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Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Pot Kills

Posted by on Tue, Dec 15, 2009 at 10:24 AM

The story in black and white, from Florida's WJHG:

Just after 2AM Friday [Bay County] deputies responded to a disturbance call at the Executive Inn on front beach road. They say [23-year-old Andrew] Grande pushed a female friend. A camera crew from Zoo Productions filmed what happened when deputies arrived. When one of the deputies tried to arrest him they say he resisted and stuffed something in his mouth. That's when at least one of the deputies shot him with a taser. They say he pulled the taser probes out of his body, that's when deputies noticed he was choking.

Deputies performed the Hiemlich maneuver but could not dislodge the item. By the time EMS arrived, he was unconscious. One of the paramedics pulled a large bag of marijuana from his throat. He was pronounced dead at Bay Medical Center. "It's a tragic situation for our officers, a tragic situation for this young man and his family. What started out to be a simple disturbance call, could have been handled by compliance by this individual, simply giving the officers the marijuana," explained Sheriff Frank McKeithen. Had he done that Grande would have most likely faced misdemeanor charges.

And here's the disturbing video:

As Towleroad reports, before he fatally swallowed a bag of pot, Andrew Grande worked as the gay porn actor Dustin Michaels. (Site NSFW.)

Today's moral: Misdemeanor pot possession is forever preferable to fatal choking. Please make a note of it.

 

Comments (10) RSS

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1
Holy shit that's a disturbing video, especially to play on the local news.
Posted by doceb on December 15, 2009 at 10:35 AM
Telsa Grills 2
Uh, free will?
Posted by Telsa Grills on December 15, 2009 at 11:01 AM
3
It didn't look like they were doing the Hiemlich maneuver very well. Anybody else think that or am I wrong?
Posted by PatMO on December 15, 2009 at 11:05 AM
bconnolly 4
Seriously why the fuck was that broadcast on network television?

I'D BUY THAT FOR A DOLLAR
Posted by bconnolly on December 15, 2009 at 11:13 AM
5
Ah the taser, making less-than-lethal actions more lethal than ever.

Seriously, if the cops see someone swallow something, can't they get a warrant for the contents of the person's stomach/stool?
Posted by dwight moody on December 15, 2009 at 11:22 AM
Telsa Grills 6
More to the point, there was no way he could say "Don't tase me bro!"
Posted by Telsa Grills on December 15, 2009 at 1:03 PM
7
similar thing happened to a guy i went to high school with, though no tasers were involved:

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/20/us/nat…
Posted by keith http://peoplesparkinglot.blogspot.com on December 15, 2009 at 1:24 PM
8
Today's other moral: electrocuting people in the act of swallowing will cause them to choke. Totally disproportionate response.
Posted by codswallower on December 15, 2009 at 1:58 PM
Telsa Grills 9
@8: But it makes for good TV. 20 years of COPS isn't a fluke.
Posted by Telsa Grills on December 15, 2009 at 2:18 PM
10
Stoners are Morons.
Please make a note of it.
Posted by groovyman on December 15, 2009 at 6:59 PM

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