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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWhy Blame Marijuana For Sandra Bland's Death?
In 2013 tests by TV stations in Denver and Seattle found that experienced cannabis consumers could perform satisfactorily on simulators and driving courses at THC levels as high as 47 nanograms per milliliter. Columbia University neuropsychopharmacologist Carl Hart, based on his studies of regular users, says Blands levels were well below the THC levels that I have found necessary, in my experimental research on dozens of subjects, to induce intoxication: between 40 and 400 nanograms per milliliter. In fact, says Hart, the THC level that Goldberger equates with impairment is comparable to baseline (or sober) levels of about 10-20 nanograms per milliliter of many of my research participants.
We dont know enough about Blands pattern of cannabis consumption to say whether she qualified as a regular user. Furthermore, its not clear whether even a regular user would test as high as she did after three days of abstinence, which has led to speculation that she consumed cannabis behind bars. Waller County Sheriff R. Glenn Smith said a thorough inspection of her cell, including the plumbing, found no evidence of that.
Even if Bland managed to get high in jail without leaving a trace, the relevance of that detail is not obvious, since suicide is not a commonly observed side effect of cannabis consumption. As Hart notes, the main effects of the drug are contentment, relaxation, sedation, euphoria and increased pulse and hunger.
*Since we are talking about a black woman who was arrested by a white cop for being uppity, the invocation of marijuana as an explanation brings to mind the long history of drug-fortified Negroes as figures of fear. Waller County officials might be mad for marijuana, but there is no evidence indicating reefer madness had its grip on Sandra Bland, Hart writes. Its high time Americans called out racists when they employ the drug-crazed black person myth. I think that charge goes too far, since local officials may simply be desperate for any explanation of Blands arrest and death that does not implicate them. But if so, they will have to do better than marijuana made her do it.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jacobsullum/2015/07/30/why-blame-marijuana-for-sandra-blands-death/
Warpy
(111,367 posts)at the very least. They're grasping at straws, the whole uncaring bunch of them.
Half-Century Man
(5,279 posts)How does a second toxicology match up?
Are there organic traces of Marijuana in her digestive tract? her large intestine?
She only was there three days, is that enough time to completely absorb all traces from a human digestive tract? What were her meals and when did she get them?
What about a hair sample?
Uncle Joe
(58,451 posts)spends far more megabucks on television than whatever cannabis supporters spend.
http://www.drugs.com/sfx/keppra-side-effects.html
More common
Aggressive or angry
anxiety
change in personality
chills
cough or hoarseness
crying
depersonalization
diarrhea
dry mouth
euphoria
fever
general feeling of discomfort or illness
headache
hyperventilation
irregular heartbeats
irritability
joint pain
loss of appetite
lower back or side pain
mental depression
muscle aches and pains
nausea
painful or difficult urination
paranoia
quick to react or overreact emotionally
rapidly changing moods
restlessness
shaking
shivering
shortness of breath
sleepiness or unusual drowsiness
sore throat
stuffy or runny nose
sweating
trouble sleeping
unusual tiredness or weakness
vomiting
Less common
Bloody nose
burning, crawling, itching, numbness, prickling, "pins and needles", or tingling feelings
clumsiness or unsteadiness
discouragement
dizziness or lightheadedness
double vision
earache
feeling of constant movement of self or surroundings
feeling sad or empty
increase in body movements
loss of bladder control
loss of memory
mood or mental changes
outburst of anger
pain or tenderness around the eyes and cheekbones
problems with memory
redness or swelling in the ear
seizures
sensation of spinning
shakiness and unsteady walk
shakiness in the legs, arms, hands, or feet
tightness of the chest
tiredness
trembling or shaking of the hands or feet
trouble concentrating
unsteadiness, trembling, or other problems with muscle control or coordination
Incidence not known
Attempts at killing oneself
being forgetful
bleeding gums
blistering, peeling, or loosening of the skin
bloating
blood in the urine or stools
bloody, black, or tarry stools
blurred vision
changes in vision
chest pain
constipation
dark urine
difficulty with moving
fast heartbeat
general feeling of tiredness or weakness
high fever
increase in body movements
indigestion
itching
light-colored stools
muscle pains or stiffness
painful or difficult urination
pains in the stomach, side, or abdomen, possibly radiating to the back
pale skin
pinpoint red spots on the skin
red skin lesions, often with a purple center
red, irritated eyes
sores, ulcers, or white spots on the lips or in the mouth
stomach pain, continuing
swollen glands
swollen joints
thoughts or attempts at killing oneself
trouble with balance
twitching, twisting, or uncontrolled repetitive movements of the tongue, lips, face, arms, or legs
uncontrolled jerking or twisting movements of the hands, arms, or legs
uncontrolled movements of the lips, tongue, or cheeks
unexplained bleeding or bruising
unusual bleeding or bruising
upper right abdominal or stomach pain
weight loss
yellow eyes or skin
The only side effect that I couldn't find on this list was, chance of penis falling off.
Thanks for the thread, damnedifIknow.
msongs
(67,459 posts)Igel
(35,362 posts)Mostly people are questioning motive and intend of those who ran the tests and released the coroner's report. (Everybody wanted it released and suspected malfeasance in not releasing it sooner, but as soon as it was released they questioned why they'd released it, it must be defamation. Catch-22.)
I assume she didn't get it inside a secured police facility. If she had it in her car it would have quickly vanished. While providing a further excuse for her being irritable. If she had used soon before getting in the car, she would have been anxious about being tested. She already had one misdemeanor conviction for pot possession/use in Waller County. I don't know what a second conviction would have done.
And even if she hadn't used it soon before getting in the car, reaction times and judgment are impaired for 24 hour or more after consumption.
Note that even in the OP the tv-sponsored not-entirely-scientific test showed that experienced users could perform adequatedly. That's narrowly reporting what the test showed. Experienced users could but often failed to perform adequately--their failure often included difficulty in staying in a lane, inappropriate judgments, and driving too slow (with slow driving being a cause of other people's accidents as they try to get around the snails). Note that the word "could" entails, has as a logical necessity, the rest of that; however, it was also explicitly reported at the time and in later press reports on that study. Many read "could" as "usually or always does". Inexperienced users have more problems.
As for Hart, he's deep into race-baiting. Roman Jakobson famously said that one's personal history shouldn't drive one's research. In Hart's case, it's his prime mover.
Note that research is often corrupt. The more researchers are emotionally or financially attached to the social outcomes of their research, the more corrupt. So social science research is awfully flaw-ridden. Medical research has problems. Quantum chemistry? Not so much. We "get it" when a researcher may make $150k more by doctoring some research for a company--but we act like the motivation to help 100,000 minority kids or one's ethnic group by showing how we need to restructure society is nothing. Both lead us to ad hominem arguments, sadly.