Journalist Chad Nance looks beyond the headlines of the Pazuzu Algarad murders to find out if monsters are born or made. The Devil You Know (Episode 3) is out: https://youtu.be/Pdi1uOulzDI
Krishna follows the Green Rush to Colorado, meeting families who've relocated to seek medical pot and starry-eyed ganjapreneurs trying to strike gold in America's Marijuana Mecca. - https://youtu.be/qZrwgCE01Zg
Cali loves shrooms, that much is known. But did you know that there’s a magic mushroom church in California with a whopping 100,000 members? Zide Door is founded by Dave Hodges, who believes shrooms and cannabis are divine sacraments which facilitate connection with God.
Launched in 2019, the Zide Door Church of Entheogenic Plants holds ceremonies involving drug-taking and sermons from Hodges. But it's best known for, um, supplying its sacraments to members – despite mushrooms still being technically illegal in the US. It provides a dispensary-type facility where members can buy up to 20 mushroom strains and cannabis products. The interfaith organisation currently brings in $5 million a year.
So how are they getting away with it? Psilocybin mushrooms are decriminalised in Oakland and cannabis is legal when regulated, but Hodges still has run-ins with the law. In 2020, the church was raided by police and $200k worth of cash and plant medicines were confiscated. In 2022, Hodges retaliated by launching a civil rights lawsuit against the cops for purportedly discriminating against the church’s religious beliefs.
The church’s literature suggests taking up to 50g of mushrooms is a reliable avenue towards a conversation with one’s soul and God – despite an intense experience generally considered 5g. This poses serious dangers, not least because the weight of a mushroom doesn’t always tally with its potency.
Hodges remembers trip-sitting for one member who was meant to consume 15g of mushrooms, but was accidentally given 45g, as tests later revealed. “It was the most difficult trip that I've ever sat for,” Hodges says of the, er, overdose. “We had to call her brother in to calm her down and she was convinced I was a cult leader who had poisoned her.” Thankfully, the church now routinely tests mushrooms for psilocybin potency.
There’s a positive reason behind all this, too. Hodges says mushrooms have helped him with his own mental health struggles, and that many people have come off pharmaceutical drugs thanks to the church’s sacraments. One can only hope a qualified doctor was involved in this decision, too.
Is the Bitcoin Pharaoh, AKA Glaidson Acacio dos Santos, a crypto Robin Hood or is he a con artist? The answer you get to these questions will depend on who you ask. - https://youtu.be/scA7eplSDKs
This is the bizarre true story of a local Satanist, his house of horrors, and his reputation as a suspected cannibal murderer. The Devil You Know (Episode 2) is out: https://youtu.be/8vlEgcg4dyU
America loses an average of 22 Vets a day to suicide. PTSD is often treated with a myriad of pills. While many states have legalized medical marijuana, the federal government has not, so the V.A. can't recommend it. - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CK7c...
In this episode of Fameish, we’re reintroduced to Patricia Krentcil, aka ‘Tan Mom’. Patricia became a viral phenomenon in 2012 after being falsely accused of bringing her five year old daughter into a tanning salon. - https://youtu.be/Toh4OMsU9-o
As the lore goes, the fingerstache came to be in 2003, when Columbus-based tattoo artist Giovani Faenza reportedly came up with the idea. In a 2006 video interview with now-defunct marketing blog Midwestern Goodness, Giovani explained the origins of the tat.
"We were all talking about how funny it would be to have a mustache tattooed on your finger… nobody could be offended by a mustache on the finger," he said. A guy named Tom who was hanging at the tattoo shop that day said he'd do it on the spot, making him the first person on record to receive the tattoo.
But Tom is far from the only person with skin permanently adorned with the preferred facial hair: Search #fingerstache on Instagram and you still find people, in the year of our lord 2024, posting fingerstache pics. But for those who latched on when the fingerstache's popularity erupted, we were curious to see if there was now a sense of regret. We spoke to those who inked their finger with 2008's hottest accessory, perhaps during a drunken dare, a fit of spontaneity, or simply out of genuine love for luscious lip dusters.
In this episode of I Was There, Jacklyn “Diva” Cook recounts her wild and crazy time working at The Gold Club during its heyday in the 90s, making upwards of $5k an hour, until it all came to a screeching halt when the club was raided by the FBI. - https://youtu.be/fg9XSjPz0ZU
In this episode of Weediquette, Krishna visits an unaccredited detox facility in the backwoods of Maine, where former addicts are trying to get current addicts clean by smoking and eating massive amounts of weed. - https://youtu.be/jUYMcpUhZ4Q
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