The protesters especially took issue with rapper Rick Ross and his music.

“For those who may not know, Rick Ross put out a song on how to date rape a female. What’s wrong about it is that as a 15 year old, it affects me. And this is what’s being played on the radio and in TV,” one teen told reporters, including 1010 WINS’ Stan Brooks.

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Ross’ song “U.O.E.N.O. (You Ain’t Even Know It)” features the following lyrics: “Put molly all in her champagne, she ain’t even know it. I took her home and I enjoyed that, she ain’t even know it.”

“Molly” is a reference to MDMA, or ecstasy. The National Institute on Drug Abuse said MDMA “produces feelings of increased energy, euphoria, emotional warmth and empathy toward others, and distortions in sensory and time perception.”

Antonia Clemente, who runs The Healing Center in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, also spoke out about the controversial lyrics.

“It is not ok to rape. It is not ok to put women down. It is not ok to say ‘Hey, date rape is ok.’ And we have a responsibility, but the media has a bigger responsibility and the music industry bigger than that,” she said.

Teen Brian Melford from the Bronx also advocated sending a message to the music industry.

“A lot of times, they’ll say ‘Well, it’s what sells.’ Well, we have to stop that, we have to say ‘education sells, success sells, women in power, women getting their education, women doing the right thing sells, men pulling up their pants sells, men avoiding prison sells,’” he said.

Ross did offer an apology last week, tweeting “I dont condone rape.Apologies for the #lyric interpreted as rape” and “Apologies to my many business partners,who would never promote violence against women.”

Just last week, protesters demonstrated outside the Reebok Flagship Store in New York City because the company did not fire the rapper over the lyrics.

Share your thoughts on the controversy in the comments section below…

“Distance puts a little time between us
You say baby, you’re worth the wait.“

Tinashe
“Ecstasy”
Download my April ’13 Playlist!

    Former correctional officer, deep cover industry snitch, and all around idiot Rick Ross should be the poster child for why one should think before one speaks. The tatted rhino is feeling the heat after spewing some shit about slipping a molly in someone’s drink on the track U.O.E.N.O. instead of taking responsibility and going away, he tries to pull a fast one and accuse the public of misinterpreting his lyrics, then when that failed he tweets two lame apologies.  Now he’s on the verge of losing his endorsement with Reebok, and who knows what else was in the works. Serves him right, my question is how many women has he done this to?  If you are not a rapist, why would you condone,and glorify this? Why would this thought even be in your head? Good job asshole. I wonder what Beyfeminist is going to write and post on her Instagram.

Emerald Wellness Spokane WA. Fighting PTSD

Emerald Wellness Spokane WA.1-509-294-6943

General use of cannabis for PTSD Symptoms

Raphael Mechoulam, Ph.D.

Dr. Mechoulam is the Israeli scientist who identified THC as the psychoactive compound in marijuana, and decades later he discovered the brain’s endocannabinoid system and the endogenous neurotransmitter anandamide. He is one of the most respected Israeli neuroscientists and has been a senior advisor to the Israeli government on marijuana policy and the ethics of research with human subjects. He discussed his experiments demonstrating the neuroprotective effects of the endocannabinoid system in mice that have had traumatic injuries to the brain. He believes the neuroprotective effects of marijuana may eventually have applications for other neurological and psychiatric conditions, including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.

Spokane MMJ 1-509-294- 6943 Emerald Wellness Co-op

Another fascinating discovery, one with implications for PTSD, is that the cannabinoid system is integrally related to memory, specifically to memory extinction. Memory extinction is the normal, healthy process of removing associations from stimuli. Dr. Mechoulam explained that an animal which has been administered an electric shock after a certain noise will eventually forget about the shock after the noise appears alone for a few days. Mice without cannabinoid systems simply never forget – they continue to cringe at the noise indefinitely.

This has implications for patients with PTSD, who respond to stimuli that remind them of their initial trauma even when it is no longer appropriate. By aiding in memory extinction, marijuana could help patients reduce their association between stimuli (perhaps loud noises or stress) and the traumatic situations in their past. Working with Army psychiatrists, Dr. Mechoulam has obtained the necessary approvals for a study on PTSD in Israeli veterans, and hopes to begin the study soon.

The Alternative Medical Journal: General use of cannabis for PTSD Symptoms.

Despite the anecdotal evidence to the contrary, most of the experimental studies that have been conducted so far indicate that by and large the administration of exogenous cannabinoids such as vaporizing therapeutic cannabis may not be the most reliable nor effective means of utilizing the eCB system to treat anxiety and aversive memories such as those formed in PTSD. For reliable and truly effective treatment of these conditions it appears that restricting eCB breakdown by way of FAAH inhibition is the best target discovered so far within the eCB system. (The other eCB targets include the two primary receptors CB1/CB2, vanilloid receptors, eCB reuptake, as well as eCB production.) To this end, Kadmus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has started to express serious interest in marketing a new FAAH inhibitor they have developed, currently code-named KDS-4103. KDS-4103 appears to have a lot of potential from a pharmacological perspective. Even though it produces analgesic, anxiolitic, and anti-depressant effects it otherwise does not produce a classic cannabis-like effect profile and animals easily discriminate between THC and KDS-4103. All this indicates that KDS-4103 does not produce a “high” like THC and other direct CB1 agonists. KDS-4103 is orally active in mammals and fails to elicit a systemic toxicity even at repeated dosages of 1,500mg/kg body mass. All other available evidence to date also suggests a very high therapeutic margin for KDS-4103. All in all, considering that the kinds of events which usually precipitate PTSD in most individuals often also involve pain, KDS-4103 seems like it may be just about the perfect medication.

