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The new drug to hit Turkey is described as a synthetic marijuana—but its effects are much worse. And it’s sweeping the nation like a tornado.

Bonzai (Spice) first arrived in Turkey somewhere between 2009 and2010, when it was marketed as a designer drug. However, it became an epidemic following 2012.

In 2011, 334 people were detained for dealing bonzai. In 2013, that number rose to over 5,500 people.

The drug, which is used mainly by young men, has a low price and is easily available. Activists also point to the use of bonzai in low-income neighborhoods in Istanbul, where they feel they can escape their problems with a cheap high.

Before, bonzai came from Europe to Turkey because the market for marijuana had collapsed following raids on marijuana plantations. When authorities enforced stricter customs controls, it made it harder to smuggle bonzai into Turkey. The drug gangs started putting dangerous chemicals, including insect repellent and hair spray, inside of bonzai, and then selling the drug at a very affordable price.

The news shows young men behaving in a zombie-like fashion, roaming the streets as if they were the walking dead. One image that particularly hit me was of a young man falling down in front of a taxi. Men walk in one direction, only to change direction; then they go back to the original direction. Addicts on the news say that they have tried to quit, but been unable to.

The real danger is that no two kinds of bonzai have the same chemicals. From allegedly rat poison to hair spray, the chemicals are deathly. Nobody knows for sure what those chemicals are.

Cover Image Credit: Marcelo Pellegrini

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College As Told By Junie B. Jones

A tribute to the beloved author Barbara Parks.

Cynthia Crise

Cynthia Crise May 16, 2016

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The Junie B. Jones series was a big part of my childhood. They were the first chapter books I ever read. On car trips, my mother would entertain my sister and me by purchasing a new Junie B. Jones book and reading it to us. My favorite part about the books then, and still, are how funny they are. Junie B. takes things very literally, and her (mis)adventures are hilarious. A lot of children's authors tend to write for children and parents in their books to keep the attention of both parties. Barbara Park, the author of the Junie B. Jones series, did just that. This is why many things Junie B. said in Kindergarten could be applied to her experiences in college, as shown here.

When Junie B. introduces herself hundreds of times during orientation week:

“My name is Junie B. Jones. The B stands for Beatrice. Except I don't like Beatrice. I just like B and that's all." (Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus, p. 1)

When she goes to her first college career fair:

"Yeah, only guess what? I never even heard of that dumb word careers before. And so I won't know what the heck we're talking about." (Junie B. Jones and her Big Fat Mouth, p. 2)

When she thinks people in class are gossiping about her:

“They whispered to each other for a real long time. Also, they kept looking at me. And they wouldn't even stop." (Junie B., First Grader Boss of Lunch, p. 66)

When someone asks her about the library:

“It's where the books are. And guess what? Books are my very favorite things in the whole world!" (Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus, p. 27)

When she doesn't know what she's eating at the caf:

“I peeked inside the bread. I stared and stared for a real long time. 'Cause I didn't actually recognize the meat, that's why. Finally, I ate it anyway. It was tasty...whatever it was." (Junie B., First Grader Boss of Lunch, p. 66)

When she gets bored during class:

“I drew a sausage patty on my arm. Only that wasn't even an assignment." (Junie B. Jones Loves Handsome Warren, p. 18)

When she considers dropping out:

“Maybe someday I will just be the Boss of Cookies instead!" (Junie B., First Grader Boss of Lunch, p. 76)

When her friends invite her to the lake for Labor Day:

“GOOD NEWS! I CAN COME TO THE LAKE WITH YOU, I BELIEVE!" (Junie B. Jones Smells Something Fishy, p. 17)

When her professor never enters grades on time:

“I rolled my eyes way up to the sky." (Junie B., First Grader Boss of Lunch, p. 38)

When her friends won't stop poking her on Facebook:

“Do not poke me one more time, and I mean it." (Junie B. Jones Smells Something Fishy, p. 7)

When she finds out she got a bad test grade:

“Then my eyes got a little bit wet. I wasn't crying, though." (Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus, p. 17)

When she isn't allowed to have a pet on campus but really wants one:

“FISH STICK! I NAMED HIM FISH STICK BECAUSE HE'S A FISH STICK, OF COURSE!" (Junie B. Jones Smells Something Fishy, p. 59)

When she has to walk across campus in the dark:

“There's no such thing as monsters. There's no such thing as monsters." (Junie B. Jones Has a Monster Under Her Bed, p. 12)

When her boyfriend breaks her heart:

“I am a bachelorette. A bachelorette is when your boyfriend named Ricardo dumps you at recess. Only I wasn't actually expecting that terrible trouble." (Junie B. Jones Is (almost) a Flower Girl, p. 1)

When she paints her first canvas:

"And painting is the funnest thing I love!" (Junie B. Jones and her Big Fat Mouth, p. 61)

When her sorority takes stacked pictures:

“The biggie kids stand in the back. And the shortie kids stand in the front. I am a shortie kid. Only that is nothing to be ashamed of." (Junie B. Jones Has a Monster Under Her Bed, p. 7)

When she's had enough of the caf's food:

“Want to bake a lemon pie? A lemon pie would be fun, don't you think?" (Junie B. Jones Has a Monster Under Her Bed p. 34)

When she forgets about an exam:

