The Online Revolution

The internet is a relatively new conception, being invented in the mid-20th century, some of us remember before it was developed (and most of us remember it not being a part of our lives). Like most inventions, it has been used by both the ‘Establishment’ or ‘The Powers That Be’ and by ordinary people. The [...]

Dolla Dolla Pills

Today’s Daily Record reported on something I’ve been seeing for months as a pre-registration pharmacist. If you’ve ever seen Michael Moore’s documentary Sicko, you’ll have seen how capitalism causes many Americans to have substandard or even a total lack of health care. In the Scottish pharmacy I work in, however, I have seen capitalism’s effects [...]

Government knows more about science than scientists

As previously reported by SSY, the government isn’t generally too keen on scientific advice when it comes to formulating drug policy. When the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, and independent body advising the government on drugs legislation, recommended against Cannabis being reclassified as a class B drug, the Labour government went ahead and [...]

Bjorn Lomborg is still a knobhead

Bjorn Lomborg is a Danish statistician and political scientist at the Copenhagen Business School who shot to international prominence a couple of years ago with his book ‘The Skeptical Environmentalist.’ In it he basically argued that taking action to tackle climate change would be too expensive and a waste of money. He tried to show [...]

Prohibition has always failed

Every human society since we first evolved has experimented with drugs, pyschoactive substances, and altered states of consciousness. Many leading psychologists and anthropologists believe that this is a normal part of human life, and experimenting with substances like cannabis or magic mushrooms has actually played a role in the evolution of modern, intelligent humans. But [...]

Scientists say GM dialogue is a front for industry

Two scientists have now resigned from a group charged by the Food Standards Agency with having a “public dialogue” about genetically modified foods. Last week Dr Helen Wallace, who is part of the think tank Gene Watch UK, resigned from the steering group for the project, and Professor Brian Wynne, who was the group’s Vice [...]

Food/Medicine/Activity causes/reduces risk of cancer/heart disease/stroke.

By A. Journalistnotascientist A study/case report/article today published by a medical research group/university/charity revealed that a popular food/lifesaving medicine/controversial activity may cause/reduce risk of cancer/heart disease/stroke. It was found that some people who ate the food/took the medicine/did the activity later went on to develop/did not develop cancer/heart disease/stroke and despite that fact that no [...]

Who the Hell is… Albert Einstein?

Today we’re reviving a regular feature you used to see the in the classic (pre-blog, paper only) version of Leftfield. “Who the Hell is…” brings you the low down on key folk who’ve tried to make a difference to the world in the past. Previous people we’ve profiled have included Delegate Zero/Subcommandante Marcos, and Che [...]

Science turns back to psychedelics

Last week there was one of the world’s largest gatherings of psychedelic scientists in 40 years. Doctors, psychotherapists, pharmacologists and others came together to discuss the use of psychedelic, or mind enhancing/altering drugs, and their potential applications in the treatment of obsessive compulsive disorder, post traumatic stress, addiction to harmful drugs and severe depression. In [...]

Lancet blasts government over Mephedrone

The Lancet, one of the most respected medical journals, has used an editorial to slam the government’s ban on mephedrone. Under the title ‘A collapse in the integrity of scientific advice in the UK,’ they write: “There was little time to consider carefully the scientific evidence on mephedrone. The ACMD did not have sufficient evidence [...]

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