So what should all this mean to the individual? Anecdotal evidence says by and large the use of therapeutic cannabis provides a significant improvement in quality of life both for those suffering from this malady and for their family and friends. Whether or not this is taking the fullest advantage possible of the eCB system in the treatment of PTSD is yet to be seen. Mostly the use of cannabis and THC to treat PTSD in humans appears to provide symptomological relief at best. In and of itself, there is nothing wrong with symptomological relief. That’s what taking aspirin for a headache, a diuretic for high blood pressure, opiates to control severe pain, or olanzapine for rapid-cycling mania is all about. We do have the potential, however, to do better than just treating symptoms of PTSD via activation of the cannabinoid receptors. With the right combination of extinction/habituation therapy and the judicious administration of a FAAH inhibitor like KDS-4103 we have the potential to actually cure many cases of PTSD. For the time being though, symptomological treatments are all we have for more generalized anxiety and depression disorders.

If an individual were to want to get the most out of using therapeutic cannabis to improve a PTSD condition they should try to use low to moderate doses with as stable a blood level as possible for general anxiety and depression symptoms. Oral cannabis produces more stable blood levels. Since peak levels will produce the most soporific effect, administration of oral cannabis right before bed should produce the most benefits for improving sleep patterns. If the goal is to use cannabis to facilitate extinction of the response to PTSD triggers than small to moderate doses of cannabis vapors should be administered shortly before planned exposure to the trigger. A series of regular extinction sessions will produce better results than a single session. If cannabis appears to make aversion, fear, or aversive memories worse then the dosage should be lowered. If feelings of fear do not improve with lower dose then discontinue use of cannabis as fear-extinction aide.

In light of all evidence currently available, it is striking that the FDA refuses to investigate cannabinoids for the treatment of anxiety disorders like PTSD yet they have approved studies of MDMA, the club drug Ecstasy, for the treatment of PTSD (Doblin, 2002). Even if you do not accept cannabis as the answer itself, it should be hard to accept that by and large we still have not found effective and reliable ways to utilize the eCB system in modern western medicine. After all, the most potent (meaning it takes the least amount to produce a threshold effect) substance know to humans is not LSD as many still assume but is instead a derivative of fentanyl, know as Carfentanil. The threshold dosages for LSD and Carfentanil are 20-30µg (micrograms) and 1µg, respectively (Wikipedia, 2 & 3). This makes Carfentanil 10,000 times more potent than morphine, 100 times more potent than fentanyl, and 20-30 times more potent than LSD. At least up until 2005 and unlike LSD, Carfentanil was(is?) regulated as a Schedule II substance in the US (Erowid). For those that do not know, this means that despite perceived extreme dangers from use or abuse of this drug it is still assumed to have medical value. With the lives and well being of so many veterans AND private citizens at stake, those in the scientific community and police makers alike cannot afford to miss the wake up call. Even a child should be able to see the hypocrisy evident in the relative policies concerning cannabinoids and opiates. It is time to fix this appalling imbalance in our policies concerning the pharmacopia or else be the laughing stock of future generations.

Copyright © 2010 Veterans For Medical Cannabis Access

Detectives concluded an 11-month long operation on Tuesday morning with multiple raids across the region, resulting in 173 charges being laid.

Police seized methylamphetamine , MDMA, cannabis, firearms, cash and three mobile phone stunning devices.

Detective Acting Superintendent Tony Duncan said Operation Kilo Subdue targeted the Bandidos’ Brisbane chapter, focusing specifically on drug distribution to the city’s entertainment precincts.

Five people – two gang members and three close associates – were charged with trafficking, he said. Six of those arrested were Bandidos members, he said – The Age

Many angry listeners have petitioned to remove Ross’ latest single ‘U.O.E.N.O’ from the sound waves after being offended by a lyric which appears to glorify date rape.

The following lyric “‘Put molly all in her champagne / She ain’t even know it / I took her home and I enjoyed that / She ain’t even know it.” has been the cause of all the controversy. If you’re you’re not a streetwise, 40 year old American gangsta with a tendency to dabble in the occasional drug, you probably don’t see how this ‘molly’ character could be at the eye of the storm.

However, ADmotion UK is here to shine some light for you. Molly is the much used slang name for cystalised MDMA. Now, read the lyric back & we’ll give you a few seconds to catch on… got it? Good (how about we pretend we didn’t have to use Urban Dictionary to find out what ‘molly’ meant & lets move on, okay?).

So you might be asking why we’ve mentioned it in the first place? Well, Rick Ross is featured in a new campaign for Reebok classics (see video below). Protestors are demanding that Ross is removed from all Reebok campaigns as he’s “not a suitable role model”.

Ross has responded to the protesters on US radio stating “I would never use the term rape, you know, in my lyrics. And as far as my camp, hip hop don’t condone that, the streets don’t condone that, nobody condones that.”

Well, we think he’s learnt his lesson… how about we move on and let the big bad Ross carry on producing offensive hip-hop, yeah?

Until next time… don’t be rapping about MDMA, could lead to trouble!

Why you should worry about your child’s friend “Molly”.

There is a new reason to listen & talk to your kids. It is called “Molly” and it is a dangerous mix of drugs including, but not limited to: cocaine, crack, ecstasy, methamphetamines and bath salts! It is known for it’s euphoric qualities, lasting several hours and it’s side-effect of  profuse sweating. As stated on the CBC website: ”Some kids have seizures, some kids become depressed and suicidal the morning after, and I’ve seen some kids become psychotic — that is, they lose kind of a sense of what’s real or not.”

Make sure your kids know about Molly and as with all issues that our youth have to face, keep communication open.

As a young “marketer” (in my 20′s) I fell victim to party drugs. They nearly cost me my life and the things I worked so hard for.

Please use this video as an tool to educate the young super man and woman in your life before its too late.

Thanks.

Related articles

• Warning To Parents: Molly Drug Targets Teens (fox40.com)
• Are Mollys & Lean Destroying Hip-Hop? (hiphopwired.com)

The song below by Danny Brown who is known for his untethered irreverence, that’s evident in his bold fashion and overt drug referencing in his songs. Yet this song shows this mixing of worlds, the beat is clearly in between a dub-step joint and a trap joint.

Below interesting links to articles on this new trend.

