agreed - anyone else catch the part where he smoked it from a plastic tube.

Chemical burns to the lung.

Plastic is made of chemicals - and when light with a lighter, would release those chemicals.

Im thinking its not the synthetic pot - though im not ruling it out. I'm just thinking, cigarrettes are laden with chemicals, but when smoked...the dont burn lungs.

Legal or not, it wouldn't be legal for a 13 yr old, I would assume, so this danger would persist.

What this kid was smoking was not marijuana. It was fake weed made in a lab from lawn clippings and other herbs with chemicals added to it. What this kid was smoking is actually legal because it did not contain a controlled substance. Apparently manufacturers can make whatever drugs they want as long as it does not contain a controlled substance which creates a whole other debate.

AGREE

Make it legal. Tax it. Put half the tax profits into education. It will eliminate the fake weed crap. And as mentioned he most likely died because he smoked plastic. If could have been tobacco and the same would have happened. I know way more kids who have died from alcohol then smoking plastic. Maybe ban alcohol also right?????

philly - like cigarettes? checkmate.

Nope, you are correct. The chemical burns were caused by polycarbonates releasing chlorine gas and hydrogen sulfide gas when heated near the flash point. The synthetic pot was irrelevant. A Pez dispenser --- really. Even a 13-year-old should have known better than to tru to smoke anything out of something that melts easily. Sorry, but the article was biased and improper journalism that just doesn't want to acknowledge another death blamed on BPA.

Jessica-exactly like cigarettes. Notice how quick that governor banned that "synthetic pot?" Why not ban cigarettes while he's at it? Makes no sense to me.

At Prohibition......what kind of logic did you use to arrive at your conclusion?

At Prohibition......what kind of logic did you use to arrive at your conclusion?

I'm guessing the line of thinking was that if you legalize marijuana, there wouldn't be a need for any kind of potentially dangerous synthetic marijuana.

However, it's probably safe to say that the plastic tube that was used to smoke that synthetic stuff is what actually caused the chemical burns on his lungs and not the marijuana. It must've been like putting your mouth over a cars tail pipe while the motor was running.

Phillyfan---he doesn't ban it because the makers of the synthetic pot do not contribute to his political campaign.......

The death is blamed on an infection resulting from a weakened immune system that was caused by anti-rejection drugs following his lung transplant.

The lung transplant was necessitated by the use of a plastic device.

The article was written in such a way as to gloss over these two facts, and appear to blame a substance that had nothing to do with the child's death, resulting in a bunch of people jumping into the comment section to either blame the substance as well, or blame the lawmakers.

And you all fell for it.

what idiot smokes out of a plastic tube???thats what killed him not the synthetic garbage. Use an apple next time, they work great. Pencile through the top and one though the side to connect the two and its ready set LIGHT. Then when u get then munchies u can eat the apple and the evidence.

Let me correct my last statement...he doesn't ban cigarettes because the tobacco manufactures DO contribute to his political campaign....

Lizzie...

First, it was NOT illegal at the time, and is still legal in many places. (Up until a few months ago you could buy it in the mini-marts here)

Second, he was THIRTEEN. We all do dumb stuff at that age, just most of us don't end up paying for it with our lives. For you to call him a punk says FAR more about you than about him. He was a child, and curious, just like any other 13 year old. I feel sorry for you that you are so narrow minded that you can find no compassion for a thirteen year old child.

Lets be real this teen died from smoking Plastic. Plastic is toxic. I don't care what you smoke it could be bunny tears, if you smoke it from a plastic tube your going to get ill and could die.

Should have made smoking plastic illegal instead.

How does one smoke bunny tears I wonder...

Kelly- You are probably right. Cigarettes kill people, but the government cannot afford to lose the revenue from taxes on cigarettes. Anyone want to argue that cigarettes don't kill people? Why are cigarettes legal and marijuana illegal? Alcohol as well.

Another death due to these ridiculous laws.

No, another death due to terminal stupidity.

Legal, synthetic weed = poisonous death.

Illegal, natural cannabis = medicine with no possibility of overdose and a proven track record for safety.

Hmmm.... Yup. Our drug policies are back-assward!

