Maureen Dowd eats Colorado cannabis candy bar, unwise about dosage.

[JaneyVee]

The caramel-chocolate flavored candy bar looked so innocent, like the Sky Bars I used to love as a child.

Sitting in my hotel room in Denver, I nibbled off the end and then, when nothing happened, nibbled some more. I figured if I was reporting on the social revolution rocking Colorado in January, the giddy culmination of pot Prohibition, I should try a taste of legal, edible pot from a local shop.

What could go wrong with a bite or two?

Everything, as it turned out.

Not at first. For an hour, I felt nothing. I figured I’d order dinner from room service and return to my more mundane drugs of choice, chardonnay and mediocre-movies-on-demand.

But then I felt a scary shudder go through my body and brain. I barely made it from the desk to the bed, where I lay curled up in a hallucinatory state for the next eight hours. I was thirsty but couldn’t move to get water. Or even turn off the lights. I was panting and paranoid, sure that when the room-service waiter knocked and I didn’t answer, he’d call the police and have me arrested for being unable to handle my candy.

I strained to remember where I was or even what I was wearing, touching my green corduroy jeans and staring at the exposed-brick wall. As my paranoia deepened, I became convinced that I had died and no one was telling me.

The rest: http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/06/04/opinion/dowd-dont-harsh-our-mellow-dude.html?referrer=



She ate the whole bar, enough for 16 doses.

[bettyellen]

1. fucking idiot.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

35. Seriously?

Not realising that you're only meant to eat 1/16 of a candy bar which isn't labelled as such is idiotic?

It sounds to me like the idiots - and that's a kind word - are the manufacturers, not Dowd.

[bettyellen]

62. Yes. You ask about dosage before ingesting any drug if you cannot find that info- or google for how

to do it. Or call the store? I don't see an intelligent person doing this.

[KittyWampus]

80. Well, guess what…. the amount of active THC varies from candy bar to candy bar

from batch to batch.

Until it is standardized, even IF you ingest a "safe" amount it may still be too much or too little.

I detest Dowd and support legalizing marijuana and medical marijuana but until it's standardized it isn't as safe as it needs to be.

[bettyellen]

82. And guess what? Sixteen doses is still fucking idiocy. As is- not asking anyone when you don't know.

[meadowlark5]

92. They just passed a bill or maybe more to try and help the public understand this better

There have been numerous child ER admissions because the candy looks just like OTC candy. There is staff at the stores telling people how to ingest the edibles based on their experience. If you are a regular user you can ingest far more marijuana than Maureen Dowd.

There is no real protocol on how to instruct people. I know there was legislation passed but not certain what it was all targeted to. There was talk of reducing the amount of oil one can posses. An ounce of oil is not similar to possessing an ounce of dry. I live here in Colorado and I know for sure there is supposed to be a change in what the candy/edibles look like or is packaged to try and stop child ODs. The rest I'm not certain if it passed or is being proposed.

Not everyone responds to pot the same way. I never had fun smoking pot. Never. And I smoked it every time someone had it and it was never much different. I'm wired up differently, I guess. Always paranoid. And the paranoia varied. I could be mildly paranoid or I'd be freakishly paranoid. I can't even imagine getting a concentrated dose like Maureen Dowd ate and being prone to a paranoid reaction

[cleanhippie]

116. Cannabis is ALREADY safe.

That idiot took a massive dose of THC, and had it been virtually ANY OTHER DRUG, she would be dead, not sitting around showing the world how stupid she is.

She required ZERO medical attention. Let that sink in for a bit, then ask yourself just what "safe" means.

[cleanhippie]

64. An investigative journalist travels across the country to try pot and didn't do her research?

"Fucking idiot" seems entirely appropriate.

[Orrex]

76. I find that offensive.

An investigative journalist travels across the country to try pot and didn't do her research?

She's not an investigative journalist; she's a hack who has carried water for the GOP on many occasions.

[cleanhippie]

115. Touché

[elleng]

102. but she's not an 'investigative journalist,'

she's an opinion-ator (and a lousy one, imo.)

VERY foolish what she did.

[trotsky]

100. I have yet to see a bottle of vodka labeled with a recommended dosage. n/t

[Warpy]

151. EXCELLENT point

And the 21 drinks on the 21 birthday crowd ends up in serious trouble unless the drinks are very small and very watered down, requiring dialysis in an ER IF THEY LIVE TO GET THERE.

Dowd spent an uncomfortable night on 16 times the dosage, required no medical attention and has had no physical aftereffects, although I'm sure the memories aren't pleasant to revisit.

She demonstrated the safety of pot, even super strong, ingested pot, beyond the shadow of a doubt.

Disclaimer: yes, some people go into supraventricular tachycardia and that is very unpleasant. Once the drug wears off, it goes away, too. People with serious heart conditions should probably take cannabis in small inhaled or vaped doses until they know how it will affect them and leave the long acting ingested stuff alone.

[markpkessinger]

2. Oops!

I wonder if there were any dosage instructions printed on the wrapper? If not, perhaps there should be!

[KamaAina]

93. If edibles were federally approved, there would be

yet another reason to end Prohibition, Release 2.0.

[MannyGoldstein]

4. I guess that's why she's not an investigative reporter. nt

[Heidi]

17. !

[Botany]

5. Maybe she freaked out about her past writing such as calling Al Gore a metrosexual

I have no use for her.

[bigtree]

6. delicious!

