Written by Lisa Hendrickson
There’s an elephant in the national chat-room regarding Michael Brown, and ignoring it puts our youth at risk. Michael Brown had levels of THC in his blood and urine consistent with current and past use of marijuana. He was either intoxicated, i.e., cognitively impaired, or more likely, he was CRAVING – hence the strong-arm robbery of the cigarillos to go make more “blunts.”
People behave in irrational ways when they are in midst of very real biological “urges.” For example an average person might disobey the speed limit if s/he really had to pee! Sorry for the image, but I think most people can relate.
Michael Brown didn’t want to go jail; he wanted to go get high, and no one was going to stop him. THAT explains his bizarre response to being detained by Officer Wilson.
Back in August right after Michael Brown’s death, Dillon Taylor (white), was shot and killed in Salt Lake City while intoxicated on alcohol more than twice the legal limit. He had hinted on FB that he didn’t want to go back to jail and wanted to die. He ignored the cops’ orders and acted like he had a weapon. The Salt Lake cop (mixed race) who shot him was cleared because he was wearing a body camera that showed the alarming behavior of the suspect.
Just last week another young man, Gil Collar (white), was shot in Mobile, Alabama while under the influence of LSD and engaging the police officer (black) in an erratic manner. I’m sure if we analyzed data nationwide we’d see a CLEAR pattern: People do stupid stuff while intoxicated or going through withdrawals, regardless of their race or that of the cops!!
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