Drug Addiction

What Would Saved by the Bell's The Max Be Like Today?

During a relaxing champagne bubblebath, I dreamt up a 2k13 version of The Peach Pit from Beverly Hills, 90210. Well, that "fan fiction" wasn't the end for me. Instead, it got me thinking about another '90s cult hit hangout -- The Max from Saved by the Bell. Here's what I'm fairly positive The Max ... More >>

Leftover Crack

Marvin Gay, Sr., and the 10 Worst Rock-Star Parents of All Time

Twenty-eight years ago this week, Marvin Gay, Sr., received a six-year suspended sentence and five years of probation for the voluntary manslaughter of his son, the R&B legend Marvin Gaye. Gay pled guilty after shooting his namesake dead in the L.A. home given to him and his wife by Gaye, who was 44 ... More >>

David Morrell: Murder as a Fine Art

Lose Your Illusion: 5 Lowlights of the Tour That Tore Guns N' Roses Apart

On May 24, 1991, Guns N' Roses embarked on its Use Your Illusion Tour, a massive 192-date concert spectacular that took the band to every place on the planet with electricity. The string of shows marked the very height of Guns' popularity, with more than seven million people in 27 countries plunkin ... More >>

Breaking It Down: The Hard Stuff

Painkiller addiction is one of the largest and fastest-growing problems among today's younger veterans.

Machine Head

Elizabeth Cook

An Awesome Houston Oiler Public Service Announcement

Granted, there's plenty to be entertained by in this collection of early-`70s TV ads. If you don't love the huge land-yacht 1973 Lincoln-Mercurys, which look big enough to land helicopters on, you're bound to like the "small" version which retains all the luxury in a more efficient body (that nevert ... More >>

A Possible Houston Cure For Crack Addiction Runs Into Red-Tape Problems

Thomas R. Karsten believes he has a vaccine for coke​While a Houston doctor thinks he has found the cure for cocaine addiction, bureaucratic red tape is hindering the vaccine's approval and building doubts for its future success. "My hopes are pretty simple: number one, find some company in t ... More >>

Derek Boogaard Died by Accidental Overdose of Alcohol and Oxycodone

Derek Boogaard: accidental OD​Derek Boogaard, the former Houston Aero fan favorite who was found dead in his Minneapolis apartment May 13, died from having too much alcohol and oxycodone in his system, according the medical examiner's report released today. The Minnesota Star Tribune reports ... More >>

Shock the Junkie

Is ibogaine really an addict cure-all?

Top Five Teen-Idol Rehab Alumni

​Checking into rehab is no laughing matter. That said, we at Rocks Off often find inspiration in even the darkest of corners. So when it was announced, much to our surprise, that Dallas-born teen pop starlet Demi Lovato had checked into rehab an inpatient treatment center, we pondered celebri ... More >>

Music's Top 10 Biggest Post-Drug Comebacks

​The list of drug casualties in rock and roll is a long and sad one. All the suicides, car crashes and the stray gang-related murder are outweighed by the amount of people who just can't stop putting junk into their system, or at least moderate it to a point where they aren't lying cold on a h ... More >>

Ellen Hopkins: Young Adult Author Gets Uninvited To Book Festival, Igniting Protests

Ellen Hopkins: Humble doesn't want you​The Teen Lit Fest in Humble is a huge deal for renowned writers of young adult fiction and the kids they're writing for. Which is why it's a huge deal that half of the authors have dropped out of the January 2011 festival. It all started when an Humble ISD l ... More >>

Elizabeth Cook

The 30 Craziest People In Houston: An Official HPD List

Photo by Chris Curry Travis Bonser is one of Houston's 30 craziest people. Travis Bonser learned how to shoot heroin from his mother. It happened when he was 14, after his mom became too fat to tie her own arm or leave the house to pick up the dope from her dealer. It wasn't long before Bonser was ... More >>

Artist of the Week: Country Store Buffalo on Breast Implants, Beer-Drinking Bison and That Old Devil Cocaine

Each Wednesday, Rocks Off arbitrarily appoints one lucky local performer or group "Artist of the Week," bestowing upon them all the fame and grandeur such a lofty title implies. Know a band or artist that isn't awful? Email their particulars to introducingliston@gmail.com.​ You are in the enviable ... More >>

Six More Mysterious Musical Deaths We'd Like to See Reopened

That's Brian Jones, who is still dead, in the lower right corner.​Original Rolling Stones guitarist Brian Jones was found dead at the bottom of his swimming pool 40 years ago. It was declared "death by misadventure," a cause of death that probably didn't come as a shock to those who had been aware ... More >>

Back to School with Miss Pop Rocks!