[Gravitycollapse]

7. Reminds me of my first time. I didn't think the first rip did anything...

While I was trying to figure out if I was feeling anything, someone had repacked the bowl with hash. I took two more humungous rips and that is one of the last coherent memories of the night.

For the next 4 or 5 hours, reality was a endless series of still images.

[Half-Century Man]

8. Ya know, If she had been that fucking stupid with any other medication.

A 16X dosing is quite normally fatal.

Why did it not occur to Ms Dowd, a professional reporter, to ask questions? As she graduated high school in 69, and college in 73, One speculates she, at least heard, basic information about marijuana. As a reporter, one would think she might have heard the potencies are, in some cases, a couple orders of magnitudes above the shit grown in your cousins window box.

[pacalo]

18. +1.

It's unbelievable that she, as a reporter, didn't ask questions of the vendor.

[TheNutcracker]

107. +2

That's why she's not an investigative journalist!

[MADem]

78. If she didn't know weed being in HS/college in the sixties/seventies, she shouldn't

have been even trying to cover this story.

What a putz.

[elleng]

103. but we didn't eat it, in those days.

[MADem]

104. Yeah we did!

You never had pot brownies back in the day? That was the "covert" method of ingesting.

I had an artful buddy who used to make a pasta sauce with weed as a key ingredient, though that was less common.

The brownies, though, they were everywhere. Alice B. Toklas was all the rage, and not for her unique style of dress...remember?

Toklas published her own literary memoir, a 1954 book that mixed reminiscences and recipes under the title The Alice B. Toklas Cookbook. The most famous recipe therein (actually contributed by her friend Brion Gysin) was called "Haschich Fudge," a mixture of fruit, nuts, spices, and "canibus sativa," [sic] or marijuana. Her name was later lent to the range of cannabis concoctions called Alice B. Toklas brownies. The cookbook has been translated into numerous languages, most recently into Norwegian in 2007. A second cookbook followed in 1958 called Aromas and Flavors of Past and Present; however, Toklas did not approve of it as it had been heavily annotated by Poppy Cannon, an editor from House Beautiful magazine. She also wrote articles for several magazines and newspapers, including The New Republic and the New York Times.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_B._Toklas

[elleng]

105. No, I didn't,

but thanks for the memory, do recall the Toklas stories! I was slow!

[4now]

9. Reefer Madness Part 2. The Edibles

But seriously.
You have to use your grown-up brain if you are going to experiment with drugs.
Don't eat the whole thing your first time. Have some self control even if it is covered in chocolate.

[CanSocDem]

67. Too funny.

"Have some self control even if it is covered in chocolate."

And welcome to DU.

.

[dionysus]

110. edibles can fuck you up. smoking gets you high instantly, but eating it take a few hours to kick in.

I ate half of a rice crispy treat, didn't feel a thing, then and hour or so later it fucked me up, bad (in a good way).

[Politicalboi]

10. LOL!

"He’d call the police and have me arrested for being unable to handle my candy."

Most of us would possibly get fired if we "used" the drug. Since it's not legal where she lives, she needs to be tested and promptly fired. That's what we poor would have happen to us. Your piss is dirty, doesn't matter where you did it.

[bettyellen]

71. Wow- didn't think of that. Great point about her realtive privilege in this situation.

I think she is exggering greatly, at best.

[Mnemosyne]

11. And she survived, another plus for cannabis. nt

[Blue_Tires]

12. Least entertaining drug binge in the history of Western Civilization...

Either she made that shit up, or the NYT editors demanded that she write a 'PG'-rated version of events...

[thucythucy]

120. Really. Hunter S. Thompson was so much better at this.

"We were about forty miles outside of Barstow when the drugs began to take hold...."

[RainDog]

13. She didn't bother to find out the dosage?

I agree that people who make edibles should indicate dosage - but -

knowing this woman writes for the newspaper of record in the U.S. - she couldn't bother to ask information about what she was ingesting before doing so?

Knowing she had not used marijuana in a very long time?

Knowing (or she should've) that edibles are, generally, a stronger experience than vaporized? Knowing the edibles have been a point of contention - and are now under review in Colorado for regulations...

she didn't know any of this?

okay.

she's really on the ball there.

[KittyWampus]

81. At this point, indicating dosage is still a crap shoot. There needs to be standardizatio for medical

marijuana.

There is no other drug dispensed where the active ingredients can vary so widely from batch to batch.

[RainDog]

129. She could've immediately gotten some CBD-bred cannabis

With little THC, vaporized or smoked a little of it, and her experience would have been moderated within minutes.

CBD is the "companion" of THC in the cannabis plant - one molecule moderates the other - it goes both ways. CBD is not psychotropic and moderates the psychotropic qualities of THC - this is why so many plants hybridized since Reagan spurred the sea of green from Vancouver to Amsterdam and all points in between have ultra high levels of THC - to maximize the psychotropic effects while minimizing the plant material necessary for this.

It's well known that high levels of THC can cause discomfort and paranoia in some people. It's not good to be alone in such a situation. This is why I find what she did so... utterly... ridiculous. If she had vaporized a small amount of plant material, she would've been better off, imo.

Even with better descriptions of content, etc. - people are going to vary in their responses and this will have to do with their level of use and their internal cannabinoid system - i.e. endocannabinoids.

If she had been an experienced cannabis user, she would've also had cannabis metabolites in her system that would've mediated the effect of THC, just as adding some CBD would do for someone.

if anyone wants to fly me to Denver to do a remake of The Maureen Dowd Cannabis Story, please contact me. I promise I will eat an entire 16 dose portion - but will also supply myself with some CBD cannabis if I decide to curl up in a fetal position and stare at a brick wall for hours.

