Binky
05-12-2005, 08:45 PM
Drug Czar Misled Press on Teen's Suicide, Marijuana
Young Victim Tested Positive for Alcohol, Not Marijuana
CONTACT: Bruce Mirken, MPP director of communications, 202-543-7972
or 415-668-6403
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The parents of a teen suicide victim -- presented
to the national media at a White House press conference as having been
driven to suicide by his marijuana use -- have revealed that their son
actually tested negative for marijuana and positive for alcohol at
the time of his death, and that he never tested positive for
marijuana in a series of four other drug tests given during the
months leading up to his suicide.
In a May 3 press conference sponsored by the White House Office
of National Drug Control Policy, Drug Czar John Walters touted
"growing and compelling evidence ... that regular marijuana use can
contribute to depression, suicidal thoughts and schizophrenia." One
example presented to the media was Christopher Skaggs, whose parents
spoke. Mrs. Skaggs described how her 15-year-old son was caught
smoking marijuana in January 2004 and committed suicide seven months
later. The national media were encouraged to report that his death
resulted from use of "this very dangerous drug," and some media
outlets did so.
But later that week, Mr. and Mrs. Skaggs appeared on the Peter
Boyles Show on KHOW-AM in Denver. In response to Boyles' questions,
they revealed that toxicology tests were run on Christopher while he
was in the hospital, before he was pronounced dead. The tests found
"nothing in his system but alcohol at that time," Mrs. Skaggs said.
She further revealed that in the four separate drug tests done on the
teen between January and July, no traces of marijuana were ever found,
and that he was known to have been illicitly drinking at about the
same time as he was caught smoking marijuana.
Boyles' interviews with Mr. and Mrs. Skaggs, John Walters, and
ONDCP official David Murray are available at
http://www.khow.com/hosts/peter-audio.html (the site requires a free
registration in order to access the recordings).
"John Walters should be ashamed for exploiting this family's
suffering to perpetrate a fraud on the media and the public," said
Steve Fox, director of government relations for the Marijuana Policy
Project in Washington, D.C. "The evidence connecting alcohol abuse to
suicide and depression is overwhelming, but he simply ignored it in
order to further his obsession with marijuana. No evidence has been
presented that Christopher Skaggs ever smoked marijuana again after
he was caught, but we know that he had alcohol in his system when he
killed himself. Research has shown beyond any doubt that alcohol
abuse can lead to depression, reckless and impulsive behavior, and
suicide, so how could the drug czar not talk about this? What kind of
man puts a grieving family through such agony to perpetrate a fraud?"
Fox noted that because THC, the marijuana component that produces
the "high," is fat-soluble, it and its chemical byproducts can be
detected by commonly used tests for two to three days after use, while
most drugs (including alcohol) are cleared from the body within 12
hours. In regular marijuana users, detectable (though minute and non-
psychoactive) traces of THC are stored in fatty tissues, meaning a
regular marijuana smoker can test positive for up to 14 to 30 days
after his or her last use.
Research connecting alcohol to depression and suicide is
overwhelming. A review of 42 studies published last year in the
journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence found that those suffering from
alcohol use disorders were at 979% greater risk for completing
suicide than those who were not alcohol abusers. A Columbia University
study of nearly 1,500 teens published in the Winter 2004 issue of
Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior reported, "Alcohol abuse and
dependence appeared to be strongly associated with suicide attempt,"
while no such relationship involving abuse of illicit drugs was found.
"The relationship between alcohol and suicidality may involve the
disinhibitory effects of acute alcohol intoxication" as well as "the
increase in vulnerability to depression," the researchers wrote.
"There are plenty of good reasons for kids not to smoke marijuana,
but we don't help teens or their parents by lying to them," Fox said.
