December 3, 2003

drugs, drugs and more drugs

I don't know what my friends were thinking today, but every article they sent me was somehow related to drugs. [Hmm.. is that a hint?]

Research Ecstasy is Clouded by Errors - they were testing methamphetamine, not MDMA

Snortable Spirits - snorting Vodka without the liquid creates a quick high... this very much cclouds the bridge between "alcohol" and "drugs"

Search Engines Limit Ads for Drugs but Ease Rules on Sex

So, basically, three articles... one about the politics of drugs vs. sex, one about the blurring of the boundary between alcohol and hard drugs and one about the illegitimacy of scientific studies on drugs. Glad to know that everyone's boundaries are getting toyed with.

Snortable spirits: Alcohol without the hangover
The Ottawa Citizen
Sat 29 Nov 2003

Forget the shooter, here comes the snooter.

The inventor of a new machine that mixes alcohol with pure oxygen says
his Alcohol With Out Liquid (AWOL) vapour can give users an instant
high, minus the hangovers and calories that come with normal drinking.

Dominic Simler explains the invention, which he launched last week in
Britain, gives an instant "hit" that's "unlike anything you've tried
before."

"The oxygen with the alcohol gives you an unusual sort of buzz -- at
times euphoric and with a sense of well-being," he says.

Once inhaled through the nose or mouth, the alcoholic vapour is
absorbed into the bloodstream through the lungs. Mr. Simler says the
drunk effect lasts for about 25 minutes.

He says his recipe is hang-over-free because it's not passing through
the same organs as a drink and the consumer doesn't need to inhale as
much alcohol to feel an effect.

(Mr. Simler says he is not sure if the device would allow a user to
evade detection on a roadside breathalyser test.)

Mr. Simler, who lives in London, says he's in the "leisure oxygen
market." The 30-year-old entrepreneur has done everything from oxygen
facials to oxygenated gyms and says he got the idea for AWOL from the
oxygen-bar concept.

Mr. Simler says he didn't understand why people would want to breathe
oxygen at a bar because it would "sober you up." He says it seemed like
there would have to be a better way of combining bars and oxygen.
there would have to be a better way of combining bars and oxygen.

Mr. Simler says the system is being marketed to the bar and nightclub
scene and those wanting exciting Christmas parties in Britain. Numerous
bars and nightclubs have shown interest in the product including some
in Japan, Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia.

The AWOL system goes for about $3,400 Cdn and has two components. The
kit includes a diffuser into which you pour about 25 millilitres of
alcohol and a bottle of 68-proof absynthe for testing purposes.

The diffuser is hand-held and attaches to the AWOL oxygen generator,
which is about as large as a piece of carry-on luggage. The only thing
left to do is inhale through the mouth or snort through the nose.

The snort or inhale part is exactly what concerns Andrew Murie,
national executive director of Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Mr. Murie
says most people drink as a social activity.

He says with this new invention, a person gets high faster without
having to spend the time drinking the product. He says the machine
almost equates alcohol with drug use.

"I just can't see 99 per cent of the population wanting to do it that
way, and those that would use it, we need to be concerned about. It's
definitely a risk. Hopefully it never takes off," he says.

Mr. Simler says he doesn't condone misuse or abuse of alcohol with his
product. He recommends that people who use the contraption not drive or
operate machinery afterwards.

Like drinking, he says, individuals need to know when to stop.

Category: altered states

Posted by zephoria at December 3, 2003 1:38 AM | TrackBack