President Barack Obama held an “online conversation” with the American people yesterday.  The event was moderated by Google and people were encouraged all week to submit questions for the President via YouTube.  Users could also give a thumbs up or down to the videos and the ones most popular would be asked of Obama.

Well it turns out the most popular questions all concerned the Drug War or Marijuana Legalization.  Obama wouldn’t even acknowledge the questions let along answer them.  President Obama did address such pressing national issues as late-night snacks, dancing and his tennis skills.

Yet for some reason the top rated question by retired deputy chief of police in Los AngelesStephen Downing, which got the most votes at 4,500 was completely ignored.

Downing, a board member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition said the following in response to his question being ignored,

“It’s worse than silly that YouTube and Google would waste the time of the president and of the American people discussing things like midnight snacks and playing tennis when there is a much more pressing question on the minds of the people who took the time to participate in voting on submissions. A majority of Americans now support legalizing marijuana to de-fund cartels and gangs, lower incarceration and arrest rates and save scarce public resources, all while generating new much-needed tax revenue. The time to discuss this issue is now. We’re tired of this serious public policy crisis being pushed aside or laughed off.”

President Obama is going to have a lot to answer to on this issue. Polls consistently show that a majority of Americans believe the Drug War is a failure and that laws need to be changed.  The costs of arresting and charging people for something as simple as marijuana possession make no sens in a down economy.

Do you think Marijuana should be legalized?

LAPD Deputy Chief Asks Obama About Marijuana Legalization

Obama Ignores Drug Use Questions [Video] is a post from: The Inquisitr

Internet is the new cocaine. A new brain scan study found that not only can the internet be addicting, but it can also cause similar brain changes that occur with alcoholics and drug addicts.

Researchers compared brain scans of 17 men and women who were diagnosed with internet addiction disorder with the brain scans of 17 people who were not addicted to surfing the web. CBS notes that participants in the study were between the ages of 14 and 21 and lived in China.

The report, which was published in the Jan. 11 issue of PLoS One, said that the researchers found more “abnormal white matter” in the internet addicted individuals. Previous studies have found similar changes in “white matter” in people who are addicted to alcohol, cocaine, heroin, marijuana, and meth.

According to the report, the abnormal white matter can disrupt pathways in the brain related to self control and decision making.

The report reads:

“The results suggest that IAD may share psychological and neural mechanisms with other types of substance addiction and impulse control disorders.”

Other studies have shown that people addicted to video games also suffer similar symptoms. Dr. Henrietta Bowden Jones, a psychiatric who runs a clinic for Internet addicts at the Imperial College in London, told CBS:

“The majority of people we see with serious Internet addiction are gamers – people who spend long hours in roles in various games that cause them to disregard their obligations. I have seen people who stopped attending university lectures, failed their degrees or their marriages broke down because they were unable to emotionally connect with anything outside the game.”

How long have you been on the internet today? Maybe it’s time you took a break.

Internet, It’s a Helluva Drug: Internet Addiction Has Same Effect as Cocaine on Brain is a post from: The Inquisitr

In a follow up to my piece yesterday on researchers finding Cocaine in the air all over Italy, I have decided that after a little more research that it is official…Cocaine is everywhere!

Today the Huffington Post is reporting that a study in the United Kingdom, which has been dubbed the Cocaine capital of Eruope, has found that 9 out of 10 diaper changing stations have traces of cocaine on them.

This in light of a CNN report that 90% of all currency in the United States has traces of cocaine on it too!

Seriously, I am not sure what is going on in the world but it would seem as if a lot of it is focused on cocaine.  Granted both researchers acknowledge that not all the samples tested were probably used for illicit purposes.  As far as currency goes, once a bill is contaminated it may have been put into a money counting machine and contaminated others.

Back to the baby changing stations though, it is highly unlikely that they could have been cross contaminated. I mean, there is always the possibility that a local drug dealer could have stopped by a restroom to relieve himself and left a couple of packages of cocaine on the changing station, but 9 out of ten of them?

There have been alot of talkbacks on this subject with posters coming up with some interesting ideas to keep babies rear ends safe from the highly addictive stimulant.

One Huff Post Reader suggested “Just for fun, some of those changing stations should swing shut when there’s no weight on them after, say, a minute. That’ll make for some pissed off addicts ”

Do you think Cocaine is everywhere?  What can we do about this phenomena?

Seriously, Cocaine is EVERYWHERE! is a post from: The Inquisitr

It looks like Manny Ramirez wasn’t ready to call it quits from Major League Baseball (MLB) after all, the outfielder filed for reinstatement this week and hired new agents to find him a job.

Ramirez returned on April 8, 2011 after he was given a 100-game suspension for failing the MLB drug test for a second time. Rather than serve the ban Ramirez retired. According to the players union Ramirez will serve a 50-game suspension if picked up by an MLB team.

When all is said and done Ramirez will have missed 206-games when the 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 seasons are added together.

Before going into retirement Ramirez had just one hit in 17 at-bats with the Tampa Bay Rays where he served as a designated hitter.

During his impressive 19-year career Ramirez had 555 home runs with 1,841 RBIs and a .312 average. Ramirez was also a 12-time All-Star while his 21 grand slams are tied with Alex Rodriguez among all active players.

Of course all of Ramirez’s accomplishments have been brought into question following a second positive test for banned substances and after he was arrested on Sept. 12, 2011 on a charge of domestic battery after an incident involving his wife, to which he pled not guilty.

Do you think Manny Ramirez can make a comeback? Do you even care about Manny now that he’s proven to be yet another performance enhancing cheater?

