Psychoactive Drugs

Banah Sugar Employed Ex-Cocaine Traffickers, Raised Bundles for Dominican President Before Bankruptcy

Will Smith's Brother-in-Law Arrested in Miami Coke Deal Sting

He may be Will Smith's brother-in-law, but Dee Lawrence Downs did not get a very warm welcome to Miami.Downs, who is married to Smith's younger sister Ellen, was arrested last month after he fell into a cocaine trafficking sting operation.

Willie Nelson With Merle Haggard at Hard Rock Live February 7

Willie Nelson's Ten Weed Commandments

Wiseman Willie, Padre Nelson, the potheaded stranger. He's known by many names, but this country legend and social activist has remained steadfast in his singular devotion to Mary Jane for nearly 60 years. He's been busted. He's been badgered. But he's never backed down. And by God, everyone's fav ... More >>

Kratom Comes to Florida: Is the Next Big Drug Craze Dangerous?

DJ Laz on Drugs: "I Did Ecstasy for About a Six-Week Period"

We've all been there. And now we totally realize that two months' worth of rolling balls was a bad idea. But shit ... It was fun. And drugs are what your 20s are for, right? DJ Laz did it. "When I was 27 or 28, I did Ecstasy for about a six-week period," Lazaro Mendez says in this week's Miami ... More >>

Buju Banton: Five More Years in Jail

Mugshots Friday: What Goes Around Comes Around

Every Friday, Riptide brings you the most eye-catching mugshots taken the previous week (or thereabouts) in Miami-Dade County. Yes, there is some mockery of bad neck tattoos, but also adulation directed at perps who just plain look more badass than we ever will. This is the italicized intro to that ... More >>

Mugshots Friday: Ben Franklin and Big Bad Bearded Guys

Every Friday, Riptide brings you the most eye-catching mugshots taken the previous week (or thereabouts) in Miami-Dade County. Yes, there is some mockery of bad neck tattoos, but also adulation directed at perps who just plain look more badass than we ever will. This is the italicized intro to that ... More >>

Mentally Disabled Woman Sues Liberty City Care Facility After Sexual Assault, Forced Abortion

A mentally disabled woman is now suing the Liberty City living facility where she was sexually assaulted and impregnated by a caretaker.Two years ago, 27-year-old Katrina Whitehead arrived at Westchester Hospital with stomach swelling. Instead, doctors quickly discovered that she was four months pre ... More >>

Florida Teen Gets Three DUIs in a Month but Avoids Jail Because She Didn't Realize Smoking Weed Could Lead to a DUI

Kimberly McCarthy, an 18-year-old Tampa woman, racked up three DUIs in an 18-day span this spring, which seems like a mixture of serious problems, serious stupidity, and serious bad luck (who knows how many times she was driving under the influence and didn't get caught?). But the teen won't be faci ... More >>

Best of Miami 2012 - Best Politician: State Sen. Larcenia Bullard

Want access to our Best Of picks from your smartphone? Download our free Best Of app for the iPhone or Android phone from the App Store or Google Play. Don't forget to check out the full Best of Miami® 2012 issue June 12 online and June 14 in newsstands.Best PoliticianState Sen. Larcenia Bullard

Rudy Eugene Smoked Pot Before Face-Eating Attack, Other Drugs Won't Be Known For Weeks

Despite all the hubbub floating around about bath salts, so far a preliminary toxicology report has only found marijuana in Rudy Eugene's system. That doesn't mean that Eugene, who ate a man's face near the MacArthur Causeway over Memorial Day weekend, hadn't used other substances. The full toxicolo ... More >>

Feds Bust Massive Marijuana Grow House Network, Arrest 13 on Drug and Murder Charges

Federal prosecutors announced today the arrest of 13 men and women for their involvement in a massive network of marijuana grow houses in Miami.Feds say that the network was run by baby-faced con Gilberto Santiesteban Jr. and three of his brothers. According to several indictments, the family operat ... More >>

North Miami Beach Man on Synthetic Drug Growls at Police and Tries to Bite Officer's Hand

