Khat, the enervating plant masticated across much of the Middle East and Africa, is contributing to serious mental health issues among London's east African communities, according to a report. The somnolent stare of the regular khat-chewer is a familiar sight for anybody who has travelled to the likes of Nairobi or Addis Ababa, and is increasingly seen on the streets of London. A mild sedative that gives off a reasonably powerful high, the plant's......

Well, it seems our fave ne'er-do-well Londoner may have a case of tuberculosis. She was taken to the London Clinic on Monday after fainting at home and is said to be suffering from a chest infection, dramatic weight loss and lack of appetite. She's also coughing up blood (let us just repeat: ew!) Though her symptoms may all be traced to drug use, which we hear can have some nasty side effects, the fact that......

Jury service can be a drag, we imagine (Londonist's youthfulness precluding it from being summoned to rule over our fellow citizens). How to make the time go quickly? You could do like Homer Simpson did and wear a pair of oversized comedy glasses to surreptitiously snooze behind. Or you could smuggle in some class Cs and attempt to drive down Doobie Lane while deciding the verdict. A juror from Surbiton tried just that last......

So the worst has happened. You've got yourself in a spot of drug-related bother (possibly after following Croydon's cut-out-and-keep guide) and been sent down to do a bid. Worse still, that pill-popping has left you with a fiendish habit, all cold sweats and shaky hands without that daily fix. How to feed the drug monkey on your back? See if you can score a transfer to Wandsworth Prison. According to a report by the......

London collectively yawned as Amy Winehouse was arrested then released on bail last night in her duel with Pete Doherty to become London's most-wanted, drug-addled musician. To her credit, she did go to an east London police station voluntarily. She was called in based on her "alleged possession of a controlled drug" and an investigation involving some fun video footage that supposedly shows ol' Ames smoking crack. We think Best Week Ever said it best......

Pete Doherty is a free man and roaming the streets once again. The Babyshambles singer was released from jail today, just 29 days into his 14-week sentence. Doherty showed the media his certificate proving he passed his drug test as he left Wormwood Scrubs. It’s all very well and good that Pete’s proven he’s clean, but considering he was jailed for missing appoints with his probation officer, is it really advisable to release him......

So you've had your fun day out in Croydon. You've visited the Whitgift Centre, rode the tram, watched the Palace game, and before you know it, 4.20's rolled round. Got a buzz for the sticky icky? Well, the Croydon Guardian has published an article telling you just what to do. Masquerading under the rubric of "investigative journalism", the newspaper sent a reporter to see how easy drugs are to come by on the mean......

Apparently, Her Majesty's prisons are so full of inmates that some convicted of terrorism offences have been let out early to make space. Now Babyshambles bad boy Pete Doherty has been sent to fill the gap: he'll be serving a 14-week sentence on parole violations, following last October's suspended sentence for drugs and illegal driving. It's hardly a surprise, seeing as he's been flirting with incarceration for some months. But this time it looks......

Whatever happened to knocking? Early Wednesday morning at a home in west London, police used a digger—yes, one of those big construction trucks—to smash through a perimeter wall, then proceeded to use sledgehammers and angle grinders to get into the house to search for drugs. They probably would’ve used a battering ram if they had one handy. This was all part of a larger bust involving 500 officers who raided 30 homes and businesses......

Pete Doherty wants to run the London marathon. We're sure many people will sneer at this idea, what with Pete's history of performance restricting drugs, his post-rehab bloatedness, and his jaunty hat, which will have to be held on with an elastic strap if he is to continue to look like a handsome East end libertine/bohemian counter cultural icon/twat* (*delete as appropriate). However, we welcome his decision to take up exercise. We're sure that he's......

The legendary girls from St Trinians had their premiere last night in Leicester Square. St Trinian's is the 2007 film of the 1950s film series is getting certain bits of the press excited, with a cast that features Rupert Everett in drag, Russell Brand twatting about with no noticeable change of costume or persona, Colin Firth striding about being humourless and lots of attractive women playing schoolgirls. Celia Imrie and Anna Chancellor both have......

Londonist was rapped on the nose the other week for cocking a snooty snook at the unending, Tube-clogging newspaper coverage of the travails of Ms. Winehouse, while - yes - covering the story ourselves. Cowed and humbled, we bring you the latest from Chez Amy without any further editorial pawmarks. With her hubby incarcerated and her private life a whorl of drug-taking and rumours of ill health, Amy has wisely decided a change of......

It may be 40 years since the Abortion Act legalised terminations but a BBC Radio 5 Live investigation suggests that modern day "back street abortions" are easily found in London. Thankfully, we're not talking struck off doctors and knitting needles but Chinese herbal remedies from shops in Dalston and illegally obtained abortion drugs: an undercover investigator was able to get their hands on 14 abortion pills for £30 from an entirely unqualified bloke in......

It's definitely time to start scrimping on things so you've plenty of dosh for those Christmas outings and present buying blitzes. London on the Cheap returns after a hiatus (we were temporarily flush, we made the most of it...) to help you get the most of the city on the scrag ends in your pocket. Monday: Get in the right frame of mind for Christmas shopping. Fortnum and Mason has just emerged from its......

Whilst the Sex Pistols and The Verve were hawking their wares for the proper reviewers, Londonist was hightailing it down to the Empire for an early start. Since The Broken Family Band cashed in the cool Cambridge climes for our dirty old town, we can now legitimately claim them as our favourite London band (no doubt to howls of protest from the other Londonist writers and possibly the guys themselves). TBFB (for all you......

