BWHAHAHAHA: Marijuana Can Cause Violence According To George Zimmerman’s Attorney

[Segami]

Morons still pushing this crap!!



Piers Morgan this past Monday night had as his guest the defense attorney for George Zimmerman, Mark O’Mara, to discuss his client’s case. The discussion went very odd quickly, when the discussion turned to marijuana use. Here’s the video:

Mark O’Mara had these gems to share:

Any level of pot in his system could have some effect. And of course that falls in line with what Zimmerman stated in his first couple of moments with the non-emergency operator when he said that it looks like he’s on drugs or something.

When Piers Morgan pressed for more information, Mr. O’Mara continued:

Well, actually, there are some studies out there — particularly with young males — that suggest that even low levels of cannabis use can lead to aggression. So, the question is not how much, but if in fact there has been some effect and if that effect was noticed by George Zimmerman then I think it is relevant. After all, if we’re going to talk about what George Zimmerman may have read in coursework two, three, four years ago then I think what Trayvon Martin had smoked or had in his system somewhere between two and four hours before the event is certainly something the jury should consider.

And then it was brought up that George Zimmerman himself was not tested, a fact which the lawyer dismissed. This is a highly unorthodox tactic by the legal team, and one which could backfire on them very badly. As found on the Honolulu Civil Beat, while there have been studies which do indicate a link between marijuana and violence, the link is not to the drug itself, but to the illegal trafficking of that drug. Studies on the actual effects of marijuana itself are inconclusive, but trends show a reduced level of violence for marijuana users.


The argument that marijuana leads to violence is not a new one. A famous exploitation movie, Reefer Madness, was even created on this idea. The resulting movie has become a running joke for its campy production values, unrealistic depictions, and has been spoofed on stage and screen since rediscovery in 1971. Unfortunately, a lot of the sensationalized claims it made over marijuana have persisted. You can watch this movie, now in the public domain, for yourself here:

cont'



http://www.addictinginfo.org/2013/07/09/marijuana-can-cause-violence-according-to-george-zimmermans-attorney/

[NoOneMan]

1. Not smoking marijuana can cause violence

[Segami]

2. LOL!

[lumpy]

25. No shit. Violence can happen without any drugswhatsoever.

Wonder what kind of drugs was Zimmerman was using when he threw that woman across the room...

[NightWatcher]

3. I don't care if Trayvon had angel dust or crack in his system

Zim started it by stalking and placing hands on him.

Zimmerman is not a cop, no matter how bad he wanted to be one. He had no authority to stop Martin and start the whole sad episode.

[truebluegreen]

10. +1

[Stargazer09]

27. Exactly!

If GZ had let the police do their jobs, things would have turned out differently.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

4. I wouldn't be surprised if that hypocritical douche nozzle goes home after the trial and lights up.

[HooptieWagon]

5. Of course thats bullshit.

It remains to be seen if the jury buys it. Too bad that Trayvon involuntarily gave up a blood sample, yet Zimmerman was never tested. I wonder what the jury would think if Zim had cocaine in his system, or bath salts, syhthetic mj, etc.

[Segami]

14. Zimmerman was on various prescription drugs with known, violent side effects

Many who have been following the Trayvon Martin case are aware that marijuana was found in Trayvon Martin‘s system on the night that he was killed. It is not common knowledge, however, that the level was well below what medical studies show cause “performance impairment.” The same can not be said for George Zimmerman, the man who shot the teenager. Zimmerman was on various prescription drugs with known, violent side effects while acting as the neighborhood watch captain and on the night Martin died.


MSNBC.com reports that, according to the paramedic incident report, Trayvon Martin's shooter was on the prescription drug Temazepam which is known to cause insomnia and anxiety. Other side effects not mentioned in the MSNBC.com report are “aggressiveness,” “hallucinations,” and other serious symptoms. The U.S. National Library of Medicine cautions that, after taking Temazepam, patients should not be walking around trying to watch anything or anyone and that, if they do not sleep for at least 7-8 hours after taking the drug, they may experience memory loss.


Zimmerman was also on the commonly prescribed drug Adderall, which is known to cause “worsening mental or mood problems (eg, aggression, anxiety, delusions, depression, hallucination, hostility),” according to Drugs.com. Adderall is prescribed for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or narcolepsy. Both Temazepam and Adderall are medications that can cause problematic side effects including agitation and mood swings.


http://www.examiner.com/article/the-prescription-drugs-george-zimmerman-was-taking-when-he-killed-trayvon-martin

[HooptieWagon]

15. Hopefully the judge allows that into evidence.

Seems more relevent than mj in Martin's blood. First I'd heard of that detail.

[BainsBane]

6. That argument depends on jurors never having smoked pot

and you know out of 6 people at least a couple have smoked before.