Right on slugbait... anyone that is taken any kind of chemistry course knows that heating plastic and inhaling the vapors is highly toxic... I don't know why they are calling it synthetic pot... when it has nothing to do with pot... its incense and grass clippings sprayed with a newly synthetic drug that has a similar chemical composition of acid (LSD)... it was perfectly legal for that kid to purchase it... just goes to show how backward our controlled substance laws are.. Pot is illegal because it is highly medicinal and has anti-cancer properties and it can't be patented by drug companies.. they want to keep it illegal so they can continue to sell their expensive pills that kill people more annually than pot ever has.

@Jessica: You know that everything is chemicals, right?

@phillyfan: How can you argue that smoking cigarettes kill people (and imply that smoking marijuana does not)? I'd go as far to say that any time smoke goes into the lungs, whether it's from cigarettes, campfires, or napalm, it is carcinogenic and damages the lungs. If a person smokes pot, I guarantee you they are damaging their lungs and making themselves just as susceptible to emphysema, lung cancer, and other related diseases. The only difference between tobacco and marijuana smokes is that tobacco smokers frequently smoke a pack a day or more, as compared to marijuana smokers who would go broke smoking that volume.

If a person smoked one cigarette a week, they probably wouldn't die.

He was 13. People do lots of stupid things at 13 but most are lucky enough to live through them. My sympathy to his family and friends. A life cut way too short because someone needed to make a buck.

Why did they let two other people die by giving this punk two lungs after he did something illegal?????

I'd suggest brushing up on your reading comprehension. It was legal when he did it.

And the illegal cannabis wouldn't have harmed him.

Matt- then why are cigarettes legal? You switched from cigarettes to tobacco. If cigarettes contained pure tobacco it would be different would it not? How many people do you know have died from smoking marijuana? Last time I checked it can be prescribed to patients with cancer....how many cancer patients have been prescribed cigarettes?

I will also add these questions...Have you ever had a cigarette brownie/cookie/rice krispie treat? Cigarette pill? Tobacco butter?

First off, my condolances to the family(ies) affected by this story. So I got a problem with the legalize it crap. Are you telling me that people who routinely dodge the law will sign up in droves to pay the taxes on their weed that legalization "experts" say will balance the budget? Hell no they won't. it will be the same problem {illegal growing}, but different law broken {tax evasion instead of controlled substance}.

Also, a kid died. The first thing out of your mouth should be "sorry for your loss" not "legalize weed!" unless you are a cold heartless person. Should the kid have known better? Yeah. Still, a life ended. Show some compassion on your way to the @!$%#ing soapbox.

philly, you are stating that marijuana smoke is essentially "harmless," and I did not say that it had no benefits. Clearly not the same argument, and you're constructing ridiculous analogies to try to undermine the point. My point was entirely about volume.

I've got an idea: smoke 1/4 oz. of marijuana per day, every day. That's about the same amount of tobacco in one pack of cigarettes. Tell me how your lungs look after a year, let alone a lifetime.

I've never said I'm against legalization of marijuana. I'm merely against bad information being touted as facts, as if something being "natural" was inherently harmless and innocuous. Smoke, regardless of where it comes from, is bad for your lungs.

What a misleading title. It was clearly caused by smoking out of something plastic.

Lord Rob- yes, just ask the California clinics how many people have "signed up" to get pot legally. Matter of fact one clinic that was in the news very recently was ordered to pay about 2 million in taxes. I'm not going to address the rest of your comment because I am not nor will I ever be "PC" not to mention I am fairly certain the parents are not reading this discussion board.

Matt- I'd rather eat brownies because I actually agree with you in that any smoke in the lungs cannot be good for you.

It wasn't the fake weed, it was the cheap plastic candy dispenser he melted and inhaled. Since it was probably made in China, you can bet it was as toxic as it could get.

I'm not talking about the clinics and the state farms. I'm talking about John Nobody who grows it in their basement. I don't see my stoner friends running out to pay. and don't think that i'm against it. I'm not. Just trying to point out a flaw in the logic people have with the legalization issue.

So sad to see a 13 year old child lose his life! My sympathy for his family and friends. This isn't about weed or that knockoff synthetic BS either. Although the article is clearly slanted by an anti-MJ idiot the reality is its about a life lost due to lack of knowledge.

Lord Rob-You are so wrong on your basis of MJ legalization. Legalization will reduce price, increase access and safety and will also be a legit market. People would be free under legalization to grow their own or purchase from a retailer. No need for black market acquisition.

Lord Rob- I see your point. If it is legal then there would be no issue with John Nobody growing his own, which would then negate him paying taxes on it. However, growing your own is expensive. Especially if you want good herb like the clinics have. Have to remember that not everyone has friends that grow and can get good herb easily.

