Do you understand how much 26 pounds of cocaine is? It's a lot. Like, enough to make the entire city of San Francisco pretty high for at least an evening. Not that we'd ever participate, but you know. So we've heard. And that's how much was found in two cabins of a cruise ship docked at Pier 35 by officers of Customs and Border Patrol, Homeland Security, and the Coast Guard during a routine inspection in recent weeks. more ›

Your drugs are about to get more expensive! Federal authorities announced the conclusion of a four-year investigation into a large, high-level, West Coast drug-trafficking ring, indicting and arresting 20 people in the Bay Area and another 20 in Seattle in connection with the ring. Eight of the defendants were arraigned in federal court in S.F. Wednesday. more ›

A pair of U.S. citizens arriving from Mexico on December 29th were busted with $500,000 worth of cocaine and crystal meth in their luggage, thus ensuring at least one methhead somewhere in the Bay Area could actually stick to his "no doing meth in 2012" resolution. more ›

Dreams of a white Christmas and a cracky new year shattered for a smattering of East Bay addicts after a police raid in the city of Richmond pinched an estimated nine pounds of crazy cocaine. The drugs, worth an around $800,000, were seized along with $335,000 and a some firearms after a a search of four homes (three in Richmond and one in Alameda) last week reports Associated Press. more ›

In San Jose, a suburban psychologist who bought a used Chrysler minivan for $14,000 in cash ended up driving around for 15 months with half a million dollars in Colombian marching powder unknowingly stashed in the panels of the vehicle. Dr. Charles Preston first noticed something fishy when he discovered the driver's side window wouldn't go down all the way, but as he told the San Jose Mercury News, "he figured he could live with it since the Town and Country van had an excellent air-conditioning system." more ›

Last night around 12:30 a.m, a GMC van reportedly traveling at 80 miles per hour through SOMA T-boned a Dodge Charger carrying six unbuckled passengers at the intersection of Tenth and Howard. CBS5 reports the van allegedly ran a red light before slamming in to the Dodge. Police suspect both drivers were under the influence at the time and a "large quantity of cocaine" was found in the van, which may have also been involved in an earlier hit-and-run incident less than ten minutes earlier in SFPD's Northern District. more ›

You've likely seen or read a news report in recent weeks discussing the issue of "flesh-eating cocaine," and the widespread contamination of the U.S. cocaine supply with an animal de-worming agent called levamisole. Now, let's just step back a moment here. SFist first reported on this news in December 2009, and we thought perhaps the whole thing had blown over (or just was, simply, overblown... excuse the puns). more ›

Mid-Market chronicler Bluoz makes a habit of showcasing local drug addicts in the area via his Crackhead of the Day feature. Today's selection was found on back door of the very new Marinello's School of Beauty. Bluoz fumes: "Just in case anybody thought bringing new business to mid Market will change anything. This IS on the rear doorstep of a brand new business in Mid Market, opened just 2 months ago at 1035 Market, Marinello's School of Beauty. They spent a ton of money to build floor to ceiling windows facing Stevenson. Now they have permanent shades on the windows so they can't see out anymore, so they can't see this just inches away from them you know, cause as long as people don't actually see it, it doesn't exist, right?" more ›

Just when you thought the Tenderloin was a drug free-for-all that law enforcement had given up on... Nine defendants ranging in age from 25 to 63 have been brought up on federal charges for selling crack, coke, and methamphetamine based on purchases made by undercover federal agents between December 2009 and August 2010. The indictments were issued over the last few months, and represent a collaborative undercover operation by the San Francisco Police Department, the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the U.S. Marshals Service and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Special Service Unit. The charges carry possible sentences of five to forty years. more ›

A new report shows illegal drug use across the country sharply increased last year to the highest rate of the decade. Marijuana legalization proponents point to the 8% rise in pot use as proof that the government's multi-million-dollar war on pot is failing, and they should just give up. more ›

See what baggie theft can lead to? An irrevocable chain of gruesome events. CBS 5 reports, "A newly released report from the San Francisco City Controller concludes that the SFPD should privatize much of the work performed at their embattled crime lab." Go here for the long-winded full report in jarring PDF form. [via CBS 5] more ›

In addition to abuse, indie rock member of the Getty clan, Peter Getty, is being accused of late-night porn viewing parties fueled by piles and piles of cocaine -- at least so says his wife, Jacqui Getty, mother to director Francis Ford Coppola's granddaughter Gia. The two, if you recall, are going through a messy divorce. more ›

According to Deborah Madden's statement to police which ultimately led to her forced resignation and the great shaming of the SFPD, she was only doing what everyone else did, swiping cocaine that was kept as evidence and never worrying much because everyone "laughed" at whatever weight discrepancies came up along the way. more ›

In the wake of that whole crime lab cocaine brouhaha, SFPD chief George Gascón is shuffling some staff, and promoting his recently hired buddy from L.A., Jeff Godown from commander to assistant chief in charge of Administrative Services. Godown will head up the investigation of the crime lab. more ›

In a snafu that has resulted in the dismissal of at least 90 criminal cases so far, new reports reveal that the San Francisco Police department waited two months to launch their investigation into into a drug lab technician, Deborah Madden, "suspected of stealing cocaine evidence, even though her sister had told the lab she feared the woman had taken home a vial full of the drug" back in December, the Chronicle uncovered. more ›

