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    Pa. boy, 13, ill after smoking synthetic pot, dies

    AP – Thu, Oct 27, 2011

    PITTSBURGH (AP) — A Pennsylvania eighth-grader who became ill after smoking synthetic marijuana and had a double lung transplant has died.

    Tonya Rice tells the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (http://bit.ly/tk0Vod ) that her 13-year-old son, Brandon, died Thursday morning at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh at UPMC.

    The boy smoked the fake marijuana out of a plastic PEZ candy dispenser. The chemicals in the drugs caused extensive damage to his lungs. Brandon was put on a respirator in June and had a double lung transplant in September.

    The boy's mother says anti-rejection drugs he'd taken since the transplants weakened his immune system and made him unable to fight a recent infection.

    Gov. Tom Corbett signed a law outlawing such substances in Pennsylvania a few days after the boy smoked the substances. The ban took effect in August.

    ___

    Information from: Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, http://pghtrib.com

     
    • stuff and things
      stuff and things  •  12 days ago
      Actually, he died from inhaling plastic fumes. There have been several articles which were very clear on this point. Not that I support smoking potpourri, that stuff is dangerous.
    • Nate
      Nate  •  Granville, New York  •  5 mths ago
      lol i'd blame the kid for smoking out of such a retarded device. dont blame the drug, blame the way its used
    • Thomas B
      Thomas B  •  Elmhurst, United States  •  6 mths ago
      Well, there's some epic #$%$. lets smoke some plastic and oregano and see if we die from that too...
    • Arthur
      Arthur  •  Aurora, United States  •  6 mths ago
      He didn't die from the fake "weed"..he died from inhaling burning plastic. Anyone should know that.
      • Sam
        Sam 6 mths ago
        agreed, people are so ignorant when they believe all of the news they hear without understanding the real facts.
      • Jimmy
        Jimmy 6 mths ago
        he died from fake weed.
        smoking plastic isnt good for u at all and i agree ull die from it if u do it too much, but ive smoked real weed outta plastic b4 and im fine.
        if it had been real weed the kid would be fine.
      • Vanessa
        Vanessa 6 mths ago
        agreed, my uncle is taking his last breaths from lung cancer and knows it wasn't from the weed he smoked, but the things he smoked it from.
    • Heartlostangel
      Heartlostangel  •  6 mths ago
      A Pez dispenser? Hello chemicals. That's like mixing oven cleaner and bleach and huffing the fumes. Jeez, use a freaking pop can or foil for cripes sake. Not to mention the chemicals in the synthetic. Poor kid- if he'd gotten real pot and smoked it out of something non-plastic, he'd of been fine.
    • Emmie
      Emmie  •  Carlisle, United States  •  6 mths ago
      This article is such bull. Just one more thing to upset people and get them to support legislation to take away our rights. There is a HUGE push right now to make synthetics illegal but they are NOT dangerous. This kid died because he was SMOKING PLASTIC. Even the doctor said there is no evidence the synthetics caused the damage to his lungs, but the damage IS consistent with the toxins from burning plastic. One more great example of our BIASED LYING media at work. The author of this article should be charged with slander.
      • Amara
        Amara 6 mths ago
        The government doesn't care, they are probably happy that the media is lying about this, it just helps them with their anti-drug agenda.
      • Drew
        Drew 6 mths ago
        synthetics weed is worthless... save you 50$ get you some kush and relax. marijuana should be legal nobodys ever OD on weed. if weed was legal the kid might not have used plasic and he would be alive today
      • kory
        kory 6 mths ago
        People OD on weed all the time. They call having a panic attack ODing. 1000s of people go to the hospital a year for weed induced panic attacks.
    • Sarah
      Sarah  •  Philadelphia, United States  •  6 mths ago
      I agree with Deborah. Marijuana should be legal! I also believe that he had problems cause he smoked it out of plastic pez container. The synthetic pot is mostly all natural. The PLASTIC pez container is the poisonous item in the situation. People really need to get a grip and do there research
      • Drew
        Drew 6 mths ago
        i agree marijuana should be legal.!!!!!!!!! if marijuana was legal i'm sure he would of seen somone using somthing else to smoke out of and he would of used somthing diffrent and with the internet out there what happen to google theres 100's of homemade bong pipes that are safe on the internet with how to guides lol i always just made my own up. cans are ok for short term use but not long term you can actually get lock jaw from a can if you use it alot. anyway my prayers go out to his family and friends still a messed up way to loose sucks a young bou who had a whole life to lie.