Here

Here

Here

]]> http://housedrugsrelationships.wordpress.com/2013/04/02/the-end-of-an-era/ Tue, 02 Apr 2013 03:41:35 +0000 housedrugsrelationships http://housedrugsrelationships.wordpress.com/2013/04/02/the-end-of-an-era/ So I think we might as well call it officially. Nothing has occurred between me and the guy- and hence it was a one night stand, sadly never to see him. Do I care? Not as much as this time last wekk. I’m more disappointed than anything because I’d rather he had been honest and tell me, or at least come back for more. The sex was good and we could have at least had a sexual relationship. But his number is deleted and I shan’t be contacting him. He did send me 1 text last night saying “are you going to this club”. I text back saying “yeah, r u? happy Easter – did you have a good day?” Did I get a reply? No. And its been nearly 34 hours or something. So yeah that boat as officially sailed. Back to the grind. Not sure if I have mentioned this but last week I deactivated all my online dating apps. It’ll stay that way for some time.

The other guy (195k coke head), got back in touch a few days ago, and we’ve resumed texting – its almost as though he knew we were on a ‘break’. I think we might meet up on Thursday, after I have dinner with one of the girls we will all just go out for a few drinks. But I’m telling you – things with 195 guy will not be going any where –there is no sexual attraction. He just loves taking me on nights out and ?250 dinners. He even gave me ?160 to gamble on poker with – I doubled it up and gave up back what hed given me. That night he also gave me about a gram of clean city boy coke.

So you wanna hear about last night? We left at about 11.30. I put a few crystals in a red bull just enough so we wouldn’t be high enough not to be able to get into the club. My heart was pounding because I heard the security at this club are pretty strict. But they didn’t even search me! We did the whole clockroom/toilet/bar routine and then settled into the main room. The music and the atmosphere was amazing. And I think I have finally learnt how much MD is enough to not go mad. Last night we did as we said, we had a cut off point and stuck to it. I was so high I kept going “wohhhhhhhhhhh” “yeahhhhhhhh”. We were all dancing with guys, I was dancing with a 20 year old ski instructor who kept trying to kiss me but after last week I decided lets not go there. We had some pretty cool pictures taken, and my outfit was cool – I wore a crop top and disco pants! Everyone was taking drugs in there and people were smoking joints in the crowd. I didn’t shuffle this time, I think its cause I was in heels, so I kind of just did this little 2 step thing. When the club closed we got a taxi home and took some sedatives to pass out. At first the pills just stopped me moving and then eventually I passed out into a very deep sleep, and still felt drowsy 5 hours after I woke up. Im ok now though.

I think life is going to go back to relatively normal now. I’ve said to the girls no more raving till the end of 29th, and that includes no more drugs!

And while the entire house was full of drug addled people, somehow even that doesn’t terribly justify it. The entire weekend was weird about it~

There was an electronic music festival this weekend with some super note worthy names. The two that count for me are Bassnectar and Alex Metric, even though I didn’t go to this. Naturally this scene involves every drug under the fucking book. Acid and MDMA were going around this house like fucking candy. While I do not condescend this whatsoever, I wasn’t participating in this sort of thing. MDMA and acid interest me but I’m not willing to try something ‘new’ at this point of my life yet.

One roommate had a hippie friend from back home stay with us. This guy was cool shit. But by some bizarre and not terribly pleasant act of nature, a guy I was somewhat acquainted with ended up staying here. This guy used to be a little gamer nerd. I used to play Counterstrike with him all the time back in the day. He was always involved in the events there and he was generally a  reasonably decent guy. Then drugs happened.

I don’t really know his life occurrences or terribly give a fuck. All I know is I used to smoke weed with the guy sometimes. Then I seen him a bit, rambling about wanting to do cocaine and mushrooms again. Typical teenage bullshit, that is fine if it’s kept in control.

Later down the road, around 2007, I seen him at the old New City location here in Edmonton. My ex, I, her sister and boyfriend were just chilling outside to smoke a joint. Mother fucker manifests himself from the back alley the very moment it was lit. It was creepy and hilarious all the same. But you could tell his grip on reality was starting to lessen. Incoherent rambling  and behavior was a lot more prominent.

So for this fucker to show up in my house out of nowhere was a surprise. At first I tried to ignore this guy. I didn’t know how or why he was here yet. Turns out my roommates hippie friend vouched for him because Captain Drugs had given him a ticket to this festival.

While my girlfriend was sleeping, he just sort of came into my room to ask to use my laptop. Yea, fine, that’s cool of course. But after that he just sort of sat in my computer chair. What’s frustrating is he can talk coherently and just out of nowhere he’ll go off the fucking deep end.

We go from talking about video games to suddenly, so fucking unfortunate for him, it turns out one of the DJs at the show is actually a fucking specter. Sketchy shit, I know. If it wasn’t for his genius, such facts would go unknown. But it doesn’t stop there. The DJ is also a soulless entity that created hundreds of people that look like ‘Captain Drugs’. It is also his fault this all happened. He was actually too freaked out for a bit to go outside because he knew all these people pretending to be him are wandering the streets. He actually believed this. He then snorted MDMA off one of my girlfriends books after I at that very moment told him to piss off with that and go do it somewhere else.

I remember at one point within less than fifteen minutes, he snorted MDMA, smoked MDMA and then drank some MDMA with some water.

Drugs in the right context and circumstances with proper use can provide some very fun, inspiring and insightful times. They have their purpose in the world. But its fucktits like this guy that make it look terrible. Shitheads like him are the reason we have stupid fucking animals singing songs to kids about why drugs are so terrible.

Stupidy, ignorance and a general lack of education have slowed this world to such a pathetic hault.

I woke up to a call from my Mom and we reminisced a bit on what Easter was like when I was growing up. I remember finding quarters and chocolate inside of plastic eggs my parents had hidden alongside the hard-boiled ones we had colored. I remember rack of lamb and prime rib dinners, even though no one gave up meat for lent. For the couple of years before I was a teenager, I remember being an altar boy to Father Jim, carrying the cross down the aisle past the packed pews of Easter Sunday Catholics in a flowing white robe.

Mostly though, I don’t remember much – this is where my memory gets hazy. Sometimes events from childhood get so muddled together that they disappear altogether and talking to my Mom made me realize that there isn’t much I remember about Easter.

