theFreshScent

San Diego State just became home to one of the largest school-related drug busts in recent history. The final toll? Around 100 people were arrested, 75 of them students. The police confiscated 4 pounds of cocaine, 50 pounds of weed, 350 ecstasy pills, 4 guns and $60,000 in cash.

Considering this is front page news almost everywhere, this article going to be a simple news recap. Instead, we wanted to take a different angle, and talk to someone on the ground. It’s so easy to have an opinion made up by reading a single AP news article, but there are always other sides to a story.

Through a contact, we were able to interview an alumni from the most prominent fraternity involved in the drug sales - Theta Chi - and get a feel for what the local response is to this drug bust.

Let’s get on with it…

theFreshScent: This seems like an extremely serious issue and could possibly affect Theta Chi’s charter. Were these drug dealings completely common knowledge among house members, as the AP news article suggests?

Theta Chi Alumni: It would be safe to say that most brothers in a chapter know what the other brothers are up to, especially brothers who live at the fraternity house. If it is found to be true that drugs were sold on the premises, there is no doubt that their charter will be revoked. Theta Chi holds a strict no tolerance policy on drugs. Even alcohol is not allowed on chapter premises.

To see the rest of this interview, read on…

The grandfather of psychedelic experimentation, Albert Hofmann, has passed away.

Best known for his discovery of LSD (or Lysergic Acid Diethylamide for you scientific types), Albert is also responsible for the synthesis of psylocybin. I don’t know how many of our readers have had mind-altering experiences, but they are the direct result of this little known man, his scientific skills and a small dash of luck.

After creating LSD-25 and leaving it alone for 5 years, Albert accidentally ingested a small sample while revisiting his work. Without that small mistake, he would never have taken 250mg of LSD on his bike ride home.

It’s a sad day for responsible people worldwide, not the morons who take 15 tabs and end up arrested by police while trying to catch the sun in their mouth. It took serious balls to be the first person to take a trip down Hallucinogen Lane and I salute the man.

If you want to learn more about Albert and his life, check out the most recent LA Times article (very descriptive) or his Wikipedia page.

[photo Walter Bieri / Associated Press]

I hope you can all tell, but we’re starting to ramp things up here @ tFS. The v3 blog is under active development, and we’re really excited about the new features and technical set-up that’s being put together.

That said, our website is only as strong as the content on it. We want to know what you think about the current version of tFS and what you would like to see in Version 3. Nowhere in our About page does it say that we’re mind readers, so it’s time for you guys to step up and give us the news.

This quick survey, linked below, will go a long way in helping us map out and design posts and content that appeal to YOU. If you think something blows, let us know. If you think something rocked and you want to see more of it, let us know that too.

Take the survey! Take the survey! Take the survey!

So, bottom line, the more people who help us by filling this out, the better our content is going to be. I hope that it’s a good trade-off, 2 minutes of time for some killer articles to read & pictures/videos look at.

As always, if there’s anything missing, hit us up via the Contact page or via email.

Oh yea, fill out the survey!

Somewhere in the afterlife, Steve Irwin is crying. Why? Because ever since his Crocodile Hunter persona became popular, unoriginal people have been ripping it off. Unfortunately, the worst version I’ve ever seen has just surfaced.

CelebStoner, and a few other sources, tipped me off to one of the stupidest anti-drug campaigns in existence. I say ‘one of’ because after doing posts like these, it’s hard to be surprised anymore.

Suffice to say, this latest PSA plays on all of the weed smoker stereotypes that have been debunked again and again: lazy, no activities, no intelligence, unsuccessful, etc… It’s like getting the same shitty tasting sandwich wrapped in sparkling new packaging, the contents are still rotten.

If you want to waste some time, check out the Stoners in the Mist campaign. I suggest watching it while high, it’s extremely amusing.

According to the Super High Me staff, the experimental “Roll Your Own Screenings” approach to their movie release has been extremely successful.

With an expected total of 40,000 release-day viewers (both public and private screenings), Super High Me has done an impressive job of coordinating a grassroots promotion campaign.

Having seen the movie myself, I was thoroughly entertained. And, coincidentally, thoroughly high.

The Doug Benson documentary covered more areas than I expected, especially the physical & mental tests that he had to undergo during the pre-smoke and post-smoke months. Although not the most scientifically convincing, they show that a functional adult with a higher than average appetite for marijuana is at no significant disadvantage.

His comedy was great throughout both the sober and non-sober tests, and I’m bummed no tFS staff could make it to his 4/20 show at the Laugh Factory in LA. My only complaint might be that the ending was abrupt. Instead of a quick synopsis or a “what I’ve learned” piece, Super High Me cuts out right after the 31st day of smoking is finished.

Then again, if that’s my singular complaint about a movie, the director & producer have done a damn good job.

If you’ve seen Super High Me, let us know what you thought. Until we get Doug to do 30 days of Smoking for tFS, this is the best it’s going to get for one of our favorite comedians.

It’s an exciting day here at tFS because we finally get to give you a quick glimpse into what we’ve been working on for the past few months. Let’s dive right in…

First, we’re happy to announce theFreshScent Twitter account. If you’re not familiar with Twitter, it’s a microblogging service that uses instant messaging, SMS or the web to send people 140-character bites about what you’re doing.

