News

Closed 28th of May for Pentecost

May 25, 2012 - Upcoming Monday marks another holiday for us: Pentecost. On the 28th of May our customer service and distribution centre will be closed, as well as our shop in the Kerkstraat, Amsterdam (always closed on Mondays). Have a good weekend everyone! -Team Azarius
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Win a free Azarius T-shirt - Facebook give-away!

May 22, 2012 - Time for a promo! Help us reach 3000 fans on the Azarius Facebook page and we'll give away 20 x Azarius T-shirts or tank tops (colour/size of your choice). Who wouldn't want to wear our silky smooth Azarius T-shirts? Recommend our page to all your friends! Once we get 3000 fans on our Facebook page we will select 20 winners among our newest fans using random.org . Follow...
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Trip guide: Hawaiian Baby Woodrose seeds

May 15, 2012 - Today we’re not posting a news item but a short preparation and trip guide for the Hawaiian Baby Woodrose seeds . What is HBWR? The seeds of the Argyreia nervosa contain a naturally occurring tryptamine called LSA (Lysergic Acid Amide), which is closely related to LSD. It is a member of the Convolvulaceae family which also includes the morning glory (Ipomoea). Hawaiian Baby...
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One week after the weed pass: users turn to the street

May 8, 2012 - A little over a week ago the weed pass was officially enforced in the southern provinces of Holland (Zeeland, Brabant and Maastricht), but already it’s clear the policy is an utter failure. Instead of regulating trade and limiting nuisance, the trade is now going out of sight completely. Dealers instead of coffeeshops De weed pass was intended to strictly regulate the weed business....
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Ascension Day specials

May 1, 2012 - Tomorrow is the Feast of the Ascension, or Ascension Day, a holiday in the Netherlands as well as many other countries. This means our store in the Kerkstraat as well as our office will be closed. For the occasion we've selected a few products you can use to 'ascend to higher plains' as well. The Ascension Day specials are: Hawaiian Baby Woodrose - 10 seeds € 10 - € 8...
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Cannabis seeds - new in 2012

April 28, 2012 - The new outdoor growing season always comes with a lot of change. Old strains are discarded and promising new ones are added, and 2012 is no different. Over the past months we've been updating our cannabis seedshop with new strains and a few new seedbanks. An overview: New seedbanks Eva Seeds Temptation takes the form of 11 varied feminized seeds. Available in...
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Closed on Queensday

April 26, 2012 - Upcoming Monday April 30th we are celebrating Queensday, a national holiday in the Netherlands. This means our headquarters and shop in the Kerkstraat are closed, we will not send out packages or answer phone and email. We are sorry for delays this might cause. On Tuesday May 1st we'll be back in action and working extra hard to ship as many orders as possible and expertly answer any...
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Online drugs marketplace busted - 15 arrests

April 19, 2012 - Earlier this week the U.S. authorities announced the arrests of 15 people involved with “The Farmers Market”, an online drugs marketplace that sold LSD, Ecstasy and ketamine to thousands of buyers all over the world. Just another web shop The Farmers Market site appeared to be a regular online shop complete with order forms, PayPal check-out and customer service, though the wares for...
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Spanish village votes to grow cannabis

April 13, 2012 - An adviser to a Spanish village of Rasquera (see our previous news article ) that had considered growing marijuana to pay off debt may still do so, even though 'yes' votes in a referendum prevailed but fell short of the minimum set by the mayor. The people of Rasquera in the northeast Catalonia region voted 56 percent in favor and 44 percent against in Tuesday's referendum. The mayor had...
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Scientists determine 3D atomic structure of kappa opioid recepter

April 4, 2012 - In a recent study that was published in Nature magazine, researchers mention the active compound in Salvia divinorum, Salvinorin A. The study revealed more detailed information about the functioning of the kappa opioid receptor. Salvinorin A is a kappa opioid agonist, which means that the substance binds to this receptor and causes a response (in case of Salvia a psychedelic experience). "We...
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Chilean court decides Ayahuasca is beneficial