I can't think of a better metaphor for the sort of "east coast" journalism we've been getting from "pundits" about this issue, however. Au pointe.

[JoeyT]

14. If her story is true, it's further

evidence that, as drugs go, pot is pretty much harmless. I can think of maybe four drugs that a 16X dosage wouldn't at the very least require a trip to the emergency room with some liver or kidney damage as a parting gift.

To quote Kat Williams: "Aspirin is perfectly legal, but if you take 13 of them motherfuckers, it'll be your last headache."

All four of the drugs I can think of are hallucinogens. You might WISH for death at a 16X dosage, but as long as whatever your friends strapped you down with holds, you'll be fine eventually.

[tofuandbeer]

26. She's making it sound like LSD. What a joke of a reporter.

[Duppers]

51. take enough and you'll be tripping

as if you've had some LSD!

Btdt.

Must add however, I despise Dowd - she's mostly a lousy columnist who occasionally can be humorous.

[Bosonic]

41. Therapeutic Index

The schedule designations may be a little out of date

[dionysus]

111. reminds me of a story in a Hendrix biography i read a long tome ago. jimi was chillig with his buddy

on a park bench,and his friend was interested in trying acid. jimi gives him a tab. doesn't do anything after 15 min so they guy asks for another. then another.

and this is pure 1960d shit, not the stuff you get today which is a crapshoot.

then jimi told him it took a long time to kick in , and suddenly the guy got fucckkkkked up. imagine trippin' with jimi for your first trip ever... that'd be so cool...

[kentuck]

15. Why do I find this so funny?

A lot of folks do not know the dosage they are taking with the edibles. I mean, what could one little chocolate chip cookie do?

[Uncle Joe]

16. If she was that paranoid, Dowd should've just called Jimmy Carter for help

relaxed, remembered that she's one of God's creatures and put some Allman Brothers on.

Thanks for the thread, JaneyVee.

[NBachers]

24. Thanks- that was nice. Just the thing before bed time. Thanks, Uncle Joe

[Uncle Joe]

138. You're most welcome, NBachers.

[RainDog]

37. I just saw that in the link below... LOL! n/t

[Ishoutandscream2]

131. That's just some of the best damn music in the world

Thank you.

[Uncle Joe]

137. I agree, Ishoutandscream2.

[AtheistCrusader]

19. I had a reaction like that once to edibles.

And similarly, I have no clue the dosage involved.

I don't go around telling people it'll kick their asses. It sorta kicked mine, but I realize, mileage will vary. I'm not a big fan of alcohol either, for similar reasons. But I don't go around trying to scare people about the effects of alcohol.

[marlakay]

141. I had a bad reaction a few years ago

And I did feel stupid. I swear it's sugar that's addicting and bad not the pot!

I wanted something sweet after dinner and ate two small pot cookies, of course I found out later like Maureen each one was suppose to be broken up into 4 pieces.

I learned a lesson that night...what I learned was my addiction to sugar was so great I didn't stop to think of dose of pot...and I should have known better.

I don't eat it anymore...just thinking about how I felt creeps me out...but still smoke it occasionally. Thankfully we are in WA where it's legal...

[AtheistCrusader]

142. What I had was the little gummy peach ring candy.

Just one. When it hadn't fully kicked in, I ALMOST ate the other three in the bag. Because hey, I love candy. Wife knew better, suggested I NOT do that. Thankfully.

Although, I don't think eating any more would have actually made me any goofier.


And I TOTALLY agree about sugar being addictive.
I'm taking it off, one mile at a time. But man, am I addicted to sugar.

[marlakay]

147. Husband would have stopped me too but...

I was doing the eating sugar in secret thing...talk about walk of shame!

I thought I was having a stroke...all I remembered was having fun eating brownies in the 70's. Must not have been as strong.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

20. Why doesn't she swallow a whole bottle of asprin next?

[tomm2thumbs]

25. DUzy....

Or throw a gallon of gasoline on that barbecue to get it started. She acts like a child without any reason and somehow wants to blame the world for her ignorance.

I guess she really wants the world to take her down life's road, hand in hand, telling her what to do, who to talk to and what to eat.

Whatta dolt.

Seriously, a complete dolt.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

27. You'd think she'da learned after what happened the last time a stranger offered her some candy.

[AtheistCrusader]

143. More is always better, right!

[alittlelark]

21. Been there.... in a serious way

...gotta go w/ the flow or you will become paranoid and 'Whacked Out'.... no OD, just too much personal reality at once w/o a therapist or good friemd.

[vlakitti]

22. Been there, done that!

I really like Maureen Dowd when she's on and this was a great article.

People need to loosen up, I think.

"She ate the whole bar, enough for 16 doses."

Not a great idea if you think about it

[Ed Suspicious]

23. The whole thing makes me angry. It's like people are trying to sink this legalization thing.

I guess the article was fair enough, but I would have thought her intelligent enough to not get fucking lit. Did she take a bite or two or did she eat the whole bar?

What could go wrong with a bite or two?

Everything, as it turned out.

[U4ikLefty]

28. I smell bullshit

[pinboy3niner]

29. Sounds like creative writing, doesn't it?

[U4ikLefty]

30. Yeah, it sounds more like a shroom trip or something.

How ya doing niner??? It's been a while.

[pinboy3niner]

31. Okay, you?

I hoped to see you again before now. If we don't link up at another protest soon, maybe we should get together for a candy bar sometime. I hear the Dowd Special is to die for.

