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Contaminated cannabis

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  • 30-05-2013 7:40am
    #1
    Sunnyisland
    Closed Accounts Posts: 10,562 ✭✭✭✭


    Two women are said to be in a life-threatening condition in hospital after consuming cannabis which may have been contaminated or mixed with another substance.
    Both are in their 20s and are in the intensive care unit of Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda, Co Louth.
    One of the women became ill on Monday night. It is understood that she has not regained consciousness since being admitted to hospital and is on a life support machine.
    The second woman became seriously ill in the early hours of yesterday morning.
    It is believed that the women had taken cannabis.
    The side effects they've suffered are not usually associated with this drug.
    Gardaí raided two houses in Co Louth, one of which is in Drogheda.
    An amount of cannabis is being tested to establish if it was contaminated.
    Garda Superintendent Gerry Smith of Drogheda Garda Station said: "We are concerned that other people who use cannabis may suffer the same effects." http://www.rte.ie/news/2013/0530/453502-two-in-intensive-care-over-contaminated-cannabis/


    As the story above goes ? Wondering how the cannabis could get contaminated ? unless it was home grown and sprayed with some sort of petacide ? First time I have heard of this sort of effect from smoking cannabis.Anyone have any idea,s what caused this ?


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    #2
    Eileen Down
    Closed Accounts Posts: 266 ✭✭Eileen Down


    Prohibition


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    #3
    Sunnyisland
    Closed Accounts Posts: 10,562 ✭✭✭✭Sunnyisland


    Eileen Down wrote: »
    Prohibition


    Yes it seems to have worked a treat with alcohol last time :rolleyes::rolleyes:


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    #4
    danniemcq
    Registered Users Posts: 14,163 ✭✭✭✭danniemcq


    Good job cannabis doesn't make you paranoid about stuff....


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    #5
    cherryghost
    Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 17,133 Mod ✭✭✭✭cherryghost


    This wouldn't happen if cannabis was legal and controlled.


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    #6
    Kettleson
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,047 ✭✭✭Kettleson


    cherryghost wrote: »
    This wouldn't happen if cannabis was legal and controlled.

    You're not serious?

    Did they eat it? Probably laced with rat poison or similar.


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    #7
    Pace2008
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,587 ✭✭✭Pace2008


    Kettleson wrote: »
    Probably laced with rat poison or similar.
    Why would you pick rat poison of all things?


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    #8
    Czarcasm
    Closed Accounts Posts: 10,076 ✭✭✭✭Czarcasm


    cherryghost wrote: »
    This wouldn't happen if cannabis was legal and controlled.


    Of course it would. This is the exact reason I always encourage anyone who takes drugs or who smokes/ingests cannabis to source their supply responsibly- "from farm to toke" as it were, to borrow a phrase from the food industry.

    Chances are as someone else pointed out earlier that it could've been sprayed with pesticides or mixed with any number of toxic substances, and then of course there's the most obvious explanation that the women are just lying about it only being cannabis they ingested.

    If you legalise and control it, that only drives the price up and creates an even bigger black market where it can be got from unknown sources much cheaper, the very same as is done with tobacco, alcohol, and prescription medication.


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    #9
    Cody Pomeray
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,648 ✭✭✭Cody Pomeray


    realies wrote: »
    consuming cannabis which may have been contaminated or mixed with another substance.


    Right, another substance. And yet I guarantee you sooner or later this case will be raised as evidence of cannabis being potentially lethal. RTE have already reported it as being directly linked to cannabis this morning, musing "side effects not normally associated with cannabis", neglecting to point out... the side effects don't come from the cannabis, but from the contamination. Ugh.

    It's like saying :two women have been taken to hospital after drinking water", while neglecting to mention "oh yeah, there was e-coli in the water"


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    #10
    Pace2008
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,587 ✭✭✭Pace2008


    Czarcasm wrote: »
    If you legalise and control it, that only drives the price up and creates an even bigger black market where it can be got from unknown sources much cheaper, the very same as is done with tobacco, alcohol, and prescription medication.
    Of course the black market's always going to exist, but it's a poor choice of words suggesting that it would be "even bigger." For all the products you've listed there the legal sales far exceed those on the black market.


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    #11
    elefant
    Registered Users Posts: 4,654 ✭✭✭elefant


    Czarcasm wrote: »
    Of course it would. This is the exact reason I always encourage anyone who takes drugs or who smokes/ingests cannabis to source their supply responsibly- "from farm to toke" as it were, to borrow a phrase from the food industry.

    Chances are as someone else pointed out earlier that it could've been sprayed with pesticides or mixed with any number of toxic substances, and then of course there's the most obvious explanation that the women are just lying about it only being cannabis they ingested.

