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Virtual Dopers Crave High Scores
(Daniel Terdiman, Wired News, May 25, 2004)
The world of massively multiplayer online games is often a dangerous place, what with constant threats from bloodthirsty monsters and murderous non-player characters. But now players have even more peril to contend with: addictive drugs that can incapacitate or kill their characters. . . . The designers of Achaea, one of the biggest online text-based games, have recently introduced a virtual addictive drug -- known as gleam -- as part of a story line in which a crime ring has been attempting to infiltrate the game's cities. And some players can't take it fast enough. . . . "It's really nasty. We didn't tell them it was addictive.... (Non-player characters) showed up and said, 'Hey, I've got this stuff here, wanna try it?' Being new, they pounced right on it." . . . Achaea characters who take gleam get hooked quickly -- suffering typical addiction symptoms: violent vomiting, shivering, irrational sobbing, begging for the drug and even overdoses resulting in death. . . . In A Tale in the Desert, players discovered that by dosing their characters with a potion called Speed of the Serpent, they could gain extra waypoints, a valuable attribute allowing for instant travel across the game's wide three-dimensional globe. . . . Speed of the Serpent was poisonous, though, and required the ingestion of an antidote within 30 days, or the character would die. If a player took the potion a second time, the antidote was needed within 29 days; a third use meant 28 days and so on. . . . Eventually, as players succumbed to their desire for the extra waypoints, the interval between potion and antidote was short enough that even the hard-core couldn't keep up. According to Andy Tepper, the game's lead designer, 18 players' characters have died from addiction to Speed of the Serpent, more than from any other cause in the game's history. . . . "People spend money, huge amounts of time (and) get completely fanatical," said Ron Meiners, an expert in online gaming and communities. They "get completely wrapped up in the experience -- the second life. Virtual drugs are just the next step."

[COMMENT: So how long do you think it will be before the DEA steps in. My guess is that they will eventually extent their draconian claws into cyberspace. But that may not happen until the advent of digital drugs that actually alter the consciousness of the players in a way that mimics the actual substances. Stay tuned!]

. . . Read more!


posted by LoZo 2:34 PM

 

Russia Enacts Sweeping Reforms in Drug Laws: No Jail for Possession
The Duma passed legislation that would remove criminal penalties and the possibility of jail time for simple drug possession. . . . Under the old law, possession of even a single marijuana cigarette could garner a three-year prison sentence. According to Russian authorities, somewhere between 200,000 and 300,000 people are currently serving time for drug offenses. . . . Under the new law -- actually an amendment to the Criminal Code -- which went into effect Wednesday, people possessing no more than 10 times the "average single dose" will no longer be charged with a crime, but an "administrative infraction." Possession of between 10 and 50 times the "average single dose" is punishable by a larger fine and community service, but again, no jail or prison time. Small-scale dealers will find themselves protected against drug trafficking charges by this second provision -- unless they get caught in the act of selling. Punishment for drug sales is increased under the new law.

Here are the critical quantity levels determined by the Russian government in consultation with drug reform groups such as the Russian Harm Reduction Network and the NAN Foundation. These are the quantities that represent ten times the "average single dose," up to which no one can be arrested or criminally charged:

heroin, 1.0 grams
cocaine, 1.5 grams
marijuana, 20.0 grams (dried)
hashish, 5.0 grams
ecstasy, 0.5 grams
methamphetamine, 0.5 grams
mescaline, 0.5 grams
LSD, 0.003 grams
psilocybin, 0.005 grams

Drug reformers welcomed the law and the new, improved "average single dose" levels. "This is a brave, humane law," said Lev Levinson, head of New Drug Policies.

. . . Read more!


posted by LoZo 10:07 AM

 

Marijuana use up among U.S. adults
(Richmond Times-Dispatch (AP), May 5, 2004)
Habitual marijuana use increased among U.S. adults over the past decade, particularly among young minorities and baby boomers, government figures show. The prevalence of marijuana abuse or dependence climbed from 1.2 percent of adults in 1991-92 to 1.5 percent in 2001-02, or an estimated 3 million adults 18 and over. That represents an increase of 22 percent, or 800,000 people, according to data from two nationally representative surveys that each queried more than 40,000 adults. Among 18- to 29-year-olds, the rate of abuse or dependence remained stable among whites but surged by about 220 percent among black men and women, to 4.5 percent of that population, and by 150 percent among Hispanic men, to 4.7 percent. The report, published in today's Journal of the American Medical Association, was led by Dr. Wilson Compton of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, who said the rise in dependence probably resulted at least partly from increases in the potency of pot over the past decade. The researchers said adults were considered marijuana abusers if repeated use of the drug hurt their ability to function at work, in school or in social situations, or created drug-related legal problems. Drug users were considered dependent if they experienced increased tolerance of marijuana, used it compulsively and continued using it despite drug-related physical or psychological problems. Overall use of the drug - casual use and habitual use - remained stable at around 4 percent, or more than 6 million adults.

******A couple of things: The study was led by someone at the National Institute on Drug Abuse so the study may have been biased, intentionally or not, so take the results with a grain of salt... Second, definitions of "abuse" and "dependency" are absolutely open to interpretation just as alcohol "abuse" and "dependency" are. And the study makes no reference to cause other than the reference to increased dependence due to increased potency. My guess is, and this is only a guess mind you, is that use is up because of the inherent stress of life today - the stress of worrying about whether your job is going to be off-shored or eliminated altogether; the stress of wondering whether Little Bush has pissed off enough people around the world that another "incident" is going to happen within our borders (not to mention the obvious lack of preperation to stop such an incident despite all the money spent on the Department of Homeland Security); the stress of wondering how long before the other nations of the world start calling in their loans to the US (which would undoubtedly start a depression of gross magnitude); the stress of wondering how long it is going to be before the Administration starts calling our sons and daughters to go to be cannon fodder in the fight to secure oil fields halfway around the world (despite the climbing oil prices locally); the stress of wondering whether we've managed to squirrel away enough money to live, barely, in our old age with the knowledge that social security is most likely not going to be available to us. And lastly, usage is up due to the increased availability which indicates that after over 30 years of a "War on Drugs", the war is obviously a failure - like most everything our government attempts to do "for us." Think of how many people our government could have fed, clothed , housed, and educated (well maybe), with the money spent on their failed drug war. I wonder if the Iraq occupation is going to be as long and as successful as their war on drugs? I wonder...but that's just this old curmudgeon's opinion...*****

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posted by A Curmudgeon 12:33 PM