[U4ikLefty]

34. I think I'll split it with you...lol

Yeah, we need to connect when another good action comes around.

PM me if you see something good coming up.

[madokie]

32. Maybe that will untwist her twisted mind

The girl needs help

[Warren DeMontague]

33. "remember you're a living organism on this planet, you're very safe, you've just taken a heavy drug"

"listen to some music.. do you have any Allman Brothers?"

http://screen.yahoo.com/ask-president-carter-000000735.html

[RainDog]

36. LOL

[wilt the stilt]

70. I saw Duane 4 times

including Friday of the last shows at the Fillmore east. June '71 with Albert King and the J Geils band.

[Uncle Joe]

72. That's some fine jammin.

[AgingAmerican]

38. A friend of mine

Gave his landlord a pat of 'Cannabutter'. She took it home and later spread it on a piece of toast and ate it. She had never had cannabis before. She passed out cold on the couch and slept for two days.

My friends dog got hold of a coffee filter that had been used in making cannabis oil. She got it away from her, but not until it had been in the dogs mouth for a few seconds. Later she called me in tears saying she thought her dog was poisoned and she wanted a ride to the pet ER. The dog was peeing and staggering and a mess, so I gave her a ride. Two minutes after the doctor went in to see her, he came out and asked us, "Are there any medical grade cannabis products in your house?" We looked at each other and both broke out laughing. The doctor said he took one look at the dog and knew what it was, sees it all the time.

My MOMs dog was the worst case. Pepper is a 14 year old Scottie/terrier mix. Last Thanksgiving my sister thought it would be a good idea to deliver some pot brownies to my brother at my moms house. She left the pan on my moms bed. Later my brother noticed that Pepper was acting funny and staggering around. He kept getting worse until he was pulling himself around by the front feet and dragging the back ones. About that time my sister found the remains of the brownies. Some chewed up Saran Wrap and an empty pan. Pepper had eaten 12 brownies. 1 brownie was 2 strong doses for a human. He passed out cold and was almost comatose for two days. My mother had to babysit him because he kept throwing up. She said he still wasn't right five days later. Gotta be careful with this stuff with pets around.

[B Calm]

45. OMG! I bet that cured Pepper from eating brownies.

[AgingAmerican]

98. Doubtful

My money says Pepper would eat two pans of brownies right now if you put them in front of him lol

[Enrique]

47. yes, keep chocolate away from dogs

it can make them very sick, thanks for the reminder.

[Feral Child]

60. And grapes.

Toxic to dogs, but they really like them.

[tblue37]

112. It is a fungus on the grapes that is so toxic to dogs, I believe. nt

[Feral Child]

125. Interesting.

I've never researched it, I just remember warnings on pages listing toxic substances for domestic animals.

Thanks, and I'll google later.

[Skidmore]

39. Shoot..."panting and paranoid" are her usual state of mind.

She just noticed. That being said, I also do think that not everybody metabolizes substances in their bodies in the same way.

[Jesus Malverde]

40. Keep away from children...nt

[Cerridwen]

42. Preparation H has a warning label on it for people like maureen...

"not to be taken internally"

or maybe it is

"do not ingest"

Hair dryers, too. Maureen, just so you know, don't use your hair dryer while taking a shower or soaking in the bath.

[Egnever]

43. Not buying it.

Have eaten smoked vaporized etc massive amounts in my lifetime and never experienced anything like that.

[sendero]

44. Nothing better than when an idiot..

... lays out their idiocy in print for all to see.

[eShirl]

46. "Maureen Dowd Got Way Too High And Freaked Out" (Hunter Walker, Business Insider)

http://www.businessinsider.com/maureen-dowd-too-high-and-freaked-out-2014-6

New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd was somewhere around Denver on the edge of the Rockies when the drugs began to take hold.

"But then I felt a scary shudder go through my body and brain. I barely made it from the desk to the bed, where I lay curled up in a hallucinatory state for the next eight hours. I was thirsty but couldn’t move to get water. Or even turn off the lights," Dowd wrote in her latest column, which was published Wednesday.

Once Dowd crawled into bed, she really began to get the Fear.

"I strained to remember where I was or even what I was wearing, touching my green corduroy jeans and staring at the exposed-brick wall. As my paranoia deepened, I became convinced that I had died and no one was telling me," she wrote.

[notadmblnd]

109. Green corduroy jeans?

Think about that a minute. Anybody here ever own a pair of green corduroy jeans?

Personally, I've owned green corduroys and I've owned green jeans. I've never owned green corduroy jeans.

[malaise]

48. ROFL

Jackass

[Enrique]

49. it needs to be labeled

it's a drug, after all.

I'm wondering about the price, if the candy bar contained 16 doses, wouldn't the price be a clue? Or maybe she's in a bracket where prices of things don't even register.

[magical thyme]

55. agreed on all counts.

Her writing sucks and I don't believe any of it.

However, contrary to what people are posting here, any drug should be labeled. It is not intuitive that a candy bar will contain X number of doses. Even if it is perceived as such by some people, manufacturers cannot assume that all people will be knowledgeable and experienced in their products. Not even "journalists." Can you imagine selling alcohol without the alcohol content on the label?

And you're also right that in her income bracket, the price probably didn't even register.

[marlakay]

145. I bet it was given to her

I agree about having a label...even if it just says kind of like a serving size of how many servings to a product, then it's your choice to have more or less.

I am guessing she got it for free with no explanation and just wasn't expecting it to be so strong. That's what happened to me, I wanted dessert, saw the pot cookies my husband got and stupidly didn't ask how strong or dose...my sugar addiction was too strong for mental clarity!

