The next ayahuasca? Gabon fights to protect sacred plant from US drug companies 18 October 2026 at 09:00

The next ayahuasca? Gabon fights to protect sacred plant from US drug companies

18 October 2026 at 09:00

Iboga root, central to several Gabonese ritual traditions, is believed to have huge potential for use in treating addiction and some mental illnesses

The temple is dark, its sandy floor edged with candles. People sit shoulder to shoulder beneath palm fronds hung from the rafters. Through the night, they swallow what they have come here for: a bitter root bark called iboga.

Tabernanthe iboga is a slow-growing central African rainforest shrub, the root bark of which has long been used in several Gabonese ritual traditions.

UK HRT shortages: which products are affected and what to do about it 15 October 2026 at 13:58

UK HRT shortages: which products are affected and what to do about it

The Guardian

By: Nicola Davis Science correspondent

15 October 2026 at 13:58

Experts say seeking alternatives that deliver the same dose of oestrogen by the same method is key

Women in the UK are again facing shortages of some HRT products, with warnings they could persist for weeks. We take a look at the situation.

Overdose Offsets 15 October 2026 at 10:29

Overdose Offsets

MetaFilter

By: mhoye

15 October 2026 at 10:29

Each bag carries a small but real chance of killing whoever buys it. Each bag also sends $1.80 to the Against Malaria Foundation, which GiveWell estimates saves a child's life for about $5,500. My customers die at a rate of roughly one per 4,000 bags. Four thousand bags at $1.80 buys nets for 1.3 children. Every death on my corner is offset, with a third of a toddler left over, and I'd like that number in the conversation the next time somebody calls me a murderer out the window of a passing Kia.

How Europe’s most wanted cocaine trafficker turned Sierra Leone into the world’s first true narco state 14 October 2026 at 02:00

How Europe’s most wanted cocaine trafficker turned Sierra Leone into the world’s first true narco state

The Guardian

By: Mark Townsend

14 October 2026 at 02:00

Drawing on dozens of interviews with intelligence and police officers across two continents, a Guardian investigation reveals the murderous cost of our insatiable appetite for cocaine

As abductions go, few have been more brazen. Alan Jalloh was with two friends outside Goodies supermarket, frantic as usual with late afternoon shoppers. Rush hour in downtown Freetown, Sierra Leone’s capital, was under way with familiar gusto.

A black Toyota Rav4 forced its way through the Peninsula highway traffic. Witnesses describe burly white men leaping out, yanking on balaclavas. Jalloh, 40, seemed to freeze. As did his two friends, one a famous Freetown footballer. All three were dragged into the waiting SUV. None of them have been seen since.

Latin American organised crime ‘may operate in 16 European countries’ 13 October 2026 at 03:00

Latin American organised crime ‘may operate in 16 European countries’

The Guardian

By: Andrei Netto in Paris

13 October 2026 at 03:00

Cocaine seizures in Europe are up more than fivefold in 10 years as a host of cartels take root. A four-month Guardian investigation reveals the true scale of a continent-wide shift

A four-month investigation by the Guardian has revealed that the surge in cocaine trafficking to Europe is directly linked to the expanding presence of Latin American criminal networks in Europe, where they have forged close ties with local mafia organisations.

The investigation, utilising databases, police and intelligence agencies, along with interviews with judges, prosecutors and experts from eight countries, shows that cartels and factions from Colombia, Brazil, Ecuador, Venezuela, Mexico and the US are active in at least 12 European countries. Between 2014 and 2024, there was a 471% rise in the quantity of cocaine seized and more local laboratories processing cocaine derivatives were dismantled.

‘She was swaying, zoning out’: UK pets poisoned in record numbers by illicit drugs 11 October 2026 at 05:30

‘She was swaying, zoning out’: UK pets poisoned in record numbers by illicit drugs

The Guardian

By: Donna Ferguson

11 October 2026 at 05:30

Toxicology helplines report 42% increase in calls involving animals poisoned by drugs and nicotine

A record number of pets are ingesting recreational drugs and requiring veterinary care in the UK, figures shared with the Guardian reveal.

Last year, the UK’s only emergency poison centre for animals received its highest ever number of calls involving animals poisoned by cannabis, cocaine, magic mushrooms and nicotine, and it is on course to do so again this year.

Why Ketamine Immobilizes Some Users 10 October 2026 at 16:38

Why Ketamine Immobilizes Some Users

NYT: Science

By: Andrew Jacobs

10 October 2026 at 16:38

Potent powders can produce a nearly catatonic state, particularly in those who have not tried the drug before.

Ketamine is a useful sedative and antidepressant at light doses. At stronger doses, it is a powerful anesthetic, but at repeated high doses, it deadens sensation, leaving users conscious but unable to act.

Second UK health body drops Israeli drug firm after activist pressure 9 October 2026 at 01:00

Second UK health body drops Israeli drug firm after activist pressure

The Guardian

By: Denis Campbell

9 October 2026 at 01:00

Decision by Royal College of Pharmacy to end sponsorship comes after concerns over Teva Pharmaceuticals’ ‘activities’

A second major UK health body has cut ties with an Israeli drug firm after coming under pressure from pro-Palestine campaigners.

The Royal College of Pharmacy has dropped Teva UK, the British arm of the global medicines producer Teva Pharmaceuticals, as a sponsor of and exhibitor at its annual conference next month.

My relationship with food was broken. Then I killed my own dinner 3 October 2026 at 08:00

My relationship with food was broken. Then I killed my own dinner

The Guardian

By: Katie Hill

3 October 2026 at 08:00

For years, eating was something to control, fear or regret. After I hunted my first deer, I started to see fat, hunger and my own body in a different light

I muffled my sobs with a pillow so my family couldn’t hear me from the adjacent room. I was 19 years old and we were in Paris, staying on the top floor of an old six-story walkup where every step echoed through the thin walls. I was trying, and failing, to hide the emotional war I had decided to wage on my body. Who does that on a family vacation? In Europe, no less?

Pulling tear-soaked strands of hair off my cheeks, I stood in front of a full-length mirror and grabbed the fat of my thighs. If only I could just – I pictured ripping off fistfuls of my body and flinging them out the windows, where they would land on some unknowing French person six stories below. I had this vision often: pulling bits of myself off and casting them somewhere far away from me.

Scientists Discover the Earliest Evidence of Drug Use in Really Old Teeth 9 September 2026 at 14:26

Scientists Discover the Earliest Evidence of Drug Use in Really Old Teeth

NYT: Science

By: Becky Ferreira

9 September 2026 at 14:26

A hunter-gatherer who lived in Indonesia as early as 25,000 years ago may have regularly sucked on betel nuts to release their psychoactive properties.

Normal view