Condolences to the family...but the headline should have been "Teen dies after smoking plastic".

Basedrum- First pot doesn't kill brain cells as a matter of fact there are studies reporting cannabis stimulates our cannibinoid receptors and strengthens brain cell activity. Asserting they do is ridiculous AND nonfactual.

Stupid people can smoke weed. Stupid people can also drink alcohol, milk, drive a car ect.. This argument is a non-sequitor of epidemic proportions.

Legalization doesn't increase use. Studies conducted in MJ friendly countries like Holland, Spain, Portugal, Jamaica ect.. prove this clearly.

Instead of regurgitating drug war propaganda educate yourself to the reality of cannabis.

You cant get drunk at work basedrum. Apply that same concept to smoking marijuana. Cant do it at work or you'll get fired. But on your own time...

Cannabis has psychoactive and physiological effects when consumed. The minimum amount of THC required to have a perceptible psychoactive effect is about 10 micrograms per kilogram of body weight.^[11] Aside from a subjective change in perception and, most notably, mood, the most common short-term physical and neurological effects include increased heart rate, lowered blood pressure, impairment of short-term and working memory,^[12] psychomotor coordination, and concentration.

You should also post the effects of cigarettes and alcohol. Lets weigh the facts and determine which ones are worse shall we? Out of cigarettes, alcohol and marijuana, which one has medicinal benefits?

And?

Ban plastic!!

I clearly stated above that I don't disagree that tabacco and alcohol could very well be worse for you in consumption. The issue becomes why would a society want the use of a drug to be "blessed" just becaus there are worse alternatives? That's like saying we should allow people to carry around crossbows because we allow people to carry guns.

I would compare crossbows and guns to cigarettes and alcohol before I would compare them to marijuana. Marijuana would be more like a pocket knife or pepper spray even. The main question is why are alcohol and cigarettes legal while marijuana is not.

Firstly,

I'm sensitive to this; I have a boy that age as well. My deepest sympathy to this boy's parents and family.

Secondly,

myopinion-13

Legal or not, it wouldn't be legal for a 13 yr old, I would assume, so this danger would persist.

Not from smoking pot, it wouldn't. While I would - and do with my own kids - prohibit smoking pot at all before they are legal adults, the pot would have been a danger. I've never heard of anyone dying from pot smoke alone. I am not talking about accidents related to smoking pot such as operating a vehicle; simply the drug itself.

All this poor kid did was smoke something that killed him. Pot alone would not have done that. Kids do dumb things. It's every parents nightmare that one of those stupid things takes a loved one from you.

In a free society we should be able to do what we want as long as no one else is harmed. Hell we can bungee jump, sky dive, drive a car at 70mph, take big pharma drugs until we are blue and not breathing yet MJ a relatively harmless plant is subject to this draconian prohibitionist law. Why?

It can't be controlled by big pharma and the Prison industry who want prohibtion along with LEA-DEA, FBI, local/state LEA which use this as a funding mechanism.

All three have medical benefits sort of. Nicotine aids with some problems like irritable bowel syndrome... but the doc won't say smoke, he'll recommend a patch. Alcohol also has some medicinal purposes especially red wine for the heart but in a very small amount. Pot has a lot of uses. If I didn't have young kids and it was legal, I would use it for insomnia.

basedrum, why do you want to make everyone's choices for them? Yes, there may be worse alternatives that marijuana, and we don't ban them because we (thankfully, sometimes) don't legislate morality, or try and control peoples' behavior to be what we think is best. People will one way or another do what they want, and making laws against something that is well within someone's personal freedom of choice only creates instant criminals and a black market (ref: prohibition). It's a free country. If it doesn't harm you, let people do what they want, and teach your own kids what you think is best.

And as a follow-up, what a horrendous situation. It's a tragedy this young person inhaled burning plastic and ruined his lungs; I imagine the synthetic pot was the least of the problem. I very well got myself into dangerous situations at that age, but luckily lived and learned. I feel for his family, and can only imagine how it must tear them up to think what (if anything) they might have done or said to avoid this. Heartbreaking that he didn't make it, even after the transplant.

first of all why are you guys even debating marijuana... the kid died from bpa poisoning from a pez dispenser... While I admit that synthetic marijuana is probably worse than the real thing... it probably had nothing to do with his death. Smoking a plastic container can kill you. Smoking out of alumnium foil can cause alzheimers. theres a reason why people smoke either paper or a glass/wooden pipe... because the materials you smoke out of can effect your lungs.

