DrugSense Weekly, 19 Feb 2010 - ************ 5 WAYS OBAMA AND CORPORATE MEDIA ARE FIGHTING MARIJUANA REFORM By Daniela Perdomo

Globe and Mail, 30 Jan 2010 - If you haven't seen Avatar yet, you must be living on a different planet - clearly not Pandora, where James Cameron's blockbuster unfolds. His 3D extravaganza has pushed hot buttons from the U.S. military to the Vatican, as well as soliciting political criticism from both left and right. The film's effect has even thrown some fans into a downright funk. A thread in one Avatar forum, titled "Ways to cope with the depression of the dream of Pandora being intangible," has been visited by hundreds of moviegoers, some describing suicidal thoughts, others offering helpful tips for managing in the real world.

Des Moines Register, 19 Jan 2010 - The boyish young man in the khaki slacks and brown sweater looks Warren County Attorney Bryan Tingle straight in the eyes and declares that his constitutional rights are being squashed. He tells Tingle from his seat in the courtroom that Iowa's legal system is treading on his freedom of religion, and on the freedom of science and medicine to explore treatment alternatives for the chronically and mentally ill.

The Press Democrat, 15 Dec 2009 - In a sign of marijuana's growing legitimacy, more than 700 people braved bad weather Saturday for Mendocino County's sixth annual Emerald Cup awards ceremony, the culmination of a month of examining, tasting and smelling pot. The once clandestine event has emerged from the shadows as medical marijuana has become increasingly mainstream, said organizer Tim Blake, who hosts the event at his Area 101 spiritual and events center north of Laytonville.

New York Times, 14 Dec 2009 - PINE RIDGE, S.D. -- Richard Wilson has been a pallbearer for at least five of his "homeboys" in the North Side Tre Tre Gangster Crips, a Sioux imitation of a notorious Denver gang. One 15-year-old member was mauled by rivals. A 17-year-old shot himself; another, on a cocaine binge and firing wildly, was shot by the police. One died in a drunken car wreck, and another, a founder of the gang named Gaylord, was stabbed to death at 27.

Sacramento Bee, 12 Dec 2009 - ARCATA -- Stephen Gasparas was destined for this fog-chilled, redwood-shrouded coast -- America's most renowned region for legal cultivation of marijuana. He started growing skunky-smelling pot as a young man, in the closet of his mother's suburban Chicago home. Later he visited cannabis fields in India. Ultimately, he shared spiritual puffs at a gathering of the famous moveable commune, the Rainbow Family, where a grizzled hippie told him Humboldt "is the place you ought to be."

Los Angeles Times, 07 Dec 2009 - A GENTLER VISION OF 'HOLY DEATH' Santa Muerte Is Linked to Narcotics Trafficking in Mexico. As It Moves North, the Sect Takes on a New Age Glow. The prayer in Spanish sounded like one from an ordinary Catholic Mass. But the man who led it wore a coyote-skin headdress and called himself the last of 13 generations of brujosbrujos -- witch doctors - -- in his family.

The Meliorist, 19 Nov 2009 - In the murky depths of the Amazon, there is a rare combination of vine and plant geneses, when combined, they are among one of the most powerful hallucinogens known to man. Its many forms, which vary from brewer to brewer, are known as ayahuasca. The drug conjures up images of fantastical and illusionary worlds, gives the sensation of visiting magical cities and generally invokes a state of being which most of us will never know. Though similar to psilocybin (magic mushrooms) and LSD (acid), it has birthed some fantastical practices in the greater Amazonian area.

Daily Telegraph, 16 Nov 2009 - New Studies Are Testing Whether Psychedelic Drugs Such As LSD and MDMA Can Treat OCD, Post Traumatic Stress and Cancer Related Anxiety. On September 19 this year, 12 people gathered in the suburban Hermsdorf district of Berlin for a group psychotherapy session that allegedly involved illegal drugs. A day later, two of the participants were dead and another in a coma. The substances used and exact cause of death have yet to be confirmed. Local newspaper reports have claimed that heroin and MDMA (ecstasy) were taken, but other drugs may have been in circulation.

Maple Ridge News, 11 Nov 2009 - Maple Ridge's Matrix program for youth battling drug and alcohol addiction will be shut down next month as the Fraser Health Authority tightens spending in an attempt to balance its budget. The program offers drug counselling, detox, practical support, post-acute withdrawal support and aftercare to youth under 24 years old in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows.