A new report in the online magazine PLos Medicine reveals that through surveys of Americans, 16.2 percent of Americans had tried cocaine at least once, and 42.4 percent had used marijuana, making us number one in the world for illegal drug use. This is in comparison to New Zealand, who came in a close second, where just 4.3 percent of study participants had used cocaine, and 41.9 percent marijuana.

In the Netherlands, where drug policy is more liberal than the United States, 1.9 percent of survey participants said they had used cocaine and 19.8 percent marijuana.

Twelve US 12 states including California permit medical use of marijuana, but possession and use remains prohibited under federal law.

And despite the US government’s massive anti-drug efforts, the United States remains the world’s top drug market, one amply supplied by South American cartels.

The US Drug Enforcement Agency has observed ever larger quantities of illegal drugs pouring into the country.

“We are seizing greater quantities of illegal drugs than ever before,” said a DEA statement last week.

In 2007, agents seized 41 metric tons of cocaine in just two raids, and denied drug traffickers record-breaking revenue of 3.5 billion dollars for the year, it said.

We may get our asses handed to us in every single sport at the Olympics this year, but goddamn it if we won’t give a shit ’cause we’ll all be too yay’d out and stoned. USA! USA!

This is Allison Stokke. She’s a pole vaulter, and she just might be too good looking.

Kobe Bryant, Jason Kidd, Dwayne Wade, LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Tayshaun Prince, Carlos Boozer, Chris Bosh, Chris Paul, Dwight Howard, Michael Redd, Deron Williams.

Those would be the names of your coming US Olympic basketball team. Oddly absent would be a single Celtic, which will surely cause outrage on the East Coast. But let’s hope this bunch can right the US tradition of gold, as nothing else is deemed acceptable.

“The Hammer” stars Adam Carolla and comes out on DVD June 24th. Basically Adam Carolla plays a lame forty-something who has been unemployed for like twenty years or something. He used to be an amateur boxer and is making his return to competitive boxing. He goes on a quest for Olympic gold and gets his ass beat. I think any Carolla fan will enjoy watching him get knocked out after that ridiculous stint on Dancing With The Stars. What was he thinking?! Loveline, The Man Show.. Dancing With The Stars??! This movie better be funny or I just might lose all respect for the man.

A short history of Olympic Protesting from the Times:

— Tommie Smith and John Carlos, gold and bronze medalists in the 200 metres, gave the Black Power salute during the American National Anthem in Mexico, 1968, to demonstrate against racial discrimination in their home country. They were expelled from the Games

— The silver medallist in the 200 metres, Peter Norman of Australia, who was white, wore an “Olympic Project for Human Rights” badge in support of Smith and Carlos’s protest. When he died, in 2006, Smith and Carlos were his lead pallbearers

— Irish athletes boycotted the 1908 Olympic Games in London in protest against Britain’s refusal to give Ireland its independence. The American team also refused to dip its flag to Edward VII during the opening ceremony

— In 1932 Italian gold medallist Luigi Beccali gave a fascist salute on the podium at the Los Angeles Games

— The Nazis’ appropriation of the 1936 Berlin Games for the purposes of propaganda included the introduction of a grand torch relay to the Games – the very same that is causing trouble today. Boycott efforts by Britain and the US were short-lived, but many Jewish athletes refused to participate

— At the Munich Games of 1972, gunmen from the Palestinian Black September group broke into the compound occupied by Israeli athletes and killed 11 of them

— In 1980 62 countries – the biggest number in history – boycotted the Moscow Games in protest against the intervention of the Soviet Union in Afghanistan

— An Eastern bloc boycott was organised in retaliation at the next games in Los Angeles

— Two-time world judo champion Arash Miresmaeili was eliminated from the 2004 Olympics, officially after failing weight criteria. It seems more likely his exit was because he was drawn against an Israeli. Iran’s National Olympic Committee later said it was “general policy” for Iranian athletes to avoid competing against Israelies

Admittedly, when I first saw the words “Speedo LZR,” I thought it was an abbreviation for “speedo loser.” As it turns out, in the world of competitive swimming, this space-aged suit is the polar opposite. (And yes, I just used the term “space age” without a hint of irony. Boner).

According to the Science of Sport blog, on its first professional outing, the swimmer with the Speedo LZR broke the world record…by two entire body lengths. Then the Women’s Dutch 4 x 200m relay team, equipped with the Speedo LZR, beat the world record (set 6 years back by China) by 8 seconds. I don’t know jack about professional competitive swimming, but even I know that’s kind of a big deal.

This brings to mind the whole juicing in sports argument: these people train every day for their profession; to be the best athlete, using all the technology available to get every ounce of power…so why not use drugs to further this concept? The problem is that unless everyone is doing the same drugs and has access to the same equipment and training, the competition would be unfair. Plus, you can’t make athletes who are ethically opposed to juicing use the stuff. We’re not living in a Brave new World just yet.

So in the case of the Speedo LZR, it might give the athlete an unfair technological advantage….unless every athlete was using them.

But on the other side of the coin, maybe to make it REALLY fair, they all should just swim naked, original Roman-Greko Olympics style. That would sure make the Women’s backstroke more interesting for me.