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Stiff Joints 
Posted by FoM on August 01, 2001 at 08:13:19 PT
By Joel Miller
Source: WorldNetDaily
Dead dope While looking for new ways to get high, some marijuana smokers have decided to get low, six feet under to go metaphorical on you. Taking the expression "stiff joints" in a whole new direction, some pot users dip their marijuana cigarettes in embalming fluid to increase the potency and length of the high. 
A mixture of alcohol, moisturizers and anti-clotting agents, among other things, embalming fluid's most important ingredient is formalin, formaldehyde diluted in water. A blunt treated with the fluid is commonly dubbed an "illy," "wet" or "fry." San Francisco College Mortuary Science President Jacquie Taylor told me she's heard about the practice before but never really followed up on it. After all, she said, smoking anything with formaldehyde is "an incredibly stupid thing." Formaldehyde is really dangerous stuff. "It burns your eyes, burns your nose." And as for smoking it, "I can't imagine this is a positive thing." Depends upon whether your last name is Kevorkian, I think. According to a 1998 paper by Dr. William N. Elwood for the University of Texas School of Public Health, smoking illy can result in "bronchitis, body tissue destruction, brain damage, lung damage, impaired coordination, and inflammation and sores in the throat, nose, and esophagus." And don't forget "high fever, heart attacks … kidney damage … coma, convulsions, coughing, pneumonia, anorexia, and death." Always looking on the bright side, a benefit of smoking fry is that if you get enough formaldehyde in your system, you might save the mortician some work. You'll be nicely preserved when you arrive. So-so minds think disalike The Aug. 16 issue of Rolling Stone has a great symposium on the drug war, with voices from all sides and angles, however poignant, smart, stupid or irrelevant. Some keepers: Bernard C. Parks, chief of police, L.A.: "It's a failed policy to call anything a war when you're addressing issues in the community – when you declare war on your own community." Agreed. In fact, I said the same thing a couple months ago. Rep. Asa Hutchinson, R-Ark., nominee for head spot at DEA: "The War on Drugs has been successful in terms of individual lives saved and the billions of young people who have declined to use drugs. We're sending the right message to kids: Drugs are very bad, they're illegal, and don't experiment or use them." Billions? America only has 275 million citizens of any age, let alone runny-nosed urchins diverted from drug use. Yet another fuzzy-math drug warrior. Thank goodness Hutchinson isn't being asked to head up the Department of Education. Gary Johnson, governor of New Mexico: "If I … had to set up a distribution system for marijuana tomorrow, it would be similar to liquor. I'd allow sales at liquor establishments. People say, 'There will be bootleg pot.' And there probably would be for a little while. But then it would die out. Why would you buy bathtub gin when you can buy Tanqueray?" Come to think of it, you don't see many Mafiosi involved in shooting rival booze sellers, either. David Crosby, musician: "Personally, I think we should send some very serious lads from the Army down to the fields where coca is being grown. ... Send somebody down, take it out of the ground and say, 'Look: Plant coffee; we'll buy it directly from you, we'll pay you three times as much because we won't go through a middleman, and you'll be fine. Plant coca again, and we'll be back again next year and somebody will get hurt.'" Oh, joy: The guy who co-wrote "Eight Miles High" (not a song about aviation) for the Byrds is now encouraging pharmaceutical colonialism. Norm Stamper, former chief of police, Seattle: "The biggest obstacle to a saner drug policy is that the current one has become so rigid and unassailable in the circles in which it must be discussed flexibly and intelligently and with open minds. It's a religion. We've accepted on faith that if what we're doing isn't working, let's do more of it." To filch a phrase from WND's Geoff Metcalf, "Don't confuse me with facts that contradict my preconceived opinions." Bingo. Way the wind blowsSomething's rotten in Denmark, er, England. While not strictly new, this news is "breaking." A handful of police are under investigation by Scotland Yard for "allegations of assault and uncivility," according to the June 6 Sky News. "The detectives will all be investigated … after a complaint was lodged that one of them broke wind in front of a family while carrying out a drug raid in Chingford, Essex." Sky slugged the story, "You have the right to remain silent … and deadly." Downplaying the matter, Chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation Glen Smyth charged that the "allegations … border[ed] on the ridiculous. …" But I guess that depends on whether you were standing downwind and what the officer had for lunch, no? Mild wildsWhen people think of drugs, they typically think of powerful narcotics or other illegal substances like cocaine and marijuana. Rarely do they think about that cup of Starbucks or pint of Guinness they just downed. But with the probable exception of tobacco, caffeine and alcohol are the world's most widely used drugs. The average cup of coffee contains about 100 milligrams of caffeine. The world per-capita java jones, according to David T. Courtwright's "Forces of Habit," results in daily consumption of 70 milligrams. In places like Britain and Sweden, it's "well over 400 milligrams a day." For me, it's about 500 to 600 milligrams – before lunch. Moving from hot to cold (or room temp, depending on tastes and styles), at little beer trivia: Who drinks the most beer in the world? Forget U.S. fraternities; we're talking nationwide per-capita consumption. According to the Associated Press, Germans come in third, Czechs in second and – Erin go beer! – the Irish take the gold. To give you a taste of the quantities were talking about, in 2000 Germany's per-gullet beer gulping topped off at about 33 gallons, or 528 pints. In 1970 it was greater still, 37 gallons. That's nearly 600 times you'd have to ask the pubkeep to pass another pint. How many trips to the head that amounts to was a figure left unfactored. Related offer: "God Gave Wine," a book by Kenneth Gentry and published by Joel Miller's Oakdown Books, details what the Bible really says about alcohol. Get it at: http://www.godgavewine.com/Joel Miller is the commentary editor of WorldNetDaily. His publishing company, MenschWerks,recently published "God Gave Wine" by Kenneth L. Gentry Jr. Due to time constraints, he cannot get back to every reader's e-mail, but he does enjoy receiving feedback – both pro and con – and swears that's what keeps the joy in it. E-mail: jmiller worldnetdaily.com Source: WorldNetDaily (US Web)Author: Joel MillerPublished: Wednesday, August 1, 2001Copyright: 2001 WorldNetDaily.com, Inc.Contact: letters worldnetdaily.comWebsite: http://www.worldnetdaily.com/Related Article:America's War on Drugs - Rolling Stonehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread10471.shtmlCannabisNews Articles - Joel Millerhttp://cannabisnews.com/thcgi/search.pl?K=Joel+Miller
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Comment #7 posted by Dan B on August 02, 2001 at 09:29:22 PT:
Addendum
Thanks for the enlightenment, folks. I've been fortunate to have never experienced the formaldehyde weed.I think my point still stands, though: why ruin a perfectly good joint? It sounds like at least some of the time this is done as a kind of sick "practical joke." Other than that, I can think of no reason to adulterate weed like this. Why make a relatively harmless drug deadly?The main thing to remember about this kind of thing, though, is that the only reason this is happening is the war on (some) drugs. If cannabis were sold openly to adults, there would be a great incentive for merchants to deliver a consistent quality product. In the black market, however, anything goes.Dan B
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Comment #6 posted by SWAMPIE on August 02, 2001 at 00:46:59 PT
"STIFFLY-SPEAKING.................."
