All posts tagged: Drugs

Were the Enhanced Games a Bust? Organizers Are Upping the Ante to Million

Were the Enhanced Games a Bust? Organizers Are Upping the Ante to $10 Million

Published by Sam Flores

Getting the world’s best athletes to abandon elite competition for the fringe ecosystem of the Enhanced Games is no easy feat. In part, that’s because athletes would potentially have to give up their Olympic dreams in order to participate, as the International Olympic Committee has threatened to bar any athlete who even attends the Enhanced Games, whether or not they use PEDs (not all of them did), from competition. The result was a roster made up largely of retired athletes or competitors who had never quite reached the level required to break world records in the first place. “A good athlete probably couldn’t do what Barry Bonds did, or pitch as fast as Roger Clemens,” says Darren Rovell, the former ESPN journalist turned venture capitalist. “So the question becomes—and I think this is where the concern lies—what is the delta between a great athlete and a good athlete? They didn’t sign up legends, that’s for sure.” While records weren’t necessarily shattered, 22 athletes achieved personal bests at the games. But whether the public cares about …

Is it true that … we should all be taking creatine? | Drugs

Is it true that … we should all be taking creatine? | Drugs

Published by Sam Flores

Once the preserve of bodybuilders and sprinters, creatine is now being touted as everything from a brain booster to a healthy-ageing essential. But should we all be taking it? Not quite. “There’s really substantial evidence of creatine being effective,” says Bethan Crouse, a sports nutritionist at Loughborough University. “From a sport perspective, it’s probably one of the more well-researched supplements in terms of actually having a performance impact.” Creatine helps your body produce energy more efficiently during short, sharp bursts of activity. It does this by supporting generation of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the body’s “energy currency”. The result? Improvements in peak power and a greater ability to sustain repeated high-intensity efforts, such as sprint intervals. double quotation mark Beyond the gym, there are more established – and cheaper – ways to support both physical and cognitive health More recently, attention has shifted beyond the gym. Early research suggests creatine could have a role in cognitive function, with some studies pointing to protection from cognitive decline. “A few bigger studies have brought it into focus,” says Crouse. …

The Thin Line: GLP-1 Drugs and the Rise of Disordered Eating

The Thin Line: GLP-1 Drugs and the Rise of Disordered Eating

Published by Jenni Sidey

“It’s like anorexic heroin to my brain.” –40-year-old male with a long-standing history of anorexia who relapsed after purchasing a GLP-1 medication. Weight loss medications known as GLP-1 receptor agonists work by suppressing hunger signals. They have been a remarkable treatment for those who suffer from obesity and its health consequences, such as diabetes, hypertension, and sleep apnea. However, because of the easy accessibility, heavy promotion, and emergence of online weight loss platforms, many users are obtaining these prescriptions for non-medical indications. Last year, one of my middle-aged female patients decided she wanted to fit into a high-fashion dress for her high school reunion. In addition to frequent gym visits, she bought off-label Ozempic from a doctor in Dubai, where her daughter lives. When I saw her several months later, she was emaciated. Her once small frame now looked like she was suffering from a debilitating illness—her bones stuck out, her skin sagged, and her cheeks were hollow. Today’s Washington Post reported the experience of a 27-year-old woman with a history of anorexia as a …

New study reveals distinct differences in how different drugs relate to criminal behavior

New study reveals distinct differences in how different drugs relate to criminal behavior

Published by José Betancourt

A study published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology suggests that different substances have vastly different associations with criminal behavior and police arrests. The research indicates that while some psychedelics like psilocybin tend to be associated with lower rates of arrest, other substances like PCP and GHB show strong links to violent and non-violent crimes. These findings provide evidence that the influence of drugs on society is not uniform and depends heavily on the specific substance being used. Jesse J. Norris, an associate professor of criminal justice at the State University of New York at Fredonia, conducted this research to examine the role of substances that scientists do not often study in relation to crime. He noticed that much research focuses on common drugs like alcohol or cannabis but rarely looks at chemicals like phencyclidine, which is also known as PCP. He wanted to explore how these less common substances relate to both police arrests and crimes that people report themselves. Norris explained that two specific motivations led him to explore this topic. “First, PCP is …

France monitoring hantavirus contact cases – A week in France

France monitoring hantavirus contact cases – A week in France

Published by Sam Flores

At least one person has tested positive for hantavirus here in France and is currently in intensive care. French authorities are also monitoring four others who were onboard the MV Hondius, the cruise ship at the epicenter of the outbreak. They’ve also tracked 22 contact cases who’ve shown no signs of illness. Also in this edition: French prosecutors are pushing to return former president Nicolas Sarkozy to jail for seven years over allegations that the late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi secretly funded his 2007 presidential campaign. France’s Interior Minister Laurent Nunez pledged to stamp out drug crime, after shooters killed a 15-year-old in the western city of Nantes in a suspected settling of scores linked to dealing. Digital vigilantes are now using advanced deepfake technology to expose the dark reality of internet grooming, using AI as a powerful weapon against online predators including those operating here in France. While France is a country known for its fine wine – and not for its beer – for the first time in the country’s recorded history, more …

