'Dr Sally Hales, who carried out the post mortem examination, said the
teenager had inflammation of the heart and that "a history of using
cannabis, amphetamines and cocaine would appear to be the most likely
cause".'

No alcohol? Obviously it was the cannabis that killed him.



Coroner blames death on 'toxic cannabis'

A coroner has dismissed claims that cannabis is harmless during an inquest
into the death of a trainee chef who died from the "toxic effects" of the
drug.
 
 
Published: 7:57PM BST 01 Jul 2009

Hadrian Gardner, 17, who was known as Adie, collapsed in front of his
father after work and began having a fit before suffering a heart attack
and dying.

Hadrian, of Macclesfield, had had a long involvement in illegal drugs and
was expelled from high school for drug use.

But the inquest heard he had begun to improve his life with a new job at
Prestbury Village Restaurant,

On only his second day at work, his father was waiting to pick him up when
he saw him emerge from the building and collapse.

Robert Gardner told the inquest at Macclesfield Town Hall: "He came out of
the restaurant, crossed the triangular piece of grass and then stumbled
and fell on the pavement. It was a bit surreal.

"He fitted for about 10 seconds."

Despite resuscitation and six attempts at defibrillation by paramedics,
Hadrian never recovered, the inquest heard.

Hadrian died at Macclesfield Hospital at 12.15am on October 8.

Geoff Roberts, the deputy coroner for Cheshire, said: "People use cannabis
and think that it is a harmless property. We have heard clear evidence in
this case that it is not. Very sadly, Hadrian died as a result of the
direct toxic effects on the heart that the use of cannabis had. As such,
it was an avoidable death.

"This case highlights that cannabis use is potentially life-threatening."
Mr Roberts added: "We have heard how over a period of time, for some
years, he had used cannabis and perhaps other illegal substances.

"This is a very sad case because, despite his turbulent past and cannabis
use, he had got a job as a trainee chef. The post-mortem showed no
findings of recent drug use.

"But his body was left a legacy of using cannabis in the past, which
directly led to his death.

"My conclusion is that Hadrian died as a result of using drugs."

Dr Sally Hales, who carried out the post mortem examination, said the
teenager had inflammation of the heart and that "a history of using
cannabis, amphetamines and cocaine would appear to be the most likely
cause".

Speaking after the inquest, Rick Palmer, Hadrian's former manager at the
restaurant, said: "He was a nice lad who worked hard. He was reliable, no
trouble and good to work with. His death was a total shock to us all."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/lawandorder/5712259/Coroner-blames-death-on-toxic-cannabis.html

-- 
Dr John Watson
Baker Street

On Thu, 02 Jul 2009 12:45:38 +0100, Dr John Watson wrote:


{big snip}

How come there's such a difference between what she said and what he says?

> Geoff Roberts, the deputy coroner for Cheshire, said: "People use
> cannabis and think that it is a harmless property. We have heard clear
> evidence in this case that it is not. Very sadly, Hadrian died as a
> result of the direct toxic effects on the heart that the use of cannabis
> had. As such, it was an avoidable death.

I thought PMs worked the other way around - they used existing research 
to fit the evidence to a cause of death, not using speculation about the 
cause of death to come up with original research about the evidence?

> "This case highlights that cannabis use is potentially
> life-threatening." Mr Roberts added: [...]

> "But his body was left a legacy of using cannabis in the past, which
> directly led to his death.


> Dr Sally Hales, who carried out the post mortem examination, said the
> teenager had inflammation of the heart and that "a history of using
> cannabis, amphetamines and cocaine would appear to be the most likely
> cause".

This sounds reasonable - amphetamines and cocaine would have some effect.

In article  Dr John Watson  writes:
>'Dr Sally Hales, who carried out the post mortem examination, said the
>teenager had inflammation of the heart and that "a history of using
>cannabis, amphetamines and cocaine would appear to be the most likely
>cause".'
>
>No alcohol? Obviously it was the cannabis that killed him.

Obviously.  Everyone knows that amphetamines and cocaine don't cause heart
damage.

-Pete Zakel
 (phz@seeheader.nospam)

"Stay away from flying saucers today."