"The drug czar's obsession with marijuana may actually be increasing
young people's use of substances-like alcohol-that are far more
dangerous. Mr. Walters owes the Skaggs family and the American people
an apology."
http://www.MarijuanaPolicy.org.
http://www.cspan.org/Search/basic.asp?ResultStart=1&ResultCount=10&BasicQueryText=John+Walters
Young Victim Tested Positive for Alcohol, Not Marijuana
CONTACT: Bruce Mirken, MPP director of communications, 202-543-7972
or 415-668-6403
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The parents of a teen suicide victim -- presented
to the national media at a White House press conference as having been
driven to suicide by his marijuana use -- have revealed that their son
actually tested negative for marijuana and positive for alcohol at
the time of his death, and that he never tested positive for
marijuana in a series of four other drug tests given during the
months leading up to his suicide.
In a May 3 press conference sponsored by the White House Office
of National Drug Control Policy, Drug Czar John Walters touted
"growing and compelling evidence ... that regular marijuana use can
contribute to depression, suicidal thoughts and schizophrenia." One
example presented to the media was Christopher Skaggs, whose parents
spoke. Mrs. Skaggs described how her 15-year-old son was caught
smoking marijuana in January 2004 and committed suicide seven months
later. The national media were encouraged to report that his death
resulted from use of "this very dangerous drug," and some media
outlets did so.
But later that week, Mr. and Mrs. Skaggs appeared on the Peter
Boyles Show on KHOW-AM in Denver. In response to Boyles' questions,
they revealed that toxicology tests were run on Christopher while he
was in the hospital, before he was pronounced dead. The tests found
"nothing in his system but alcohol at that time," Mrs. Skaggs said.
She further revealed that in the four separate drug tests done on the
teen between January and July, no traces of marijuana were ever found,
and that he was known to have been illicitly drinking at about the
same time as he was caught smoking marijuana.
Boyles' interviews with Mr. and Mrs. Skaggs, John Walters, and
ONDCP official David Murray are available at
http://www.khow.com/hosts/peter-audio.html (the site requires a free
registration in order to access the recordings).
"John Walters should be ashamed for exploiting this family's
suffering to perpetrate a fraud on the media and the public," said
Steve Fox, director of government relations for the Marijuana Policy
Project in Washington, D.C. "The evidence connecting alcohol abuse to
suicide and depression is overwhelming, but he simply ignored it in
order to further his obsession with marijuana. No evidence has been
presented that Christopher Skaggs ever smoked marijuana again after
he was caught, but we know that he had alcohol in his system when he
killed himself. Research has shown beyond any doubt that alcohol
abuse can lead to depression, reckless and impulsive behavior, and
suicide, so how could the drug czar not talk about this? What kind of
man puts a grieving family through such agony to perpetrate a fraud?"
Fox noted that because THC, the marijuana component that produces
the "high," is fat-soluble, it and its chemical byproducts can be
detected by commonly used tests for two to three days after use, while
most drugs (including alcohol) are cleared from the body within 12
hours. In regular marijuana users, detectable (though minute and non-
psychoactive) traces of THC are stored in fatty tissues, meaning a
regular marijuana smoker can test positive for up to 14 to 30 days
after his or her last use.
Research connecting alcohol to depression and suicide is
overwhelming. A review of 42 studies published last year in the
journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence found that those suffering from
alcohol use disorders were at 979% greater risk for completing
suicide than those who were not alcohol abusers. A Columbia University
study of nearly 1,500 teens published in the Winter 2004 issue of
Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior reported, "Alcohol abuse and
dependence appeared to be strongly associated with suicide attempt,"
while no such relationship involving abuse of illicit drugs was found.
"The relationship between alcohol and suicidality may involve the
disinhibitory effects of acute alcohol intoxication" as well as "the
increase in vulnerability to depression," the researchers wrote.
"There are plenty of good reasons for kids not to smoke marijuana,
but we don't help teens or their parents by lying to them," Fox said.
"The drug czar's obsession with marijuana may actually be increasing
young people's use of substances-like alcohol-that are far more
dangerous. Mr. Walters owes the Skaggs family and the American people
an apology."
http://www.MarijuanaPolicy.org.
http://www.cspan.org/Search/basic.asp?ResultStart=1&ResultCount=10&BasicQueryText=John+Walters