At times like these, I often wonder if it’s all the ecstasy I ate.

Which actually reminds me – I do remember Easter ten years ago. Some friends were throwing a party Saturday night in a SOMA warehouse that was going to go until Easter morning or when the cops showed up, whichever happened first. One of them knew a real-estate agent with lots of keys to commercial buildings with a predilection for under-the-table cash and partying.

So I rented a bunny suit from Costumes on Haight; Thumper from Bambi to be exact. I spent the afternoon running dealer errands – snatching up empty gelcaps from Rainbow Grocery, getting half an ounce of molly from a friend and getting into rubber gloves to cap up an hundred-odd hits of E on someone’s kitchen table. Somewhere along the line I got a hold of a bunch of empty plastic easter eggs and an easter basket and I stuffed the eggs with pills and sat them on my desk.

That night was crazy. The party was on the second floor of an 11th Street brick warehouse, right in the middle of all of the clubs. The music bumped, the lights were fantastic and the crowd was live. And it was hot, easily a hundred degrees. Around midnight I crept downstairs and was helped into the my costume by a friend.

All you had to do was go see the Easter bunny and hand him a twenty and you could have your own special little Easter egg. Best of all, no one knew who I was so I could sell to strangers without a second thought. The only downside was that I was sweating buckets, though I hadn’t eaten any pills yet because I didn’t want to be that guy who died of heat stroke because he was high on E in a bunny suit. Besides, trying to sell ecstasy while high on the product is a terrible way to do business, as the flood of serotonin made me too friendly and nice to take people’s money. So stone sober I made my rounds through the party holding a giant easter basket, a giant mascot sized rabbit head atop my shoulders. The eggs flew out of the basket at an astonishing rate. I quickly realized I had no pockets, so I stuck twenty after twenty after twenty into my furry bunny slippers until I had about a dozen eggs left.

I felt light-headed climbing out of the furry suit in a back room - I must have lost five pounds just from sweating. But when I shook the contents of my slippers out onto the floor, I smiled at the pile of sweaty wadded up bills on the concrete floor. I uncrumpled, sorted and counted them – over twenty-five hundred in less than two hours. I drank a quart of water, chased it with a pill and went back upstairs a sweaty mess.

The cops never showed and we partied until it ended, sometime after dawn. I remember the last record playing before putting the suit back on, a throng of us wandering starry-eyed out into the street to catch a cab to the next party in the morning sun.

Maynard was three times over the legal limit and had been a habitual drug user

Former Surrey batsman Tom Maynard, who tragically passed away in an incident on the London Underground last year, was found to have been under the influence of alcohol and illegal drugs at the time of his death, an inquest heard.

Maynard, who was 23, was found dead on the tracks near Wimbledon Park tube station in the early hours of June 18.

The batsman was pulled over by an unmarked police car for ”driving erratically” but chose to flee the scene instead of pulling over, ditching his black Mercedes in an attempt to escape.

The inquest was told by forensic pathologist Simon Poole that at the time of his death, Maynard was three times over the legal alcohol limit and tests on his hair revealed “consistent with regular or habitual use” of cocaine and MDMA, which is more commonly known as ecstasy.

In an attempt to ensure that a similar case like this never happens again, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) have announced that they are working together with the Professional Cricketers’ Association (PCA) to help stamp out the use of recreational drugs amongst county players.

As of right now, recreational drug tests are only done during the season in accordance with the World Anti-Doping Agency, but both the ECB and PCA are discussing a plan to test players during their time off the field as well.

“In the light of today’s verdict, ECB and Surrey CCC would like to reiterate that this incident was a terrible human tragedy and again extend our condolences to the Maynard family and to Tom Maynard’s many friends and colleagues within the professional game,” a statement released by the ECB said. ”While the ECB accepts that recreational drug use is a part of modern society, we do not condone it and will take all reasonable steps to prevent its use within the game. We also believe we have a responsibility to educate all our players and are committed to supporting any player who needs help in this area.”

Summing up the case, the coroner, Dr Fiona Wilcox, stated that Maynard’s death had been ”absolutely tragic” and urged Surrey and the rest of the English counties to enforce mandatory drug tests on and off the field immediately.

On the night of his death, Maynard was with team-mates Jade Dernbach and Rory Hamilton-Brown before deciding to go and visit his girlfriend, upon where he was stopped at 4am.

He managed to escape from the police, but was found dead on the tracks an hour later.

Dr Poole noted that it was impossible to tell whether Maynard had been killed by being electrocuted on the tracks or whether his death had been caused by the impact of the train hitting him.

Martin Hopping, who was driving the train that hit Maynard, told the inquest that he had definitely seen a body on the tracks, which was ”not fallen but laid down”, but he could not stop in time.

England pace bowler Dernbach gave evidence at the inquest and told them that he had never been aware of Maynard’s habitual drug problem.

The same comment was given by Maynard’s girlfriend, Carly Baker.

Baker was also heard saying the word “disgrace” numerous times throughout the hearing and each time it was aimed at the police officers present.

Despite Baker saying that Maynard had sounded ”very down, very depressed” when he called her that night, Dernbach assured the court that his team-mate had been in good spirits.

“He was his normal bubbly self,” Dernbach said.

However, both Dernbach and Hamilton-Brown admitted that Maynard was still infuriated about an incident that occurred 10 days ago in Brighton, where he was hit by a car after spending a night out in the town, which resulted in him damaging his shoulder and sustaining a black eye.

Surrey confirmed that they had disciplined Maynard over the incident.

Maynard’s father, Matthew, who represented England, issued a statement through the PCA, which said: “The results of the inquest do not define our son. The fact that so very many people thought the world of him is what defines him as a person. The only people who would judge Tom on the findings of the inquest are people who didn’t know him. He made choices that night that tragically cost him his life but his devastated family and friends will love and miss him unconditionally always. He was a very special person and his death leaves a huge hole in all our lives.”