Another week, another local man on synthetic drugs showing bizarre behavior with a penchant for biting others. Brandon DeLeon, a North Miami Beach man, is under arrest for walking into a Boston Market and trying to get into a fight with two police officers who were dining at the restaurant. Once in ... More >>

Carlos Gimenez Should Follow Michael Bloomberg's Lead and Advocate For Pot

So far, the race for Miami-Dade Mayor is gonna be a snooze fest. There is not much separating incumbent Carlos Gimenez and his main challenger, County Commission Chairman Joe Martinez. At a recent candidate's forum hosted by the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce, the opponents both agreed on streaml ... More >>

Miami-Dade Police Lured Robbers to the Redland, Then Shot Them

Mugshots Friday: He's Sexy and He Knows It

​Every Friday, Riptide brings you the most eye-catching mugshots taken the previous week (or thereabouts) in Miami-Dade County. Yes, there is some mockery of bad neck tattoos, but also adulation directed at perps who just plain look more badass than we ever will. This is the italicized intro to th ... More >>

Cyclist Aaron Cohen Dies After Rickenbacker Hit-and-Run; Driver Michele Traverso Arrested

​Aaron Cohen, one of the two bicyclist who were injured in an early morning hit-and-run car crash on the Rickenbacker Causeway on Wednesday morning, has died.Meanwhile, police have arrested the driver Michele Traverso, 25, after he turned himself in early this morning. Traverso was driving with a ... More >>

Medical Marijuana's Unlikely New Florida Savior Is 64-Year-Old Larcenia Bullard

​If you'd told Larcenia Bullard 35-years ago - back when she was teaching school kids for a living -- that she'd one day use her lofty platform as a Florida state Senator to advocate for marijuana reform, she would have banished you to the principal's office. "I would not have possibly imagined th ... More >>

How I Met Your Mother, Who Also Had a Slit Throat Tattoo

​Every Friday, Riptide brings you the most eye-catching mugshots taken the previous week (or thereabouts) in Miami-Dade County. Yes, there is some mockery of bad neck tattoos, but also adulation directed at perps who just plain look more badass than we ever will. This is the italicized intro t ... More >>

Florida Man Arrested for Trying to Buy Pot at Burger King Drive-Thru

​Sure, Burger King probably makes tons of money from stoners. Who else is going to eat half that menu? Lets be honest, who do you think all those bizarre ads they ran for years were targeted at? But BK is not in the business of selling pot. Thirty-two-year-old Shawn Porter of Deltona, Florida foun ... More >>

$75K Worth of Pot Found in U. Miami Student and His Twin Brother's Apartment

via Facebook​Two twin brothers, one an FIU student and another a UM student who was on track to become a Marine officer, have found themselves on the wrong side of the law after about $75,000 worth of marijuana plants were found in their shared South Miami apartment. The discovery was made after a ... More >>

Big Boi Avoids Jail Time for Ecstasy and Viagra Bust in Miami

​If you listened real close when Outkast rapper Big Boi (AKA Antwan Patton) disembarked from a cruise ship at 1:35 p.m. on August 7 and got busted by Miami-Dade K-9 cops while carrying three kinds of contraband (MDMA, Ecstasy, Viagra) and "drug paraphernalia," you could almost hear the cell door t ... More >>

Miamians Now Too Poor to Be Cocaine Addicts

​The way we snort now: with less frequency and with less potent cocaine. The Miami Herald crunched the numbers (which aren't exactly anything new) and found cocaine use has declined in South Florida. That doesn't mean the War on Drugs has actually worked. Of course not. We're just doing cheaper dr ... More >>

Pot Smokers Less Likely To be Fat

​America is facing economic malaise, overcrowded prisons, and an ever increasing obesity problem. Things might not just seem a little bit bitter if we all chilled out and got high, they might actually get better. Yes, even on the fat front. A new study has found that pot smokers are less likely to ... More >>

Big Boi Busted For Two Different Kinds of Ecstasy and Viagra in Miami

​TMZ is reporting that rapper and one half of OutKast, Big Boi (AKA Antwan Patton), has been arrested in the Magic City.The charges are three counts of possession of a controlled substance (MDMA, Ecstasy and...Viagra?) and one count of drug paraphernalia. All four charges are felonies in Miami-Dad ... More >>

