# Cause and Effect: Marijuana and Axe Murders **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 26, 2004, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cause-and-effect-marijuana-and-axe-murders/266156 "2004-09-26T13:26:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2004, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cause-and-effect-marijuana-and-axe-murders/266156/1 "2004-09-26T13:26:07Z")
[Axxording to this Reuters story,](http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=573&ncid=757&e=7&u=/nm/20040924/od_nm/crime_malawi_beheadings_dc) > [@](#): > > The man, in his mid-20s, beheaded a 52-year-old woman while she worked in her garden with her daughter and did the same to a 68-year-old friend who came to the daughter’s aid, police spokesman Kelvin Maigwa told Reuters… > > “The house was full of stench from recently smoked hemp. We believe he had an overdose of the hemp that made him go berserk,” Maigwa said, adding that the walls of the house bore quotations from famous reggae songs. BTW, this happened in Malawi. That must be some really powerful shit. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Testy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c37758/32.png) [@Testy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Testy)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2004, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cause-and-effect-marijuana-and-axe-murders/266156/2 "2004-09-26T14:35:57Z")
Reefer madness in a big way. :eek: Regards Testy ---
**Author:** ![melondeca](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@melondeca](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/melondeca)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2004, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cause-and-effect-marijuana-and-axe-murders/266156/3 "2004-09-26T14:43:04Z")
I am glad that I am not the only one who thought of Reefer Madness. This news article made me shake my head in disgust. It is horrifying that the guy killed two women but one has to imagine that he was at least slightly unbalanced before he decided to toke up. I got high for many years and I don’t remember having to supress any homicidal urges. I mean, I know marijuana affects your short term memory but I got high for many years and I don’t remember having to supress any homicidal urges. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Standup\_Karmic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac91a4/32.png) [@Standup\_Karmic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Standup_Karmic)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2004, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cause-and-effect-marijuana-and-axe-murders/266156/4 "2004-09-26T15:18:05Z")
They may well have simply stated that the murderer was “wearing Fruit of the Loom brand briefs at the time of the murder”.:eek: It would then be easily set out for all to see that tighty whities are the cause of all societal ills. \* “When taken to the station for questioning, we found that he was wearing an especially tight pair of Fruit of the Loom™ underpants. We believe that the very tight underwear is what made him go berserk,” Maigwa said, adding that the walls of the house bore quotations from Red Hot Chili Pepper songs.\* ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2004, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cause-and-effect-marijuana-and-axe-murders/266156/5 "2004-09-26T15:30:58Z")
> [@melondeca](#): > > I mean, I know marijuana affects your short term memory but I got high for many years and I don’t remember having to supress any homicidal urges. :eek: Interesting comment. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2004, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cause-and-effect-marijuana-and-axe-murders/266156/6 "2004-09-26T15:46:41Z")
African weed is reputedly really strong. Like, really really strong. I met a guy who’d smoked a spliff in Kenya, and he ended up lying in bed, unable to move, chatting with a group of ghosts who’d arrived in his hostel room to thank him for being respectful when he visited their graveyard earlier on. ‘Hashish’ is derived from ‘Hashishim’, an Arabic group of hash-munching assassins, so THC isn’t necessarily a prophylactic against violent behaviour. Cannabis psychosis is a very real phenomenon, and could have caused the dude to lose it. Then again, it could just be idiot cops jumping to conclusions. You decide! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2004, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cause-and-effect-marijuana-and-axe-murders/266156/7 "2004-09-26T17:11:52Z")
> [@Standup Karmic](#): > > They may well have simply stated that the murderer was “wearing Fruit of the Loom brand briefs at the time of the murder”.:eek: It would then be easily set out for all to see that tighty whities are the cause of all societal ills. > \* > “When taken to the station for questioning, we found that he was wearing an especially tight pair of Fruit of the Loom™ underpants. We believe that the very tight underwear is what made him go berserk,” Maigwa said, adding that the walls of the house bore quotations from Red Hot Chili Pepper songs.\* See. I think you’re on to a new theory which will save the world: no underwear, no psychotic breaks with reality leading to defenstration. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2004, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cause-and-effect-marijuana-and-axe-murders/266156/8 "2004-09-26T17:33:22Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > Cannabis psychosis is a very real phenomenon, and could have caused the dude to lose it. [Says who?](http://www.ukcia.org/research/can-psychosis.htm) > [@](#): > > The existence of a “cannabis psychosis” is still a matter for debate. In its favour are case series of “cannabis psychoses”, and a small number of controlled studies that compare the characteristics of “cannabis psychoses” with those of psychoses in individuals who were not using cannabis at the time of hospital admission (e.g. [39]). Critics of the hypothesis emphasise the fallibility of clinical judgements about aetiology, the poorly specified criteria used in diagnosing these psychoses, the dearth of controlled studies, and the striking variations in the clinical features of “cannabis psychoses” [24). > > It is a plausible hypothesis that high doses of cannabis can produce psychotic symptoms. **There is no compelling evidence, however, that there is a specific clinical syndrome that is identifiable as a “cannabis psychosis”.** The clinical symptoms reported by different observers have been mixed. These symptoms seem to rapidly remit, with full recovery, after abstinence from cannabis. Bolding mine. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2004, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cause-and-effect-marijuana-and-axe-murders/266156/9 "2004-09-26T22:07:26Z")