Let this be a lesson to all you 13 yr olds, drugs kill duh!

natural cannabis = medicine with no possibility of overdose

That's just not true! If you eat 7 pounds of marijuana, it will kill you.

I say that no one should be allowed to have more than 7 lbs of marijuana in their possession. There is an overdose hazard. Someone might try to eat all 7 pounds. Of course, anything under 7 pounds should be perfectly legal.

To be safe, maybe we should limit it to 6 pounds.

Of course, the more logical approach would be to not abuse any kinds of drugs at all.

The article should have been titled" child dies after trying to circumvent paraphernalia laws" This kid does what all kids his age do - if something is illegal, they try to find something "similar" which is not illegal. At the time of this incident, nothing this child did was illegal. To smoke pot out of a glass pipe certainly would have been illegal. Of course, this child would be alive today. More blood on the hands of congress.

Harold, you left out half of the necessary information. 7 Lbs., over what period of time?

For those who smoke, you would have to smoke 1500 Lbs. of marijuana in fifteen minutes in order to overdose. As far as I know this has never been documented to have happened in human history. Aspirin and Tylonal are more dangerous.

Everyone keeps making the same comment that he was poisoned from smoking plastic and not synthetic pot, which is correct. But how many of you would have clicked on the headline if it stated "Teen dies from smoking out of a plastic device"???

Geez i've never heard of anyone dying from too much pot smokin. Make it legal and this kind of shyt won't happen. How many have to die before the government wakes up from crap like this. I'd much rather ride in a car with somebody that has been smoking than some fat cat drunk that drinks. MAKE POT LEGAL, it is less harmful the alchohol. This BS says it's a gateway drug. NO Alchohol is a gateway drug, does more harm to the body and brain and makes you DRUNK. Ever hear of anyone die from alchohol poisoning? You fat cats in DC got it backward. But i guess that is ok cause you can't stop drinking. Pot is beneficial to cancer victims or hiv patients. What good does alchohol do except make you forget about your problems.

@Greene Bean.....And a second hole on the side for the carb ;-)

basedrum777--Wow, you can quote from Wikipedia. Congratulations. You do realize that Wikipedia articles are written by the "masses"--and as we can see from this thread, people actually believe the garbage that is publicized via pro-legalization sites concerning marijuana.

Midnight Toker 4+20--Wow, you can cite "studies" that are being presented to you mostly by those who are in favor of making marijuana legal. Congratulations--now go read the actual study.

The authors of that study say regular cannabis users are known to suffer acute memory impairment, as well as dependency and withdrawal symptoms. Further, other studies show an increase of psychosis, schizophrenia, as well as an increase in the risk of cancer which is similar to that of tobacco (also a "natural herb," I'd like to point out).

The study found not that marijuana increases intelligence--they found, instead, that it causes neurons to regenerate in the hippocampus, an area that controls mood and emotions. It can function as an anti-depressant.

Let me translate that for you--marijuana can make a person an extremely happy moron. Yes, I think we knew that already.

Learn to use better sources, people, and learn to read the source all the way through yourself--don't just cherry-pick out the facts that you like and leave all the others alone.

Marijuana (well, the psychoreactive part of it--THC) is a drug--a drug like many others that is derived from plants. While it is not a demon weed that will inevitably lead to hard drug use, it is also not a common herb that has no harmful properties whatsoever and many beneficial properties. Marijuana, like aspirin or alcohol, has some beneficial properties. Consumed in excess or by the wrong person, it has detrimental properties.

Yes, this particular child died mostly from inhaling via a plastic pipe--he was just a child and probably had no idea that this could kill him, just like the many children who are harmed by huffing glue. Making the faux-pot illegal simply because the child used a plastic implement to smoke it is stupid.

But, marijuana is not harmless--it is harmful--and citing studies and articles that you do not understand or acting as though Wikipedia is a be-all and end-all is also stupid. Since you don't understand what you are talking about, have the common courtesy to educate yourself when someone tells you something that you don't care to hear. Please do not bore everyone by citing pro-marijuana propaganda--okay?

I'm game for legalizing marijuana as long as anybody who smokes it has to buy high-risk insurance. I'm game for allowing people to smoke cigarettes and drink alcohol as long as they do the same. Any time somebody engages in behavior known to be detrimental to one's health, they should not be pooled in with people who take care of their health.

