Santiago, Chile: Two buses carrying Colombian football fans were detained earlier this month outside of Chacalluta, near the Peruvian border. Customs officials discovered cocaine, LSD, marijuana, knives, and a 40-centimeter long sabre. The Chilean authorities have ramped up security measures at the borders during the three-week tournament when Colombia is scheduled to play Brazil.
Given the extremely violent outbreaks that have happened in the past among soccer fans, including riots, arson, and looting, the sport is being monitored worldwide by concerned groups who would like to figure out how to reduce these tragedies surrounding the word’s most popular team sport.
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Gold in the Mountains
CAUCUS MOUNTAINS, RUSSIA: The Greek historian Herodotus chronicled the adventures of a fierce nomad people known as the Scythians. The Scythians were described as aggressive, held drug-fueled rituals, and could strike fear into the hearts of both Greeks and Persians of the time. According to National Geographic, in 2013 archaeologist Andrei Belinski began excavating a kurgan, or Scythian massive grave mound, to clear an area for a power-line project. The excavation was kept a secret to protect the site from looters, though Belinski found telltale signs that the area had already been pillaged in the past, so he was not expecting to find much.
A few weeks into digging, his team discovered a thick layer of clay. Digging deeper, they discovered a chamber with gold treasures inside that thieves must have missed. There were two bucket-shaped gold vessels with three gold cups, a finger ring, two neck rings, and a gold bracelet inside the buckets. There was a black residue inside the two vessels and the cups, after having the residue analyzed Belinski discovered it had traces of opium and cannabis. Beliski believes the artifacts were used to brew a strong opium concoction while burning cannabis nearby. This mix of drugs would purportedly transport those performing the ritual to a spiritual plane. This find confirms Herodotus’ story that the Scythians were indeed holding cannabis rituals and has inspired Beliski and his team to keep digging to uncover more truth of the Scythian’s ancient past.
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Medicate Your Own Way, Eh?
CANADA: The Supreme Court in Canada has now made all forms of medical marijuana legal. Prior to the ruling patients were restricted to using only the dried flower for their medical purposes. The court, however, ruled that “prohibiting possession of non-dried forms of marijuana is contrary to the principles of fundamental justice because they are arbitrary; the effects of the prohibition contradict the objective of protecting health and safety”. Thanks to the Supreme Court, patients may now ingest their medication in cookies, teas, oils, or any way of their preference.
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Unintentional Benefits from Cannabis
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: The Aka are a “pygmy” people living along the Lobaye River, consisting of about 400 people, it is one of the last remaining hunter-gatherer tribes. The Aka use marijuana and tobacco as recreational drugs. Around 70% of the men smoked regularly while only about 6% of the women participated. Ed Hagen of Washington State University surveyed the adults among the Aka to determine how non-western populations use marijuana. Hagen found that 95% of the men in the tribe had infections from helminthes, or parasitic intestinal worms. However, the men that regularly used cannabis had lower rates of infection than non-users. While the Aka do not use marijuana or tobacco for medicinal purposes, it turns out that they are being medicated by the plant toxins which kill the parasites. Hagen believes the Aka’s marijuana use is an unconscious strategy to rid their bodies of the parasites, similar to how people crave foods that contain nutrients the body is lacking, and speculates that the Aka may crave psychoactive plants to help ‘clean’ their body.
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Lots of Weed Found Among Cyprus Hills
CYPRUS: Police in the Famagusta district received an anonymous tip about a large grow operation last month. When the drug squad arrived in Avgorou village they found about 500 cannabis plants. The plants were housed in a chicken coop on the property and measured anywhere between two inches and six feet tall. Two brothers were arrested for the grow and are expected in court this month.
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Coma Patient Responds to Cannabis Oil
WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND: Alex Renton, who has been in a clinically-induced coma for nearly two months, has showed positive responses after only two doses of concentrated cannabis oil. While not fully conscious yet, Alex showed signs of movement and slight eye opening for the first time since becoming comatose. The boy’s mother, Rose Renton, is “extremely hopeful” about the cannabis treatments.
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Big Bonfire
OYO STATE, NIGERIA: The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) destroyed 24 hectares, roughly 60 acres, of marijuana on a cannabis plantation this month. The grow was found at Seriki Centre of the Gambari Forest Reserve, where two years before the NDLEA burned a large cannabis operation in the same area. The state commander of NDLEA, Faboyede Omolade, says the destruction is a major break that would greatly impact the fight against drug abuse. She also stated, “This will be a continuous exercise and the state government has planned to bring foreign investors to occupy the land and dissuade future illegal activities. You can imagine the damage and dangers of drug abuse if this much quantity had gotten into the public.” She believes the “drug” comes with adverse effects and atrocities are perpetrated through it.”
