Media + Culture

Meth Was the Routine in Our Biker Club. Psychedelics Were the Escapes.

I was a fan of psychedelics long before I got ahold of any. Such exotic drugs as LSD were not…

October 23, 2023

Parents for Vapes? Why Some Are Buying Them for Their Teens

Outcry over youth vaping continues to drive headlines and policies around the world, fueled in part by parents who have…

October 20, 2023

Watch: Stigma Hampers Recruitment for Nicotine Research

Dr. Paul Newhouse has been studying nicotine for three decades, but it’s only in the last few years that he’s…

October 16, 2023

Stop Scapegoating Immigrants for the Fentanyl-Involved Overdose Crisis

As the United States continues to grapple with a devastating opioid-involved overdose crisis, conservative policymakers have seized on a familiar…

October 16, 2023

Media Never Changed Its 1970s PCP Propaganda, Just Repurposed It

In 1927, a family in Mexico City ate cannabis leaves by accident. The father had just been killed, and with…

October 10, 2023

Big Vape: Netflix Docuseries Flips the Narrative on Juul

I was prepared to hate-watch the new Netflix limited docuseries, Big Vape: The Rise and Fall of Juul, directed by…

October 5, 2023

Amid the Trauma of Prison, an Unexpected Oasis: Crochet Club

Travis learned to crochet from his grandmother. He was 10 when she showed him his first stitch, in 1986, and…

October 3, 2023

Uproar as “95 Percent Safer” Message Blamed for Youth Vaping

A prominent British physician has sparked controversy by blaming the country’s message that vapes are “95 percent safer” than cigarettes…

October 3, 2023

American Lung Association Seeks to Suppress Harm Reduction Information

The American Lung Association, as you would expect, is eager to point out the dangers of cigarettes. It wants to…

October 2, 2023

“Sleep’s Cave”—The Speculation Around Ovid’s Opium References

Publius Ovidius Naso, known today as Ovid, was a Roman poet of great acclaim and some infamy. His works remain…

September 29, 2023