Three months after Colorado opened marijuana stores, Richard Kirk shot and killed his wife while she was on the phone with 911. On November 12, Lori Gliha, an investigative journalist from the news magazine program Insight with John Ferruggia interviewed him on Rocky Mountain PBS. Most viewers who watched the jailhouse interview agree that he wouldn’t have killed his wife had he not eaten the marijuana edible.
When marijuana cookies and candies began to sell in Oregon’s recreational marijuana market on June 2, the THC level for edibles could be no more than 15 milligrams per serving. (THC is tetrahydrocannabinol, the psychoactive element in marijuana. )
Most pot products currently sold in Colorado and Washington exceed 20 percent THC. Marijuana cookies and candies in Colorado and Washington can have as much as 10 servings, increasing the chance of psychotic reactions. (Photo above is by Krystyna Wentz-Graff/Oregonian)
While Oregon’s THC limits on edibles are lower than elsewhere, Oregon’s THC limits on marijuana extracts seem rather high. According to rules set up by the state, buyers are allowed one container of up to 1000 milligrams of THC extract. Extracts are concentrates processed from marijuana and used to make edibles. The extracts also can be smoked or vaporized. Let’s hope novices won’t be buying the extracts. The public and children must be protected! Lotions and topical ointments may now have 6% THC.
Allowing Veterans Marijuana for PTSD Ignores all Science
An amendment which will require Veterans’ Administration psychiatrists to allow medical marijuana for veterans with PTSD passed the House of Representatives on May 19. If this law had been in place on February 2, 2013, when Eddie Routh killed Chad Littlefield and Chris Kyle, their families could have sued the VA.
The defendant in the “American Sniper” murder trial, Eddie Routh, was found guilty of murder even though he plead not guilty by reason of insanity. Prosecutors argued his deadly behavior was brought on not by schizophrenia, but weed. They called it “marijuana psychosis.” He was a veteran, but certainly not the first veteran to go into a raging psychosis after using marijuana. One of Parents Opposed to Pot’s followers begged us for help to save her son.
Congress is choosing to act against the scientific literature, most recently the study from Yale which covered more than 2,000 veterans between 1992 and 2011. For the veterans who used marijuana, there was a worsening of PTSD symptoms and increased violence. Congress is following a course that risks making people who are already fragile more depressed and anxious, and possibly violent.
Other Marijuana – Related Lawsuits
Lawsuits involving medical and recreational marijuana are mounting. The family of Kristine Kirk, who was shot by her husband during his cannabis-induced psychosis, are filed a wrongful death lawsuit on behalf of the three Kirk children. A recreational marijuana manufacturer and store that sold a weed-laced candy to Richard Kirk are named in the suit. Kirk is awaiting trial on charges he shot his wife to death after consuming the treat. The lawsuit, according to the Denver Post, claims the manufacturer and store failed to properly warn Kirk of the candy’s potency and possible side effects, including hallucinations and psychotic episodes.
The family of Kate Steinle, killed by Francesco Sanchez, whom San Francisco refused to prosecute for his marijuana crimes, is now suing the city of San Francisco. Sanchez, under the influence of marijuana, was delusional and terrified because he thought he saw a sea lion. (Some people see this as an immigration issue, but Parents Opposed to Pot notices that if he served time for his marijuana crimes, he would not have been on the street.)
First the American Press and now Congress is ignoring the scientific literature that shows marijuana is related to psychosis and violence.
Information on the marijuana and psychosis risk was presented at the National Press Office more than 11 years ago. A video meant to be a Public Service Announcement for parents and their children was ignored by the American Press. The media coverup has continued.
Lives could have been saved, and so many cases of mental illness and psychotic breakdowns and crimes could have been prevented – if the American Press had decided to report to the public. In fact the scientific evidence on each of the following is voluminous: marijuana & psychosis, marijuana & violence and marijuana & psychiatric disorders.
There are echoes of Levy Thamba’s death in the story of a 16-year-old student in Seattle who jumped to his death after trying marijuana for the first time. The Seattle Police Department ruled that the death of Hamza Warsame was an accident. He had gone to the 6th floor apartment of an older classmate to work on a project. After having marijuana, he became “frantic,” went out on the balcony and fell off the building.
Each of these deaths occurred after marijuana was legalized with commercial marijuana sales in Washington or Colorado. Warsame was not old enough to legally purchase marijuana, but his classmate was 21 and had purchased it legally. Last year CBS News Denver did a report on marijuana intoxication deaths which occurred before marijuana became legal in Colorado.
The Seattle Police Department report has details of their investigation, which came to the same conclusion as the King County Medical Examiner’s Office did in January. The toxicology screen found “relatively high levels” of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive element of marijuana, in Warsame’s system. In Washington, smoked forms of marijuana average more than 20% THC.
A native of Somalia, Warsame was an advanced high school student who was taking a college class at Seattle Central College. Levy Thamba was an exchange student from the Republic of Congo going to college in Wyoming. In 2014, he jumped four stories after eating a marijuana cookie for the first time. He was only 19, under the legal age for purchasing marijuana.
In the case of Warsame and Thamba, the reactions to marijuana were quick. Bondi fell 150 feet to his death last year, and had used other drugs in addition to marijuana. Goodman committed suicide a few days after ingesting marijuana edibles.
Wrongful Death Suit Against Marijuana Businesses
The parents and sister of Kristine Kirk (above photo, right) — whose husband shot her after eating marijuana candy — recently filed a wrongful death lawsuit on behalf of the the Kirk’s three children. Kirk’s husband, Richard Kirk, killed his wife on April 14, 2014, after becoming psychotic from marijuana candy.
The lawsuit claims that the company that made the marijuana edible and the store that sold the candy to Richard Kirk recklessly and purposefully failed to warn him about the bite-sized candy’s potency and side effects — including hallucinations and other psychotic behaviors. Kristine Kirk had called 911 for help, but it was too late.
(The pictures of Levy Thamba and Kristine Kirk are from CBS News.)