Although if she was doing it as a investigative thing...she flunked on homework. If I was doing it as a test or job I would have checked it out more. That's the sad saga of most of our news now, not much is checked out.

[B Calm]

50. Catholic Girl goes wild!

[NightWatcher]

52. Sounds like she's been reading Hunter S Thompson

I'd be willing to wager that she'll do it again...and like it.


We cant stop here, this is Batshit Crazy Country

[msanthrope]

53. Christ, what an idiot. nt

[Paladin]

54. Did it improve her shitty writing? Nah, I didn't think so. (nt)

[LWolf]

56. Wow.

Pot must have changed a very great deal from the 70s.

[Ilsa]

57. Unless the wrapper explicitly explained the dosage, I probably

Would have done the same thing. It's a candy bar. Maybe only one dose should be in a bar. Or put one dose into candy bites (minis). Where was she supposed to learn any differently?

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

94. Kinda what I was thinking.

To me a 'candy bar' is 'a serving'. I don't eat half a candy bar (or 1/16th) and save the rest for later. I wouldn't have thought to expect that there would be 16 doses in a single bar. Maybe they should instead package them in 'single serving' blocks like those little Ghiradelli bite size deals.

[tazkcmo]

127. Where was she to learn diferently?

From the person who sold it to her. Most folks ask questions about a product they know nothing about when they buy it. Even more folks want to know a suggested dosage, and ask that very question, when taking drugs. Now, most folks don't call themselves investigative journalists but you'd think a journalist would ask. She's lucky she didn't "investigate" ecstacy. She'd be dead.

[Ilsa]

128. All good points. Maybe she didn't ask

because as a candy bar, she assumed the whole thing was one dose. Maybe she thought she overheard them telling another customer that a different bar was one dose, but didn't realize her bar was stronger.

Maybe she thought she already knew and didn't want the people behind her in line to start calling her names like the nasty names on this thread. There's an awful lot of ugliness in this thread directed at someone who appears to have simply made a mistake.

[RainDog]

134. It was segmented into 16 portions

One guy said they do have portion sizes on the candy and said the thing she bought showed demarcations for serving pieces.

Colorado is talking about limiting 10 grams of THC per portion size, and limiting sales so that only one portion per package is sold. This makes sense to me - don't expect the consumer will read the label. Make it so that one item has one portion of THC, not an entire candy bar.

I don't think it's ugliness directed toward her so much as the entire New York press establishment that thinks it should be the nanny of everyone else. c.f. David Brooks (also a columnist for the NYT) and Ruth Marcus.

They really don't have anything worthwhile to say about this subject but their self-importance leads them to make all sorts of assumptions - and that includes Ms. Dowd.

I think it's funny to most people here - in terms of - typical know-it-all who doesn't.

[Ilsa]

136. ITA about the nanny press establishment.

She was judgmental in her comments.

Thanks for the additional comments on the servings.

[tazkcmo]

150. She has a history

and deserves all the ugliness dished out.

"...because as a candy bar, she assumed the whole thing was one dose."
Candy bar and dose are oxymorons. Candy doesn't have a dose, drugs do (and she knew it contained a drug) so by definition, it is no longer candy but a controlled substance regulated by the federal govt. Also, she's an investigative reporter.


"Maybe she thought she already knew and didn't want the people behind her in line to start calling her names like the nasty names on this thread."
Really? If this really was her frame of mind then one of her relativess needs to step up and get a power of attorney to over see her affairs because she's obviously too immature to enter into binding agreements like leases and loans, etc. Also, she's an investigative reporter.

[Feral Child]

58. LIAR!

This is bullshit.

Edibles can be a heavier load than smoking and can sneak up on you a bit, but there's no way that cannabis is going to reduce you to fetal-position horror for eight hours.

Cannabis isn't opium, it isn't LSD. You can not "OD" on pot candy, your body excretes any excess that the receptors won't process.

This is more ridiculous scare-fare intended to fuel the fantasies of Puritans.

[metalbot]

68. I guess I'm a liar too

Drugs affect different people in different ways, and for people who have developed no tolerance, they can be very intense. About 14 years ago, I was in Holland, and thought to myself "Hey, I'm in Holland! I should buy some weed!" I got directions to the nearest shop, bought a small amount, rolled it in a joint, and smoked it. Now, obviously this was a dumb thing to do - I'd been a heavy smoker in college many years before, and smoking most of a joint would never have been a problem. But years later, with no tolerance, this was quite possibly the most wrecked I've been under any drug (including alcohol).

I had another experience a few years ago where a friend made brownies. Again, not a regular user. Ate a brownie. An hour later, I'm feeling nothing, so I eat another brownie. Thirty minutes after that I was completely non-functional.

I'm not claiming that either of these was an "OD" in the sense that they were life threatening, but they were both OD's in the sense that without expecting it, both made me incapacitated in ways that were completely unexpected. They were overdoses in the sense that "I took more than a reasonable person in my situation should have taken to have a good experience".

Pot can be a powerful drug, and it's a mistake to pretend that it's not. It may be safer in many ways than alcohol, but at the very least when I drink alcohol, I never get surprises. I know exactly what a beer, a shot, or a glass of wine does to me. I don't have to make choices about "Well, if I have 4 shots of vodka I'll be couch locked for 4 hours, but if I have 4 shots of tequila, I'll be up with my friends arguing about philosophy." I've never had a "surprise, you're really, really drunk!" experience.

