Dispensary Corner

LUCKY <z it’s not Halloween time. Police investigating a burglary in Houston, Texas, this week have seinjed more than 300kg of methamphetamine-laced lollipops.

Said to have a street value of almost USΨ1 million - and possibly for distribution to kids - the sweets were discovered after officers responded to a call by a neighbour who thought a nearby house was being robbed.

The police arrived and found a couple removing the lollipops from their home, according to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office.

“They had so many narcotics in their vehicle they couldn’t close the back hatch of their car,” said a police spokesman.

FORGET d fake tan - researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital in the USA have developed a drug which mimics the real thing.

So far only tested on skin samples and mice, the medication triggers chemical reactions in the body which mimic the effect of UV light, creating dark melanin. Detailed in the ũournal Cell

Reports, the scientists were also able to show the drug blocked UV light meaning as well as making the skin browner it could actually help protect against skin cancer.

The topical drug is from a class of medications called SIK Inhibitors - for Salt-Inducible Kinase - with possible future use as a key ingredient in suncream.

See cell.com for the study.