Even if you aren’t seeing a lot of posts on tFS, we’re very busy working on some of the stuff that I’m about to show below. By checking up on our Twitter feed, you’ll be able to see what’s keeping us busy and away from writing.

We thought this would be a cool way to keep in contact with our audience, even when we aren’t able to post as much as we’d like. Also, expect some links to videos, images or news stories that we find funny or interesting to check out. You know, so you don’t get too bored with us.

It’s a great service that has really taken off, so head on over to the page and follow us, or sign-up, or just grab our RSS feed and you’ll be good to go.

On to the next news…

As everyone knows, the site has been really choppy, quality wise, and we find that unacceptable. We also find it a bit stale to be honest. This design has been live since September 20th, 2006. That’s almost two years, and it’s time for a face lift.

Above you is a quick look at theFreshScent v3. Our new take on what we want to deliver to the Counter-Culture world. You might wonder why it’s taken so long to put this together, but we’ve re-thought this site from the ground up and made changes accordingly.

I can’t spill all the beans just yet, but expect plenty of new features when launch day is announced. There is a lot of exciting news on the horizon for tFS readers and it’ll be here before you know it. Who knows, we might even have another sneak peek for you.

As always, if you have any feedback for us we’d love to hear it. Oh, and Happy 4/20!

Well, well, well. It looks like our friends over at Attack of the Show have forgotten a certain green-friendly blog during their 4/20 blog roundup.

No worries. We’ve been flying under the radar lately, but just wait until this time next year and tFS is going to be at the top of that list.

Also, 3 links? That’s all they could find?

I think these guys need to step up their game a bit and respect the tech-head smokers out there. We do exist (unless magic elf men created this site and I’m just too stoned to tell), so it’s time to put a voice to the movement.

Hey Everyone!

Didn’t expect to see something new here did you? Well, we’re here to change all that. I know it’s been almost year since we last dropped anything of significance, and we’re sorry about the all time it’s taken. We’ve definitely been off-the-job longer than we’d hoped, but there’s always tomorrow to look forward to and we’re working to bring it closer each day. Now, let’s get past the intro and on to the good news…

First, we’ve fixed most of the outstanding issues with the site. It ended up being the combination of old plugins and an out-of-date main database that really screwed everything up. With the introduction of WP2.5, some serious house cleaning and a bit of re-programming here and there - the current incarnation of tFS is back and ready to go.

The footer is currently being worked on, and there is still a hiccup with the tFS Headshop Locator, but other than that everything is in working order. Feed Valley is back and in full effect. If you have any suggestions for new feeds to add there, shoot us an email. Expect improvements on the site to be ongoing during the upcoming few weeks.

Next, we’re going to start updating a bit more frequently. Not just the tFS Debris, but also some comments on an article and a quick review here and there. We have plenty going on in the background (yes, I know you’ve heard that line before), but now everything is running smoothly we’ll be able to drop some news and updates along the way.

Last, we’re just looking forward to getting everything moving again. We’ve been away from the game for too long and copycats have tried to take our place.

Not happening.

Expect tFS to be the center of innovation in the Counter-Culture industry and stay tuned for the coming attractions!

+ the tFS Team

In case you haven’t already seen this, Drew Carey is one cool guy.

If The Farmacy looks familiar to some of you, it was in an episode of Entourage where Johnny Drama obsessed over an MMJ hat to impress his castmates. Good times.

Call it you what you want - vicious and delicious, delectable distress, tasty torment - just don’t call it unoriginal; cookie torture.

That’s right, after getting bailed on by his friends during a drug deal, some unfortunate kid got burned by fresh-out-the-oven cookies. He must have been so torn during the process, “Do I scream or take a bite?”

A helpful commenter wrote a precise re-enactment of how the scene played out… in his mind…

Dealers: I say, it appears my good chums have run off with your procurements!

Victim: You don’t say! Those filthy blighters! And you dare to remain, you cantankerous curmudgeon!

Dealers: It appears I have been thoroughly crossed!

Victim: I take exception to that! I shall have at you with these baked confections!

In unrelated (but just as impressive) dumbassery, it turns out that reporting 150 pounds of stolen marijuana to the police is not such a bright idea. Especially, when you’re an illegal immigrant, think twice before doing this.

On a side note, is it just really bad luck that gets random people in really deep shit over large quantities of marijuana?

For every carefully organized and executed drug raid, I read about 5+ accidental busts that net tons more product. It’s better to be lucky than good I suppose.

On the political front, be aware of your candidates and where they stand on decriminalization.

Seriously, it just makes sense.

We have some important battles on the horizon and supporting a candidate who continues to propagate arcane views isn’t helping any of us on the path to success. Progress and change come with inherent risks, just ask Gary Ross, who’s taken the good fight all the way to the California Supreme Court.

On the science front, there are some very interesting studies taking place.

Sea urchins? Really?

Well, if pot has surpassed opium as a premier crop in Afghanistan, I guess anything is possible.

On a final note, who says that blown glass dildos don’t have a place in our world? Not Rick Plank, the founder of Phallix Glass.

For a more hands on review, let Trina Michaels show you the goods.