“It’s possible the cartels might be more upset about this new technology than law enforcement.” The New Yorker’s Jill Lepore on the discovery (and ramifications) of a single yeast cell that enables you to cook up morphine from scratch.

+ “One man ran naked through a Florida neighborhood, tried to have sex with a tree and told police he was the mythical god Thor. Another ran nude down a busy city street in broad daylight, convinced a pack of German shepherds was pursuing him.” (As you’ve probably guessed by now, both men were in Florida.) AP on the weird reactions to a synthetic drug known as Flakka.

+ Pacific Standard’s Maia Szalavitz on the drug courts that embolden judges to practice medicine without a license.