Hamilton-Brown, who had also been Maynard’s flatmate, Dernbach and Baker were all struggling to fight back tears as the verdict on their friend’s death was delivered.

“Reebok devotes a lot of time, energy and money to marketing to women – and now they’re paying a man who is literally bragging about raping women. That tells women that Reebok isn’t interested in our business. It tells us that Reebok is okay promoting rape culture and when one out of five women are the victim of an attempted or completed rape that has real life consequences.”

Reebok has sponsored numerous top athletes over the years such, and scored exclusive manufacturing deals with the NFL, NHL and MLB. In 2003, rapper Jay-Z became the first non-athlete to endorse the brand. Scarlett Johansson, 50 Cent and Nelly later followed in his footsteps. In March 2012, Ross signed an endorsement deal with the brand to promote its footwear.

 “Keeping Ross on sends a message to young men that some kinds of rape are just not okay, but cool,” Chaudhary said. “In the two hours since we have launched this campaign, more than 25,000 people have already signed the petition.” Since the explosion of bad press, Ross has attempted to clear up the controversy and insists people are misinterpreting his lyrics.

“Women are the most precious gift known to mankind,” the rapper said in interview with New Orleans’ Q93.3, while donning a Reebok cap. “It was a misunderstanding with a lyric, a misinterpretation. The term ‘rape’ wasn’t used. I would never use the term rape.” But many aren’t buying that line. Ashley-Michelle Arnold, a site administrator of the non-profit message board After Silence, a collective chat space for rape and abuse victims, says Ross should be given his marching orders “if the company has any vested interest whatsoever in saving face with their female customers.”

“In the case of Rick Ross, you have a so-called ‘rap artist’ bragging about committing a violent sexual assault and getting away with it. For Reebok to continue utilizing him as a brand ambassador, they’re endorsing his behavior and the so-called art he creates for their target demographic,” she said. “They’re telling their male customers that this is someone to emulate not only in dress, but actions.”
If Reebok doesn’t take prompt action, experts say it could be very bad for business.

“Reebok should have anticipated something like this happening given whom they hired. By choosing someone who’s unpredictable to promote your product you are playing with fire and bound to get burned,” said crisis management expert, Glenn Selig. “Reebok may try to wait it out and see if the controversy goes away. And if it doesn’t, Reebok may have no choice but to walk away from this deal – if not run.”
Advertising expert Steve Hall of AdRants.com said enough is enough.

“I’ve actually had it with brands that defend their relationships with celebrities who have become murderers, adulterers, illegal gamblers, cheaters and the like. Everyone’s human and everyone makes mistakes but at some point, we have to stand up and say no to employing celebrities as role models who can’t even get their own act together,” he said. “And no to sports figures who think it’s perfectly fine to cheat. And no to musical artists who think it’s fine to proudly rap about drugging and raping their women.”

Here are a handful of my first introductions to feeling like an old loser:

1. The new drug is MDMA.  What the F-ck are all these university kids doing taking MDMA?!  But the obvious response is: What the F-ck was I doing taking all those magic mushrooms?!
2. A girl the other day called me a NOOB.  What did you just call me?!  A NOOB.  A Newbie.  A person who’s new at something = a NOOB.
3. Let’s DIP on outta here.  DIP?!  What did you just say?!  She says, “yo, let’s dip on outta here and grab something to eat”.  AHAHAHA LOL LOL LOL.  DIP = to leave, come, go.  Dip in and Dip out.  DIP.
4. The song Turbulence.  HOLY SH-T.  As if this is a sound that appeals to ANYBODY!  Dubstep and all this heavy stuff is taking a toll on me.  I’m trying my best to keep up but what about Paul Simon’s Graceland?!  African drums?!  F-CK!
5. Did you know you can send moving images on your iphone?  GIFS.  Here’s how you do it:  Google an emotion + gif from your iphone.  Find a suitable gif.  Copy and paste it in to your message thread.  DONE.  Learning that just took my messaging skills from ZERO to HERO!

I’m loving this getting older and not being able to keep up sh-t.  My niece and nephew can fire through an ipad as if the Commodore 64 never existed.  I sat with my nephew recently and showed him how to use an old typewriter – the kid’s head almost exploded.  Seeing those arms hit that ink on to that paper – it was like he was playing with his penis for the first time (not sure why I just chose that particular comparison

A friend of mine enlightened me recently to the fact that buttons are likely on their way out.  Buttons.  In your car, on your computer, on your remote control.  Never occurred to me until he pointed it out.  My niece and nephew are growing up in a touch screen world.  Sad.  Losing those damn buttons.  I’ll miss you buttons.  I already miss you penny

My limbs haven’t started to ache yet but I’m sure that’s on its way.  My hair loss has held off pretty damn well for a 30 something Jew.  I can still get an erection and I still think I could beat the f-ck out of a high school kid (I’m not a fighter but I think I still have the strength if I needed to).

God bless getting older.  God bless feeling stupid.  God bless new trends.

Before I croak, I’d sure like to see pubic hair makes its way back on the scene.  Remember  pubic hair?  Ahhh the good old days

Until then…

Best,

David

This sparks outrage, activists are finally making note of the blatant misogyny in rap music and starts the discussion of rape among young people.

Now, I never liked Rick Ross personally…… but as a feminist who enjoys hip-hop, I find myself feeling like a hypocrite.

How could I like a type of music that treats me so sub-human? Like a piece of meat?

Music as we know it has a substantial influence on youth, the music reflects in society…. A looooot of young men learn how to treat themselves and the women around them from what rappers do

We need to change the way music is created, we need to move out of Guyland and enter the co-ed world where women matter too. Half the buying power of this nation needs to step up because this shit is getting really old.

Rick Ross even said that women were the ‘queens of the earth’ and defended himself by saying that women were the best gift to man.

You got 2 things wrong there.

1) I’m pretty sure you really meant vagina, Rozay.

2) I’m not here as a gift for any fucking body and I’m a most certainly not here for you.

The MMG artist raps on the track: “Put molly all in her champagne, she ain’t even know it / I took her home and I enjoyed that, she ain’t even know it.”

