First Death Linked to Legal Colorado Weed

Teen jumped to his death after eating pot cookie
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 3, 2014 2:41 AM CDT
First Death Linked to Legal Colorado Weed
Colorado legalized sale of recreational marijuana to over-21s in January.   (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File)

For the first time since Colorado legalized weed for recreational use, a coroner has listed "marijuana intoxication" as a contributor to a death. Wyoming student Levy Thamba was in Denver on spring break with three friends when he jumped to his death from a Holiday Inn balcony after eating a marijuana cookie, reports the Denver Post. His friends told investigators he "exhibited hostile behavior" after eating the cookie, and though initial attempts to calm him down seemed to work, he ended up leaping from the balcony, USA Today reports.

"He was fine, he was normal, he was an easygoing kid, and then he ate this cookie and went over the balcony, and this was not a kid who was suicidal," a spokeswoman for the medical examiner's office says. At 19, the exchange student from the Democratic Republic of the Congo was too young to legally buy or possess marijuana in Colorado, but one of his friends was over 21 and bought the cookie legally. No alcohol or other drugs were found in his system, and the death was ruled an accident. (More marijuana stories.)

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