For those of you in the Wisconsin area, on April 22-23 you can come to the 9th Annual Bioethics Forum, "Taking the Measure of the Magic Mirror: Towards a Science of Consciousness". The list of presenters includes some of the best-known psychedelics researchers, including Roland Griffiths, who I have heard is currently the only person with DEA approval to give psilocybin to humans; Charles Grob, Dennis McKenna, and David Nichols, as well as top names in the neuroscience of meditation such as Richard Davidson and Antoine Lutz. See the link for the full list. Looks like a very good time, I will hopefully be there so let me know if you're coming!

With numerous states facing significant budget shortages, legislators and voters across the country this month have been giving overwhelming support to measures that would reduce the penalty for possession of small amounts of marijuana to a civil fine.

Yesterday in New Hampshire, the state House voted 214-137 to pass H.B. 1653, a bill that would reduce the penalty for possession of up to a quarter-ounce of marijuana with a civil fine of up to $200.

In Hawaii, the state Senate voted 22 to 3 on March 2 to pass SB 2450, a bill that would eliminate criminal penalties for the possession of up to one ounce of marijuana and replace them with a civil fine of up to $300 for a first offense and $500 for a subsequent offense.

And in Vermont, 72% of voters in Montpelier approved a non-binding ordinance asking the state legislature "to pass a bill to replace criminal penalties with a civil fine for adults who possess a small amount of marijuana."

Currently 12 states have laws that reduce the penalties for possession of small amounts of marijuana to a civil fine. A decriminalization bill in Rhode Island is co-sponsored by 48% of House members.

[Thanks 23 Wolves!]

Despite medical marijuana being legal in Michigan, WalMart has fired a cancer patient and former employee of the year who tested positive for the drug, which was recommended by his doctor.

"I was terminated because I failed a drug screening," ex-WalMart employee Joseph Casias told WZZM-13.

In 2008, Casias was Associate of the Year at the WalMart store in Battle Creek, Mich., despite suffering from sinus cancer and an inoperable brain tumor.

At his doctor's recommendation, Casias legally uses medical marijuana to ease his pain.

"It helps tremendously," Casias said. "I only use it to stop the pain. To make me feel more comfortable and active as a person."

Casias said he went to work every day during his five years at WalMart. "I gave them everything," he said. "One hundred and ten percent every day. Anything they asked me to do, I did. More than they asked me to do. Twelve to 14 hours a day."

Then Casias sprained his knee at work last November. During the routine drug screening that follows all workplace injuries, marijuana was detected in his system.

Casias showed WalMart managers his Michigan medical marijuana card, but was fired anyway.

[Thanks Lift!]

Now that personal jet packs are a reality, it only makes sense that inventors are moving on to other important innovations:

A nutty Harvard professor has put a jolt in the java trade with a strange new inhalable espresso -- allowing caffeine fiends to breathe in their morning cup of joe....

The coffee hits consist of powder inside lipstick-like containers that are pulled open, inserted in the mouth and inhaled.

The sticks are sold individually for $3 or in boxes of three for $8 -- and each stick delivers 100 milligrams of caffeine, the equivalent of a cup of espresso.

Okay, maybe it's not all that innovative, given similar developments in the delivery of alcohol and nicotine, but still - this kind of forward-thinking is a real contribution to propping up our failing society.

The last paragraph here is instructional for anyone considering a similar gift to charity:

Somebody left about $8,000 worth of marijuana in a clothing donation bin outside a bookstore in Boulder.

Officers were called after volunteers Thursday found a large bag of a green leafy substance later determined to be two pounds of marijuana.

Boulder police spokeswoman Sarah Huntley said the marijuana will eventually be destroyed.

(Yes, it's entirely likely someone was just trying to ditch some contraband for some reason, or that someone simply forgot they had pot stashed in some old pair of jeans - but it's just as likely some wacky stoner thought this was an actual good idea. Those wacky stoners!)

In Mexico City, a multimedia opera called Only The Truth recently opened, featuring as its heroine a marijuana smuggler who turns against her lover. The BBC describes it as "the first Mexican opera to deal directly with the country's drugs conflict."

"Out of the last 20 years, I would say, this is the one opera that is telling us a story that is not only on everyone's mind, but also in the headlines. It is how Mexico is perceived outside as well," he said.