Why do they call it synthetic pot? It has none of the chemical properties of HEMP!

Propaganda?

anyone else notice how the article is so vague that it doesn't really tell you anything. did he have the lung transplant earlier or after smoking the make pot. what did he die from? for all this article really says explicitly the boy could have died from a drunk driver hitting him after he recovered...
I feel like the writers at msn are trying to word things in a way to make you think what they want you to think more so than the facts...

Drugs impair judgement. Impaired judgement leads to injury or death. Next.......

If I was the owner of the synthetic marijauna company I would sue the author, sue MSNBC, and I would win easily.

This kind of journalism panders to the ignorant in our society.

Shame on the author for using this kids death as a podium to launch self serving stupidity from.

Yeah, I am thinking it was from the plastic also. I mean what kind of a stupid kid who smoke something from plastic? I mean don't kids know plastic melt when heated? I guess not.

He used a candy (pez) dispenser, really? How in the hell do you smoke with a candy dispenser?

j70141 in Colorado

Of course, the more logical approach would be to not abuse any kinds of drugs at all.

You mean like cayenne pepper? If marijuana is a drug, then so is cayenne. So is caffeine. So are thousands of other substances we use every single day. Even boiling and freezing water can both kill quickly - and that's not even taking into consideration the drowning risk. Where do we draw the line?

You smoke plastic, expect that your lungs will be damaged. This is just the regimes propaganda piece pushing to regulate and control something else with yellow journalism. The government needs to go and their propaganda arm needs to go too.

I see the mainstream media is still leading people astray who aren't smart enough to read, comprehend and draw logical conclusions. All this talk about marijuana and it wasn't even the reason the boy died.

This article should be flagged as inaccurate but MSNBC is the entity that posted it. MSNBC credibility = 0

David-Did you read ANY of the article? He got chemical burns on his lungs from smoking out of plastic (probably not the from the synthetic pot). He had a lung transplant because they had chemical burns. When one has any type of transplant he or she has to take anti-rejection drugs so the body doesn't try to fight off the new part. Anti-rejection drugs lower your immunity to infections. He died from an infection that his body couldn't fight off (because he was taking anti-rejection drugs). Except for the majority opinion about what actually caused the burns, it's all in there!

I didn't read most of the comments here, but first and foremost, HE WAS SMOKING IT FROM A PLASTIC CANDY DISPENSER and people wonder WHY he sustained chemical burns to his lungs...

I agree with a lot of people when I say Legalize the Real Stuff... Not the synthetic man-made crap. Legalize it, and it can get rid of the synthetic!

I feel bad for the parents, loosing a kid is never easy not is it supposed to be. A kid has all their life to prepare for the loss of their parents, but the parents have NO time to prepare for the loss of their child. Prayers go out to them.

After saying all that, I may be a cold, callous, hypocrite for saying this, but I think the kid deserves a darwin award.

There has never been a toxic level of THC established for humans.

The receptors in the brain get completely saturated. And it has little effect on the body. So after a certain point, very little hapens.

The Gov't would never do a study on THC because they wouldn't be able to find anything that could scare the public.

As far as burning plastic, it is very toxic.

I implore those of you out in the country to not burn any trash with any amount of plastic. It's bad for you and your neighbors. I know you want to be a good neighbor, right?

As far as legalization: we have the highest percentage of our population locked up in the world. Not Iran, China, or North Korea.

Land of the Free?

And everyday we let out murderors, rapists, and child molesters because there is no room to hold them all.

I'm from Texas, Pro Death Penalty. I'm not soft on crime. But we simply have to be smarter about who we lock up. Trading years off a rapists sentence in order to hold someone else on offenses without victims is lunacy.

Totally agree with all the preceding comments regarding the fact that this story has absolutely nothing to do with pot - synthetic or otherwise. Shamefully misleading headline.

It's certainly a tragic tale, and my heart goes out to this boy's family. Frankly, I'm disgusted that the Governor - and the author of this article - would manipulate and twist this poor family's personal tragedy into egregiously ignorant political propaganda.

You mean like cayenne pepper? If marijuana is a drug, then so is cayenne. So is caffeine. So are thousands of other substances we use every single day. Even boiling and freezing water can both kill quickly - and that's not even taking into consideration the drowning risk. Where do we draw the line?

Is this a real example of the logic of a pot head?

