Friday Afternoon Kitty: Do Not Watch This If You Are High Special Edition

No, I haven't forgotten the Friday Afternoon Kitty. Actually I had something else I was going to post, but Friend Of Dog Blog Dakota says I should put this up. "It's three minutes long but totally worth it," he says.

One warning, since we've been posting about drugs all day: whatever you do, do NOT watch this video while smoking pot. Because while it's kind of amusing straight, it would be LETHALLY HILARIOUS to watch stoned.

So DO NOT walk away from your computer right now, roll a fat one, and come back and puff away to this reel of dumb-cat comedy, eight or nine times in a row. That WOULD NOT BE SAFE. You might LAUGH YOURSELF INTO A COMA.

I care about the well being of Dog Blog readers. I don't want you hurt because something was too funny when you were stoned.

This Week In Cocaine

Speaking of drugs, there have been a couple other interesting stories this week that we haven't blogged about.

ON MONDAY, there were media reports all over the place whooping about a discovery by the American Chemical Society that paper money in up to 90 per cent of big U.S. cities is contaminated with cocaine.

The claim sounds like an urban legend but apparently it's true. But what does it mean?

On the New Scientist magazine blog Short Sharp Science, reporter Ewen Callaway points out that coked-up bills didn't neccessarily get that way by being rolled into snort tubes. For example, the bills could have easily picked up traces of coke just from spending time in an ATM with other bills that had come into contact with the illegal narcotic.

The important thing is, New Yorkers don't have to worry about most of the bills in their wallets having been inserted into someone's gross nostril quite yet.

THEN, ON WEDNESDAY, the Guardian had a great article about a cocaine "bar" in Bolivia. It's not legal but apparently all the right officials have been properly bribed so it seems to be flourishing. I recommend the article--in addition to being a good piece about a crazy place, there's a good bit of ranting about the war on drugs. Check it out; it'll help you kill 10 minutes of your pre-weekend work afternoon.

Mexico Legalizes Drugs

It's a start anyway. Hopefully, the new law (RantRave) passed by Mexico legalizing small amounts of drugs for personal use will prompt Canada and the U.S. to rethink their draconian policies. Like Prohibition in the 20s, where the manufacture and sale of alcohol was outlawed, the so-called War on Drugs has been a dismal failure. Use does not automatically translate into abuse, especially with softer drugs. Government regulation is the answer. Do that, and suddenly a whole bunch of problems from police corruption to drug cartel violence to petty charges against otherwise law-abiding citizens disappear.

Dying for a good news story

If you're a journalist and are thinking you're having a rough day, I suggest you conteplate trading places with this guy (Mother Jones). Thanks to the U.S. war on drugs, Mexico has ceased to be a democracy -- if it ever was -- and is now on the verge of becoming a 'failed state.'

Go. Read.