[dkf]

7. It just takes one.

[AtomicKitten]

8. Dude, you're doing it wrong!

[madamesilverspurs]

9. If weed led to violence

Woodstock would be remembered as a bloodbath.

Instead, it's remembered. Sort of. Party. Mud.

[PoliticAverse]

11. "Morons still pushing this crap!!"

You don't have to go back to 'Reefer Madness', you can find it from the current US Justice Department

https://www.ncjrs.gov/ondcppubs/publications/pdf/marijuana_myths_facts.pdf

Not always.Research shows that kids who use marijuana weekly are
nearly four times more likely than non­users to report they engage in
violent behavior. One study found that young people who had used
marijuana in the past year were more likely than non­users to report
aggressive behavior. According to that study, incidences of physically
attacking people, stealing,and destroying property increased in
proportion to the number of days marijuana was smoked in the past
year. Users were also twice as likely as non­users to report they disobey
at school and destroy their own things. In another study, researchers
looking into the relationship between ten illicit drugs and eight criminal
offenses found that a greater frequency of marijuana use was associated
with a greater likelihood to commit weapons offenses; except for alcohol,
none of the other drugs showed such a connection.
That study, published in the Journal of Addictive Diseases in 2001,
also found a link between marijuana use and the commission of
attempted homicide and reckless endangerment offenses.

[Motown_Johnny]

12. If you are a bag of Cheetos.......

[CatWoman]

13. If anything I'm a real witch

before I can and chill out

[John2]

16. I don't think the Judge should have let the defense bring that in,

and I would have challenged the medical examiner for changing his opinion, right at the point of the prosecution resting their case. It gave the prosecution no opportunity to bring in a different expert witness to challenge the state examiner. You have to call the whole prosecution's efforts suspect to try this case.

And another thing, marijuana has just been legalized in some states. Is it the testimony also, that medical marijuana can cause patients to show aggression? If I was Martin's family and their lawyers, I would be filing a suit right now against the state of Florida. That goes to jury selection and everything about this case so far.

[HipChick]

17. Zimmerman has a history of violence...why aren't they looking into the policeman he beat up?

or the girlfriend he assaulted?

[JimDandy]

22. Zimmerman's prior bads would be prejudicial

in this trial. I don't know why his job as a bouncer wasn't brought up, though. Seems that would be relevant.

[Butterbean]

18. Only if you're a bag of Funyuns. n/t

[TorchTheWitch]

34. Screaming Yellow Zonkers

Since they stopped making them I just don't see a point to smoking dope anymore.

What are Funyuns?

[Kurovski]

36. Funyuns are fake fried onion rings.

Maybe you or someone you know would like to make SYZ? There are other recipes online as well.

http://www.grouprecipes.com/47120/screaming-yellow-zonkers.html

[TorchTheWitch]

37. oooo! Thanks for that!

Man, how I miss those SYZ! Gotta bookmark this.

[Fantastic Anarchist]

19. If by violence you mean ...

... stumbling over your friends to get the chips and dip.

[Honeycombe8]

29. I think you mean Honeybuns. Lots and lots of honeybuns. That's my recollection, anyway. nt

[Fantastic Anarchist]

38. Don't forget the Funyuns. Yeah, Funyuns. nt

[KharmaTrain]

20. Seems To Me When You Mix Weed & Cops...

...you get this:

[Segami]

21. "..The request lines are now open..."

Lard-ass....

I never get tired of this gem!

Thanks!

[Scootaloo]

23. So will Zimmy be facing drug charges? Seeing as he SHOT AND KILLED someone?

[customerserviceguy]

24. This is not about marijuana causing a person to be aggressive

No matter what O'Mara tells Piers Morgan. It's about creating the picture of TM being a social misfit, who would strike out against an authority figure such as a neighborhood watch person. It plays into the "scary black teenager" profile that O'Mara wants to create in the minds of six women.

It may well be working.

[lumpy]

28. Yes indeed. A try to influence the jury that Martin was a baddy. Dirty politics in court.

I have 2 hopes now- that Zimmerman is put away and that O'Mara pays the price for his dirty tactics in court.

[customerserviceguy]

32. GZ is probably going to skate

And his attorney certainly will, no matter what. The only thing at stake for O'Mara is the tens of millions of dollars he can rake in if he gets GZ an acquittal, no matter who guns him down in the street after the trial.

[Honeycombe8]

30. I don't think so. It supports GZ's report to 911 that the guy looked like he was on drugs or

something.

Accusations have been made that there was no good reason for GZ to call 911. GZ gave reasons to 911 on tape. One of those reasons was that the guy he saw was walking real slowly, even though it was pouring rain, and it looked like he was on drugs or something, he said. So this might support those reasons.

That's the only reason. It was pot. It doesn't paint TM as a social misfit. Little old ladies are "taking" pot for glaucoma these days, and lots of people with cancer. It's in the process of becoming legal. It's not like we're talking about crack or heroin.