The song on which the opera is based is a corrido, a type of Mexican ballad initially created to tell epic stories of heroes from the Mexican revolution a century ago.

In recent years, a whole sub-genre known as "narco corridos" has developed that narrates the adventures of the drugs barons.

Some have called for the narco corridos to be banned, but artists defend their freedom of expression.

The work premiered at Indiana University. Here's an interview with the composer:

But I'm thinking of buying one.

Jon Hanna sent us a link to this classic comic, 'Mickey Mouse and the Medicine Man'.

The following mini comic book was part of a promotional collaboration between Walt Disney and General Mills. It features Mickey and Goofy, two distinct psychoactive drugs, surreptitious dosing, a bad shaman, and a "talking" elephant. When it was first produced, it was one of an 8-comic set that cost 15 cents plus one Wheaties-brand cereal box top.

It is one of several psychoactive drug-related uses of Disney characters that in retrospect appear naive and inappropriate. This commercial, drug-positive use of characters designed for children raises a number of issues of historical interest. The ethnocentric cultural references, including the representation of Africans and the superiority of American medications, stand out even against the odd amphetamines-are-good-for-you backdrop. It is notable that Mickey Mouse gives powerful drugs to two other characters without their knowledge or consent.

During the 1950s, at the height of the post-World War II expansion of U.S. suburban modernization, a number of stimulant and sedative drugs were widely used and were promoted in the mainstream press. At the time, many were available over the counter without a prescription. The inclusion of clear, positive drug references in mainstream children's literature and film seems both archaic and surprising given the taboos around psychoactive drugs in place in the 21st century. We hope you'll enjoy this glimpse into the history of Disney's characters that Disney itself is unlikely to acknowledge in the modern anti-drug cultural climate.

Dutch coffeeshop owner Nol van Schaik is calling all coffeeshop owners for a nationwide strike during the Dutch national parliament election day on June 9. By keeping the doors of coffeeshops closed for one day, he wants to warn visitors that this could become an everyday reality when rightwing parties form a coalition.

The current largest party CDA (Christian Democratic Alliance) earlier announced that they regard the use of drugs ‘undesirable’ and that they would like to see all coffeeshops gone. Geert Wilders’ Party for Freedom (PVV) is against any form of drug use (alcohol excluded) and they believe the country should abolish the policy of tolerance towards soft drugs. According to these ‘freedom fighters’ drug addicts should be locked up for forced to withdrawl in modern labor camps.

A coalition between said parties and the VVD (Liberal party) and CU (Christian Union) could lead to the closure of all coffeeshops within years. By keeping the doors shut of all coffeeshops during election day, van Schaik wants to show how the cities will look without coffeeshops. Cities as Amsterdam and Maastricht would face a surge in drug dealing on the streets and tokers would have nowhere to go to smoke.

Nooooo!

[Thanks Thomas!]

Here's an interesting tidbit from DUIAttorney.com:

The vast majority of citizens arrested for drunk driving are tested for blood-alcohol on breath machines (generically referred to as "breathalyzers"). The test results from these machines will largely determine: (1) if the suspect is booked or released; (2) whether the driver's license is automatically suspended or not; (3) what charges, if any, will be filed by the prosecution; and (4) whether the the accused will be found guilty or not.

Problem: Breathalyzers don't actually measure alcohol.

Turns out that most breathalyzers are using infrared light to measure the presence of a methyl group that isn't limited to alcohol, and that builds up over time, leading to various false positive scenarios which the author of this opinion piece posits are potentially being ignored. Who might be at risk?

For starters, diabetics with low blood sugar can have high levels of acetone -- which is "seen" as alcohol by breathalyzers. And scientific studies have found that people on diets can have reduced blood-sugar levels, causing acetone hundreds of times higher than found in normal individuals.... If you are a smoker, to cite another example, your breathalyzer result is likely to be higher than expected. The compound acetaldehyde is one of those reported by breathalyzers as "alcohol", and researchers have discovered that levels of acetaldehyde in the lungs can be 30 times higher in smokers than in non-smokers. Result: higher blood-alcohol readings on the machine -- and citizens falsely convicted of drunk driving.

Ooops!