Snake venom in marijuana.

thekansascitychanne ^ | 11/7/03

[PaxMacian]

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - After being in a coma for more than a month, 19-year-old Steven Gamblin was taken off life support in mid-October.

Gamblin's father told KMBC's Lara Moritz that blood tests proved it was the snake venom that killed the teen.

"It came back that it was snake venom -- pure rattlesnake venom," Fred Gamblin said. "How many people know how to get rattlesnake venom and stick it in a marijuana cigarette?"

The sadness that the older Gamblin and his wife feel over the teen's death comes with a warning to others.

"As far as I'm concerned, this needs to be shown to the young marijuana-smoking crowd," Gamblin said.

[PaxMacian]

Chalk up one more success for the drug warriors campaign of terror.

[PaxMacian]

*Wod_list bump

[ClintonBeGone]

. . . and a good reason not to smoke pot.

[verity]

Sick ****!

[RJCogburn]

I am skeptical that smoked snake venom would be harmful.

[freebilly]

Chalk up one more success for the drug warriors campaign of terror. ? How does this have anything to do with the WOD? Some idiot laces a joint with rattlesnake venom and it's the feds fault?

[HuntsvilleTxVeteran]

Some people will try anything to get high.

[Tijeras_Slim]

How does this have anything to do with the WOD? Some idiot laces a joint with rattlesnake venom and it's the feds fault?

If it were legalized, OSHA and CPSC could mandate all pot be grown to ISO9001 Standards. < /s>

[steve50]

A guy got beat to death for giving a drinking buddy a beer can with urine in it to drink the other day, a good reason not to drink beer I guess.

The weed isn't to blame here, the lack of a quality control system is.

[ClearCase_guy]

I second that. Chemicals usually change when burned.

Also, though there may be really good reasons to oppose marijuana, a situation where someone uses rattlesnake venom to poison someone else does not strike me as a "drug" situation.

Small lobsters are illegal and should be thrown back into the sea. If I catch a small lobster, then shove it down my companion's throat, choking and killing him -- is this "yet another" reason why small lobsters should be thrown back into the sea? No. It's a reason why I am a bad person who needs to be locked up for killing a fellow human.

The lobster is incidental -- it could have been a rolled up newspaper. In the original case, the marijuana is incidental. The act of slipping venom into the man's sytem is where the focus should be.

[Vaduz]

And how in the hell would that stop someone from putting venom on a joint?????.

[capt. norm]

Snake venom is a complex ORGANIC substance which is readily broken down by heat and it doesn't take a very high temperature to do it.

Pit viper (rattlesnake is one)poson is not harmful when swallowed but inhaling it is another thing entirely,

My guess would be that some of it was transferred from the cooler end of the maijuana joint before the burnig ember got to it.

[Libloather]

...campaign of terror.

It could've been laced by the Illegal Drug Freedom Fighter Thug that sold him the poison - no?

[metesky]

No, a good reason to grow your own.

[freebilly]

Some people will try anything to get high.

Bill Clinton tried it, but since he didn't inhale the rattlesnake venom had no effect on him....

[freebilly]

Too bad....

[awgie2]

"Small lobsters are illegal and should be thrown back into the sea. If I catch a small lobster, then shove it down my companion's throat, choking and killing him -- is this "yet another" reason why small lobsters should be thrown back into the sea? No. It's a reason why I am a bad person who needs to be locked up for killing a fellow human."

Interesting analogy...be careful, the snake venom could be kicking in!

[Libloather]

And how in the hell would that stop someone from putting venom on a joint?????.

Liberteens demand that the gubmint do it.

[PaxMacian]

Maybe the snake joined his followers, the drug warriors, and chewed on some of the herb growing in the wild too.

[steve50]

And how in the hell would that stop someone from putting venom on a joint?????.

The same way it stops someone from putting rat poison in your whiskey. It's really not that difficult a concept.

[ClintonBeGone]

The weed isn't to blame here, the lack of a quality control system is.

Perhaps, but let me ask you this - if the kid wasn't using pot, would he be in the situation he's in today? The beer analogy is a non sequitur. The beer didn't put the consumer of the product in the grave.

[Libloather]

Maybe you're jumping to more conclusions than you can handle...