What a surprise - the Christmas season has been switched on already. You don't say - the four richest football club owners in Britain live in London. Well we never - TfL are to take over from Metronet. Goodness gracious: taking drugs can make you forgetful Festive picture courtesy of it's a good day's flickr photo stream. Fa la la la la la la la.......

Go through Stratford Station one evening between now and Saturday 10 November, look up above the ticket barriers and you'll see rows of faces scanning the crowds, each face topped with a pair of headphones. This is the audience for Small Metal Objects by Back To Back Theatre, a site specific performance in the Barbican's Ozmosis festival of contemporary Australian performance. You can see them but they can't see the actors. You can't hear......

At Londonist we are often chuffed when Londoners 'do quite well'. At least initially. Like most Brits, we love The Underdog - right up until that moment when they become A Loser. Then we slag them off vitriolically, sit arms-crossed in a huff on our collective sofa, mumble that we "never liked them anyway" and promptly forget all about them when the next Underdog comes along. What's cockney for 'schadenfreude' anyway? When Shirley MacLaine......

Looks like HRH is having a bit of a Blair old time right now (either Blair will do). There's that pesky enquiry and now this latest plot to blackmail a minor member of the royal family over some man on man nightclub naughtiness, although thank goodness for the police who've now arrested two men. We* here at Londonist are deeply disappointed at the sad, sorry state of the proceedings. Firstly, it's a minor royal.......

Doherty not taking drugs shocker. Winehouse beehive inversely proportional to levity of mood. Serious blaze closes Leicester Square. Banksy works reach almost half a million pounds at auction. He can't compete with Allah, a copy of whose Koran fetched $2.3 million at auction. Image courtesy of Andy Wilkes via the Londonist flickr group.......

Brian Paddick of the “softly softly” approach towards cannabis will not be happy. A “zero tolerance” crackdown on its users has just been decided by police and lawyers, who believe tough action to be the only solution. The policy shift will first take the form of a three-month operation in the crime-ridden Latchmere area of Battersea. Those openly dealing the drug will no longer be given merely a warning, rather will be arrested and then......

Ex Mouldy Peaches man, Adam Green, is defending his use of some particularly bad language in a church by claiming his Jewishness lets him off any divine retribution. He's casually sprawled in his chair, guitar balanced somewhat precariously on his lap; a sort of indie cool cross between Val Doonican and Michael Nesmith, with the faithful gathered round for a fireside sing-along. This is the last night of his European solo tour and our......

Autumn is tussling with the tail end of summer. It's nearly time to start closing the curtains early, sticking the central heating on timer and making soups and stews. Bed socks on! Here’s your London related home based media entertainment for the week. On TV, Londonist likes: Monday, 24 September Withnail and I (C4, 01.30-03.25) Drink, drugs, debauchery and dirt in Camden Town. Need we say more. (Actually, just to confirm, that's 01.30 on......

Just in case you haven't yet turned on the tv, a radio, glanced at a newspaper and this is the first internet page you've opened since yesterday, it's true. The might Led Zeppelin are reforming for a one off benefit show in aid of Ahmet Ertegun, the founder of Atlantic records who signed them way back at a time when dinosaurs really did rule the earth and died last year. Tickets to the November......

The Proms are a marvellous institution. Remarkably diverse musically, accessible, world class and - crucially - cheap as chips, they are the soundtrack to summer in London and we are privileged to have them on our doorstep. It was with an eager step that we hied ourselves to the Royal Albert Hall on Sunday afternoon for the sold-out 48th Prom, despite the glowering sky and hint of rain in the air. Arriving at around......

The very same weekend that we profile the strangeness of London’s enigmatic Spring Heeled Jack, news reaches us of supernaturally swift ambush attacks in Chingford Mount Cemetery. Nicknamed the “Gazelle” in recognition of his nifty getaway sprint, we can’t help drawing some parallels between our mysterious Jack, famous for leaping out at ladies, eyes aglow, ripping their clothes and legging it, with this here Gazelle, springing on unattended cars and nicking stuff whilst the......

If you have ever felt that you were caught in a David Lynch film, you will know what we mean. (For the record: Londonist loves David Lynch.) Everything seems to alternate between slow motion and fast forward, but you know that can’t be right. Different people tell you different stories and they don’t make sense even though you know they should. That’s what it feels like for the main character in Bicycle, and that’s......

This weekend column is brought to you by the founders of Niceties Tokens, Liz and Pete of Team Nice. 10. Integrity So about Jacqui Smith and the… erm… ‘crazy drug fuelled youth of half the cabinet’. Don’t you just cringe when politicians are backed in to a corner and have to squirm? Then they go back, have a meeting with the rest of the cabinet to orchestrate their best response. So it would seem......

Try as he might, Pete Doherty just can't stay out of the headlines. Last time we wrote about him, he was getting his wrist slapped by the police for being a naughty boy. Now, it's long suffering girlfriend (or fiance? who can keep up?) Kate who's giving him the grilling. The news comes just after pretty pants designer Agent Provacateur left Ms Moss on the shelf for their next campaign (yes, even after that......

Seattlest has a talk with the photographer from last week's "Segway Mom" and then experiences some dissension in the ranks over the question of wine vs. beer. It's not West Side Story, but about as close as they'll get. They're also still waiting on some inbox relief after a spammer is arrested. As Chicagoist counts down the days to its third anniversary party, they found all-organic pizza to be underwhelming amidst the hoopla, tried......