We should be treating ALL drugs with care, whether it's alcohol or recreational weed. There are going to be some growing pains as we incorporate recreational weed as a mainstream activity, and what the reporter is describing is exactly one of these growing pains - not "bullshit".

[Feral Child]

124. Why would I call you a name

before having read your post.

That said, please read my posts #122 and #123. Pay close attention to my statements about dosage. Do you really believe that a company that supplies legal medical cannabis would jeopardize they're licens in this way? Can you reasonably believe that a dispensary would manufacture a product the size of a candy bar and pack in 16 doses? What would be the point? And why wouldn't there be a vibrant and vivid warning on the label?

Her story makes no sense at all on that basis alone.

I'm not calling you a liar now that I've read your post. I do believe you've Mitty'd your experiences a bit. That, or maybe you're on SSRIs and forgot to skip doses before you got high.

[msanthrope]

69. Yes, it can. I had it happen to me. But, it was my mistake, and I never repeated it. That said,

my mistake was when I was 17.

Maureen should know better.

[Feral Child]

123. msanthrope, please see my post #122.

I'm sure you copped a Bummer, but unless you had adulterated pot, your symptoms didn't match the fetal-position catatonia this liar pretends to have experienced.

I've explained my credentials. I assure you, the body can not process a 16X dose of cannabis. The receptors can't absorb that much and the excess is excreted.

There are few people of Moe's age and experience that are neophytes and I simply do not believe that she failed to read the label.

Also, it makes no sense to pack 16 doses in a single candy bar. Are you supposed to cut it into sixteen pieces? Try that w/ a Snickers, see how easy it is.

No licensed company in CO is going to produce a product like that and they certainly would include a loud warning dosage label if they did.

[KittyWampus]

85. you don't know what you're talking about. I smoked pot heavily in University days

Used it as a social lubricant instead of alcohol.

When I graduated, I smoked very, very little and became de-habituated.

Last time I toked, I got so unpleasantly high and paranoid all I could do is sit by myself in a corner and breath for the next 4 hours. It sucked big time and was the last time I bothered with pot.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

95. Clearly you need to smoke pot more often...

That's the moral to this story -- Never Give Up Weed.

[Feral Child]

122. Four hours

isn't 8.

Also, you bummed out. Happens, but that isn't the catatonic state this propaganda describes.

Kitty, there's no reason to be unpleasant. I certainly DO know what I'm talking about. I'm a certified Rehab Counselor in 2 states and the District. I'm an expert witness in addiction and narcotic abuse in federal court and I've testified 7 times in the US District Court of the Special Maritime District of Eastern Virginia.

Since I'm a cancer survivor in treatment for two years, I've smoked near habitually, I mean every fucking day, for the last 10.

I first experimented with cannabis in Viet Nam, ca 1969.

I smoke African Kwazulu, a feminized strain, 100% Sativa, that clocks in in excess of 20%.

I've attended Cannabis Cup twice.

I donated $500 to Marc Emery's defense fund.

With no intent to insult, your experience is as a pilgrim.

[hatrack]

59. Scary!!! SCAAAAAARRRRRRRRRYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!! BE AFRAID!! NOW!!!!

Stupid cow, you'd think she'd at least talk to somebody at the store before eating the whole damned bar. You'd think she'd at least smoked pot at some point in her life, or at least knew somebody who had.

Apparently not - in terms of clueless, stratospheric above-it-all status, just as Peggy Noonan is Cokie Roberts Emeritus, Maureen Dowd is Cokie Roberts-In-Waiting.

[Fla Dem]

61. So how is her reaction any diiferent from some fool downing 16 shots of whiskey?

Same thing with the incidents she offers as proof of the evils of MJ.

"In March, a 19-year-old Wyoming college student jumped off a Denver hotel balcony after eating a pot cookie with 65 milligrams of THC. In April, a Denver man ate pot-infused Karma Kandy and began talking like it was the end of the world, scaring his wife and three kids. Then he retrieved a handgun from a safe and killed his wife while she was on the phone with an emergency dispatcher."

Unfortunately these very same situations happen to people under the influence of alcohol. Don't see her writing about her " mundane drugs of choice, chardonnay".

[Lex]

84. I was thinking that too.

Or eating 16 Xanax.

[KittyWampus]

86. 16 shots of whiskey will always have the same amount of active ingredient. It's completely standard.

Unless you are drinking homemade that is unlabeled.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

96. How was it different? She lived.

A non or rare drinker downing 16 shots of whiskey in a row would possibly have died, or at the very least seriously damaged her liver.

I've never heard of anyone having an mj reaction as bad as hers (not that know a lot of pot users) but with most drugs YMMV, and it's best to follow the same process pain killer providers use with hospice patients - start low and slow, and increase steadily until you've got the pain under control, or achieve whatever your goal is.

[Eleanors38]

63. Self-titration is your friend, not an all-you-can-eat buffet.

She should have read up on the speeds of various titration methods; specifically, ingestion (slow), and smoking (fast). Eating cannibus can result in undetected build up of THC, which then comes on like gang busters. That's why many patients smoke to relieve pain: the onset of effects are quick and can be moderated.

[Throd]

65. Unwise, but still healthier than doing ten shots of tequila.

[kpete]

66. She ate the whole bar, enough for 16 doses.

[Tom Ripley]

73. Hey wannabe, Dorothy Parker could handle her reefer!

[Alex P Notkeaton]

74. Has Dowd (or Brooks, or Friedman) ever been wise about anything?

Major league franchise, double-A lineup.