[Cultural Jihad]

God's most perfect amino poison, and there's the Blue Meanies trying to save lives.
All mankind's problems didn't really start with a snake and some rules about agriculture.
They started with the Marijuana Tax Act!

[Libloather]

The same way it stops someone from putting rat poison in your whiskey. It's really not that difficult a concept.

I'd like to hear it...

[steve50]

And how in the hell would that stop someone from putting venom on a joint?????. Liberteens demand that the gubmint do it

Not really, normal market forces would prevent bad product the same as they do in the rest of the market. Bad whiskey killed thousands during the other prohibition, just how is this different?

[steve50]

I'd like to hear it...

Budweiser or Lilly markets a clean product or the consumer provides his own. Not many people poisoned at the local carryout, or from brewing their own wine/beer.

[freebilly]

Based on the coherence of his comments, methinks PaxMacian sparked one up this morning....

[Libloather]

Not many people poisoned at the local carryout, or from brewing their own wine/beer.

That's fine - but - how does that stop someone from putting rat poison in your whiskey?

[steve50]

The beer didn't put the consumer of the product in the grave.

Bad whiskey put thousands in their graves before prohibition ended. Poison whiskey hasn't been a problem for 70 years or so, I wonder why?

[ClintonBeGone]

Bad whiskey put thousands in their graves before prohibition ended. Poison whiskey hasn't been a problem for 70 years or so, I wonder why?

Non sequitur. We were talking about the urine in the beer.

[Cultural Jihad]

"Mr. Nanny Policeman Politician, please make sure the product I want to consume, which society says I ought not to, is certifiably pure and free of contaminants. I wouldn't want anything bad to happen to me while doing something I ought not be doing! Furthermore, please license my friends and acquaintances to be free of any snake poisons in their pockets and shelves which they may decide to add to my beer or joint. Oh, and send the bill to George Soros. Thank you."

[steve50]

That's fine - but - how does that stop someone from putting rat poison in your whiskey?


When I break the seal on fifth I don't worry to much, do you?

[freebilly]

We were talking about the urine in the beer.

You're talking about Budweiser or Coors...?

[steve50]

Non sequitur. We were talking about the urine in the beer.

No we're not. We're talking quality control.

[WTSand]

"A small amount of Clonazapam was also found in the teen's blood stream, but the levels did not come even close to overdose amounts. Clonazapam is a prescribed medication used to treat seizures or control anxiety."

Maybe this would shed a little more light on the subject.

[Libloather]

When I break the seal on fifth I don't worry to much, do you?

Tylenol had this type of problem back in the 80's. Do you remember what the circumstances were?

[gnawbone]

Budweiser or Lilly markets a clean product or the consumer provides his own. Not many people poisoned at the local carryout, or from brewing their own wine/beer

But that doesn't keep one of his "friends" from doing it. I think that is the point others were making. The problem wouldn't necessarily be on the manufacturing end but rather on the distribution end.

If that wasn't the point, then I have no idea what you, they, or I are talking about ! ;)

[Cultural Jihad]

When I break the seal on fifth I don't worry to much, do you?

Then again, people don't go around opening up a bottle of whiskey to sniff at it and hold it and pass it around to friends to admire, either.

There's an idea: mandatory government-approved tamper-proof dime bags, wherein the discerning consumer will never use any marijuana which has not been sealed and approved by Nanny inspectors. Perhaps the next step is to send over a combination certified nurse/shelf-inspector to make sure the rolls are not too tight thereby causing pulmonary distress and that no snake venom is around.

[Yeti]

I agree with your point in general, but I don't think this specific incident is a quality control issue, I think its an intentional poisoning issue. That being the case, legalization wouldn't prevent it any better than it prevents someone from slipping roofies in your beer, or cyanide in your Amaretto cheesecake.

I think ClearCase_guy's post #10 is a pretty fair assesment.

Incidentally, the witch that did this needs to be burned at the stake.

[steve50]

There's nothing to stop one of your "friends" from poisoning you at your local bar if he wants to.

Jack Daniels has protections in place and liability for producing tainted product. Home brewers are responsible for their own quality control. How many deaths have been a result of poisoned product in either method?

I guess by your reasoning Sears should be stopped from selling hammers because your neighbor might smack you in the head with one.

