If you’re about town tomorrow you might run into this lot pushing the harm reduction agenda hard and fast. They’re promising a stellar line up of talking heads and politicans including Aodhán Ó Riordáin TD and Minister for Drug Strategy, Luke Ming Flanagan MEP, Anne Marie Cockburn, Dr. John Collins, Vincent Lavery and Senator James Heffernan. Take a look at the international campaign while we have you.
Is Prohibition Doing More Harm Than Good?
Photo: The panel of speakers at the recent Students for Sensible Drug Policy conference in The Helix. Yet another drug related death occurred this past weekend. Once again most media outlets are missing the point completely. Daniel Kirby, is the Chairman of the DCU branch of Students for Sensible Drug Policy. Here’s his take on how prohibition is making drug use immeasurably more dangerous. Ana Hick’s death was a tragedy, but a … Read More
Dublin Village.
Dublin Oldschool is a play that represents a side of Dublin that’s rarely seen in theatres. Nocturnal behaviour till the sun comes up and beyond, yokes as currency, sipping the same can of Dutch for hours. We sent Fiona P. Lonker to find out the buzz. I caught Dublin Oldschool in a packed theatre tent at Electric Picnic, which might just have been the show’s perfect crowd: despite lingering afternoon hangovers … Read More
#clubbersCognotes: David Holmes On Acid House.
Great interview with David Holmes, churned out as part of the Alternative Ulster history project up Norf. They’ve gathered up interviews with some of the musical movers and shakers of the NI scene over the years. Holmes ran the famous Sugar Sweet club, Orbital wrote the track Belfast, after playing it. In this one he chats the impact of acid house on the city: “It was the kind of the perfect … Read More
Bath Salt Zombie.
The back and forths over America’s EDM revolution might make you barf, but all those festivals Seth Troxler slag off have opened up whole new audiences for drugs never mind the more authentic club music he’d rather see crowds crave. Like anywhere, drugs mean a moral panic – especially when people fear their kids are just a few accidental nose doses away from becoming a bath salt zombie. This fear is even … Read More
Warriors Come Out To Play.
Last week’s killing of an unarmed 18 year old Micheal Brown by an officer called Darren Wilson, gave the world not only a glimpse of the racialisation of policing in the United States but a shocking window into how local police forces are amping up their military capacity. Much of the social media surprise around this latest cold killing in the States has been over the military grade weaponry and tactics broken … Read More
Canada’s Prince of Pot Is Out.
Cannabis seed distributor Marc Emery was greeted by friends and fans in Toronto yesterday after four years locked up in the States. Emery is an articulate proponent of cannabis reform and counter-cultural entrepreneur extraordinaire. Emery was a well known thorn in the side of the London Ontario political establishment, he ran a bookshop called City Lights named after the quintessential San Fransico beat store. He railed against Sunday closing, censorship and found himself in battles … Read More
The Missionary Position Or How The Irish Learnt To Have Sex.
Whilst the rest of the western world was in the midst of the STI-swapping frenzy that was the sixties, Ireland was on its knees waiting outside a confession box. Sheila Lafferty, gets under the covers and gets to grips with Irish sexual cluelessness. A sordid mix of Victorian neurosis and Rome rule meant that sex in 20th-century Ireland was a silent taboo that only happened behind closed doors, under blankets, with … Read More
Some Cheek.
Students For Sensible Drug Policy stick it to the peelers. No flash in a pan campaign – it looks like they’ll really be sticking around. They’ve a tonne of events coming up around the country as part of the international #SupportDontPunish awareness campaign. In a week where the Irish Times published a piece that started to question the damage caused by prohibition – is the debate finally opening up here? Follow their … Read More
Alexander Shulgin Has Died.
Sasha #Shulgin died at about 5pm this afternoon. Gate gate para gate parasamgate bodhi svaha! All hail the goer. Our love goes with you. — Erowid Center (@Erowid) June 3, 2014 Alexander Shulgin, the father of madouvits everywhere has died. Back in 2010 he had suffered a stroke and his health was failing. Tragic to think that his friends at the time were forced to turn to a public … Read More