Molly refers to the drug MDMA, also known as ecstasy, however many molly capsules contain methylone — an active ingredient in the recently-publicized bath salts.

Released shortly after the conclusion of the Steubenville, Ohio rape case, in which two high school football players were convicted of sexually assaulting an intoxicated 16-year-old girl who was unable to consent, the track has generated countless discussions on violence against women.

Social media strikes back

Hip-hop fans, bloggers, and women’s rights activists have been expressing their outrage about the new single via social media over the past few days.

Change.org, a petition platform, is calling on Ross to “publicly apologize for glorifying ‘date rape.’”

The online petition also notes that even if they are “just lyrics,” the rapper’s words are still influential.  ”People will listen to your songs and try to live how you live” reads the petition.

RapRehab.com, founded by music rights activist Paul Porter, has also begun a petition asking for Ross to take responsibility for lyrics “that encourage drugging a woman to force her into sex.”

It’s bigger than Rick Ross

Porter spoke to theGrio about the need for the industry as a whole to take responsibility. “The problem is not only with the content and date rape, but the problem is that it goes through a corporate structure.”

“Going after Rick Ross is like stepping on the toes.  It’s time to go for the heads,” Porter said. “The people who green-light the projects.  It shouldn’t be broadcast material.”

Porter noted Lil’ Wayne’s controversial reference to civil rights martyr Emmett Till last month, and said “this month is Rick Ross. What is really troubling is that it is about date rape. He is the poster child for date rape on this song.”

Responsibility and repercussions

The RapRehab petition’s hashtag, #RRR standing for “rape, Rick Ross and responsibility,” started trending on Twitter last night, grabbing the attention of many users on the social network.

The music rights activist credits 103.7 WUVS The Beat in Muskegon, MI as the “first major radio station to pull the [Rick Ross] record” off the air.

A few other stations have since pulled the single.

Follow Carrie Healey on Twitter @CarrieHeals. 

This looks like fun, but in reality it sucks. Image courtesy of layoutsparks.com, whatever the hell that site is.

Welcome to my blog. I am Turner Jacobs, and I claim to know things. Every Wednesday, I will be sharing these things with you, my readers, for your benefit and the benefit of the people you know and love. The things I say will not always be easy to hear. Your core values and beliefs will be challenged. You may end up hating me; you may end up hating yourself. But I promise you that it will be worth it. Now, let us begin…

I have decided to begin our intellectual journey with a critical examination of Rave Culture. The rave scene (or movement, depending on who you ask) began by most accounts in Britain during the 1990s. It was primarily an underground scene, with participants hiding their illicit and “anti-social” activities by partying in abandoned buildings and warehouses. Today, the rave scene is characterized by the prevalence of Electronic Dance Music (EDM), scanty clothing, fuzzy hats, and copious quantities of mind-altering substances. No longer must ravers conceal themselves or their actions: elements of the rave scene have begun to pervade mainstream culture as its popularity grows among the youth. As will be explained, this is troubling for those of us who count ourselves as outsiders to rave culture.

Before we dive in, I would like to present you with a disclaimer. my personal experience with rave culture is somewhat limited. Having attended four events (one huge, one large, one medium, and one small), I simply cannot provide a comprehensive account of the rave scene. Therefore I draw upon anecdotes from trusted friends to supplement my analysis. These friends will remain anonymous, but I can personally assure you that the information I recount is entirely accurate.

My first point of contention with the rave scene is particularly subjective. I believe that the majority of the music enjoyed by ravers is utter crap. Music is a matter of taste, therefore this is not a lynchpin of my argument. However, it warrants discussion as the music is integral to the rave experience. As most ravers will tell you, “it’s all about the music.” In this case, the music in question consists of electronic sounds and digitally sampled loops from other songs, which are mixed and mashed together to create a repetitive soundscape that inspires the listener to dance. Since most listeners are expected to have drugs in their systems, the music tends to be full of readily-recognizable hooks, drops, and other tropes that allow each song to flow seamlessly into the next. Additionally, there seems to be a lack of emotional charge within the music. Feelings of nostalgia, emptiness, and an unattainable state of ethereal beauty appear to be most prevalent. The electronic nature of the music dictates that all but the most visionary of DJs will end up sounding indistinguishable from one another. At the last rave I attended, I distinctly recall being amazed that one DJ had performed continuously for over three hours. Only later did I realize that five “artists” had taken the stage over that span of time. I believe that this is a testament to the droll, repetitious, and formulaic nature of the music that ravers so cherish.

Musical preference is a personal matter, and I cannot condemn an entire (sub)culture because of the sounds they like stuffing into their heads. As an avid listener of black metal, I fully understand the danger of such rash condemnation. While EDM is a fundamental aspect of the rave scene, the “message” is equally significant. Ravers ascribe to the code of PLUR: Peace, Love, Unity, Respect. Anyone acquainted with the “hippie” movement that began in the summer of ’69 should find this code to be strikingly familiar. They should also recall that the peace and love of the hippies was a farce that ended in shambles once the drugs destroyed nearly everything that the hippies once stood for. Such is the case with the raver. Peace is certainly genuine among most ravers; I shall gladly concede that point. Love is more complicated, as it manifests itself in two distinct forms. Universal love is touted heavily among ravers, who go to great lengths at events to express their love of the strangers that surround them. I have no issues with this. The other form of love, however, is akin more to lust. I attended my first event with a group that included a young woman who disappeared after an hour or so. Later that night, when we reunited with her, she complained that a young man she had met ditched her despite the fact that – I quote this directly – she “gave him the best fucking blowjob like, ever” in the bathroom. Such encounters are exceptionally common at raves, and attest to the juvenile understanding of love held by most ravers. I am no prude, but neither am I one to plough a drugged-up, questionably-aged girl in a reeking porta-potty. Next we have Unity. Unity exists at rave events, but this unity closely resembles the “hive mind.” A thousand individuals in various states of undress, moving trancelike to the thumping bass that pours from the speakers, eyes glued to the colorful light shows on stage, have certainly reached some form of synthesis. The sight is almost comical, were it not, at its core, utterly tragic. It is a classic example of individuals attempting to flee conformity, only to subsume their personality into a new (albeit unconventional) conformity. Finally, Respect. Among ravers, I find respect to be lacking in almost any form. The substantial use of dangerous drugs is demonstrative of a lack of respect for the raver’s body and mind. The noise pollution they spread through their music shows little respect for their neighbors. And while I am not exactly a friend to authority, I respect authority because authority will crush your head if you don’t respect it. I suppose that most ravers have little to fear from a good head-crushing, as the ecstasy has likely destroyed most things in their head worth preserving. Thus the code, while admirable at its core, falls short of its promise.

