Man busted for pot dies in Washington State county jail

[Newsjock]

Source: Associated Press

EVERETT, Wash. (AP) — A 22-year-old man with severe food allergies died in the Snohomish County jail after a pot bust, and now his mother says she wants to know why.

Michael Saffioti died a day after turning himself in to face a misdemeanor marijuana charge on July 2, The Herald newspaper of Everett and KIRO-TV of Seattle reported. The Snohomish County medical examiner's office determined last week that he died from bronchial asthma brought on by his milk allergy.

Based on the accounts of two inmates, Saffioti's mother, Rose Saffioti, believes the attack may have been brought on by what he had for breakfast July 3.

... It's one of six deaths to occur in the jail since 2010. It's one of at least two that appear headed toward wrongful death claims against the county. Rose Saffioti, who is a nurse, has hired Seattle attorney Anne Bremner to pursue the case.

Read more: http://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Man-busted-for-pot-dies-in-Snohomish-Co-jail-3947610.php

[MannyGoldstein]

1. Thank God he's off the streets

Rough justice - but justice served.

Can never be to careful with those marijuana "tokers".

[Fumesucker]

5. Third Way, you have a way with words.

Expressed my feelings exactly.

Clear evidence that marijuana is extremely dangerous.

[Major Nikon]

7. Especially the cancer grannies

I always did think they were up to something.

[99th_Monkey]

2. Hope that at least gives the Legalize Pot Initiative a boost

which is on the ballot in Washington state.

That was he didn't totally die for nothing, because he WOULD BE ALIVE NOW
if pot were already legal.

So sad for the family having to deal with this tragic miscarriage of justice.

[DemKittyNC]

3. This is so sad

and unnecessary! For pot? Gee's... We seriously need to re-evaluate the laws governing Marijuana possession, jail time should not be an option as punishment for this.

[lalalu]

4. I'm confused.

Why would he drink milk if he was allergic? Did someone force him to drink it? I don't blame his mother. They would have to give me answers.

Dead over a joint and he even did the right thing and turned himself in. I feel for his family.

[Recursion]

6. Tough to say. Given enough people...

...you'll have deaths from just about any source. Take the Federal system: there are something like 200K people there for marijuana crimes of some form or another. Now, you can't apply national mortality rates because they're younger, less white, poorer, and more-in-jail than the rest of the population (so, fewer cancers, fewer autoimmune complications, essentially 0 car wrecks, etcc.), but you "should" see one or two deaths by anything with a per-100K mortality rate greater than 1 each year in that population. Would he still be alive had he not turned himself in? Possibly, possibly not (and I hope the lawsuit gets to the bottom of it); this may be a case where our needlessly large prison population is being highlighted by very uncommon types of deaths that are taking place inside of it rather than outside of it.

[Major Nikon]

8. He didn't have to drink milk

The article said his allergies were quite severe which leads me to believe that even a trace of milk or some sort of milk product could have caused him problems. Milk powder is used in lots of different things.

[lalalu]

12. That's true.

[countryjake]

11. He didn't drink any milk, it was the oatmeal for breakfast...

which is the latest revelation on this sad case. Earlier last week, our local news claimed it was a pancake that he was forced to eat, but tonight they are finally saying that it was probably milk powder that had been added to the oatmeal (which he tried to refuse, but was told that he had to eat it). This is a tragedy that should never have happened.


Michael Saffioti



Inmate with dairy allergy dies after eating oatmeal
By Molly Shen ~ Published: Oct 15, 2012

http://www.komonews.com/news/local/Inmate-michael-saffioti-with-dairy-allergy-dies-after-eating-oatmeal-174289031.html

Michael Saffioti knew dairy could kill him. He grew up reading labels and carrying medication, and still suffered severe reactions whenever he was merely near dairy protein. The stress made him anxious to the point of needing medication.

"Ultimately, he found and thought he was better functioning using marijuana," said his mother.

Michael did not have a medical marijuana prescription, and his use put him in and out of the legal system. In the most recent incident, he and his mother went to police, armed with his medical history after he had missed a court date.

"I wanted Michael held accountable for his legal issues and I insisted on it. But I didn't want him to die," said Rose.

After eating oatmeal in jail, Michael couldn't breathe. Other inmates say Michael begged for help and was accused of faking it. The autopsy found his severe reaction to milk products contributed to his death.