March 28, 2012 - Ayahuasca is known by its spiritual and healing benefits, considering that many of whom have ingested it in shamanic rituals say they have resolved their existential trouble thanks to this amazonian plant mixture. In fact, the International Plant Medicine Corporation patented the use, processing and marketing of ayahuasca, which luckily expired in 2003, becoming public domain. Apparently,...
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Central American Summit will discuss ending the War on drugs

March 21, 2012 - The Guatemalan president Otto Perez Molina wants to legalize drugs in Central America. He spoke out in favour of legalization last month and will bring the debate to the Central American Integration System (SICA) summit in April as well as the UN general assembly later this year. War on Drugs The Guatemalan president said the war on drugs has not yielded positive results. Drug...
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Weed pass in southern Netherlands goes in effect May 1st

March 13, 2012 - The Dutch weed pass will go in effect on the first of May for the southern Dutch provinces of Zeeland, Brabant and Limburg, banning the sale of soft drugs to foreigners. What? Why? The weed pass (Dutch: wietpas) is a measure that has been pushed by the Dutch government to get rid of foreign ‘drug tourists’, which according to the Dutch police are a prime source of nuisance in the areas...
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Spanish town starts cannabis plantation to pay debts

March 7, 2012 - With a national unemployment rate that now hovers around 23 percent, Spain is in dire straits economically. In an effort to turn the tide locally, the city council of the town of Rasquera, in Catalonia, has voted in favour to start cannabis cultivation for private cannabis clubs in Barcelona. The town hall voted to sign a lucrative agreement with a cannabis association in Barcelona to plant...
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Bugs from space offer new source of power

February 28, 2012 - For Azarius news articles we’ll usually put our own spin on the title of a press release, but this one has such a wonderful B-movie quality we kept it as is. The news here is that a team of scientists from Newcastle University have identified numerous strains of bacteria as an efficient source of electricity. …From space! Several of these bacteria are normally found in the stratosphere,...
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Smell the soil - become happy!

February 22, 2012 - A microbe found in soil (compost) may act like a mood-enhancing drug once it enters the human body. Mycobacterium vaccae a strain of bacterium in soil, has been found to trigger the release of serotonin, a neurotransmitter that elevates mood and decreases anxiety. It can enter the human body simply by hovering over the soil and breathing in, for example during gardening. Discovery...
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MAPS update: US MDMA studies

February 16, 2012 - The American MAPS organisation (Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies) released an update this week on a number of their US studies related to MDMA. Below we’re sharing some of the update news. What is MAPS? MAPS' mission is to treat conditions for which conventional medicines provide limited relief, such as PTSD & anxiety associated with life-threatening illnesses, by...
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Fungus discovered that eats plastic

February 9, 2012 - A group of Yale students on an annual expedition in the rain forests of Ecuador have discovered a new fungus that feasts on polyurethane (plastic). The Rainforest Expedition ventured into the jungles under supervision of molecular biochemistry professor Scott Strobel. The group brought back a wide range of flora samples and among them discovered something that could very well be used in...
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Dutch government bans khat

January 31, 2012 - Earlier this month the Dutch government announced that khat (Catha edulis) will be banned in the Netherlands. Up until now the Netherlands were one of the few remaining countries that allowed the plant, which is primarily used by Somalis, traditionally by chewing on the leaves. The government has discouraged the sale of khat for some time now. The fact that the Dutch government feels it...
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Magic mushrooms may help treat depression, researchers say

January 24, 2012 - Psilocybin , the active ingredient in magic mushrooms, may help people with depression, based on two studies that suggest that the psychedelic could have an enduring effect on patients. Professor David Nutt, the controversial sacked government drugs advisor, claimed this recent research proved what a mistake it was to abandon therapeutic psychedelic drugs more than 50 years ago....
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Salvia divinorum – the anti-drug?

