The Week: Most Recent drugs

Are smart kids more likely to use drugs?

The Week — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 16:00:00 -0500

Smart kids are more likely to use drugs such as marijuana and cocaine when they grow up — and the likelihood is stronger among females than males — according to a new British study published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. Researchers have previously posited that children with a high IQ can grow up to be heavier drinkers. Now drugs, too? A concise guide to the findings:

What was the study's methodology?
Researchers tracked about 8,000 people across three decades, recording their IQ scores at age 5 and again at age 10, says Makiko Kitamura at Bloomberg Businessweek...

Drugs: Deadlier than car accidents?

The Week — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 14:02:00 -0400

Traffic accidents have been a major cause of death in the United States since, well, the advent of traffic. But now, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have released data revealing that traffic fatalities are, for the first time ever, outnumbered by deaths from drug overdoses. It's not illegal drugs like heroin, methamphetamines, or cocaine that are leading this grim rise in deaths: It's prescription drugs. Here, a brief guide:

What are the numbers?
According to the CDC, drugs killed at least 37,485 Americans in 2009, compared to 36,284 deaths caused by traffic accidents. The death...

The drug test that's as simple as the Breathalyzer

The Week — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 10:33:00 -0400

Drunk driving tests like the Breathalyzer are widely used by police in the field, but a "drug driving" test that's accurate and portable has long eluded law enforcement — until now. At last week's International Crime Science Conference in London, researchers announced that they've developed a handheld device that detects the drugs a person has used by analyzing his fingerprints. Here, a brief guide:

How does this device work?
When a person uses a substance, his body breaks down the drug, and in the process creates certain chemical byproducts. These chemicals come out in a person's sweat,...

The U.N. World Drug Report: 6 takeaways

The Week — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 11:42:00 -0400

It's been 40 years since President Richard Nixon first launched America's "war on drugs," and the war goes on... and on. Each year, the global drug trade kills over 200,000 of an estimated 210 million users of illicit drugs (including 27 million "problem" users). Last week, the United Nations released its annual World Drug Report, which highlighted declines in some types of drug production, but worrisomely soaring rates in others. Here, six takeaways:

1. America is still the biggest market for cocaine
We're number one... at least when it comes to cocaine. The U.S. is the biggest consumer of...

America's flesh-eating cocaine problem

The Week — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 07:30:00 -0400

It's no secret that cocaine can be dangerous, but drug dealers might be making it more harmful than ever. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration recently reported that 82 percent of the cocaine it seizes has been cut with a veterinary drug that can rot away the skin on users' noses, cheeks, and ears. "It's probably quite a big problem," says dermatologist Dr. Noah Craft with the Los Angeles Biomedical Research Insitute. "We just don't know how big." Here, a brief guide:

How does levamisole end up in cocaine?
Drug dealers typically add fillers to cocaine to boost their profits. Cheaper cocaine...

Mexico's drug war: 4 'chilling' new revelations

The Week — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 15:37:00 -0400

Mexico's drug war is becoming increasingly dangerous, as police engage in more and more violent clashes with heavily armed drug-runners. But that isn't the only sign that Mexico is losing the war. Here, four chilling new revelations:

1. The cartels have 12-year-old hitmen
One of the more disturbing trends, says Carlton Purvis at Security Management, is the Mexican drug cartels' use of younger and younger foot soldiers. Police arrested 10 gang members after a bloody shootout at a Los Zetas cartel training camp, and five of the suspects were teenagers. Kids are recruited as young as 12, and the...

Silk Road: The Amazon.com of illegal drugs

The Week — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 12:09:00 -0400

The internet has made it infinitely less stressful to buy everything from books to pets and even 6-bedroom homes. And now, a new website called Silk Road is taking the relaxing convenience of e-commerce further, allowing users to buy and sell illegal drugs online. Let's face it, "making small talk with your pot dealer sucks," and "buying cocaine can get you shot," says Adrian Chen at Gawker. Here, a brief guide to the web's new hub of illegal drug sales:

What is Silk Road exactly?
"It's Amazon — if Amazon sold mind-altering chemicals," says Chen. In other words, it's an online forum...

Colombia's 100-foot drug-smuggling submarine

The Week — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 13:31:00 -0500

The video: Last weekend, authorities in southwest Colombia seized a 100-foot fiberglass submarine meant to transport massive amounts of cocaine. The fiberglass sub, capable of plunging nine meters below the water's surface, cost an estimated $2.12 million to build and can transport eight tons of drugs and four drug runners at a time. According to authorities, the sub was being prepped for a maiden voyage to the coast of Mexico before it was discovered. It's unclear exactly who owns the sub, though one general theorized that "narco-traffickers coupled with narco-terrorists" were likely culprits...

