole region and set up their bases there.

For example, check out the Chrysalis Colossus:

"These are no ordinary tickets," the good people at the Blue Unicorn Travel Company had explained to me earlier. "There are no vehicles to be boarded. You simply eat the tickets, and be transported."
My lover and I ate the tickets, and waited....

And then you will probably not be surprised by what happens later:

"Excuse me," I told the Caterpillar. "I appear to be rippling."
"I shouldn't worry about it," the Caterpillar said. "I myself rather enjoy rippling. Let me tell you a story...."

Anyway, lots of good stuff there. Not all of the strips from his original site are up here yet but there's enough to keep your trip guided for a while. :)

P.S. Good luck finding those "tickets" these days, though...

Marijuana may protect the brain from some of the damage caused by binge drinking, according to a new study.

Researchers at the University of California San Diego performed brain scans on 16- to 19-year-olds in three groups: binge drinkers, binge drinkers who also smoke pot, and those with very little drug or drinking experience.

Binge drinkers showed damage in their white matter. But those who drink and smoke showed more damage than the control group in only three of eight areas of the brain. In seven of the areas, their brains were in better shape than the binge drinkers.

Researchers said in a news release from the Marijuana Project that the result was unexpected.

They said it could be that marijuana somehow stops alcohol from damaging brain cells.

The study was published online by the journal Neurotoxicology and Teratology.

Thanks Lothar!

A city panel in charge of overseeing marijuana possession crimes in Denver recommended on Wednesday that the fine for possession be set at $1.

If Denver's presiding judge accepts the recommendation from the Denver Marijuana Policy Review Panel, the fine would be the lowest in the entire nation for marijuana possession.

The panel was created by Mayor John Hickenlooper in December 2007 after voters passed an ordinance that made it so adult marijuana possession is the city's "lowest lawn enforcement priority."

In May 2008, the city attorney's office made it so those cited for the crime can mail in their fines instead of having to appear in court. At that time, the city attorney's office assigned the value of the fine at $50.

"By setting the fine at just $1, we are sending a message to Denver officials that the era of citing adults for using a less harmful drug than alcohol is over. It's simply not worth the city's time or resources," said panel member and SAFER Executive Director Mason Tvert, who coordinated the successful Denver marijuana initiatives.