As has been implied previously, many ravers consider themselves to be the spiritual successors of the hippie movement. Many common elements exist between the movements, albeit with one particularly glaring difference: the hippies were anti-establishment and anti-money, but the rave scene is a multi-million (billion?) dollar industry that feeds off the disenfranchised and vulnerable souls that flock to the major events. Often paying over $100 for a ticket, ravers will also shell out significant sums of money for drugs before and during the events. Additionally, a bottle of water, that precious substance vital to life (especially for someone rolling on five hits of ecstasy), can cost five dollars or more. This may not seem to be a problem at first glance, since such a practice is common at amusement parks and sporting events. Raves, however, are brutally hot. Imagine dancing for five hours straight in a sauna; the necessity of hydration, as well as the quantity of water required to stay healthy, should become clear. Some organizers institute the humane policy of offering free refills for anyone with an empty bottle. Those who do not are simply callous profiteers of the worst variety. What most ravers fail to recognize is that their rebellion, their freedom, is in fact slavery to the brands, the DJs, and the organizers who stick the bit in their mouths and yank them around until the money spills from their pockets. This exploitation, which is quite obvious to the objective observer, tends to go unnoticed by avid ravers. A sad fact indeed.

“It’s all about the music.” It is my firm belief that this statement is a mere excuse for the use of drugs. Not all ravers use drugs, and I tip my fancy, dignified, non-fuzzy hat to those ravers who largely abstain. Those that do not, however, contribute directly to the core problems of rave culture. From my observation, the most commonly-abused substances at raves are MDMA (and ecstasy, its tainted cousin), LSD, psilocybin mushrooms, marijuana, and cocaine. Other drugs include nitrous oxide (known as “whip-its”) and mephedrone (“bath salts”). Any combination of these substances can be obtained at a rave. A discussion of the dangers associated with these drugs could exist as its own article, so I will not elaborate upon them excessively. MDMA and ecstasy, in my opinion, are related drugs of underrated danger. There is a good reason that ravers are known colloquially as “e-tards.” Abuse of ecstasy severely alters one’s brain chemistry. At best, the user will feel emotionally drained for a short time afterwards; at worst, they will lose touch with reality and become a miserable shell of their old self, existing in a chronic state of unhappiness until more ecstasy enters their system. I believe that in a clinical setting, MDMA can be beneficial to those dealing with trauma or attempting to repair a damaged relationship. When abused for the purpose of “fun,” the drug’s dangers are revealed. The same is true of LSD and psilocybin; these substances should not be used for “fun,” but rather for introspective journeys through the astral realm of one’s soul. Even then, their use should be limited for the sake of one’s sanity and connection with reality. One is highly unlikely to reach a state of enlightenment when surrounded by thumping music, flashing lights, and gyrating bodies; it is nearly unattainable when the person next to you has a violent, drug-induced panic attack and passes out. There is also the obvious risk of death. People die at raves. They overdose, they overheat, they underhydrate, and they die. It is a stupid, senseless, and ultimately preventable death. There is a time, a place, and a mindset for the use of mind-altering substances. A rave is not the proper time or place, and the rave mentality is not the proper mindset.

I now wish to direct a few questions to the ravers who may happen upon my musings. I urge you to reflect upon these questions in the hope that you are galvanized into introspection. What is it about the rave scene that has drawn you in? Do you thrive off the sense of belonging? Do you enjoy the visual aesthetic of the scene? Are you just showing up for the drugs? Be honest with yourself. Would you ever attend an event without using drugs? Try it sometime, and if you don’t enjoy it then maybe it’s not worth going anymore. Nothing truly enjoyable should require that the participant be intoxicated. Would you trust your raver friends to take care of your child for a week? What is your reality like in between events? What are you hoping to fulfill by attending events? Are any aspects of your “mundane” existence suffering as a result of your hobby? If any of these questions give you pause, then I have done my job. It’s up to you to put the pieces together.

For you non-ravers, I hope that this indictment has been an educational experience. More importantly, I hope it has dissuaded you from ever participating in a rave.

*BEFORE YOU COMMENT* I don’t want to hear any ravers complain about the fact that I insulted the music that they listen to. Feel free to debate me on any other point, but I have already acknowledged that musical taste is subjective. I guarantee you that at least 80% of the world’s population hates the music I listen to. If you do decide to whine about my critique of your “music,” you should come prepared to argue against my other points as well. Otherwise, you will be exposing yourself as one of the very e-tards that I have condemned throughout this indictment. You have been warned…

You will no doubt be able to recount various crimes which you have either seen in the news or are personal to you, where those responsible for the crimes have been under the influence of some illegal drug and from those stories you would automatically assume that the use of any drug should be illegal.

People begin using drugs for a variety of reasons, but they continue to use drugs for one of two reasons, they either enjoy the effects then use drugs recreationally, or they are addicted to drugs and they need to use those drugs to feel a sense of normalcy.

I started by saying that to make something illegal, not a reason to make it legal and it is a principle I firmly believe in. So far the only reason we have to make drugs illegal are that certain crimes have been committed by those who are under the influence of drugs, but is this really reason enough? Many people commit crime whilst under the influence of alcohol, crimes of the same severity, so does this mean we should make alcohol illegal too? Crimes have also been committed by people who are using prescribed medication, should we make the medicine illegal too?