"Boiling water kills, so we should make marijuana legal"
"Caffeine is okay, so we should make marijuana legal"
"Cayenne pepper is legal, so marijuana should be too"

okay....

Lizzie is an idiot. She actually thinks 2 people were killed for their lungs to be given to this boy.

If you grow for your OWN consumption, and not for profit, then you shouldn't be taxed.

Just like how it's legal in most states to make a certain amount of your own beer or wine for personal consumption, without a tax.

I agree that those who sell or make a profit on marijuana, should pay a type of income tax.

@Bean

I accidently liked your comment before I read it all. Now I feel as stupid as you actually are.

I vape my weed so yeah, it is completely harmless for me. Why don't you actually do some research and stop"cherry picking" facts out yourself. Joe Rogan would kick your face in if you said all that crap to him.

j70141:

How about using logic.

Let's focus on the dangers of the substances that are far worse than marijuana(like alcohol and chronic tobacco use), BEFORE wasting money on punishing those who use a less harmful substance.

There are no studies that show anyone who smokes only marijuana( just enough to get the THC into their systems, not those who over do it all day long), are putting themselves at a high risk of health problems. Eating healthy products made with marijuana, is just as safe(or safer) than eating most of the variety of junk food sold at every corner convenience store.

Obviously, you can abuse it by smoking way too much. Smoke does damage the lungs in a large enough quantity

The bottom line is:

If you are okay with alcohol and tobacco being legal, don't be a hypocrite and be against making marijuana legal.

(And no, I don't smoke marijuana)

Rick, as much cayenne pepper as I've eaten (standard in Louisiana kitchens), I would never think to smoke it or whatever one does with it. The same with nutmeg and cinnamon, I love to bake with it, use cinnamon on oatmeal, but I will not smoke/sniff or whatever people do to get high. I don't understand the concept of using spices to get high nor do I care to.

My heart felt condolences to the Family. Reaction is typical Knee-jerk; find something, anything and ban it, outlaw it, even if it does no more than make a Politician look proactive.

To basedrum; My Brother is a prominent Attorney in Chicago who pulled down over $750,000 net last Year. My Brother is also a MENSA member, graduated top of his Class at Cornell. My Brother is 60 Years old and has smoked MJ since he was a Teenager(regularly) and he is no Academic slouch. I would just love for you to sit down with him and discuss your "facts". I believe it would be both intense and amusing to witness...LOL!

The idea that the synthetic pot had nothing to do with it and that pot should be legalized because that would have made all the difference in this case is more than a bit naive. If the child had not been trying to get high off the synthetic pot, he would not have smoked it. People, including children, will still continue to try to get high off of pot whether or not the substance is legal, just like people knowing it is legal to drink and illegal to drink and drive still drink entirely too much, drive, and kill themselves and/or others every day, just like they drink entirely too much daily and poison their bodies, just like people know it is legal to smoke cigarettes even though it is believed that smoking leads to all manner of health issues and premature death and continue to smoke despite what may be best for them.

People who seek pleasure from consuming substances, anything, legal or not, even the benign like chocolate cake and pizza, find themselves dying from the substance, but their personal inability to be responsible and live in moderation. This child died because he sought a high.

It will sound cruel, but how many cancer patients could have used those spare lungs that went to waste on this kid who made a poor choice because he wanted to get high?

Lu, you are not being cruel. You are being logical. It's like when a rich person gets an organ that a poor person could use, or when a celeb gets a new kidney when a person who has been waiting for one desperately gets bumped to the head of the line.

It could have been Pot, Oregano, Tobacco, Grass, Synthetic Marijuana, or a Steak and it would have not mattered. Regardless of how they use the information, it would have been a great idea to inform this young person that plastics, when burned, produce toxins which are extremely harmful to the human body when inhaled.

My parents actually taught me about chemicals and the dangers of mixing certain ones at a very young age. I knew also that plastics were not to be thrown into fires (fireplace, bonfire, campfire) Unfortunately this has nothing whatsoever to do with illegal or legal drugs and this author would have been much more informative and opened a proper debate if he had led with the dangers of chemical reactions and the importance of educating our young people of the dangers that lie within. He could have gone further to address that parents and social clubs for young people (i.e. brownies, cub scouts, webelos, boy and girl scouts) do or don't help educate them. The author could have recommended places that do, and call for education from those that don't do enough.

