'Pharma Parties' Don't Exist

Jack Shafer, in an article posted to Slate today, takes apart the San Francisco Chronicle for running a story hyping the 'Pharma Party' myth. The myth is that teens around the country are swiping drugs from their parents, taking them to parties, putting everything in a bowl, and then comsuming random pills out of the bowl, sometimes by the handful calling them 'trail mix'.  As Jack states:

To my knowledge, no journalist has ever witnessed such random consumption of drugs by young people in a party setting, yet the story continues to get major play as if these affairs are common. 

As any reasonable person could figure out, no one does this. Why take a bunch of Adderall to the party if you might only get Benadryl or Prozac in return? Yes, kids trade drugs with their friends. This is pretty unsurprising. "Hey, I've got some of my dad's Soma. I'll trade you for some Concerta and a Percoset."  But take a random fistful of unknown pills?  Like glue sniffing in the past, this seems to be something that the media have developed out of thin air by what our board member Dominic likes to call Stupid Fucking Credulous Hacks.  

Thanks, Jack, for calling these stories out for what they really are.