In 2013 stories emerged of gangs stealing plasma TV screens to use to make street drugs. It’s a myth, but it tells us something about South Africa’s social anxieties.
A gang member shows his tattoos.
Per-Anders Pettersson/ Getty Images
Hard as it is, some gangsters do leave gangs. A new book, based on a 5-year study, tracks the lives of 24 former gang members.
Naloxone can prevent deaths from opioid overdose, but there is no way to reverse the effects of benzodiazepine overdose without risk.
(THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward)
Fentanyl adulteration led to the replacement of heroin in the unregulated drug supply of British Columbia. Now that benzodiazepines are present in many opioids, are we headed towards a ‘new normal?’
A study shows that some Cape Town gangsters choose to stand alone, preferring their independence to taking orders from a gang boss.
Few medical schools offer training in addictions medicine and most doctors feel they lack the specialist expertise to deal with the inpatient opioid crisis.
(THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan)
Researchers are finding medical uses for some molecules in certain street drugs, but it’s important to call the drugs by their real names. Here’s why that’s important.
“Bath salts,” or synthetic street drugs with amphetamines. Via DEA.
DEA
Flakka was believed to be behind two cannibalistic attacks in Florida that left one man blind and a married couple dead. It wasn’t so. Here’s why we need facts, not myths, about dangerous drugs.