Spencer Pratt Is Creating Panic Over ‘Super Meth.’ It’s Not Even Real

Spencer Pratt Is Creating Panic Over ‘Super Meth.’ It’s Not Even Real

Published by skeptic

Zagorski says this is likely contributing to an uptick in meth use, but that it’s a “relatively minor” factor overall, with economic precarity and housing instability doing far more to drive the crisis. Nicky Mehtani, an assistant professor in the UCSF Division of General Internal Medicine at San Francisco General Hospital who specializes in addiction medicine and does clinical work with homeless people, tells WIRED that P2P meth is nothing new. “It’s been the dominant form in the US supply for the better part of a decade,” she says. “I’ve never heard it called ‘super meth’ in any clinical or scientific context, probably because it’s just the meth we’ve all been seeing for years now. There’s nothing novel or uniquely ‘super’ about it at this point.” Mehtani notes that meth use disorder is notoriously difficult to treat, in part due to the lack of any FDA-approved pharmacotherapies, and that “recovery is genuinely difficult.” But she says that Pratt’s narrative misses the root causes of meth use among people experiencing homelessness. “The most common reason I …

These Instagram Ads Sure Seem to Be Selling Cocaine Accessories

These Instagram Ads Sure Seem to Be Selling Cocaine Accessories

Published by skeptic

Big money and powerful interests have entirely rebranded drugs like cannabis, mushrooms, and ketamine in the 21st century. Today, millions of Americans can buy their pot legally in places that resemble Apple Stores or take powerful psychoactive substances in plush therapeutic settings. Cocaine, however, has yet to see the kind of tech-fueled makeover that changed the public perception of those drugs—but these luxury products in my Instagram feed may just give it a glow-up. Though you might not instantly see them as drug paraphernalia, on closer inspection, many of these products are offering to serve a need that no real person has ever had. Consider, for example, this video demonstrating use of a SLYD pouch, a small leather pocket with a magnetic clasp. The ad shows a person loading a small quantity of a powdered substance into the $39 pouch, and a caption exhorts the viewer: “Stop using that sketchy bag for your electrolytes.” The visual comparison with a resealable plastic bag containing whitish electrolyte power should make it clear what is seemingly being suggested …

Drug overdose deaths drop in United States for third year in a row | Drugs News

Drug overdose deaths drop in United States for third year in a row | Drugs News

Published by Sam Flores

Experts cite range of factors as overdose deaths drop to nearly 70,000 in 2025, a 14 percent decline over the previous year. Published On 13 May 202613 May 2026 The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released data showing that deaths from drug overdoses fell by nearly 14 percent in 2025, continuing a third consecutive year of decline. The data released on Wednesday shows that the US saw nearly 70,000 predicted overdose deaths in 2025, down from more than 81,000 in 2024. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list The downward trend has been welcomed in the US, which has struggled with a devastating overdose crisis fuelled largely by synthetic opioids. Overdose deaths peaked during the COVID-19 pandemic, with 110,000 recorded in 2022, a surge associated with social isolation and obstacles to accessing treatment services. “I’m cautiously optimistic that this represents really a fundamental change in the arc of the overdose crisis,” Brandon Marshall, a Brown University researcher who studies overdose trends, told The Associated Press news service. Experts have …

The Download: making drugs in orbit and NASA’s nuclear-powered spacecraft

The Download: making drugs in orbit and NASA’s nuclear-powered spacecraft

Published by skeptic

1 Sam Altman claims Elon Musk tried to seize control of OpenAIAltman said Musk initially wanted 90% of the equity. (AFP)+ And that control should go to his children when he dies. (BBC)+ Altman also accused Musk of twice trying to end its non-profit status. (NPR)+ Musk’s motivations for the suit are under scrutiny. (MIT Technology Review) 2 Google and SpaceX are in talks to launch data centers into orbitSpaceX could join Suncatcher, Google’s orbital data center project. (WSJ $)+ The project’s first launch is slated for early 2027. (Guardian)+ Anthropic and SpaceX have also discussed orbital data centers. (Wired $)+ But there are a few hurdles to overcome. (MIT Technology Review)  3 Jensen Huang has joined Donald Trump’s high-stakes mission to ChinaNvidia is lobbying to sell its AI chips in the country. (Bloomberg $)+ Elon Musk and Tim Cook are also on the trip. (CNBC)+ But a tech rivalry and distrust have sapped hopes for big deals. (Reuters $) 4 ICE agents have a list of 20 million people on their iPhones, thanks to …