Odds & Ends: Provigil, Medical Marijuana, & Chris Brown and Rihanna

Provigil, an amazing little pill that makes you alert but not jittery, 'may be' addictive. I've only used it a few times and it's done a perfect job of keeping me awake. Going into the general election this year, I was in New Hampshire organizing GOTV, and hadn't slept more than three or four hours a night the week leading up to the big day. Provigil got me through a sixteen hour Election Day without any withdrawals.

The Obama Administration is taking my advice and leaving medical marijuana policy up to the states. From Huff-Po: "Attorney General Eric Holder signaled a change on medical marijuana policy Wednesday, saying federal agents will target marijuana distributors only when they violate both federal and state law. That would be a departure from the policy of the Bush administration, which targeted medical marijuana dispensaries in California even if they complied with that state's law." Good news for dying cancer patients treating their nausea with medicine their doctor prescribes.

Why celebrity's responses to Chris Brown & Rihanna matters: "Of the 200 Boston youths (ages 12 to 19) surveyed last month, 51 percent said Chris Brown was responsible for the incident, 46 percent said Rihanna was responsible and 52 percent said both were to blame; 52 percent said the media was treating Brown unfairly; 44 percent said fighting was a normal part of a relationship; and a “significant” number said “Rihanna was destroying Chris Brown’s career.” Women blamed Rihanna as much as men did." Chris Brown gets off easy.