Michael Roe

March 8, 2013

Pill Your Way to An ‘A’? Because Study Buddies Come in All Shapes and Sizes … Like Small and Oblong

By Michael Roe

As the insurmountable academic stress known as dead week and finals looms like a menacing black cloud above Davidson Library, the student body of UCSB will find themselves in a time management conundrum which seems to st...

February 22, 2013

Mind, Body and Soul: 3-Pack or Individually Sold?

By Michael Roe

You see a shimmering, brilliant white light approaching on the horizon. Your vision begins to rapidly constrict as if you’re traveling through a tightening tunnel at the speed of light. As you soar through this spectac...

January 25, 2013

Drugs and the Divine: Could Spiritual Transcendence Be Only A Pop, Drop or Toke Away?

By Michael Roe

“Turn on, tune in, drop out”: this six word catchphrase coined by the psychologist Timothy Leary is most closely associated with the drug counterculture and progressive social transformation of the ‘60s. Leary, who...

January 11, 2013

Follow the Silkroad… To Get Your Drugs and Guns at the End of This Cyperspace Rainbow

By Michael Roe

Among the Internet’s giant e-commerce sites like Amazon and eBay exists a relatively unknown and secretive marketplace called Silkroad, which operates in a hidden corner of the web. In many ways, Silkroad resembles any...

November 9, 2012

Giving Green the Green Light: Feds Say ‘No,’ State Says ‘Go’

By Michael Roe

This past Tuesday, cannabis enthusiasts and weed smokers witnessed some pretty dank political outcomes. First, former pot-smoker and current president, Barack Obama was re-elected; second, both Colorado and Washington pa...

October 26, 2012

Votes on Tokes: Presidential Candidates’ Stances on Drug Policy

By Michael Roe

With the approaching Presidential election in two weeks, I decided to devote this issue to the Presidential candidates and their assorted approaches on drug policy. After three debates between President Obama and Mitt Ro...

October 19, 2012

Regulation Not Incarceration: Why America’s Drug Policy Needs Some Rehab

By Michael Roe

In the past 40 years, America has spent a lot of money fighting foreign wars. Vietnam, Iraq, Iraq again, Afghanistan and these wars obviously come with a considerable price tag. However, I’d like to take this opportuni...

October 12, 2012

The Low-Down on Numbing Up: A New Look at the Pain Killer Trend

By Michael Roe

Anyone who’s had wisdom teeth removed or suffered a substantial injury like a fractured collarbone or broken leg may attest to the availability of opioid prescriptions such as Vicodin, Percocet or OxyCotin. They may al...

October 3, 2012

MDMA T.V. Show Sparks Controversy, Yet ‘Taboo’ Research Holds Potential to Help

By Michael Roe

This week, a groundbreaking television documentary will air in the United Kingdom. “Drugs Live: The Ecstasy Trial” (Channel 4) features musician-actor Keith Allen consuming MDMA, the pure form of ecstasy. Twenty-four...

January 30, 2012

UCSB Welcomes Kids For Day of Educational Activities

By Michael Roe

The Harding University Partnership School brought its entire student body to the UCSB campus last Friday to participate in educational activities with several UCSB faculty members and students. The school, located in San...

January 25, 2012

UCSD Tests How Smokers Quit

By Michael Roe

The UC San Diego School of Medicine released an update in this year’s Annual Review of Public Health about the most successful techniques for helping modern smokers ash the habit. The group made significant strides in ...

January 12, 2012

Group Seeks Student Volunteers for Humanitarian Efforts

By Michael Roe

The Growth International Volunteer Excursions program is visiting UCSB today, aiming to draw college students interested in global volunteerism and adventure. G.I.V.E. helps develop rural communities’ infrastructures b...