    If you legalise and control it, that only drives the price up and creates an even bigger black market where it can be got from unknown sources much cheaper, the very same as is done with tobacco, alcohol, and prescription medication.

    Why would you take the risk of buying bad-quality, potentially dangerous cannabis on the black market when it can be safely and legally bought elsewhere?

    I've never heard of anyone in the Netherlands buying cannabis from outside of a coffeeshop, and coffeeshops are extremely meticulous in complying to legal regulations.


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    #12
    Squiggle
    Registered Users Posts: 1,253 ✭✭✭Squiggle


    Czarcasm wrote: »
    Of course it would. This is the exact reason I always encourage anyone who takes drugs or who smokes/ingests cannabis to source their supply responsibly

    A responsible, trustworthy drug dealer eh who has the users best interest at heart? :pac:


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    #13
    IK09
    Registered Users Posts: 1,056 ✭✭✭IK09


    Regulation, Regulation, Regulation.


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    #14
    aaronbyrne1991
    Registered Users Posts: 18 ✭aaronbyrne1991


    It was probably home grown and a revival dealer tried to destroy the crop by spraying it with something


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    #15
    Kettleson
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,047 ✭✭✭Kettleson


    Pace2008 wrote: »
    Why would you pick rat poison of all things?

    A lot of these drug dealers will use anything to bulk it up, whatevers hanging around basically. Chuck it in, bulk it up, cut it up, sell it.


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    #16
    Augmerson
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 6,162 ✭✭✭Augmerson


    realies wrote: »
    An amount of cannabis is being tested to establish if it was contaminated.

    Probably took another drug with it and that did the damage.


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    #17
    Duck's hoop
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,530 ✭✭✭Duck's hoop


    Czarcasm wrote: »
    If you legalise and control it, that only drives the price up and creates an even bigger black market where it can be got from unknown sources much cheaper, the very same as is done with tobacco, alcohol, and prescription medication.

    Massive black market for prescription drugs? Alcohol? Isn't everybody complaining alcohol is too cheap?

    And how is the average punter expected to get the details on the provenance of his/her weed? People growing pot tend to be quite secretive and will go to great lengths to ensure nobody knows who or where their product is produced. What with it being, you know, illegal and all?


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    #18
    GalwayKiefer
    Registered Users Posts: 1,005 ✭✭✭GalwayKiefer


    Kettleson wrote: »
    A lot of these drug dealers will use anything to bulk it up, whatevers hanging around basically. Chuck it in, bulk it up, cut it up, sell it.

    Dealers rely on repeat business, poisoning customers wouldn't be a good business move.


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    #19
    frozenfrozen
    Registered Users Posts: 7,882 ✭✭✭frozenfrozen


    You can bulk up hash or powders, but you can hardly bulk up marijuana? Cut your coke with rat poison, trim your cannabis with...?


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    #20
    godwin
    Registered Users Posts: 393 ✭✭godwin


    Czarcasm wrote: »

    If you legalise and control it, that only drives the price up and creates an even bigger black market where it can be got from unknown sources much cheaper, the very same as is done with tobacco, alcohol, and prescription medication.

    Nearly 50 years of regulated coffee shop in Holland prove you wrong.


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    #21
    Kettleson
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,047 ✭✭✭Kettleson


    GalwayKiefer wrote: »
    Dealers rely on repeat business, poisoning customers wouldn't be a good business move.

    It's common enough for users to die from contaminated drugs, it's more often heroin and cocaine as its easier cut with baking powder, talcum powder and whatever. I take your pont. But they are hardly subject to quality control.

    And if the girls have been made sick by cannabis alone, it must have been contaminated in some way and probably ingested.


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    #22
    hey19
    Registered Users Posts: 16 ✭hey19


    frozenfrozen wrote: »
    You can bulk up hash or powders, but you can hardly bulk up marijuana? Cut your coke with rat poison, trim your cannabis with...?
    I,ve seen ground up glass in grass


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    #23
    Czarcasm
    Closed Accounts Posts: 10,076 ✭✭✭✭Czarcasm


    Pace2008 wrote: »
    Of course the black market's always going to exist, but it's a poor choice of words suggesting that it would be "even bigger." For all the products you've listed there the legal sales far exceed those on the black market.


    Absolutely I agree with you, but I'll expand on it further down below.
    elefant wrote: »
    Why would you take the risk of buying bad-quality, potentially dangerous cannabis on the black market when it can be safely and legally bought elsewhere?