Mexico's drug-flinging catapult

The Week — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 14:10:00 -0500

The video: A group of Mexican drug smugglers won points for originality last Friday night by attempting to catapult large packages of marijuana over the Arizona border. U.S. National Guard troops stationed in the desolate area, 80 miles from Tucson, noticed the unusual scene on a surveillance video and alerted nearby Mexican authorities with the help of Border Patrol agents. When the local police arrived, they discovered a 9-foot catapult about 20 yards from the border fence. The crude device, which was seized along with an SUV and 45 pounds of pot, was capable of flinging up to 4.5 pounds of drugs...

A vaccine for cocaine addiction?

The Week — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 10:58:00 -0500

Scientists have discovered a vaccine that can theoretically immunize a drug addict against a high from cocaine, heroin, or other drugs. In tests on lab mice, researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York were able to prevent injected cocaine from reaching the rodents' brains.

So how does this vaccine work?
To create the vaccine, scientists grafted a molecule very similar to cocaine onto a part of the common cold virus. They then injected the modified virus into the mice, whose bodies responded by producing antibodies. When the vaccinated mice were later injected with cocaine, their immune...

The 'sophisticated' U.S.-Mexico drug tunnel

The Week — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 10:42:00 -0400

In one of the biggest drug busts in U.S. history, U.S. and Mexican agents seized a total of 30 tons of marijuana from both sides of a cross-border tunnel this week. The "sophisticated" Tijuana-to-San Diego passageway had only been in use for about a month, U.S. officials say. Here's a look at the tunnel and the big bust:

Where does the tunnel begin and end?
The tunnel stretches 1,800 feet — the length of six football fields — from a 23,000-sqare-foot warehouse in the industrial Otay Masa area of San Diego to a two-story abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of Tijuana. (Watch a CNN reporter...

5 signs that Mexico is losing its drug war

The Week — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 07:40:00 -0400

In the four years since Mexican President Felipe Calderon launched a crackdown on drug cartels, clashes between powerful drugrunners and Mexico's police have skyrocketed in frequency and intensity. Since 2006, over 28,000 people have been killed, including 2,000 police officers — and the carnage shows no sign of slowing down. Calderon remains optimistic, at least publicly, but faces mounting criticism over the violence. Here are five especially troubling signs for what many consider a failed war:

1. A town's entire police force quits
No officers were injured when gunmen fired more than 1...

Mexican pirate attack: Truth or fiction?

The Week — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 13:00:00 -0400

According to Tiffany Hartley, Mexican drug-running pirates shot and killed her husband, David Hartley, on Sept. 30 as the couple was coming back from sightseeing on a dammed-up portion of the Rio Grande that straddles the Texas-Mexico border. Mexican officials, unable to find the body or Jet Ski Hartley says her husband was riding, initially cast doubt on her story. Then, in a gruesome twist, the Mexican sheriff in charge of the investigation was murdered, and his head was found in a suitcase. What's real and what's not in this mysterious, bizarre case? (Watch Tiffany Hartley's account)

What's...

Portugal's unorthodox war on drugs

The Week — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 07:15:00 -0400

As Californians prepare to vote on whether to legalize marijuana possession in the state, it may be worth looking to Europe to see how liberal drug policies work — specifically in Portugal, where the possession of drugs has not carried a criminal penalty since 2001. (Watch a report about Portugal's loose drug laws.) Here is a look at how decriminalization has helped — and hindered — Portugal's war against drug abuse:

Why did Portugal decide to decriminalize drugs?
During the 1990s, the country had one of the highest rates of hard-drug use in Europe, with 100,000 heroin addicts...

Cops vs. parrots?

The Week — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 17:56:00 -0400

The video: Drug-runners in Baranquilla, Colombia, trained a green parrot named Lorenzo to squawk "Run, run, or the cat will get you" if the authorities ever stumbled upon their "weed and weapons stash." But when police breached the hideout, they seized the otherwise law-abiding Lorenzo (along with $165,000 worth of cocaine and more than 200 weapons). Since being incarcerated, say reports, Lorenzo's signature phrase has been on his "lips/beak nigh-on constantly."
The reaction: Get your "life behind bars" and "jail-bird" jokes ready," says Alastair Plumb at Asylum. The incident is odd enough, but...

Why the Tea Party must support legalizing drugs

The Week — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 11:01:00 -0400

Tea Party conservatives are opposed to unnecessary government spending, abuse of the Constitution and restriction of free markets, says Jeffrey A. Miron at NPR. Then it must follow that they support legalizing drugs. So far, in a political climate characterized by economic discontent, the Tea Party movement has managed to "sidestep the divisions" between its libertarian and conservative wings. But drug policy will force it to come down on one side:

"As the elections near, however, voters will want to know where the party stands not just on the economy but on social issues. A perfect illustration...