“A new and deadly menace lurking behind closed doors — marijuana — the burning weed with its roots in hell. … See this important film now before it is too late.” (Via Motion Picture Ventures / "Reefer Madness")
In case you missed it, New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd recently starred in her very own version of “Reefer Madness.” (Via YouTube /4AsVideoChannel)
To get a feel for Colorado’s legal pot scene, Dowd traveled to Denver and as part of her research, the Pulitzer Prize winner decided to sample some edible marijuana for herself. (Via CNN)
For her first foray into marijuana-infused edibles, she settled on a weed-caramel-chocolate candy bar. Dowd then holed up in a hotel room, nibbled on the pot-laced candy and waited for the results.
She shares her experience in a column published Tuesday: “I felt a scary shudder go through my body and brain. I barely made it from the desk to the bed, where I lay curled up in a hallucinatory state for the next eight hours. I was thirsty but couldn’t move to get water. Or even turn off the lights. I was panting and paranoid. ... As my paranoia deepened, I became convinced that I had died and no one was telling me.” (Via The New York Times)
Eventually, after Dowd returned to a more sober state, she learned she'd eaten 16 times more than what’s recommended for new marijuana users — a recommendation that wasn't on the label.
Now, the column was meant to call attention to the state’s efforts to regulate edible marijuana, but that was lost on pretty much everyone. Instead, it was her pot-induced freak out got the most attention. (Via Liveleak / DotDotDash)
To say she got burned on Twitter is putting it mildly.
Comedy Central tweeted: "Maureen Dowd 'curled up in a hallucinatory state' after eating pot candy. Funny, that's what most people do after reading Maureen Dowd."
From Circa’s Anthony De Rosa: "Honestly, I assumed Dowd was always curled up in a hallucinatory state while writing her columns."
The general sentiment seemed to be: "'I really want to get high with Maureen Dowd' — said no one ever." (Via Twitter / @HumanityCritic)
All that merciless mockery aside, a Washington Post blogger says to be fair, Dowd makes a good point: more attention should be paid when labeling now-legal pot products.
"Dowd got much higher than she wanted to because she made the not-unreasonable assumption that a candy bar was a single serving, eating the whole thing in one go. ... She is not going to be alone, and asking for labeling or instructions is not unreasonable."
Dowd also isn't alone in writing about legal pot's potential dangers. You may remember this column from her New York Times colleague David Brooks. He too wrote a cautionary tale about his experiences with the drug.
And like Dowd, his marijuana confession attracted its fair share of internet ridicule. (Via Gothamist, New York Magazine, The Daily Beast)
First Brooks, now Dowd. Gawker asks the obvious question: when can expect a Charles Blow tries blow column? We’ll just have to wait and see. (Via American Federation of Teachers)
