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Burning Man, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, has grown from a tiny summer solstice bonfire gathering on the beach in 1986 near San Francisco to such a powerful cultural phenomenon that no less than President Barack Obama name-checked it at the White House Correspondents' Dinner in April. His 18-year-old daughter, Malia, he joked, isn't allowed to go. Running this year from Aug. 28 to Sept. 5, Burning Man — where attendees include Google's Sergey Brin and Larry Page, Amazon's Jeff Bezos, iHeartMedia chairman Bob Pittman, director Chris Weitz (who met and married his wife, Mercedes Martinez, there) and...

The number of drug overdose deaths has soared by 73% in the city over the last five years, data released Tuesday by the Health Department show. There were 937 accidental fatal ODs in 2015 — up from 800 the year before, and from 541 in 2010. The rate of people dying from drug overdoses jumped for the fifth-straight year, to 13.6 for every 100,000 residents — a 66% jump from 2010. …

law-enforcement official tells The Associated Press that tests show Prince died of an opioid overdose.

An emotional Gov. Charlie Baker on Monday signed what he called the most comprehensive law in the nation to combat an opioid addiction scourge, including a seven-day limit on first-time prescriptions for opiate painkillers. The Republican governor struggled to maintain his composure while recalling families he had met — some standing behind him at the Statehouse ceremony — who had lost loved ones to a “deadly, merciless epidemic” and others who were desperately seeking help for a family member. In recent years, the opiate-abuse epidemic has claimed thousands of lives in Massachusetts. The law, which was given final approval by...

Scott Weiland, the dynamic stage presence and instantly recognizable voice behind Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver, has died. He was 48. Weiland's manager confirmed the news to Rolling Stone. The details surrounding the singer's death will be released Friday

There’s absolutely tragic news to report as former Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver frontman Scott Weiland died Thursday night (Dec. 3) at the age of 48. The news has been confirmed with an official statement posted on the rocker’s social media sites.

I took 35 Viagra after a two-day bender EXCLUSIVE: ...and had a hard time in hospital DOZY Daniel Medforth ended up in hospital after necking 35 Viagra in an hour, giving him a five-day erection. [....] An overdose can cause chest pain, nausea, a racing pulse, and fainting from low blood pressure. It can even lead to loss of consciousness, brain haemorrhage and death.

A neighbor says he heard the cries of a 9-month-old boy who authorities believe later starved after his mother died of an apparent overdose inside their Pittsburgh-area apartment. William Gonzalez tells the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review ( http://bit.ly/1BdYU7k ) he heard the cries of little Casey Kessler when he went in and out of the apartment building in Millvale but didn't think much of it at the time. Gonzalez says he feels horrible.

A former child actress who played Mel Gibson's young daughter in the 2000 film The Patriot died July 19 in part as a result of huffing, Texas Authorities revealed Monday. Tests reveal 21-year-old actress Skye McCole Bartusiak had muscle relaxers, painkillers and a chemical refrigerant difluoroethane in her system at the time of her death, reports TMZ.

Denver County Fair officials confirmed they are investigating at least three separate cases of people who said they were drugged after eating a Full Melt Chocolate bar that contained THC at the Denver County Fair's Pot Pavilion.Denver County Fair Spokesperson, Dana Cain said at least two of those people went to the hospital after they became dizzy, sick and confused.  They tested positive for THC."I was given one of these, it looked just like that," Richard Jones said as he pointed to a picture of a Full Melt Chocolate bar on his computer screen.The Pot Pavilion was new to the...

(CNN) -- Dozens of concertgoers were hospitalized during a show by superstar DJ Avicii in Boston on Wednesday night, CNN affiliates reported. Local media put the number of patients anywhere between 30 and 80. Massachusetts General Hospital told CNN it received 13 patients between ages 16 and 19. All of the patients are being evaluated, said Kory Zhao, a hospital public affairs officer. Most patients had a problem with dehydration, drugs and alcohol, authorities told CNN affiliate WHDH.

