Marijuana is highly addictive. Marijuana is a gateway drug. Marijuana is more potent today than in the past. [...] Zimmer and Morgan devote a chapter to each of these ‘marijuana myths’ in which they examine the existing scientific evidence to see whether these assertions hold true. Their conclusion, on almost all counts, is a resounding no. [ read more ]

Music and drugs have been intertwined in countless cultures over the ages. Youth cultures in the US and Europe have played out this dynamic over and over again in the past decades: the psychedelic movement produced psychedelic rock, reggae music celebrated the marijuana plant, and grunge supposedly glamorized heroin. One of the most striking recent partnerships of drug scene and music scene, that between Ecstasy and Acid House, is chronicled in the illuminating new book Altered State, by Matthew Collin. [ read more ]