From: wisp@dcs.warwick.ac.uk (Wisp)
Subject: Re: Life (death) imitates usenet - man dies from LSD abuse.
Organization: Department of Computer Science, Warwick University, England
Date: Mon, 21 Dec 1992 09:41:19 GMT

In article <1992Dec18.205224.3243@hpcvaac.cv.hp.com> billn@hpcvaac.cv.hp.com (bill nelson) writes:
>sweeney@Ingres.COM (Tony Sweeney) writes:
>: 	Timothy Murphy's death came 17 days after that of a teenager who
>: had taken similar tabs, an inquest in Luton was told. Dr Patrick Toseland,
>: a toxicologist at Guy's hospital, London, who submitted a report to the
>: hearing, said afterwards that deaths related to the hallucingenic drug LSD
>: were extremely rare. ''I hadn't seen one for 23 years until these two this
>: year,'' he said. Mr Murphy, 25, collapsed at his home after drinking heavily
>: and takin 11 tabs. Dr Toseland said that alcohol could increase the risk
>: of death from LSD. An inquest last month was told that Denise Jones, 18,
>: died in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, after swallowing similar tabs."
>:
>: I guess that answers the question "How much LSD is fatal?". 11 tabs, in >: this poor bastard's case.
>
>Nope. All it means is that the person took some LSD. He also may have had a
>few grams of salt shortly before hand, with a meal. Are we to say that, in
>his case X grams of salt were fatal? Of course not, that would be stupid.
>
>I suspect that the LSD had nothing to do with the death, and that he died
>of acute alcohol poisoning.

You probably suspect wrong. Taking acid and alcohol in large amounts is not
too smart, for a number of reasons:

First off, alcohol increases the likelyhood of cardiac arrhythmias, which may
be precipitated by fear. Ever seen a bad trip? (For the record, I've seen
one at a party, and sedated three in various A&E departments. It's a bit like
a panic attack, in the same way a hurricane is a bit like a gale...).

Second, alcohol is a diuretic. Dehydration coupled with the hyperactivity that
LSD often causes can lead to a situation very similar to the one that
causes people to die after taking E. (And no, I'm not saying that LSD causes a
rise in body temperature, but the mania and hyperactivity may...).

Third (and last!), there is in no wise any evidence that he died of acute
alcohol poisoning. It's pretty difficult to do, for an experienced drinker
(which this guy probably was), and the vast majority of deaths from alcohol
poisoning occur in the young and stupid, or at stag nights. Two in 17 days is
pretty strange, as well...

To sum up, no-one is suggesting that LSD outright killed this guy, by
direct toxic effects. Merely that it contributed to the death, in much the
same way that alcohol is blamed (quite rightly) for deaths in road
accidents when one party has been drinking. The cause of death may be massive
trauma, or fire, but it wouldn't have happened (probably) without the alcohol
in the driver's bloodstream (for example).

The moral is: *no* drug is completely safe. LSD may be safer than most, but
you can die from its (mis)use, just as you can from MJ or blow or acohol.
Moderation is the key.

The Wisp. [now, where did I put those Blue Stars...]
Organization: Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA