Drugs

That time in 1893 when a Japanese chemist invented crystal meth

Though crystal meth has a reputation as an American street drug of the late twentieth century, its origins go back to late-nineteenth century Japan. At that time, a chemist synthesized the first dose of this notorious stimulant out of a plant used frequently in traditional Chinese medicine. Photo by Jlcoving Over at The Appendix, Benjamin…

io9 Annalee Newitz Aug 26

My Weird Tale About a Man Who Wants to Fall Back in Love With His Wife

What if you could take a pill to make yourself fall madly in love with someone, forever? That’s sort of part of the premise of my story “Complicated and Stupid,” which is up at Strange Horizons now. Plus there’s a pornstar who headbutts her partners during sex, and the pornstar’s pet gerbil. And yes, this…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders Aug 23

Surgeon stole heroin out of a drug smuggler’s stomach

After removing capsules of heroin from a drug smuggler’s stomach, one Siberian surgeon walked off with a souvenir: five grams of the freshly liberated drug. The Guardian reports that after becoming ill on a train, a man acting as a drug mule was brought by police to a hospital in the small town of Bogotol,…

io9 Lauren Davis Aug 17

Where Those Weird Prescription Drug Names Come From

Prescription pharmaceuticals tend to have some pretty weird and wonderful names: Bremabecestat, Vepoloxamer, Nexbolizumab, Orilotimod. They sound more like characters from sci-fi films than something you’d want to ingest. So where the hell do they come from? Well, wonder no longer, because James Harbeck from The Week had decided to find out for you. Though…

Tech News Jamie Condliffe Aug 14

Why Smoking a Bowl Makes You Tired and Lazy

Even as the body of evidence of cannabis’ potential as a potent medical precursor grows (especially with the development of CBD-rich strains), smoking it is not without long-term side effects. And we’re not just talking about munchie-induced weight gain, either. A number of recently published studies suggest habitually getting high not only kills your motivation,…

Health Andrew Tarantola Aug 13

A straw that will prevent you from ever being roofied

Now you don’t have to worry whether somebody has slipped roofies into your drink. A group of engineers have founded DrinkSavvy, a company that makes cups and straws that change color in the presence of common date-rape drugs GHB, Rohypnol, and Ketamine. It’s far too common for people to be unwittingly drugged at a bar…

io9 Annalee Newitz Aug 13

In case of apocalypse, here’s how to make penicillin in your kitchen

What’s rotting in your kitchen right now? How about we grab it, and make life-saving antibiotics with it? We’ll take you through the steps, and you’ll be prepared if the world ends by Sunday. Penicillin, the most famous antibiotic of all time, has saved millions of lives. And it’s quietly lurking in your kitchen right…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Aug 13

Hunter S. Thompson Would Have Loved This “Psychedelic” Driving Range

Golf is an annoyingly frustrating sport to play, but it can also be one of the most relaxing—if you’re any good. So I can’t imagine the type of mental fortitude needed to even hit a ball in this elaborately trippy shooting range built for professional golfer Rickie Fowler. In preparation for the 95th PGA Championship…

Tech News Peter ha Aug 6

Bizarre study shows that advertising improves effectiveness of drugs

You’ve probably heard of the placebo effect, where people’s ailments improve when they believe they’ve been given medicine — even if that medicine is just a sugar pill. Now a new study suggests that the placebo effect can be invoked by advertisements, too. A group of University of Chicago scientists conducted an experiment to see…

io9 Annalee Newitz Aug 1

This 1930s Family Is High On Laughing Gas Pie

Humans love to get high. So much so that people were recreationally using nitrous oxide (commonly called “laughing gas”) for nearly a century before it was used as an anaesthetic. So when chemists in the 1930s started proposing the use of nitrous oxide in consumer products like whipped cream canisters, some people naturally assumed that…

Tech News Matt Novak Jul 24

10 Scientific and Tech Visionaries Who Experimented With Drugs

Is intelligence related to an increased likelihood of recreational drug use? It’s an interesting hypothesis, and one that’s been gaining momentum in recent years. If a definitive link between intellectual capacity and drug use does exist, it will likely be some time before anyone establishes one. Having said that, this much is for certain: history…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Jul 22

Bummer: Bad Molly Kills 1, Ruins Concert For 100+ Others

A bad batch of MDMA powder is blamed for the death of one concertgoer in Washington state, while more than a hundred others reportedly overdosed on what turned out to be a potent cocktail of LSD, cocaine, methamphetamine and MDMA—the same mix that made Ecstasy popular 20 years ago.