South Miami Commissioner Walter Harris Stood Outside Miami Beach City Hall With a Giant Marijuana Sign

​It's not often you see a commissioner from one Miami-Dade municipality protesting outside another's city hall. Yet that's exactly what South Miami Commissioner Walter Harris did when he recently carried a poster board depicting a giant marijuana leaf outside Miami Beach City Hall. Harri ... More >>

Mugshots Friday: The Evil Iglesias, Bladimir, and Gangsta Panda

​Every Friday, Riptide brings you the most eye-catching mugshots taken the previous week (or thereabouts) in Miami-Dade County. Yes, there is some mockery of bad neck tattoos, but also adulation directed at perps who just plain look more badass than we ever will. This is the italicized intro t ... More >>

Uncle Luke says legalize marijuana

High Times

Air Pollution Triggers More Heart Attacks Than Cocaine

​Quick, what causes more heart attacks: cocaine or air pollution? It's actually air pollution, which triggers roughly five to seven percent of all heart attacks. Whereas cocaine is responsible for only 0.9 percent of all heart attacks. Of course, cocaine is much more dangerous on a personal level. ... More >>

Rick Scott Should Follow Arizona's Lead In Favor of Medical Marijuana

​Considering our new governor loves Arizona's controversial immigration law so much he wants to create a similar one in Florida, we think Rick Scott should also consider the Grand Canyon state's acceptance of medical marijuana. By a slim margin, voters said yes to Proposition 203 on November 2, ma ... More >>

South Miami Supports Medical Marijuana

Michael McElroy​On Monday night, the South Miami city commission took a giant leap forward in the pro-marijuana debate. Commissioners voted 3-1 to push the Florida Legislature and the federal government to authorize the medicinal use of marijuana making South Miami the first city in the state to r ... More >>

Weed history: A timeline

A chronological guide to the life and times of marijuana.

Famous marijuana users

From an Olympic champion to an honest-to-goodness queen, everybody has smoked pot.

Marijuana by the numbers

To hell with Harper's. New Times gets you high.

Legalize marijuana in Florida

The Sunshine State has the nation's stiffest pot penalties, but everyone seems to be lighting up.

Marlins Catcher Ronny Paulino Suspended for Taking Diet Pills, Allegedly

Ronny Paulino in his former Pirates gear​Marlins catcher Ronny Paulino is not exactly the slimmest slugger on the roster. Like a trophy housewife he often struggles with his weight, and decided to take the easy way out and get some pharmaceutical help. That's his story anyway. Paulino claims the w ... More >>

Charles Bennett Is Called "Krazy Horse" Because He's 100 Percent Normal

C.StilesCharles "Krazy Horse" Bennett Seeks a title and an end to his madness.​When it comes to second chances, Charles Daniel Bennett Jr. will take four, five, six, and however many more he can get. Nicknamed Krazy Horse, the Ocala native has been one of the most scandalous characters to step int ... More >>

Miami fails to make list of top pot-smoking cities

Legalizing Pot Will Fix the Economy

Uncle Luke, the man whose booty-shaking madness once made the U.S. Supreme Court stand up for free speech, gets as nasty as he wants to be for Miami New Times. Up this week, Luke makes the case for legalizing marijuana across the nation, beginning in Miami-Dade County.Off the bat, I am not a weed he ... More >>

Letters from the issue of March 25, 2010

The murder of Stevie Febonio: South Florida's marijuana grow houses can be a deadly business

Cops Kill Dog To Save Ecstasy Dealing Suspect in West Miami

A narcotics bust in West Miami took a wild turn last night, with a high speed chase leading to a foot race leading to undercover cops slaying a neighborhood dog to save a suspect in an ecstasy ring. ​It all started around 7 p.m., says Officer Kenia Reyes, a spokeswoman for City of Miami police ... More >>

Free Cheetos!

Smoke Weed Every Day

Nate Dogg would approve of this message.

Salvia Sucks

A newly illegal drug takes us on a short, bumpy trip.

It’s Medicinally Delicious

Our Hero the Drug Dealer

The feds call Rickey Brownlee one of South Florida's biggest narco-traffickers. His friends and neighbors in Opa-locka call him a valiant victim.