[kcvl]

An initial screening of Gamblin’s blood revealed the presence of marijuana. But, Brown said, "Marijuana in no way causes any of the symptoms that he showed, nor would it have caused his death in this manner." "Within 12 hours of coming to the hospital, the liver, the kidneys, and the kid’s other internal organs began shutting down," he said. Gamblin also showed "internal bleeding, red blotching on his torso, mucus in his eyes and immediate respiratory and lung problems that included pneumonia."

Brown said a subsequent screening for pharmaceutical drugs found traces of clonazepam, a narcotic used for panic disorder and as an anti-convulsive. But, he said, "It wasn’t even close to being at a level to cause his death."

Oddly enough, Brown said, hospital staff and officials elsewhere have said that Gamblin’s symptoms were similar to those experienced by someone with "multiple snake bites."

[steve50]

I agree with you there, it's a murder/manslaughter case that has nothing to do with the "evils of demon weed". If snake venom was put in breakfest ceral we wouldn't be going on about the evils of cornflakes.

[aruanan]

Snake venom in marijuana.

I wonder how many times more difficult it is to get one's hands on some rattlesnake venom than on commonly used illicit drugs.

[WTSand]

http://gorp.away.com/gorp/health/snakefaq13.htm

Your risk of being bitten be a snake is small, and so too is your risk of dying if bitten. Although there are an estimated 45,000 bites by all snakes in the United States each year, only about 6680 persons are treated for snake venom poisoning. However, it can be expected that at least 1000 additional bites by venomous snakes occur each year and that they are either not treated or go unreported. During the past five years, the number of deaths from snakebite in the United States has ranged between nine and 14. Most of the deaths occurred in children, in the elderly, in untreated, mistreated, or undertreated cases, in cases complicated by other serious disease states, or in members of religious sects who handle serpents as part of their worship exercises and refuse medical treatment. Almost all reported deaths have been attributed to rattlesnakes. In addition,"25 percent of all pit viper bites do not result in envenomation and another 15% are so trivial, they require only local cleansing and tetanus prophylaxis.

[freebilly]

Legalization means-- BATF requires bonded warehouses and storage facilities, regulates packaging designs, conducts sting operations to make sure minors aren't purchasing marijuana at the local Stop 'N' Rob.

FDA and Surgeon General regulate verbage on marijuana package and require warning labels cautioning pregnant women not to smoke pot while operating heavy machinery.

Dep't of Health, Education, and Welfare spends $3.2 Billion dollars on brochure entitled "Legal Drugs in the Workplace". Brochure is distributed to all federal employees. Another $500 million is spent on translating and printing the brochure in Spanish, Vietnamese, Tagalog, and German.

Public school system mandates $6.3 billion teacher education training and education program entitled "Marijuana and the Faculty Lounge: Your Rights".

Yup, legalization would sure get gov't to quit wasting money on the WOD....

[general_re]

Chemicals usually change when burned.

Well, yeah, but that's hardly a guarantee that the products and byproducts of combustion are themselves non-toxic, and in many cases combustion results in higher toxicity - PVC is pretty much non-toxic on its own, but burning it will produce fumes that are quite toxic. Or, it could be that burning venom produces relatively harmless products. Or it could be that burning venom has relatively harmless products that had a secondary reaction with some chemical in the marijuana to produce a highly toxic result. Et cetera - in short, without looking at the chemistry in detail, there's no rule of thumb that can tell you if burning snake venom in your joint is good, bad, or indifferent, although it's probably wise to default to "bad" before you do your chemical investigation ;)

And the second thing that occurs to me is that people have been known to do some bizarre and stupid things in search of a better buzz. Even if it turns out that he got poisoned by snake venom on his joint or whatever, I don't think we have enough information to rule out the possibility that he himself put it there, on purpose.

[ClintonBeGone]

No we're not. We're talking quality control.

Keep thinking so.

[ClintonBeGone]

You're talking about Budweiser or Coors...?

Corona. :)

[CWOJackson]

The legalize our dope crowd is in a tizzie since their guru, Mr.LeRoy got suspended...then tried to sneak back in as The Coach and got suspended again.

Oh the humanity...

[ClintonBeGone]

Incidentally, the witch that did this needs to be burned at the stake.

Perhaps the kid did it himself. Isn't the screed that we're allowed to do stupid things to our bodies as long as no one else is involved? Or something like that?