This is one of the few areas of policy where I struggle, because my head and my heart are at odds with each other. My head says that possession of an illegal drug should remain a criminal offence because as we’ve already stated many crimes are committed by those who use drugs, crimes which take place to either fund or as a direct result of drug use. On the other hand, my heart accepts that there are people, who are addicted to drugs and to criminalise them when all they seek is effective medical treatment for their addiction seems to be incredibly harsh, particularly when you consider that alcoholics are provided with support as the law understands their addiction is a medical problem rather than a criminal offence.

From a political perspective, the easiest thing to do politically is to keep existing drug laws and make the sentences for drugs offences harsher, because this gives the impression, as Tony Blair said, tough on crime and tough on the causes of crime.

Whilst that maybe the easiest approach to follow and one which is more likely to see me get elected, I didn’t get in to politics to take the easy road and to take that decision to appear strong isn’t morally right. I need policies to make our society healthier, stronger, more cohesive and equal.

To begin with I would keep all existing legislation in place, because an issue as important as this doesn’t need a knee jerk reaction, it needs research in a number of areas and only when we know the facts about those drugs and their effects can we create effective policies to deal with problems that are highlighted. That said I don’t the research and consultation to mean that the issue gets thrown in to the long grass for the next government to deal with because this is an issue facing society right now and we need to do everything within our power to assess the problem and to look for a solution.

There is plenty of research already in existence about drugs and their effects which can be used during consultation, but there are other areas which aren’t that well researched, if researched at all. The areas in particular that I would like to see more information are about the content of drugs, whether it is the drug itself that is harmful to the body or the other ingredients added to drugs by dealers, if harmful what are the effects from the drug alone in the short, medium and long term and how do they compare with the effects of alcohol. I suspect the research in any case will show that drugs are harmful to the human body, but I would be interested to see how harmful they are. I anticipate one of two outcomes from this, the first being that the drugs are fatally harmful or the second which is that drugs are harmful, but they are no more harmful than tobacco or alcohol.

At the moment I don’t believe that existing drug policy and legislation does work and I also believe there are people who use illegal drugs on a weekly, if not almost daily basis, who are able to function and carry on their normal lives without feeling the need to commit crime in order to fund their drug use or act inappropriately whilst under the influence.

From a purely personal perspective, based only on my own opinions, I think addiction to any drug is a medical condition, one which requires a medical solution, not incarceration. I believe that we either need to get tough on drug dealers or stop trying because offering lip service to the problem wastes resources which could be better used elsewhere and offers no positive long term solutions to society. Whilst I anticipate research indicating one of two ways, I have put together some ideas for both outcomes.

Drugs are fatally harmful

If drugs are found to be harmful to the extent that in that vast majority of cases, use results in serious injury or death, then our policy needs to reflect this danger.

To begin with, I still don’t believe that we should criminalise those who are addicted to the drugs, but who are making attempts to get themselves off the drugs. I believe the best approach would be to keep existing legislation in place so possession of any drug remains an offence, but I believe if people are found in possession of drugs then they should undergo treatment to wean them off those drugs. In addition drug users shouldn’t have to wait to be caught to receive treatment. The same treatment should be offered to anyone with an addiction by self-referrals.

The offence of possession with intent to supply should remain in place, but I would look to alter legislation. Existing legislation requires specific intent to supply drugs before a person can be charged and convicted of the offence of possession with intent to supply. The law states that intent can be demonstrated in other ways, but generally without an admission from the defendant, most supply offences are dealt with by the lesser offence of possession of a controlled drug.

This produces inconsistent sentences; sentences which are unfair and do not accurately represent the real offence.

That said I would keep existing legislation, but I would introduce a number of other elements to the word intent, when considering drugs related offences. If a person is found to be in possession of a controlled drug on three or more occasions within a 24 month period, then this will be enough to prove intent. In addition to I would introduce weight limits so that when a person is found in possession of a drug over a set weight, it automatically attracts fulfils the intent section for the drugs supply offence.

Drugs are harmful, but no more harmful than alcohol or tobacco

If this is the outcome offered then I would look to remove the offence of possession of a controlled drug as it makes no sense to keep the offence when other similar drugs are available over the counter. That said, we would look to implement support mechanisms to help those who do suffer from addictions as a result of their use to support those looking to stop use the drugs.

We would introduce the same measures for drugs supply as if the drugs were fatally harmful. There would be one exception to this offence and I would look to appointment a company or a number of companies to create the drugs in a laboratory setting. These establishments would manufacture drugs, drugs which would then be sold through pharmacists following a brief consultation with the pharmacist. Should the pharmacist believe the person to have an addiction then they will be obligated to refuse the sale.

I think to many, the decision to appoint companies to manufacture drugs will seem strange if not a little horrifying and in the perfect world nobody would use drugs, in the same vein that nobody would smoke cigarettes or drink alcohol. That said, people throughout their life take risks and the risk of using drugs is the same risk as drinking alcohol so if people are going to take those risks, then we need to limit the risk wherever possible and by appointing companies to produce drugs in this manner we are limiting the chances of a bad batch of drugs.

It would be worth noting at this point that each drug would be individually assessed so if different drugs fit in to different categories then appropriate outcomes will be designed for each of the drugs. In short I believe that we should be led by fact and reasoning.

In any case, whether the research shows drugs to be fatally harmful or no more harmful than alcohol or tobacco, I would look to implement a number of changes. These would be specifically related to the outcome of such drugs, so where we have the offence of drunk and disorderly, I would look to introduce the offence of drugged and disorderly. Magistrates will be instructed to include drug use as an aggravating factor when considering sentencing for those convicted of offences.

Finally, if an offence is committed and the Police suspect the person to be under the influence of drugs, then the Police will be able to require the person to provide a blood test to ascertain whether the body contains any drugs. If drugs are found as a result of the blood test then this information will be made available to magistrates and on conviction this will act as an aggravating factor.

Anthony Robbins is a self-help author from America who quoted as saying “If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always done” and whilst this is true in life, it is also true in these circumstances. We need to try different approaches to find out what works for us, if it works keep it, if not look for another way of doing it.