Vicodin

A rundown of the rap world's favorite drugs

Drug culture isn't relegated exclusively to rock, obviously. For its part, the rap game is equally loaded with drug references of all kinds, from Promethazine and DMT to LSD and PCP, and likewise addled with its own cautionary tales and fatalities. While there's nothing as concrete to suggest that d ... More >>

Health-care fraud is big business. What are the feds doing about it?

The 50 worst rock/pop lyrics: The Complete list

Well, here we are, at the end of the road of lyrical idiocy. As our countdown to crappiness finally culminates, we've trained our eye on some of the greatest lyricists in rock, who during select moments, greatly disappointed us with their valueless verse. These lyrics are all bad on their own terms, ... More >>

The 50 worst rock/pop lyrics of all time: 50-41

Sometimes we love a song because it's stupid. When the Flaming Lips immortalized a girl for not using jelly, for instance, we treasured the witty idiocy of it all. These are not those songs. These are the radio hits that tortured us with their inane babbling, with lyrics that sound epic and sentimen ... More >>

Heather Jensen allegedly left two kids alone in running car while meeting man: One died

The more details that emerge from the death of William Jensen, age two, and the hospitalization of his four-year-old brother Tyler, the more disturbing the story becomes. According to an affidavit, investigators believe there's probable cause to charge the boys' mother, Heather Jensen, with neglect ... More >>

Christian McCracken, Boulder cop charged in murder try, quits before he can be disciplined

Yesterday, an Internal Affairs Review Panel was set to issue findings regarding Boulder Police officer Christian McCracken, charged with attempted first-degree murder in a case that allegedly involved him stalking and harassing his ex-girlfriend. McCracken apparently realized the results wouldn't be ... More >>

Lynne Fenton, James Holmes's doctor: Her ex-husband on minor discipline made to look major

Update: Shortly after publishing the following item about Dr. Lynne Fenton, a CU psychiatrist who treated accused Aurora theater shooter James Holmes, we heard from Steffan Andrews, Fenton's ex-husband, and one of the people to whom she was censured by the state medical board for providing Claritin ... More >>

Dr. Stephen Stein, alleged needle re-user, under investigation for prescription fraud

Update: The story of Dr. Stephen Stein, an oral surgeon whose possible re-use of needles over a twelve-year period has led the state health department to suggest that at least 8,000 of his patients be tested for HIV and hepatitis, has gone national. And while Stein has yet to be charged with a crime ... More >>

Christian McCracken, head-injured Boulder cop, allegedly kept narcotics in Skittles bag

Update: The troubles faced by head-injured Boulder Police officer Christian McCracken continue to mount. Now, in addition to charges (including attempted first-degree murder) related to his alleged stalking of a Boulder dispatcher, he's facing drug allegations related to Schedule III narcotics conc ... More >>

Marijuana: John Suthers uses Drugfree.org study to decry rising teen pot use

Shocker: The Partnership at Drugfree.org conducted a study on teen marijuana use, and the results are not positive. Equally big shocker: Colorado Attorney General John Suthers, who never misses an opportunity to criticize medical marijuana, is using the report to climb on the anti-cannabis soapbox ... More >>

Dr. Louis Hampers sentenced to five years of probation for prescription drug fraud

Louis Hampers, the former pediatric ER doc who pleaded guilty to prescription drug fraud, was sentenced today to five years of supervised probation. Hampers, who was the subject of our cover story "Doctor Strange Love," must serve the first six months of that probation in home detention. He must als ... More >>

We scream for ice cream! Five GOP-inspired Ben & Jerry's flavors

What are two things that people really want right now? You guessed it: new flavors of Ben & Jerry's ice cream, and more Republican primary coverage. Last week Ben & Jerry's announced that it is debuting Greek frozen yogurt, bringing back "Chocolate Therapy" (chocolate ice cream, choco-cookies and ch ... More >>

Medical marijuana probation ban sentences patients to problems, attorney says

Last week, we told you about a court ruling that bans medical marijuana patients from using cannabis while on probation. The decision was praised in a Denver Post editorial, but George Yingling, the attorney who represented Leonard Charles Watkins, the man at the center of the case, believes it was ... More >>

Louis Hampers: Defense lawyers ask that disgraced doctor be sentenced to probation

Hampers.​The sentencing hearing for former ER doc Louis Hampers has been delayed once again. Charged with writing 654 phony prescriptions in 2009 and 2010, Hampers pleaded guilty this past July to much less: fourteen counts of prescription drug fraud. His sentencing hearing was rescheduled fro ... More >>

Dr. Louis Hampers, accused of stalking Deborah Sherman: No extra house arrest freedoms

News that reporter Deborah Sherman is out at 9News -- and the dearth of details as to why -- has dragged disgraced doctor Louis Hampers into the news again. Westword first reported on the link between the two; Sherman claims former ER doc Hampers stalked her after she broke a second date with him. I ... More >>

Louis Hampers, former Children's Hospital ER doc, pleads guilty to prescription drug fraud

Hampers​ Louis Hampers, the former Children's Hospital ER doctor charged with writing 654 phony prescriptions (in addition to harassing women he met on adult websites), won't be doctoring or online dating any time soon. He pleaded guilty today to fourteen counts of prescription drug fraud, eac ... More >>

Reader: No amount of Vicodin could persuade me to peep her show

​Like a rubber band stretched to its snapping point (or maybe a glass-top table that spontaneously explodes), Martha Stewart is one of pop cultures most weirdly volatile figures. We broke down five disturbing things about Stewart after another of her products erupted without provocation the ot ... More >>