January 17, 2012 - In the search for effective anti-addiction compounds to help fight drug cravings and withdrawal symptoms as well as relapses, the hallucinogen Salvia divinorum is being studied by a group of researchers in New Zealand. The research is a collaborative project between Victoria University and the University of Kansas, the aim of which is to find ways of targeting the kappo opioid receptor....
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Smoking a joint less harmful to the lungs than cigarettes

January 13, 2012 - Joints do less damage to the pulmonary function than smoking tobacco does. American physicians published their findings earlier this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The study examined over 5000 men and women from four American cities. The subjects were divided in tobacco smokers, non-smokers (control group) and cannabis users. As expected, the study showed that...
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Start the new year healthy, start vaporizing!

January 9, 2012 - Wanting to quit smoking is one of those New Year's resolutions that has been among the top 5 of good intentions for decades. If you have resolved to make this the year that you stamp out your smoking habit, but don't want to give up on enjoying some of nature's finest tobacco or other herbs, then a vaporizer could prove helpful. For those who are new to vaporizing: A vaporizer is a safer...
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Happy New Year!

January 3, 2012 - From everyone at Azarius, we wish you a healthy and euphoric 2012! The coming year you can once again expect many new products from energizers and cannabis seeds to vaporizers. As always, we continue to strive for the best service possible. Do you think we could better? Are there certain products you think we should stock in 2012? Let us know in the comments below!
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Azarius closed first week of 2012

December 23, 2011 - In the first week of January, Azarius will be 'closed' for stock counting and renovation of our warehouse. All orders made just before New Year and in the first days of January will be delayed and won’t ship until Monday January 9th. We apologize for any inconvenience and will be doing everything we can to get back to normal delivery times as soon as possible. Our Customer Service will still...
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Loud music leads to increase in alcohol consumption

December 22, 2011 - According to a new British study, there is a direct correlation between music and the rate of alcohol consumption. Dr. Stafford, of the University of Portsmouth, studied the effects of music on the taste of alcohol. His findings are that alcohol tastes sweeter when experienced in a setting with loud music and that the noise makes it difficult for drinkers to judge how much they’ve had....
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Salvia cuttings: When are they coming back?!

December 14, 2011 - So some of you may have noticed our Salvia cuttings haven’t been in stocked since last summer… In fact, this has quickly become one of the most frequently asked questions for our Customer Support. We felt it was time to be completely honest and inform everyone on the status of our salvia cuttings. As you may guessed by now, we simply don’t know when or if we’ll be able to stock cuttings...
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Czech Republic removes mescaline cacti from blacklist

December 7, 2011 - Last week, the Czech cabinet approved changes to its drug policy; it’s now allowed to cultivate cacti containing the hallucinogen mescaline, such as the Peyote and San Pedro. Plants containing DMT and 5-MeO-DMT are reportedly allowed for cultivation as well. Previously these products were on the list of prohibited plants, meaning both the cultivation and possession was illegal. Under the new...
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Second Mayan calendar found: 2012 the end?

November 29, 2011 - The Mayan calendar ends in the year 2012 on the 21st of December, inspiring apocalyptic movies and prophets of doom to predict this date to be the end of the world. Up until now this was all based on one stone tablet found in Tortuguero, Mexico. But recently, the Mexican National Institute of Anthropology and History admitted to having found a second ‘doom’ tablet, referencing the calendar’s...
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Police raid on the 24th High Times Cannabis Cup

November 24, 2011 - Yesterday, a large Dutch police force raided the 24th annual High Times Cannabis Cup, held in Amsterdam – a first in the long history of the Cup. The force consisted of 150 to 200 men and showed up unexpectedly around 4.30 p.m. Eye witnesses reported via Twitter that all attendees were searched and all booths were investigated. Buds were confiscated but no charges or arrests were made....
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