Maureen Dowd, author of “Bushworld: Enter at Your Own Risk”, speaks during a panel discussion during a luncheon at the Book Expo America convention, Saturday, June 5, 2004, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Brian Kersey) I never smoked marijuana before, and Maureen Dowd‘s haphazard experience with a weed-laced candy bar in her Denver hotel room certainly isn’t motivating me to book a plane ticket to what is soon to be dubbed the “Mile High State.” The New York Times columnist was in Colorado reporting on the state’s first months of legalized marijuana use when she decided to take what she later learned...

Maureen Dowd travelled to Colorado in January, ate a bit too much of a marijuana-laced chocolate bar and proceeded to have a Valley-of-the-Dolls-style meltdown in her hotel room. Here's how she describes the experience in her Wednesday New York Times column: "I felt a scary shudder go through my body and brain. I barely made it from the desk to the bed, where I lay curled up in a hallucinatory state for the next eight hours. I was thirsty but couldn't move to get water. Or even turn off the lights. I was panting and paranoid, sure that when the...

A Texas teenager whose date died in their hotel room after her senior prom has sent a series of emotional text messages to a friend suggesting she passed away following an overdose. The unidentified date frantically called 911 on Saturday morning after waking up in a North Houston Hyatt to find that 17-year-old Jacqueline Gomez was not breathing. Investigators said that the MacArthur High School senior showed no outward signs of injury and the results of her autopsy are pending. They added that her boyfriend is not suspected of any crime. Now text messages that he sent to one of...

by REBECCA LOPEZ Bio | Email | Follow: @rlopezwfaa WFAA Posted on May 2, 2014 at 10:51 PM Updated Friday, May 2 at 11:18 PM Related: More K2 overdose cases reported in Texas DALLAS -- It's cheap, easy to buy, and sold over the counter, but it is also highly addictive and dangerous. “We don't know what they are putting into these synthetic drugs," said Dr. James d’Etienne of Baylor Medical Center. And that's the problem. People are buying and smoking K2, a synthetic drug that is supposed to mimic marijuana. Within the last 24 hours, more than 30 people...

Friends and family will be able to take the first step to save a loved one from an overdose of heroin or powerful painkillers called opioids. The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday approved an easy-to-use device that automatically injects the right dose of an overdose antidote named naloxone before an ambulance arrives. Doctors could prescribe it for family members or caregivers to keep on hand, in a pocket or a medicine cabinet. Opioids include legal prescription painkillers, such as OxyContin and Vicodin, as well as illegal street drugs like heroin. …

DENVER (CBS4) – An animal hospital in Denver is seeing an increasing number of dogs who have eaten edible marijuana and is finding that the diagnosis isn’t good. VCA Animal Hospital is open 24 hours a day and they see hundreds of dogs every week from checkups to emergencies. Since Jan. 1 the clinic says dogs have been getting into their owner’s supply of marijuana, specifically edibles. “What we are seeing is dogs getting into the baked products,” said Dr. Kevin Fitzgerald. The concern is that edibles have a concentration of marijuana meant for controlled human consumption and dogs weigh...

Heroin overdose deaths across the country are spiking as a deadly new variant of the drug mixed with a powerful painkiller is spreading from New Hampshire to Washington State. The lethal combination of heroin and fentanyl, an opiate used to soothe the pain of cancer patients, is blamed for about 100 deaths from coast to coast. It is variously labelled as ‘bud ice,’ ‘income tax’ and ‘theraflu,’ authorities say. The hardest hit states in the epidemic are Maryland, with more than three dozen deaths since September, and Pennsylvania, with almost two dozen this month alone, according to reports.

(CNN) -- Oscar-winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman has been found dead of an apparent drug overdose in his Manhattan apartment, law enforcement sources said Sunday. Hoffman, 46, was found in the bathroom of the fourth-floor apartment, the sources told CNN.

Watertown father admits guilt for smashing up head shop Watertown, NY -- A Watertown man has pleaded guilty to a criminal charge for smashing up a head shop after his adult son overdosed on bath salts from the store. Dan Avery, 49, pleaded guilty Friday in Jefferson County Court to a misdemeanor charge of fourth-degree criminal mischief. He was sentenced to a one-year conditional discharge and ordered to pay $638 in restitution for the damage he did to Tebb's Headshop in Watertown. Avery was charged in July with a felony count of third-degree criminal mischief and criminal possession of a...