Sploid Ken Layne Jul 1

The FDA Has Shuttered 1,677 Illegal Prescription Drugs Websites

We’ve all seen those pop-up ads peddling discount prescription drugs from Canadian pharmacies. Ohhhh! Cheap Xanax! They always seem a little dubious, but as of this week, you’re probably going to see fewer of them. In partnership with international regulatory and law enforcement agencies, the FDA has just shut down 1,677 illegal online pharmacies, and…

Tech News Leslie Horn Jun 27

Drug Enforcement Agency Seizes First Bitcoins From Silk Road Dealer

The Drug Enforcement Agency has seized 11.02 Bitcoins—about $800—from a drug dealer in South Carolina who had been using Silk Road. It’s the first (known) time the government has taken control of the virtual currency like it were property or real-world cash. Discovered in a government press release spotted by Bitcoin bloggers, the news relates…

Tech News Jamie Condliffe Jun 27

Cops Knew About Toronto Mayor Rob Ford’s Crack Video

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, part of a family of drug dealers, smoked crack cocaine while one of his young pals recorded video. Since then, Gawker and a Toronto newspaper have confirmed the video shows Ford smoking a crack pipe, and Ford has denied the video exists. But Toronto vice cops knew about it before the…

Sploid Ken Layne Jun 13

The HIV-Prevention Pill Really Works

Doctors have made leaps and bounds with curing patients of HIV, but today, an equally-groundbreaking study has proven that emerging preventative treatments are even more effective than previously thought. The study, which was published in The Lancet today, concerns pre-exposure prophylaxis (or PrEP), a newish preventative treatment in which at-risk patients take a daily pill…

Tech News Kelsey Campbell-Dollaghan Jun 12

What is the one drug you would pay almost anything for?

We have drugs available today that can focus your attention and allow you to absorb oxygen without breathing. In the future, we might have drugs to give you perfect visual memory or erase your fear. What would be the one kind of drug that you would pay anything to take? https://gizmodo.com/a-performance-enhancing-drug-for-scientists-and-profess-335844 https://gizmodo.com/incredible-medical-breakthrough-allows-doctors-to-injec-5921989 http://io9.com/5306489/a-drug-that-could-give-you-perfect-visual-memory https://gizmodo.com/a-drug-that-could-erase-your-memories-of-being-afraid-5806850 I’m…

io9 Annalee Newitz Jun 6

This Could Become the Largest Drug Scandal in US Sports History

Major League Baseball wants to suspend about 20 players—including lots of really big names—who allegedly took performance-enhancing drugs supplied by Biogenesis, a Florida anti-aging clinic. It the suspension goes through, it will become the largest performance-enhancing drug scandal in US sports history.

Sploid Jesus Diaz Jun 5

Gorgeous Vintage Advertisements for Heroin, Cannabis and Cocaine

Drugs such as cocaine and heroin aren’t just glamorous because they’re illegal. Even when you could buy them at any pharmacy or grocery store, they still had a certain cool factor. Just look at these fantastic vintage advertisements for opium, coca-laced wine and “medicinal tonics.” Mrs Winslow’s soothing syrup This stuff was compounded by Mrs.…

io9 Vincze Miklós May 30

Could a notorious party drug be the next psychiatric breakthrough?

MDMA is a drug that’s typically associated with youth culture and dance parties — but it’s increasingly attracting the attention of psychologists and cognitive therapists. Also known as ecstasy, the drug has shown effectiveness in treating a number of mood disorders. But are the potential health risks worth it? Since its introduction less than 50…

io9 George Dvorsky May 30

That time in 1893 when a Japanese chemist invented crystal meth

My Weird Tale About a Man Who Wants to Fall Back in Love With His Wife

Surgeon stole heroin out of a drug smuggler’s stomach

Where Those Weird Prescription Drug Names Come From

Why Smoking a Bowl Makes You Tired and Lazy

A straw that will prevent you from ever being roofied

In case of apocalypse, here’s how to make penicillin in your kitchen

Hunter S. Thompson Would Have Loved This “Psychedelic” Driving Range

Bizarre study shows that advertising improves effectiveness of drugs

This 1930s Family Is High On Laughing Gas Pie

10 Scientific and Tech Visionaries Who Experimented With Drugs

Bummer: Bad Molly Kills 1, Ruins Concert For 100+ Others

The FDA Has Shuttered 1,677 Illegal Prescription Drugs Websites

Drug Enforcement Agency Seizes First Bitcoins From Silk Road Dealer

Cops Knew About Toronto Mayor Rob Ford’s Crack Video

The HIV-Prevention Pill Really Works

What is the one drug you would pay almost anything for?

This Could Become the Largest Drug Scandal in US Sports History

Gorgeous Vintage Advertisements for Heroin, Cannabis and Cocaine

Could a notorious party drug be the next psychiatric breakthrough?

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