“Speechless is when your mouth can't speech." (Junie B. Jones Loves Handsome Warren, p. 54)

When she finds out she has enough credits to graduate:

“A DIPLOMA! A DIPLOMA! I WILL LOVE A DIPLOMA!" (Junie B. Jones is a Graduation Girl p. 6)

When she gets home from college:

"IT'S ME! IT'S JUNIE B. JONES! I'M HOME FROM MY SCHOOL!" (Junie B. Jones and some Sneaky Peaky Spying p. 20)

Cover Image Credit: OrderOfBooks

Cynthia Crise

Cynthia Crise May 16, 2016

At University of Tulsa

Denver's Decision To Decriminalize Magic Mushrooms Offers New Hope For Those Struggling With Mental Illness

If we want to really make progress in mental health treatment, we might have to start considering solutions that are a little bit unorthodox.

Sarah Moyer

Sarah Moyer May 8, 2019

720

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Admittedly, magic mushrooms are not the first drug that comes to mind when you think of Denver, Colorado. However, this week the residents of Denver will vote on whether to decriminalize psilocybin mushrooms as part of a movement nicknamed "Decriminalize Denver." The movement is the nation's first public referendum on hallucinogenic mushrooms. Initiative 301 aims to ratify the directive that enforcing laws for personal use or possession of psilocybin mushrooms "shall be the lowest law enforcement priority in the City and County of Denver."

While the motives behind decriminalization are undeniably varied, one major reason to support the legalization of magic mushrooms is the fact that they offer a lot of potential in long-term treatment of mental illness and addiction. According to a study led by Jeremy Daniel and Margaret Haberman at the South Dakota State University College of Pharmacy in 2017, psilocybin mushrooms have high affinity for several serotonin receptors located in numerous areas of the brain, including the cerebral cortex and thalamus.

Findings like these point to the fact that psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms, may be an effective treatment for addiction, depression, chronic pain, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

The benefits are so convincing that the FDA has granted "breakthrough therapy" status to study psilocybin for treating depression due to the fact that preliminary evidence shows "the drug may demonstrate substantial improvement over available therapy," meaning magic mushrooms might be closer to their namesake after all, bringing new hope for those who have exhausted other options and found them more harmful than helpful.

Kevin Matthews, the campaign director of "Decriminalize Denver," credits psilocybin mushrooms with "really saving [his] life" following his medical discharge from the United States Military Academy due to his major depression. Matthews says his "life had crumbled beneath [his] feet" and suffered without a solution for years until his friends introduced him to magic mushrooms. Since discovering their potential for treating his depression, he's dedicated his life to bringing others with severe mental illnesses the same opportunity.

A 2015 paper from the University of Alabama went so far as to find that "classic psychedelic use is associated with reduced psychological distress and suicidality in the United States adult population." Findings like these are imperative, especially in a time when suicide rates have risen 30% in the last decade.

If we want to really make progress in mental health treatment, we might have to start considering solutions that are a little bit unorthodox.

Sarah Moyer

Sarah Moyer May 8, 2019

At The State University of New York at Stony Brook

The Deadly Drug That's Sweeping Turkey

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To The Girl Struggling With Her Body Image

A Letter To My Go-To Aunt

College As Told By Junie B. Jones

When Junie B. introduces herself hundreds of times during orientation week:

When she goes to her first college career fair:

When she thinks people in class are gossiping about her:

When someone asks her about the library:

When she doesn't know what she's eating at the caf:

When she gets bored during class:

When she considers dropping out:

When her friends invite her to the lake for Labor Day:

When her professor never enters grades on time:

When her friends won't stop poking her on Facebook:

When she finds out she got a bad test grade:

When she isn't allowed to have a pet on campus but really wants one:

When she has to walk across campus in the dark:

When her boyfriend breaks her heart:

When she paints her first canvas:

When her sorority takes stacked pictures:

When she's had enough of the caf's food:

When she forgets about an exam:

When she finds out she has enough credits to graduate:

When she gets home from college:

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of new voices.

Denver's Decision To Decriminalize Magic Mushrooms Offers New Hope For Those Struggling With Mental Illness

Findings like these point to the fact that psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms, may be an effective treatment for addiction, depression, chronic pain, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Related Content

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Popular Right Now

Welcome new, meaningful ideas to your inbox.

When Junie B. introduces herself hundreds of times during orientation week:

When she goes to her first college career fair:

When she thinks people in class are gossiping about her:

When someone asks her about the library:

When she doesn't know what she's eating at the caf:

When she gets bored during class:

When she considers dropping out:

When her friends invite her to the lake for Labor Day:

When her professor never enters grades on time:

When her friends won't stop poking her on Facebook:

When she finds out she got a bad test grade:

When she isn't allowed to have a pet on campus but really wants one:

When she has to walk across campus in the dark:

When her boyfriend breaks her heart:

When she paints her first canvas:

When her sorority takes stacked pictures:

When she's had enough of the caf's food:

When she forgets about an exam:

When she finds out she has enough credits to graduate:

When she gets home from college:

Related Content

Connect with a generationof new voices.

Findings like these point to the fact that psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms, may be an effective treatment for addiction, depression, chronic pain, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Related Content

Facebook Comments

Welcome new, meaningful ideas
to your inbox.

Connect with a generation
of new voices.