[Image via JustASC / Shutterstock.com]

Manny Ramirez Hopes For A Comeback, Files For MLB Reinstatment is a post from: The Inquisitr

If you’re children score high on IQ tests or excel easily in school based learning activities there’s a good chance they will smoke marijuana and possibly try other drugs later in life according to a new survey.

The new study took a look at 8,000 British citizens born in 1970 and they found that five-year-olds who scored high IQ scores were more likely to try marijuana by age 16, while high IQ scores by the age of 30 were 46% more likely to try various amphetamines (in the last year) and 65% more likely to have tried ecstasy at least once.

The study also examined women at the age of 30 and found that they were twice as likely to have used marijuana or cocaine in the past 12-months.

In the study one researcher revealed:

“High-IQ individuals have also been shown to score highly on tests of stimulation seeking and openness to experience.”

The researcher hypothesizes that “illegal drugs are better at fulfilling a desire for novelty and stimulation.”

The study also found that many high IQ scoring individuals may turn to drugs as they become bored or get teased by their less intelligent peers.

I recall in college that many of my friends with photographic memories and perfect grade point averages partook in drug fueled nights, at least on the surface that’s enough proof in my mind to validate this type of study.

Do you know anyone with a high IQ who tends to turn their attention towards drug use when they are bored? Do these results surprise you?

Children With High IQ Scores Get High Later In Life [Study] is a post from: The Inquisitr

Researchers at Toronto’s Centre for Addiction and Mental Health believe they have found a possible link between the heavy use of methamphetamines and schizophrenia.

Using hospital records obtained from 1990 through 2000 at a California hospital researchers compared results from drug users to a control group of non-drug users to determine the direct effects meth use has on the mental condition. Researchers studied the records of each patients for up to 10 years from the time of their initial hospital visit.

According to the study’s co-author Russell Callaghan meth users who did not have psychotic symptoms at the start of the study period were 1.5 to 3.0 times more likely to be diagnosed with schizophrenia at a later time if meth addiction was discovered.

The study examined 42,412 meth users and was published on Tuesday in the American Journal of Psychiatry.

Dr. Stephen Kish, head of CAMH’s Human Brain Laboratory told the CBC:

“We really do not understand how these drugs might increase schizophrenia risk,”

“Perhaps repeated use of methamphetamine and cannabis in some susceptible individuals can trigger latent schizophrenia by sensitizing the brain to dopamine, a brain chemical thought to be associated with psychosis.”

While a link appears to be prevalent researchers conducting the study were quick to point out that more studies are needed.

The study is important because Meth and other amphetamine-type stimulants are thought to be the second most widely used class of illegal drugs in the world.

Given what the drug has been shown to do with human brains I’m not surprised by the findings. Do the new research studies results surprise you?

[Images via ShutterStock.com]

Heavy Meth Use Linked To Schizophrenia is a post from: The Inquisitr

A study recently undertaken by the University of Michigan cites childhood obesity and drug abuse as the two biggest problems facing American youth.

However, the results were culled not from studies of youth, but a poll of adults to see what America’s grown-ups believe is the most harmful thing to the nation’s youngsters. Not surprisingly, obesity topped out the poll- essentially tied with drug use as the major bad things kids in America face. And from a perhaps not-scientific perspective, it seems the results may be skewed by a) problems that are visible and b) problems that have a significant amount of scarelore to back them up- which could account for the one and two spots on the list below.

Obesity in American children certainly is a problem, but not nearly as much as it is for American adults. Recent CDC estimates put the rate of children who are obese at about 17%, compared to 34% of American adults.

The list compiled by the poll would be interesting viewed side-by-side with a table of actual risks facing US children, but the results of the poll alone indicate these ten issues as those thought to be most risky:

• Childhood obesity, 33%
• Drug abuse, 33%
• Smoking and tobacco use, 25%
• Teen pregnancy, 24%
• Bullying, 24%
• Internet safety, 23%
• Stress, 22%
• Alcohol abuse, 20%
• Driving accidents, 20%
• Sexting, 20%

At least one expert, however, says that the poll’s results are somewhat accurate- at least when it comes to drug use and perceived risk. Director of the National Poll on Children’s Health and associate professor in the Child Health Evaluation and Research Unit at the University of Michigan Medical School Matthew Davis, MD says:

“The perception of drug abuse as a big problem matches recent national data showing increasing use of marijuana and other drugs by US teens. Meanwhile, although obesity remains atop the list of child health concerns for the fourth straight year, the level of public concern has declined over the last few years in our poll… This may be a warning to public health officials, because it indicates how the public is hearing national messages that previous increases in children’s obesity rates have recently leveled off.”

Do you agree with the University of Michigan’s poll results?

Obesity, Drug Abuse Biggest Problems in US Youth is a post from: The Inquisitr

Barry Bonds the disgraced former base ball player has provided a “celebrity” endorsement for Christensen Arms who make high powered hunting rifles. Who would have thoight that Barry Bonds and Sarah Palin had that much in common.

Now I’m no vegetarian, card carrying member of PETA, but I am appalled by his whopping for joy, and posing with the dead buck.

He also provided a written endorsement

With this super wide whitetail closing in, the only thing I had to worry about was putting the crosshairs on the front shoulder, and the rifle would do the rest. One blast is all it took.

By closing in he means the buck was wandering in a field minding its own business. And I guess he would know all about how “one blast was all it took”.

If you must there is a video on the Christensen website where you can watch him kill Bambi a “monster white tail” deer in Canada, fast forward to the 7 minute mark unless you want to watch all the awkward macho talk about rifles and pumping blood etc.

I guess the roids would explain it- although why Christensen would want him to endorse their product is beyond me. In other news the perjury trial against Bonds continues despite a couple of the charges being dropped.

Barry Bonds Killed Bambi is a post from: The Inquisitr