A Bold New and Unsafe World

There's a point in the evolution of society where you can imagine a bunch of children being given a process....a tool....a great step in society, and they simply can't handle it.

This past weekend in Denver....a family came up to Denver (from Tulsa) and were going to have a long ski-week.  Somewhere in the midst of this....one member of the family has decided to have an experience with weed...since it's legal now in Colorado.

The young guy (23 years old from what the news folks say)....had a college education and probably was fairly smart....at least on the books.

He ended up buying around $75 of marijuana and edibles.

There are precise written instructions on the packets that you buy.  Each is packed into a box or plastic baggy that says each is one unit (10 mg of the active ingredient of marijuana).  Then it notes....you need to give it some time (like 60 to 120 minutes).  It kinda hints....don't react stupidly and try two or three edibles....expecting a bigger reaction or faster reaction.

With family members around.....the guy does one unit of edibles.  He's expecting some high. It's not coming like he expects.

So he does another edible. Nothing.  He will do five edibles (five times the normal dose of marijuana).  The family simply notes that around an hour later.....he's a bit different. Eventually, the family will leave the hotel and think he just needs some time alone.

He will pull out a pistol and end up shooting himself.

What the local doctors will say is that he 'overdosed' on the edibles.....five times the normal dose.

Toxicology results will be a month away.  The authorities will wrap up the death certificate then, and simply note an overdose leading to his own actions.

Generally, one joint is one unit, and one unit is one high.  Once we entered into this modern era with all types of possibilities and no legalized control....it was wide-open.  A dimwit could walk into a weed-shop....buy a dozen edibles and in two hours find himself in a fallen mental state and deduce the need to kill himself or others over some mental fantasy or worry.

The world is a bit less safe than we'd like to admit.