        kids if you run of of weed don't walk in the woods and smoke diffrent plants i know it sounds dumb but on the show 1000 ways to die or somthing like that this two teenagers ran out of weed and walked in the woods and started smoking plants well they smoke some poison ivy and it made there throat swell shut and both died so becareful out there never buy weed from a dealer you do not know he could of put somthing extra in it to make it seem like better weed. you aint gotta worry about that as much now but back in the day it was a real problem
    • Brandon Hooven
      Brandon Hooven  •  Pittsburgh, United States  •  6 mths ago
      Who had the bright idea to smoke a PEZ dispenser? Obviously that is what caused such a sudden and traumatic experience with the destroyed lungs. One time of smoking synthetics like K2 and JWH will not cause negative effects to this extent as rapidly as this boy experienced them. Legalize the non-toxic and medical cannabinoid, THC, and even the potential risk of incidents like this will decrease exponentially.
    • Angela
      Angela  •  Chicago, United States  •  6 mths ago
      Come on... the kid somked the fake marijuana out a a plastic pez dispenser, but they're not blaming that on his death... just the drug!! How lame!
    • jason
      jason  •  Syracuse, United States  •  6 mths ago
      PLASTIC...WOW..Lets blame it on the fake weed.The funny thing is people who dont know will believe it was the fake weed that caused the prob...wheres was his mother? I'm not sure this fake weed is harmless due to the changes in people ive known for years not being the same after smokin..for a length of time....
    • KyleR
      KyleR  •  La Mirada, United States  •  6 mths ago
      To the people who are saying that its the drug that killed this boy, You are idiots. I've smoked spice, however, I've smoked it out of glass. Him smoking out of that Pez Dispenser is what killed this adolescent. He probably inhaled more of that toxic plastic than the spice itself.
    • Travis
      Travis  •  Aberdeen, United States  •  6 mths ago
      the article didn't say he smoked plastic though, did they??
    • Travis
      Travis  •  6 mths ago
      nobody said he smoked the plastic though, did they??
    • Danielle
      Danielle  •  Mount Pleasant, United States  •  6 mths ago
      What the hell is fake weed?
    • brian
      brian  •  Portage, United States  •  6 mths ago
      it wasnt the plastic pezz disspencer lets ban those also
    • Robert
      Robert  •  Chicago, United States  •  6 mths ago
      everyone whos taken a high school chem class knows that inhaling burning plastic is what killed the kid, as every other comment has pointed out. its stupid that they cant just say that. They have to make it sound like it was the spice that killed him...
      • Bianca
        Bianca 6 mths ago
        It was probably a mixture of both but definitely more of the spice than the plastic...A lot of people have been harmed by smoking that #$%$ It's not pure and not meant to be used. I'm sure if he had smoked legit weed, he would've been better off.
      • kory
        kory 6 mths ago
        And if you took college chemistry and biology, you would see there is no evidence that any cannabinoids are physically dangerous.
    • kory
      kory  •  New Orleans, United States  •  6 mths ago
      Synthetic marijuana has chemicals that are very closely related to THC. They share many of the same medical befits and have ridiculously high toxicity. There has never been a credible report that shows any of these chemicals have actually killed anyone. There is not one autopsy report showing this. People please learn your chemistry and biology and quit believing everything you read in the news.
    • Deborah Jean
      Deborah Jean  •  Binghamton, United States  •  6 mths ago
      This is why marijuana needs to be legalized. It is NOT harmful, but because it's illegal, teens are trying to find legal ways to get high, and until this law was passed, synthetic pot was legal. Blame the government for controlling what we do with our own bodies.
      • steve
        steve 6 mths ago
        I agree with you, but even if marijuana is ever legalized, it will only be legal for adults - not kids. What should be illegal is the synthetic stuff.... and Pez!!
      • ron b
        ron b 6 mths ago
        no the goverment are not to blame it's the parents who should take the blame
      • Rising
        Rising 6 mths ago
        Ron B: Parents can't always be EVERYwhere their children are. It's tragic, but to solely blame the parents makes you sound uneducated and ignorant. You don't know the entire facts of the story and until you are in there shoes it is always easy for someone to place blame (and this story didn't really discuss the specifics of why the parents weren't there when he smoked the "fake" pot) Sometimes kids make REALLY stupid mistakes, but to blame the parents? ugh, glad I don't know you.
    • kylew
      kylew  •  Kitchener, Canada  •  6 mths ago
      Those responsible for real, relatively benign cannabis being illegal have this boys blood on their hands!
    • ricky o
      ricky o  •  Pittsburgh, United States  •  6 mths ago
      I agree with everybody, plastic is what killed the boy.
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