    For one simple reason- because it's cheaper. The same way alcohol, cigarettes and prescription medication is cheaper, as long as you don't want to know where it came from. The more you know about it, the better the quality, the dearer it costs to buy it. The more standards and processes a product has to meet or go through, the more is added to the cost of the product.

    I've never heard of anyone in the Netherlands buying cannabis from outside of a coffeeshop, and coffeeshops are extremely meticulous in complying to legal regulations.


    Just because you personally have never heard of it, doesn't mean it doesn't happen. That's the same as me saying "I've never heard of anyone buying drink for underage teenagers in an off-licence, and off-licences are extremely meticulous in complying with legal regulations". Just because you're not aware of it, doesn't mean it doesn't happen.

    There are a number of people that unfortunately are, well, they don't understand the meaning of "moderation", and it's these people that prohibit any hope of cannabis ever being legalised in this country. In the Netherlands it's been part and parcel of their culture for decades, and always when the comparison between cultures comes up, I ask- would you prefer to cycle round on bicycles too?

    Picking and choosing from different cultures to try and apply it to our own just doesn't work.


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    #24
    Orim
    Registered Users Posts: 4,971 ✭✭✭Orim


    Kettleson wrote: »
    A lot of these drug dealers will use anything to bulk it up, whatevers hanging around basically. Chuck it in, bulk it up, cut it up, sell it.

    What the fúck kind of cannabis have you been smoking?


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    #25
    Pace2008
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,587 ✭✭✭Pace2008


    Kettleson wrote: »
    A lot of these drug dealers will use anything to bulk it up, whatevers hanging around basically. Chuck it in, bulk it up, cut it up, sell it.
    If their goal if profit, why would they not bulk up the product with something that's cheaper? Something that they know will not cause immediate and severe negative health effects in their user base?

    I think you're basing your assumptions on the popular notion that cocaine is frequently cut with warfarin. This is an urban myth as far as I can see - I have never seen any solid evidence to verify the story. It is possible that it has happened before, but if it did it would very likely have been case of unintentional contamination rather than a sinister move by amoral dealers. Drug dealers are in it for the money and it makes no fiscal sense to use a potentially lethal chemical when there are other bulking agents out there, like flour, creatine or baking soda, that come at a fraction of the price and are not going to present an immediate health risk to the target market.


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    #26
    Kettleson
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,047 ✭✭✭Kettleson


    Pace2008 wrote: »
    If their goal if profit, why would they not bulk up the product with something that's cheaper? Something that they know will not cause immediate and severe negative health effects in their user base?

    I think you're basing your assumptions on the popular notion that cocaine is frequently cut with warfarin. This is an urban myth as far as I can see - I have never seen any solid evidence to verify the story. It is possible that it has happened before, but if it did it would very likely have been case of unintentional contamination rather than a sinister move by amoral dealers. Drug dealers are in it for the money and it makes no fiscal sense to use a potentially lethal chemical when there are other bulking agents out there, like flour, creatine or baking soda, that come at a fraction of the price and are not going to present an immediate health risk to the target market.

    The production of illegal drugs is not subject to quality control. Any sort of sh1t can end up in them.


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    #27
    Pace2008
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,587 ✭✭✭Pace2008


    Kettleson wrote: »
    Like I said, the production of illegal drugs is not subject to quality control. Any sort of sh1t can end up in them.
    Yeah. So why rat poison out of an effectively endless list of chemicals?


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    #28
    Augmerson
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 6,162 ✭✭✭Augmerson


    hey19 wrote: »
    I,ve seen ground up glass in grass

    The effort to take glass, smash it up and break it down and then add it to weed just doesn't add up.


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    #29
    Esoteric_
    Closed Accounts Posts: 11,255 ✭✭✭✭Esoteric_


    hey19 wrote: »
    I,ve seen ground up glass in grass

    Some people also mix it with Angel Dust. That shít is scary, can cause hallucinations, fainting, severe illness. Don't think angel dust is enough to have caused the women to become quite that ill, though.


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    #30
    Esoteric_
    Closed Accounts Posts: 11,255 ✭✭✭✭Esoteric_


    Augmerson wrote: »
    The effort to take glass, smash it up and break it down and then add it to weed just doesn't add up.
    Weed is expensive. Glass is cheap. Pestle and mortar, grind the glass, mix it in, voila, 20 minutes effort saves 50 euro.


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    #31
    Kettleson
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,047 ✭✭✭Kettleson


    Augmerson wrote: »
    The effort to take glass, smash it up and break it down and then add it to weed just doesn't add up.

    It's not that producers went out of their way to contaminate drugs with whatever, it's because of the unregulated production process can allow contamination at any stage from whatever source. Some less harmful, some lethal.


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