Exploding melons and the top five dangerous foods

Reuters photo​China has a new crop: exploding watermelons. Apparently Chinese farmers trying to fill an increased market demand for watermelons -- it's backyard barbecue season, after all -- hosed down 115 acres of melons with the growth accelerator forchlorfenuron, causing the fruits to rand ... More >>

Top five dinners to serve your Internet date on Valentine's Day

​With Valentine's Day upon us once again, love is in the air. Birds are tweeting, butterflies are floating on the gentle breeze, and Internet connections are blinking away as the lovelorn hit up their hard-working little modems and wireless routers to locate a date. Finding that date can be ... More >>

Medical marijuana: Nearly 2,000 MMJ patient recommendations nixed over quiet rule change

​Over the past week or so, medical marijuana patients across the state have learned that doctor recommendations for the card allowing them to use MMJ have been rejected. Why? A new health department policy that slid into place almost unnoticed -- one that's likely to disenfranchise and anger n ... More >>

Louis Hampers: No bail yet for controversial doc charged with writing fake prescriptions

Louis Hampers.​Dr. Louis Hampers, the Children's Hospital ER doctor charged with writing 654 fake prescriptions, appeared for the first time in a Colorado court today after being arrested in Virginia on September 7. At a 2 p.m. hearing, Magistrate Judge Kathleen Tafoya denied him bail.

Off Limits: A wild ending for Buckskin Joe, a great, shlocky tourist attraction

Louis Hampers: Indicted Children's doctor back in court on Friday, back in Colorado soon

Louis Hampers.​ Dr. Louis Hampers, the Children's Hospital ER doctor charged with writing 654 fake prescriptions dating back to 2007 and continuing through April, will return to court Friday in Virginia, where he was arrested yesterday. According to Jeff Dorschner, spokesman for the U.S. Atto ... More >>

Louis Hampers: Feds indict controversial doctor for allegedly writing 100s of fake prescriptions

Louis Hampers.​ Louis Hampers, the Children's Hospital doctor who was the subject of the recent Westword feature "When This Physician Gets the Fever, it's the Women He Dates Who Can't Shake the Bug," was arrested this morning on charges of writing hundreds of phony prescriptions. An indictment ... More >>

DJ Quote explains the concept and purpose of his Dispensary Music project with Iman S

​ DJ Quote is no stranger to controversy, having tangled with his fair share of detractors in the past. Actually, he's no stranger at all: To date, he's released more than 300 mixtapes, performed at parties at major sporting events across the country, and appeared on national television a han ... More >>

When this physician gets the fever, it's the women he dates who can't shake the bug

Medical marijuana advocate Jessica Corry extends an olive branch to DEA agent Jeffrey Sweetin

Jessica Corry wants to meet you for lunch, Agent Sweetin.​Yesterday, we published an extended interview with DEA special agent Jeffrey Sweetin, a lightning rod for controversy about medical marijuana. Predictably, some of his assertions about the DEA's actions troubled Jessica Corry, an attorn ... More >>

Medical marijuana doctors "need to come out of the closet and be part of the solution," says CannaMed medical director

A graphic from the website of CannaMed USA, where Dr. Paul Bregman serves as medical director.​Attorney Rob Corry has significant issues with Senator Chris Romer's legislation concerning the relationship between doctors and medical marijuana patients. Less critical is Dr. Paul Bregman, the me ... More >>

Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans

An evening with Ed Harris (and Tom Bower?) at the Starz Denver Film Festival

Photo courtesy of the Denver Film SocietyEd Harris with his co-stars for the evening, Starz Denver Film Festival co-founder Ron Henderson and Mayor John Hickenlooper.​The Starz Denver Film Festival is seldom able to lure the biggest name actors to make appearances even when using its annual Ma ... More >>

Over the Weekend: Atmosphere at Red Rocks

​ Atmosphere, Aesop Rock, Murs and Eyedea & Abilities Red Rocks Friday, August 14 Red Rocks giveth, and Red Rocks taketh away. The sprawling amphitheater is so storied at this point that it tests performers playing it like few venues in the country -- and not everyone passes. That was certain ... More >>

The Breeders

The Deal sisters are happy to be reproducing again.

Juggalos Band Together at Primos

Meet the Insane fans who united Denver's hatchet-wielding, Faygo-loving family.

Q&A With Slash From Velvet Revolver/Guns N' Roses

Velvet Revolver Seek Libertad

Slash touts his new band as everyone’s celebrating the old one.

Death on the Zero Horizon

Of Meth and Men

The drug fuels gay parties -- but the party was almost over before Rod finally found help.

Stars Are Deaf, Too

That's hot. Or not. The making of Paris Hilton's new video.

Exit This Way

Denver lies dead center in the right-to-die debate.

Mogwai

Mr. Beast (Matador)

A Good Man Is Hard to Find

Mentoring programs complain about the lack of adult males. So one took a chance on Marc Plaskie.

Breast Friend

When a stripper decided to get something off her chest, it landed on this doctor.

Bite Me

A Week in the Life

Natural Disaster

Was Terry Gilliam the man who killed Don Quixote?

Disorder in the Court

Judge John Kane has seen too many casualties in the War on Drugs. Now he demands a government retreat.

Taking the Bull by the Horns

Monty Doiel realized his dream. The hard way.

Queens of the Stone Age

Rated R
(Interscope Records)

Detox for Dummies

Leave it to Hollywood to make rehab look like fun.

Ali Clear

Ali Kazemi's common name is finally clear.

Prescription Grudge

Arapahoe County prosecutors don't want to punish Ali Seyed Kazemi, but he still swears he's innocent.