I agree with alot of the comments that everyone has made about embalming fluid,Dr.Dan,if you haven't experienced it;#1:It is not only made with embalming fluid.#2:The high from only embalming fluid can make you pretty sick!This is about angel dust!!!Too many younger people have never heard of it,and rightly so!Their parents were protecting them from their own mistakes!!I wrecked a car Christmas-eve,'77,from"tunnelvision"when on a rural highway 2 cars were stopped in the middle talking!!!Looked just like they were moving till I got right on them!They ran off,and I had to buy a new front clip for my '64 Comet!Luckily nobody got hurt!!!!!This stuff also uses pcp,or sodium pentothal to make it potent.I could go on,but I won't.It is bad,and much worse than whiffing inhalants,although I never tried that.If they would only legalize cannabis,nobody would want or need anything else!!It is time to take matters into our own hands if this gets further out of control!!Plant your seeds!!!!!!!Overgrow the government!!!!!!I dare them to spray roundup here!!!!!I'll spray it back on their precious manicured lawns,as we all should do!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!SWAMPIE
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Comment #5 posted by Kindone on August 01, 2001 at 18:50:07 PT
bad trip
About two years ago someone sold me a sack of bud that had been dipped in embalming fluid and didn't tell me. Didn't think it was important I guess. After smoking only one joint, I thought I had overdosed and had a couple of very scary hours on my bathroom floor. I couldn't tell anything unusual about the sack by the way it looked, tasted or smelled. It looked like regular dark-shaded brickweed. You have to be very wary of street bud anymore, whether it be mold,herbicides, or adulterants like embalming fluid. Homegrown has become the only way to go.
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Comment #4 posted by Dan B on August 01, 2001 at 12:07:04 PT:
Crosby, Formaldehyde and Miller
Strange, indeed, that Joel Miller (one of the great voices standing against the drug war) chose to not quote the more interesting parts of Crosby's statement. Still, I was glad to see him reacting negatively to the part he did quote.Regarding formaldehyde, I recall a previous article that said some kids were dipping their tobacco cigarettes in embalming fluid, but this is the first I heard of joints being dipped. My guess is that Mr. Miller either read something I have yet to run across, or one of us misunderstood the same article I read. Of course, if the drug warriors learn that people are dipping their tobacco cigarettes in embalming fluid, it won't take them much to start an urban myth that they are really dipping their joints. My question is this: why ruin a perfectly good joint? That is, if the purpose of the embalming fluid is to get high, why dip something that will already get you high into it? It makes a lot more sense to dip tobacco in something that will get you high than it does to dip some much more expensive marijuana in it.The likelihood that a true marijuana afficionado would dip his or her weed in anything questionable seems ridiculously remote to me. Most people who smoke the herb do so because it is less dangerous than any other substance designed to get the user high.Dan B
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Comment #3 posted by Doug on August 01, 2001 at 10:10:01 PT
David Crosby
While I don't agree with Crosby's comments about cocaine, I can understand why he said such a thing. What I do wonder about is why Mr. Miller (is that name in homage to the beer?) chose to leave out the more interesting parts of Crosby's quote:I don't think prison is a valid solution for any kind of drug use or addictionI think they should just legalize marijuana....booze is much worse for you than marijuana. Much worse. Drastically worse. Order of magnitude worse.
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Comment #2 posted by TroutMask on August 01, 2001 at 08:31:47 PT
It's True
I read the embalming fluid story in my local paper the other day. This person is not making it up.Some (stupid or uneducated) people only want a buzz; they don't know or don't care about potential harm they are doing to themselves. Some people use toxic inhalants, some people use formaldehyde...-TM
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Comment #1 posted by greenfox on August 01, 2001 at 08:28:25 PT
How can they print this sh*t?
Listen, I hate to be the one to say this, but if someone came up to me with a blunt, joint, or other, dipped in EMBALMING fluid... I would probably slap them silly.I mean SERIOUSLY, who writes this crap? I can't decide if this is leftist or from the right. It's almost too crazy to be either. Perhaps McCAAAAAAAFERy got a job at the ministry of truth? sly in green, come on folks you know the rest..-gf
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