After allegations popped up that Deborah Madden, a 60-year-old lab technician for the SFPD, stole and used cocaine evidence she was supposed to analyze, Attorney General (and, most likely, the future Governor of California) Jerry Brown "announced that his office will provide a team of specialists to assist in a thorough independent audit of the laboratory." more ›

Caught with her hand in the cokie jar, if you will, Deborah Madden, a 60-year-old lab technician who stole and indulged in some of the disco dust she was supposed to analyze, forced city officials to shutdown all drug testing at the SFPD crime lab. more ›

A small bag of cocaine was found in space shuttle Discovery's hangar at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The cocaine was discovered Tuesday outside of a bathroom... more ›

by Jerry James Stone According to San Francisco General Hospital, 90-percent of all patients who've tested positive for cocaine use have also tested positive for the animal deworming drug levamisole. more ›

Seeing as how he had such a boisterous voice and leap-off-the-screen-like presence, this should come as little surprise. Famed TV pitchman Billy Mays, whose overly-enthusiastic adoration for OxiClean and Orange Glo helped Mays achieve cult-like status before and after his death in June, was discovered to be a fan of the disco dust. Lots of it, it seems. According to CBS, his "sudden death was partly due to his cocaine use, according to an autopsy report revealed Friday." Which, yeah, that'll do it. Compounded with Mays' heart disease, blowing rails probably wasn't the best move for the wildly successful pitchman. Vicodin, Oxycodone, Xanax, Valium, benzoylecgonine, and temazepam were also found in his system. more ›

The U.N. Office of Drugs and Crime is reporting a sharp drop in cocaine production in Colombia -- down 28% in 2008 over the previous year. Apparently the value of the coca leaf has been dropping, due to (what's this?) decreasing demand from the world's main coke markets, making the crop less attractive to farmers. Also, increased law enforcement both locally and internationally has disrupted the cocaine trade quite seriously, with 200 tons of cocaine seized in 2008 -- up 57% from 2007. In the face of Colombia's slacking, Bolivia and Peru have upped their production of the booger sugar 9 and 4% respectively. They don't call it Bolivian marching powder for nothin! more ›

Because we've developed an addiction to this little site called Texts From Last Night -- to which users submit the funny / insane texts they either sent, or received "last night," identified only by area code -- we decided to share the best recent posts from our hometown brothers and sisters in a semi-regular feature. Don't fret, 510 and 650: should your work prove worthy, we'll spotlight you at some point too. more ›

This one goes out to SFist commenter mcgordonliddy... more ›

It may not be the best moment to be celebrating the blind indulgence of American consumer (and drug) culture, but fashion designer Ken Courtney of Ju$t Another Rich Kid is nonetheless forging ahead with an ironic tribute to everyone who enjoys the booger sugar: a limited edition set of silver and gold coke spoons crafted by five well known designers. The set is a kind of art object titled "He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not." and each spoon in the set was designed by a different designer: Courtney himself, Terence Koh, Various Projects, Daniel Jackson and SF's own Nice Collective. Courtney's original spoon, inspired by a 1970s McDonald's coffee stirrer that was banned, allegedly, because of its popularity for use in snorting cocaine - link NSFW - was recently purchased by the SFMoMA for their design collection. It was part of a series called "Indulgences" which included a $5,000 pair of gold-dipped high-top Nikes. more ›

After this morning's FBI raids in San Francisco and Oakland, a total of five people were arrested. For what, you ask? Well, not human trafficking. Not treason. Not even hardcore gang activity. The five people (four men and one with-child lady) were hit with charges of selling or conspiring to sell crack cocaine. The charges against five retailers -- businesspeople, if you will, who are just trying to give you a lift -- carry mandatory minimum sentences of five or 10 years. Sorry to ruin your weekend plans. more ›

Oh yeah, we almost forgot. They're getting married this weekend somewhere in Canada at some sort of horse breeding ranch. Or wherever. Billed as an "old-fashioned wedding social," featuring "wrangler events, a cowboy cookout and barn dancing," you can read Matier and Ross getting damp over Saturday's most unholy affair here. more ›

This ancient picture (1999!) of this contributor blasting a wallie off this sketchy bump-to-wall was taken on 15th Street, between Mission and South Van Ness. He was 20-years-old at the time. more ›

As if cucumber- and celery-infused vodkas haven't rocked your world enough, the latest trend in intoxication is fruit-flavored blow. The DEA has come across loads of the sweet treat, most recently finding the junk in two Modesto homes that was mixed with strawberry, coconut, lemon-lime (AKA limon), and cinnamon flavoring. While this fruity trend makes disco dust that more tempting to the youth of America, what's worse is that cocaine cut with an additional flavor renders it less potent. more ›

Take, for example, Sonoma County, which played host to one of the "biggest meth busts in the Bay Area" on Tuesday night. Three people were arrested after a trucking company in Cotati was raided by the DEA. more ›

Better than a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow or a bowl brimming with Lucky Charms, crack retailers in Marietta, Ohio, dyed their cocaine rocks a festive green for St. Patrick's Day this year. OMG, fun! The Smoking Gun has the full report and mugshots galore, going on to say: more ›