Make the right decision and teach our children the dangers that are out there in a positive and informative way. Do not consistantly deride the symptom and ignore the cause.

reading these comments is better than Tosh.O

There is NO LEGITIMATE REASON for THC to be a controlled substance.

The People have been deceived.. and are dumber because of it.

reading these comments is better than Tosh.O

Love it hAhA

Legal or not has nothing to do with this kid's death. There is no evidence whatsoever that if pot was legal, he would have smoked that instead of what he did smoke. He was 13, he wouldn't have been able to legally get weed anyways.

So please, ditch the legalization rhetoric and quit trying to make this kid's death your cause célèbre.

"Drugs impair judgement. Impaired judgement leads to injury or death. Next......."

Kind of like DRUNK DRIVING eh?

All this poor kid did was smoke something that killed him. Pot alone would not have done that. Kids do dumb things. It's every parents nightmare that one of those stupid things takes a loved one from you.

You're right, pot alone wouldn't do that... However, pot being smoked out of plastic will do that. He didnt die from pot (because he didnt smoke pot) but he also didnt die from smoking synthetic pot. He died from smoking plastic. It has nothing to do with pot OR synthetic pot. It was the plastic.

valhallaarwen

Rick, as much cayenne pepper as I've eaten (standard in Louisiana kitchens), I would never think to smoke it or whatever one does with it. The same with nutmeg and cinnamon, I love to bake with it, use cinnamon on oatmeal, but I will not smoke/sniff or whatever people do to get high. I don't understand the concept of using spices to get high nor do I care to.

You miss my point. I'm not talking about getting high off of it, I'm talking about regular use of cayenne in cooking, to spice up the food. The reaction one gets is the body responding to being attacked by a foreign substance. Runny nose, watery eyes, burning mouth: all those symptoms designed to purge the foreign intruder. The pepper oil itself is the defense mechanism the plant uses to deter animals, bugs - people - from harming the fruit which contains the seeds to propogate its offspring. We just know it as pepper; but nature had a completely different intention for it to just be something to spice up people food. If bee stings were tasty, we'd eat them. We use these foreign substances to do something to our bodies that woudn't have been achieved without the introduction of the substance. Pot makes you high; pepper burns your mouth. Both affect you, both are natural, one is illegal - the other is a staple. Maybe law enforcement would be more tolerant if they could figure out a way to make a weapon out of pot the way they've designed weapons out of pepper. Wouldn't you agree?

I am sure you are just little miss perfection on a stick who has never made a single bad decision nor taken a single foolish risk. Fortunately, you are here on the interwebs and can make sure everyone is aware of your superiority. Thanks for the public service.

Fool. You. Not him.

story - i'm picturing michelle getting hammered on booze, with cig dangling from lips yelling "pot smokers, just pure trash" as she trips over nothing and curses at the earth for making her stumble - but ensures she doesnt spill a drop of her drink.

Stay Classy michelle

Michelle, that's pretty harsh considering it's a kid.

Any wagers that Michelle is a Christian?

Michelle, you are an idiot. Truly.

man you people are idiots. She's right, if this kid doesn't have the brain to know putting fire to plastic will burns your lungs, then its better off he's gone now as opposed to doing something equally as stupid that could have killed others. You know, like, passing around his plastic toy pipe with his fake weed...

Was he stupid? Yes.

Was he 13? Yes.

Are 13 year olds stupid? Hell yes.

Does this make him "trash"? No, but it makes michelle trash.

I agree with you whole heartedly, EngEsq.

"Taking out the trash" - yeah maybe harsh. "Thinning out the gene pool" - spot on.

yes, that was a harsh comment, but how stupid does the person have to be, and how stupid the act, before we call it, "stupid?"

individuals with too little caution often die of accidents like this.

Another Darwin award candidate repeating the same comment they have seen on countless other stories ever since that cold-blooded woman wrote that book. Come up with an orignal thought if you can.

@ baddog - Please don't insult Christians by inferring that michelle may be one - a true Christian would not condemn or judge this poor kid for his unfortunate choice.

Tyler,

As a safety professional, with hazardous materials response and rescue training, qualifications to be an OSHA Inspector I find your comment disturbing. Hundreds if not thousands of people every year are exposed to chemicals and receive chemical burns to the lungs. Some from things as simple as what is under your sink at home. Please do not pontificate about issues you have no understanding of. Your ignorance is far more dangerous than the insults hurled at the deserving. Feel free to suspend me.