Burt Likko points us to the horrifying story of a new synthetic drug in Russia known as Krokodil.

FORBES: Krokodil and the Terrible Cost of the War on Drugs

The bigger fear is that synthetic biology could be the end of us all.

FORBES: Architect of Life

He's hoping that Pistorius' high-profile competitions will help move us toward an evolution in social consciousness: accepting the validity and equality of synthetic body parts just as we do different races and genders.

CNN: Why Oscar Pistorius deserves to run

Fortunately for us, pharmaceutical companies are about to bring to market a whole new range of "synthetic" antibiotics that will be as effective as the traditional kinds once were.

FORBES: Fact and Comment

Another reason for the drop in cultivation may also be due to the fact that the US market - the world's biggest - is experiencing a rise in popularity of synthetic drugs over cocaine and heroin supplied by Colombia.

BBC: Colombia's coca crops drop