Pacific Standard March-April 2013 Cover

Super Bowl Illegal Drug Use Update

(PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK)

Super Bowl weekend is upon us, and you all know what that means: Time to set aside the crystal meth and break out the cocaine. At least, that’s what it meant to the greater Las Vegas area in 2010. An analysis of Southern Nevada wastewater found partiers were ingesting more than just chips and guacamole, and their choice of illegal stimulant differed significantly from a more sedate weekend. Writing in the journal Water Research, a team led by Daniel Gerrity describe a study comparing the levels of various drugs in samples collected from a municipal wastewater treatment plant. The ... Read More

Would Breaking Bad’s Czech Meth Scheme Work?

Syringe on the Ground

Fans of the critically-adored Breaking Bad, the story of a high-school chemistry teacher who becomes a Southwest narcotics kingpin, know that Sunday night's cliffhanger turned on a successful scheme to export methamphetamine from New Mexico to the Czech Republic. It's fiction. Most studies of global drug use suggest Europeans don't use methamphetamine in large numbers. Why not? What do Europeans know about keeping meth use at bay, while North America gets slammed by the drug, straining health systems, clogging the courts, and converting rural homes into chemical bombs? Nothing. ... Read More