I can understand it being admitted or not. Personally, while I think it does give credence to GZ's reasons for calling 911 to check TM out, I think it goes against GZ in that most people (myself included) think of pot as slowing a person down and making him more passive and mellow. I've never known anyone to get into a fight at the end of a pot high.

[customerserviceguy]

31. We'll see what six Florida women feel about that

Yes, I'm completely happy that pot is going mainstream, but I have to believe that it will happen last of all in the Old Confederacy.

Your point about TM looking like he was on drugs is interesting, but I think that it's still a negative rather than a neutral when you're down South. Who knows what this case will turn on, the prosecution has done a poor job in my estimation, anybody's speculation as to why they lose is valid.

[Honeycombe8]

44. I don't think of FL as the south. (I'm from the deep south...it's very different from Florida).

Yeah, I think the last place pot is legalized will be the south. Sad to say. But I live in TX now, which is not quite the south, so maybe....just maybe....

[customerserviceguy]

48. Well, I have been briefly to a few places in Florida

and I know that it's not Kentucky or Tennessee, but outside of a few comfortable suburbs filled with migratory old folks, it's not NY or NJ, either.

[Honeycombe8]

49. You're right. I don't know what it is. nt

[frylock]

33. how do you suppose someone who smoked weed would look or behave to elicit such a conclusion?

[Honeycombe8]

45. You see, this is the problem with some people who are trying to parse evidence.

I reported to you what GZ said. Nothing more. We are talking about a toxicology report that shows that GZ's report was correct.

None of my statements involves my opinion at all. It's merely objective support of a statement that was made. You and the jury and anyone else is free to determine, as fact finder, that it cannot be determined when someone is on drugs. But that has nothing to do with the fact that the report supports GZ's statement.

1. GZ says guy looks like he's on drugs or something.
2. Toxicology report shows guy was on drugs.

It's that simple. But like I said, jury may find that GZ wasn't able to determine if TM was on drugs, and then they can disregard the toxicology report.

(But my opinion is this....I smoked a lot of pot in my younger days and was around a lot of people...a lot...who also smoked pot, and did other drugs. I couldn't always tell if someone had been smoking pot, unless I had a conversation with them or got close enough to see their bloodshot eyes. Sometimes I could, though, by body movements or the way they were driving. Pot seemed to really sloooooow people down.)

[burnodo]

39. It looked like he was on drugs

Horsehockey! And GZ was in no way qualified to make such a determination.

[Honeycombe8]

46. The jury, as fact finder, may decide just that, and disregard the toxicology report. nt

[Fantastic Anarchist]

40. How does someone look high because they're walking slowly?

I walk with a casual stroll sometimes. Maybe he was tired? Zimmerman does not have the expertise to determine if someone is high based on visual cues. And punishment does not warrent death, assuming Zimmerman had the authority to punish a fellow citizen in the first place.

[Honeycombe8]

47. GZ didn't kill TM because he thought he was on drugs.

And he didn't "punish" him. That's not even something the jury is allowed to find.

The question boils down to....did GZ shoot TM because he was in fear of his life, and was that the appropriate defense?

The report of him looking like he was on drugs really has nothing to do with the shooting. It's being allowed in as evidence only because it is proof (altho weak proof) that what GZ thought and reported was in fact correct. That he wasn't making it up. That's all. It goes to credibility, I think.

[TorchTheWitch]

35. except Martin had no idea whether he was an authority figure

Actually, it makes it worse for Zimmerman since he WASN'T an authority figure but acted like one without rules and never told Martin he was the neighborhood watch dude.

Had Zimmerman actually followed his training by staying in his car and not think he was an authority figure when he wasn't by pursuing Martin or even at least told him that he was neighborhood watch when he had the chance none of this would have happened.

[customerserviceguy]

41. To Martin

he was "the man", and was eyeballing the teen as he walked through the neighborhood. The jury's already heard positive testimony from witnesses (including prosecution ones) about GZ's neighborhood watch service.

It's not about what happened that night, it's how O'Mara and his team can spin it for the jury.

[TorchTheWitch]

42. why do you think the jurors are dumb as a box of rocks?

You must if you think that this defense spin trying to portray Zimmerman as behaving correctly in violating the rules he was supposed to follow concerning his neighborhood watching and just discount what he said on his call to dispatch. What happened that night is the whole reason the jurors are there, and you think they're just going to discount everything about what happened that night in favor of defense spin on character?

[customerserviceguy]

43. I think that O'Mara

did a good job of lining up witnesses to make GZ look as good as possible. As for the jury being dumb as a box of rocks, that's going to be one of the kindliest things said about them at this forum should they return a total not guilty verdict.

It's Florida, member of the Old Confederacy, in a small town. Small town folks see things way differently from big city people.

[Blue Owl]

26. Exhibit B.S.

n/t