[davidthegnome]

75. I wonder if she has anxiety issues?

I smoked a lot of pot back in my late teens and early twenties - it made me feel great for a while, I became something of a pothead, because it loosened me up, helped relieve some of my immense social anxiety. A few years later, for whatever reason, I started having panic attacks every time I smoked it - the only thing that would calm me down then was really loud music and dancing - some times for four or five hours at a time.

I've heard from some people who have regular anxiety attacks or anxiety issues that pot can make them worse - but I've also heard the opposite - which is that it helps chill people out. I think it varies from person to person.

But, uhm, sixteen doses? I would have been running through the woods naked, climbing trees and laughing at squirrels, maybe asking my cat about the meaning of life, and understanding all of it when she meowed at me.

[RobinA]

90. I Had Your

experience. It was great for five years. The minute I left college it was panic city. If it gets legalized in my state before I die (PA) we'll see how it works then.

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

99. The first few times I smoked pot I loved it. But after that it became an increasingly unpleasant

experience. After a while, I had to assume that it was not going to get any better and could get worse, so I stopped. Bummer though, because most of my friends and family are potheads and I'm often tempted, in the spirit of community, to join them. But I haven't done so for, jeeez, maybe twenty years now.

[MADem]

77. What a moron. Serves her right. IDIOT. nt

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

79. Did it improve her writing?.............. Doesn't seem like it.

.

[Doctor_J]

83. reefer madness

Poor modo. So hard to be cool

[SomethingFishy]

87. Bwhahahaha.. There have been some really pathetic attempts

by the anti-pot gang to stem the flow of legalization but this has to be one of the best..

Now for a few facts. first of all I have yet to see any edibles sold that had "16 doses". The standard is 10. Usually the bars have 100mg's of THC and are split into 10 doses. Each package is labeled with the amount of THC. The dosage is not printed on the package. Why?
Because 1 10mg dose is very mild if you are a pot smoker. I usually take 30mg, but every person is different.

If she was using it for medical purposes then she should have asked her doctor what the dosage should be for her. If she was just trying it for recreational purposes then she is an idiot who shouldn't be allowed near sharp objects.

She should consider herself lucky. If she were 16 times the legal limit on alcohol she'd be dead.

[renate]

88. I'd have done the same thing

I've never tried marijuana in any form, smoked or eaten, so I wouldn't know what to expect or how fast or anything like that. Apparently she's had some experience with it since she says she's not a "regular" marijuana smoker, but she says in the column that the candy bar wasn't labeled. For most people, a candy bar is a serving... it certainly isn't normally 16 servings. (I don't think she even says she ate the whole thing, although it's implied. But she only says she had a bite or two.) Without a label, how is anybody supposed to know?

So, although I am not a fan of Maureen Dowd, I don't think she's stupid for eating more than a 16th of a candy bar.

[Johonny]

89. Best line in piece- With liquor, people understand what they’re getting themselves into.

Yeah, because no one has ever witnessed someone having this problem with liquor before... oh wait <insert your own story here.>

[politicat]

91. From the IncrEdibles website:

When choosing edibles, please be aware that dose depends on many factors including height, weight, tolerance, previous usage, current state of well-being, and health issues. We encourage a care giver to take care of patients requiring more than the recommended dose.

Our label instructs medical patients to begin by taking 1 "square" of a 100mg bar (which is equal to approximately 8.3mg of THC) and wait 2 hours before consuming another square.

For recreational clients, we also recommend beginning with 1 "square" and then waiting another 2 hours before consuming more. For recreational bars this equals approximately 2.08mg for a 25mg bar, 4.2mg for a 50mg bar, and 6.25mg for a 75mg bar.

The state of Colorado recommends 10mg of THC. We will continue to educate on the proper use of edibles. Please consume responsibly. Thank you.

For more information on the use and benefits of cannabis, please visit http://incrediblescolorado.com/patients-and-caregivers/

Given what I know of the current edibles market, she likely had a Boulder Bar. (Most products are still local because transporting across state lines is an issue; IncrEdibles is leading the market right now.)

Since it's on the label, my sympathy is dropping. (Don't have a dog in the race, despite living here because it ain't my drug, but I really have issues with not bothering to read.)

[abakan]

97. This smells like a fox faux pipe dream...

I don't believe a word of it, lying is institutionalized in her world...

[Jamaal510]

101. Good thing she didn't get behind the wheel afterwards. nt

[Phlem]

106. ...

-p

[Ikonoklast]

108. TIL Maureen Dowd wears green corduroy jeans.

Must be an '80's thing...was she hallucinating about being Ronald Reagan's newest girlfriend?

[fredamae]

113. First off-What about

What about Personal Responsibility to inform oneself about Any substance and behavior Before consuming Anything. Weigh Benefit VS Risk.
Apparently she has prior experience with cannabis....so she, most of all--should have had the brains to Inquire about dosage of an edible.
And what did she think was going to happen when she decided to consume wine on top of the candy?

Secondly---Label the friggen Products like a bag of chips and have a "consumption guide" available to inform those who are inexperienced so they understand what they can expect.
Another idea-Make these "personal use" products much less potent and reserve the stronger stuff for those who need high doses for medication or make a variety of different potency per serving available.

The bottom line for me is taking Personal Responsibility for being fully informed by research and Asking Questions!