New allegations after inmate with severe allergies dies in jail
http://www.kirotv.com/news/news/new-allegations-after-inmate-severe-allergies-dies/nSbJk/

Thursday, Oct. 11, 2012 EVERETT, Wash. — New allegations are being made over how Snohomish County Jail guards treated an inmate with known serious medical issues in the hours before his death.

Anne Bremner, the attorney representing 22-year-old Michael Saffioti's mother, told KIRO 7 Eyewitness News reporter Amy Clancy that despite knowing about Michael Saffioti's extreme allergies and asthma, a medical professional at booking did not put him in a medical unit.

The 22-year-old, who had a warrant for his arrest after missing a court date for a minor marijuana possession charge, turned himself in to authorities in Lynnwood on July 2.

The man’s mother, Rose Saffioti, said she arranged through a friend in law enforcement to have her son transferred to the Snohomish County Jail because it has a medical unit.

After being placed in the Snohomish County Jail’s general population instead of the medical unit, Michael Saffioti died on July 3.

[lalalu]

13. Thank You for the info

This is so sad.

[B Calm]

9. What the hell is wrong with this country?

Just legalize it!

[Trillo]

10. If you have dairy allergy, it's rather difficult to avoid in processed foods.

casein derivatives are used in a lot of the manufactured foods, and manufacturers like to keep using new and fancy names that are different from the past decades identified baddies. It's even hard to find non-dairy-enhanced bread. Public health officials, doctors, nutritions have apparently determined that the nutritional benefits milk does for those not allergic, outweighs the harm it does to those who are allergic.

Going to jail shouldn't be a death sentence, unless you're sentenced to death. Allergies are on the rise decade over decade, so something is changing in the environment/dna.

Nature strikes back! I'm reminded of the scene in the movie Water World, where the guy in the ship's fuel tank says, "Oh thank God" as he watches a flare fall into it.

Hope the family can find some peace.

[Tsiyu]

14. My condolences to his heartbroken mother

Another Fatality in the War on a Plant.

More proof that the only thing dangerous about cannabis is the law against it.

I ask this every day: What kind of society just DESTROYS its young to make a few bucks for private prisons, law enforcement, the beer lobby and Big Pharma?

Ah, yes. Precious profits trump life. I forgot.....some land of the free, indeed.....

[marions ghost]

15. so tragic

I am glad the mother is prosecuting. I hope this will help the legalization effort. But it also sheds light on what goes on in prisons. Should someone be forced to eat food they refuse?

This is what you get with Gitmo mentality.

[Trillo]

16. Gonna be hard for that lawyer, if the report above is true

that the mother chose police over family. It really is that simple.

[marions ghost]

17. Not that simple IMO

If he was forced to eat against his will, I think there should be a case.

Why should it be assumed that police can do whatever they want? And therefore the mother was wrong?

[former9thward]

18. How could he be forced to eat?

Did they strap him down and shove the food down his throat? Did they put a gun to his head and force him to eat? Jail guards don't give a damn if someone does not eat a meal. They only time jail officials get involved is when someone is on an announced starvation protest and they are getting dangerously unhealthy. That takes a long time and was not the case here.

[marions ghost]

19. we dont know what the case was

Do we?

He could have been lied to and intimidated enough to take a bite, since he was told it was OK. The motivation doesn't have to be making him eat. It could just be intimidation.

Lots of room for speculation. We don't know anything.

[Trillo]

20. Glucocorticoids and fear....

I'm not sure it would be required to be "against his will" since he was allergic, and the alleged photo of him shows him as thin or a healthy weight, he undoubtedly was under tight dietary control. He may very well have learned over many years that he needed to eat frequent, small meals, multiple times throughout the day. But it's not a simple rationale to go from that to the jailers intentionally poisoned his food specifically so he would die. It's more like a generalized negligence of a duty to keep him alive.

What bothers me most is the way he died, I presume with elevated glucocorticoids. While he was having trouble breathing, and in distress, he was likely more fearful because of that adrenal-gland produced substance. Cruel and unusual punishment seems very much the reality, as not only did he die, but the manner in which he died enhanced his own fear, and thus the cruelty of it all was likely burning in his mind. Death very much may have been a welcome release at that point.

This would seem rather different from someone else who may have died in jail but didn't have the allergic reaction complicating the body chemistry.

There have been no further news items about this. I keep checking. I do feel sympathy for him, as being allergic to dairy myself, I guess I know a little more about such an allergy. But I'm not an attorney.

Given the PsyOps we've been given about milk being healthy enough to include in so many foods for its nutritional benefits, it's probably a bit hard for the general public to wrap their mind around the idea that Dairy=Heroin OD=Death.