​For most kids in the Houston area, this week signals the return to reading, writing, and random drug searches of their lockers. Ah, modern times. The bell ringing us back to class got Miss Pop Rocks thinking of all the pop culture schools she wishes she could have attended.Bayside High (Saved by ... More >>

Book Review: Howard Stern's Sidekick Writes

Given the amount of personal information he’s spilled on the radio over the years, avid listeners of “The Howard Stern Show” probably know more about the private life of cast member/comedian Artie Lange than most of their close friends and relatives. A natural-born storyteller, Lange has ... More >>

Silver Jews

Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea www.silverjews.net

Race and Baseball: The Stories of Josh Hamilton and Darryl Strawberry

Get Lit: Everybody Wants Some: The Van Halen Saga, by Ian Christe

Godsmack

Godsmack performs Tuesday, July 17, at Verizon Wireless Theater, 520 Texas, 713-230-1600.

Don't Knock Her

Against All Odds

A group of unsupervised mental patients running from Katrina made it from New Orleans to Houston. Victor Fruge led the way.

Cranked

Meth users are really proDuctive, sExy, hAppy anD slim

Innocent Lost

Melanie Wilson takes us through the Foggy world of drug addiction

Letters

Best Two-Man Show

Alley Theatre's Stones in His Pocket

Prison Break?

Critics wonder if massive TDCJ cuts will be a prelude to privatization

High Scores

Students are using drugs illegally not to party down, but to get better marks on exams

Living Large

A trendy clothing line for plus-size girls

Deal of a Lifetime

Drug addicts can get hard cash to be sterilized or go on birth control. Is it ridding the world of unwanted babies -- or just ducking the underlying problems of abusers?

Con's Con

A contained experiment in Medicaid finally gets uncovered

Nature of the Beast

Plastic surgeon Billy Ringer has been sued ten times for malpractice. He's on probation for sexual misconduct. He sewed a needle into Colleen Guidy. But he's still in business -- cutting, vacuuming, rearranging and, it seems, injuring patients.

Mission: Impossible?

SEARCH's mobile outreach team tries to help Houston's homeless off the streets

In Arms' Way

Phil Arms once saved Ron Garner from a life of sin. Garner tried to return the favor when confronted with evidence of the preacher's drug use. But Arms viewed it as just a Judas kiss.

Skid Row Scholars

Recovering alcoholics find financial aid in a unique Texas Tech program

Methadone Meltdown

Dr. Amos and Cecilia Ozumba ran Houston Maintenance Clinic for four years. Have they finally run it into the ground?

Too high. Period.

Curt Kirkwood, now living in Austin, is still a Meat Puppet. His brother Cris is a missing-in-action junkie.

Heal Thyself

Rapid detox leaves a nurse suffering unforeseen side effects

Legal Moves

Attorney John O'Quinn has checked into a substance-abuse center as he prepares for his disbarment suit

Super Squeak

Rick James comes clean on the past, the present -- and the CD he hopes will revive his career

Holistic Touch

Some ex-patients credit the mind-body therapy of New Age healer JoAnne Mandel with saving their lives. Others say her compassion stopped at the bottom line.

Just Say No (to Open Debate)

When it comes to alternatives to the drug war, some warriors would rather you not hear about it

Woman Trouble

Black America is suffering, and author Robert Myers knows who to blame

Drunk, But Not Disorderly

Meg Ryan battles the curse of cuteness

A Visit to Gatesville

A gray November day spent in the gray world of the inmates and staff of the Texas State prison for women