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Drugs

Yesterday

Spanish Civil Guard General Alfonso Lopez Malo, second right, and Portuguese Police Director Luis Neves, left, speak during a news conference at the Portuguese police headquarters in Lisbon.

Submarine carrying tonnes of cocaine seized in Atlantic

Spanish authorities, who tipped off the Portuguese, said it was the first time a drug-running semi-submersible had been intercepted in the open sea.

February

US marines install concertina wire along the US-Mexico border wall between San Diego and Tijuana on February 5.

Mexico tries to tame ‘monster’ cartels to please Donald Trump

President Claudia Sheinbaum faces hurdles in fighting drug violence to placate the US.

Small vials of fentanyl are shown in the inpatient pharmacy at the University of Utah Hospital in Salt Lake City.

What to know about Canada’s role in the fentanyl crisis

Fentanyl is just as big a public health threat in Canada, where on some days more Canadians than Americans die of opioid overdoses, officials say.

December 2024

MDMA pills. A 28-year-old South Yarra man allegedly had 17 on him at the festival.

Festival drug arrests as pill testing trial starts

Two men have been charged with trafficking at the first Victorian music event to try such measures, and one person has been treated for an overdose.

There could be clues in your drink itself, such as it changing colour or looking cloudy.

Was your drink spiked? How to recognise the symptoms and what to do

The festive period is riskier as people go out more often for office parties and end of year gatherings. Here are the signs to look out for.

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“Who feels nervous about tomorrow?” Murray Rodgers asked the entrepreneurs who came to a recent psychedelic retreat he led in Western Canada. Three hands shot in the air.

The CEOs are tripping. Can psychedelics help the C-suite?

A growing cottage industry is dedicated to the theory that mind-altering drugs can improve business leadership.

Bali Nine member Matthew Norman chatting with Indonesian politicians in Kerobokan Prison on Friday.

Remaining Bali Nine members return to Australia

Australians Matthew Norman, Michael Czugaj, Scott Rush, Martin Stephens and Si Yi Chen were accompanied back to Australia by government officials on Sunday.

Former NSW Opposition leader Kerry Chikarovski (left) leaves Downing Centre Court with her daughter Lisa Chikarovksi and Mark Chikarovski’s lawyer Bryan Wrench.

Ex-NSW Liberal leader’s son gets community service for drug dealing

Mark Chikarovski, 38, will serve a 35-month sentence in the community for supplying a range of drugs via the dark web.

March 2024

Elon Musk says ketamine helps him fight depression.

Musk says his ketamine prescription is in investors’ best interests

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has told former CNN anchor Don Lemon that using the drug alleviates periods of low mood, and “what matters is execution”.

Illicit drugs bought online often adulterated, study warns

Researchers say the high rate of adulteration of drugs sold online highlights the urgent need for more local pill testing facilities.

January 2024

Some people have found the desire to drink alcohol disappears while taking Ozempic.

‘On Ozempic I immediately lost all desire for alcohol’

Intriguingly, some users also reported that semaglutide decreased their desire to smoke or vape.

Soldiers patrol outside the government palace during a state of emergency in Quito, Ecuador.

Armed men storm Ecuador TV studio amid escalating violence

The South American country has been rocked by attacks, including the abductions of police officers, following a powerful gang leader’s apparent escape from prison.

Musk’s personal life intrudes anew.

Elon Musk’s drug use is the latest headache for Tesla’s board

The Wall Street Journal detailed Elon Musk’s history of recreational drug use, the latest in a long line of tests for a board packed with the CEO’s acolytes.

September 2023

New treatment categories show promise in the treatment of addictions.

The end of addiction? Scientists are re-engineering our brains

New gene therapies could hold the key to freeing addicts from their abusive cycles – but will altering their receptors change their personalities as well?

July 2023

Bandaged hands of a worker in a coca field in San Miguel, Putumayo, Colombia.

Cocaine growers in Colombia give up as crop price plunges 75pc

The price of coca, the key commodity used to make cocaine, has plunged this year in Colombia thanks to oversupply and the growth of production in other countries.

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The White House was briefly evacuated Sunday evening after the discovery of the white powder.

Who took cocaine into the White House?

President Joe Biden and his family were away at Camp David when a uniformed Secret Service agent found the substance during a patrol of the West Wing.

January 2023

How the marijuana ‘green rush’ fell apart

Supply is now flooding the market in several US states, economists say, depressing prices and decimating already-thin margins.

Cocaine remains popular, despite a price hike.

Why the golden age of cocaine is happening right now

The drug is reaching corners of the planet that have never seen it before, thanks to a massive growth in acreage as well as higher productivity on coca farms.

December 2022

Signs of THC intoxication are fairly easy to spot and, in most cases, the animal’s system will naturally flush the toxins out.

Wait, is my dog stoned?

We thought our pet was having a stroke. She was high. Vets say that’s getting increasingly common these days.

September 2022

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet unveils a new ambitious drug policy aimed at quashing the use of ice across the state

NSW pins hopes on ‘two strikes’ policy against drugs

The state government ruled out accepting a recommendation to decriminalise the drug ice.

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/topic/drugs-5wj