I smoke pot all the time, and I never kill people with an ax. I’m more of a butcher knife kind of guy. ---
**Author:** ![Hugh\_Jass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/4da419/32.png) [@Hugh\_Jass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hugh_Jass)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2004, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cause-and-effect-marijuana-and-axe-murders/266156/10 "2004-09-26T23:09:31Z")
Maybe he thought they were hiding chocolate chip cookies in their necks. ---
**Author:** ![alterego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6bbea6/32.png) [@alterego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alterego)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2004, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cause-and-effect-marijuana-and-axe-murders/266156/11 "2004-09-26T23:14:52Z")
It would be an interesting study to see how many “dopers” actually are dopers. Doing an google search for the word “dope” and this website is number two, with the snippet, “\*Here you will find all manner of things relating to the column and the vast Straight Dope media empire. \*.” I would definitely find that interesting were I stoned. And images like [this](http://www.straightdope.com/art/2004/040924.gif) on the front page would definitely keep me around 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2004, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cause-and-effect-marijuana-and-axe-murders/266156/12 "2004-09-26T23:23:13Z")
> [@alterego](#): > > It would be an interesting study to see how many “dopers” actually are dopers. I’ve wondered about this too, but since we’re not supposed to post things “condoning” illegal activities, I can’t figure out how to ask with getting Mod-slapped. I’ll just say that \*hypothetically \* speaking, I \*imagine \* a big spliff of African ganga is more likely to make me stare at a campfire for hours and then go to bed than run around with an axe. Hypothetically. 😃 Just sayin’. Unless you’re hogging the french onion dip. I theorize. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2004, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cause-and-effect-marijuana-and-axe-murders/266156/13 "2004-09-27T00:49:23Z")
> [@melondeca](#): > > I am glad that I am not the only one who thought of Reefer Madness. This news article made me shake my head in disgust. It is horrifying that the guy killed two women but one has to imagine that he was at least slightly unbalanced before he decided to toke up. I got high for many years and I don’t remember having to supress any homicidal urges. I mean, I know marijuana affects your short term memory but I got high for many years and I don’t remember having to supress any homicidal urges. :eek: Perhaps you don’t remember repressing homicidal urges because you didn’t suppress them. What you’re REALLY forgetting is the many grisly murders that you committed under the influence of KILLER WEED. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2004, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cause-and-effect-marijuana-and-axe-murders/266156/14 "2004-09-27T13:28:01Z")
> [@Q.E.D.](#): > > [Says who?](http://www.ukcia.org/research/can-psychosis.htm) Interesting. I’d read so many (medical) articles about it that I never realised it was a controversial hypothesis. ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2004, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cause-and-effect-marijuana-and-axe-murders/266156/15 "2004-09-27T15:09:33Z")
> [@Boyo Jim](#): > > What you’re REALLY forgetting is the many grisly murders that you committed under the influence **of KILLER WEED.** 😛 Shouldn’t that be phrased, “of THE KILLER WEED”? Gotta have the “the” in there. ---
**Author:** ![clayton\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c57346/32.png) [@clayton\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clayton_e)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2004, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cause-and-effect-marijuana-and-axe-murders/266156/16 "2004-09-27T21:43:36Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > ‘Hashish’ is derived from [the word] ‘Hashishim’, an Arabic group of hash-munching assassins, so THC isn’t necessarily a prophylactic against violent behaviour. You _could_ do something violent while on marijuana if you really wanted to, but (as has been mentioned already) I don’t think you would really have the motivation to. and a few facts on the origin of “hashish”: > [@](#): > > [The](http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/hashish) word حشّاشين (haššāšīn), or _ **Hashshashin** _. The Hashshashin (also Hashishim), or Assassins were a religious sect (Nizaris) of Islam with a militant basis, thought to be active in the 8th through 14th (?) centuries as a group of brigands on the medieval Afghanistan Silk Road. . . . The name Hashshashin was given to them by their Muslim enemies. . . [The Hashshashin were] militants who supposedly were avid hash-eaters. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2004, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cause-and-effect-marijuana-and-axe-murders/266156/17 "2004-09-27T22:12:47Z")
Hash EATERS? Blech. I had no idea you could eat hash. (of the not-corned beef variety, of course.) Is it eaten in something or just down the ol’ hatch? Either way, sounds pretty far away from the story in the OP. Eating pot gives you a pretty different effect than smoking it (even more “I’m becoming one with the couch,”) and hash is really another beastie altogether. Or so I’ve heard. 😉