Coloradoans may yet wake up and realize that their vote to legalize the recreational use of marijuana was a big mistake. And President Obama should retract his stupid statement that pot is less harmful than alcohol.
COLORADO DEATHS STOKE WORRIES ABOUT POT EDIBLES
Associated Press
April 18, 2014
A college student eats more than the recommended dose of a marijuana-laced cookie and jumps to his death from a hotel balcony. A husband with no history of violence is accused of shooting his wife in the head, possibly after eating pot-infused candy.
The two recent deaths have stoked concerns about Colorado's recreational marijuana industry and the effects of the drug, especially since cookies, candy and other pot edibles can be exponentially more potent than a joint.
"We're seeing hallucinations, they become sick to their stomachs, they throw up, they become dizzy and very anxious," said Al Bronstein, medical director of the Rocky Mountain Poison and Drug Center.
Studies are mixed about whether there is any link between marijuana and violence. Still, pot legalization opponents said the deaths are a sign of future dangers.
Twenty-six people have reported poisonings from marijuana edibles this year, when the center started tracking such exposures. Six were children who swallowed innocent-looking edibles, most of which were in plain sight.
Five of those kids were sent to emergency rooms, and two to hospitals for intensive care, Bronstein said. Children were nauseous and sleepy, and doctors worried about their respiratory systems shutting down.
Supporters of the pot law and some experts counter that alcohol causes far more problems among users, and the issues with pot can be largely addressed through better regulations.
The deaths occurred as Colorado lawmakers are scrambling to create safety regulations for the largely unmonitored marijuana snacks. On Thursday, the Legislature advanced a package of bills that would lower the amount of THC that could be permitted in a serving of food and require more extensive warning labels.
"It really is time for regulators, and the industry, to look at how do we move forward more responsibly with edible products," said Brian Vicente, who helped lead the state's legalization campaign.
An autopsy report listed marijuana intoxication as a significant contributing factor in the death of 19-year-old Levy Thamba Pongi.
Authorities said Pongi, who traveled from Wyoming to Denver with friends to try marijuana, ate six times more than the amount recommended by a seller. In the moments before his death, he spoke erratically and threw things around his hotel room.
Toxicologists later found that the cookie Pongi ate contained as much THC — marijuana's intoxicating chemical — as six high-quality joints.
Less is known about Richard Kirk, 47, who was charged in Denver with shooting his 44-year-old wife to death while she was on the phone with a 911 dispatcher. Police said his wife reported that her husband had consumed marijuana-laced candy, but no information has been released about potency.
The public defender's office has declined comment on the allegations against Kirk.
"Sadly, we're going to start to understand over time all of the damage and all of the problems associated with marijuana," said Thornton police Sgt. Jim Gerhardt, speaking in his capacity as a board member of the Colorado Drug Investigators Association. "It's going to dispel the myth that there's no downside, that there's no side effect, to this drug. It's sad that people are going to have to be convinced with the blood of Coloradans."
State lawmakers last year required edible pot to be sold in "serving sizes" of 10 milligrams of THC. Lawmakers also charged marijuana regulators with setting potency-testing guidelines to ensure consumers know how much pot they're eating. The guidelines are slated to be unveiled next month.
For now, the industry is trying to educate consumers about the strength of pot-infused foods and warning them to wait up to an hour to feel any effects before eating more. Still, complaints from visitors and first-time users have been rampant.
"One of the problems is people become very impatient," Bronstein said. "They eat a brownie or a chocolate chip cookie and they get no effect, so then they stack the doses, and all the sudden, they get an extreme effect that they weren't expecting."
Last year, the poison center run by Bronstein received 126 calls concerning adverse reactions to marijuana. So far this year — after pot sales became legal on Jan. 1 — the center has gotten 65 calls. Bronstein attributed the spike to the higher concentrations of THC in marijuana that has become available.
Although millions of Americans have used pot without becoming violent, Bronstein said such behavior is possible depending on the type of hallucinations a user experiences. Toxicologists say genetic makeup, health issues and other factors also can make a difference.
"With these products, everybody is inexperienced," Bronstein said. "It's the first time people have been able to buy it in a store. People need to be respectful of these products."
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DENVER POLICE INVESTIGATE IF POT CANDY INFLUENCED WIFE’S KILLING
A Denver man accused of killing his wife while she was on the phone with a 911 dispatcher ate marijuana-infused candy before the attack
By Sadie Gurman
Associated Press
April 18, 2014
DENVER — A Denver man accused of killing his wife while she was on the phone with a 911 dispatcher ate marijuana-infused candy before the attack, according to search warrants released Thursday.
Denver police are investigating if the pot influenced his behavior and also whether officers responded quickly enough to pleas for help from the woman, who was shot to death 12 minutes into the 911 call she made Monday.
Officials said Thursday that a dispatcher has been placed on paid leave during the investigation.
Kristine Kirk, 44, told dispatchers her husband bought and ate the marijuana candy and may have also taken prescription pain pills before he started hallucinating and frightening the couple's three children, the warrants state.
She pleaded with dispatchers to hurry and send officers because her husband, Richard Kirk, 47, had asked her to get a gun and shoot him. She said he was talking about the end of the world and she was "scared of what he might do."
Richard Kirk could be heard in the background of the 911 call talking about the candy he legally bought from one of Denver's pot dispensaries earlier that night, and surveillance footage from the shop captured the transaction, police said.
Detectives found a receipt for items such as "Karma Kandy Orange Ginger."
A detective who interviewed Richard Kirk after the killing noted that he appeared to be on drugs, based on his speech and inability to focus, according to the warrants. Police said he was rambling and confessed to killing his wife.
Investigators were analyzing blood samples to see whether he was under the influence of any other substances.
Richard Kirk does not remember anything of the incident, his brother, Lance Kirk, told KUSA-TV Thursday.
"He's hurting. He's hurting real bad," Lance Kirk said.
Authorities have said Richard Kirk shot his wife in the head about 12 minutes into her call with 911, after she frantically told dispatchers her husband was getting a gun from a safe.
Police Chief Robert White held a news conference Thursday but refused to provide details about the shooting or the internal investigation, nor would he say whether he thought officers took too long to respond.
"This is an ongoing investigation, and I just cannot get into anything that would remotely compromise it," he said. "Obviously something went wrong because somebody lost their life."
Officials have not released the 911 call or dispatch records publicly, but the search warrants offer new glimpses into Kristine Kirk's panicked final moments. Dispatchers could hear her telling her husband to stay down and yelling for her three young boys to go upstairs.
"At one point she tells the 911 operator to 'please hurry' because he was scaring the kids and he was 'totally hallucinating,'" the documents say.
Moments later, Kristine Kirk sounded "panicked" as she told dispatchers her husband was retrieving a gun from a safe.
"She next related that he had the gun and she did not know where to go," the warrants say. Within a few seconds, dispatchers could hear her screaming. There was a single gunshot before the line went quiet.
Officers arrived just after the shooting and found her dead of a gunshot wound to the head.
The Denver Police Department has struggled with slowing response times in recent months as the number of officers has decreased due to retirements, departures and budget cuts that kept the department from hiring for five years.
Disagreement exists about the reasons for the delays. The police union has said White's staffing changes and sweeping reorganization of the department have worsened the problem. White denied that claim Thursday and said he expects response times to improve as newly hired officers hit the streets.
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