[tblue37]

114. In the comments section of that article, MR says

I don't care how much weed you ingest, it does not:
a) produce hallucination ("a hallucinatory state&quot
b) produce paralysis ("couldn't move&quot
c) produce psychotic breaks ("I became convinced that I had died&quot
So what could have produced these effects. My analysis suggests they were produced by:
a) The writer's conservative worldview (on display a many editorials), which was predisposed to freak out about this.
b) The writer's inability to express actual sensations - new feelings are often difficult to describe, so it's usually better to research/discuss/try again before putting thoughts on paper.
c) The specific situation: if you're going to get stoned, it's usually more fun to take a walk in the park with friends, go to a concert, make some music--just about anything but sit on a hotel bed in corduroys watching TV. That's not ever fun no matter what drugs you're on...

I think that is an excellent summation.

[treestar]

117. I think they should have that divided into 16ths

What other drugs are packaged like that?

I don't know much about pot, so one candy bar would have seemed like a serving. If it was in the form of one bar, they should have one dose per bar, IMO.

True that as a reporter she should have read the label. But ordinary people might not "get" that either. Other drugs have to have warnings too. Did CO make it legal but not subject to the warnings everything else has to have?

[Sunlei]

118. lol, reminds me of the first time I tried some good hash. You didn't have to hide in bed dear.

[jmowreader]

119. THC is a plateauing drug, correct?

In that once you're high, you don't get higher. Eating 16 doses would have kept her higher longer, but not made her more fucked up. OTOH more powerful weed (think "Willie Nelson-grade&quot WILL make you more high.

Now let me ask you something:

You are the owner of a pot store. This woman walks through the door and asks for edibles:



You have two choices of pot candy to sell her: a nice mellow bar, perfect for your first adventure into the world of marijuana; and a bar so paralyzing they should name it Curare. Which one are you going to choose?

[RainDog]

121. Ode to Ms Dowd

[Mnpaul]

133. I love the old cop shows

The reefer madness is hilarious

[mike_c]

126. I gotta laugh....

I mean, I know LOTS of people with some similar story.

Him: "Oh hi, I got home early and saw you made brownies. Hope you don't mind that I ate four of them-- they were too yummy to stop!"

Her: "Do me a favor-- pop in a movie and hide your car keys. I'll be home soon."

[RainDog]

130. Charles Pierce, at Esquire, on the Maureen Dowd Experience

sort of like the opposite of the Jimi Hendrix "Are you Experienced" experience. LOL.

http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/The_Visiting_Dope_From_The_Times

THAT'S WHY THEY CALL IT DOPE

The worst thing you could possibly do is determine that you will have your first serious marijuana experience by gobbling down an electric candy bar and then sitting there alone in your hotel room while waiting for the newspaper taxis to appear at your door, waiting to take you away. The second worst thing you could possibly do is to decide to generalize the inherent stupidity if your experience by sharing it in your very important newspaper column. Dear god, Maureen Dowd is the worst thing that's happened to cannabis consumption since Quicksilver broke up.

...Perhaps it would have been smart to contact the "medical consultant" prior to downing the candy bar. Perhaps it would have been smart to talk to some of the regular customers of the edibles plant. Perhaps it would have been smart -- not to mention professionally obligatory -- to do some, y'know, real fking research before plunging right into your own hippocampus. There are some interesting questions still to be explored in Colorado's brave new world of legalized dope. First, what happens when legalized pot runs headlong into the highly effective -- and highly beneficial -- national campaign to turn public opinion against smoking anything. And second, if the anti-smoking campaign makes people more likely to treat their pot as a comestible, how extensively should the state label The Product, if only as a consumer-protection measure. (I'm in favor of as much precise detail as possible. For example, "If you happen to be a visiting dilettante from The New York Times, please don't eat this and sit alone in your hotel room.&quot But I guess it's just easier to indulge your own fanciful trauma and then spend the rest of the column rewriting the famous Baby-In-The-Bathtub scene from Dragnet. I'm not entirely sure exactly how high Maureen got out there in Colorado but, reading this column, I am fairly sure she's cleared The Shark by about 12 nautical miles.

[Logical]

135. Thanks for posting! Perfect! nt

[Initech]

132. You are freaking out. Man man man man.....

[killbotfactory]

139. My friend gave me several doses of edible weed just for shits and giggles

After a few hours I was fucked right the hell up and pretty much useless for the next 12 hours (most of which were spent sleeping with wierd ass dreams and the worst case of cotton mouth you can possibly imagine). I have sympathy for Dowd, and anyone else who OD's on pot. It is VERY VERY uncomfortable, and I understand why people get freaked out and go to the hospital.

If you OD on edibles you're going to have a bad time. It takes a while to kick in, and when it does it stays for a long time. There really should be dosage recommendations on the package, especially if it is in the form of something people traditionally eat all of.

Edible's are great when you take the right amount, and it's kinda stupid there is no standard to measure dosage.

[RainDog]

140. The Maureen Dowd Experience, TYT edition

&list=PLTpcK80irdQhjx5WOJxEKUQO6me50_Xds#t=17

[Uncle Joe]

146. If it had been Exlax, Dowd would still be in the bathroom. n/t

Last edited Thu Jun 5, 2014, 07:53 PM - Edit history (1)

[RainDog]

149. ouch. don't harsh my reality buzz, dude

some things you can never get out of your head... at least until a few minutes... LOL.

[Warren DeMontague]

144. Some of these tweets in response are hysterical.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/maureen-dowd-pot-column

Dan Amira ✔ @DanAmira
Follow

"If you think about it, we're ALL strapped to the roof of Mitt Romney's car, in a way." -- high Gail Collins

[RainDog]

148. LOLOL!

I am loving this whole moment. LMAO.