Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
Moderators: dirtonly  /  dmantx  /  hosehead

I think the smoking week within 5hrs has been reported before this. The other thing that was stated a year ago when the Grand Jury decided not to indict Tony Stewart was the levels that were in Kevin Ward Jr's body were enough to effect judgement. I do not know what those levels were, I am not a Marijuana expert, I do not smoke, and I do not care if anyone else smokes it. I am all for legalization of it, just not something I would do.

Its kind of the final straw in a series of bad decisions. 1) he gets out of the car, 2) he walks onto the track while cars are moving, 3) he walks toward Tony's car as it is coming, 4) before all of this happened he smoked before the race happened.

The marjiuana probably did not cause him to get out of the car, probably did not effect his ability, who knows. It just looks bad and probably should not be done when you are driving a racecar on dirt at over 110mph sideways through the corner. For that matter, none of the other decisions he made should be done on a dirt track either.

Common sense and any past experience with MJ (I came up in the late 60's so I'll plead the 5th) tells us that it did not cause him to hurl himself in front of oncoming Sprint Cars.  If that were the case Willie Nelson would have been run over by his tour bus decades ago.

Seriously though, after five hours any sense of euphoria would have subsided and he would have been thinking normally.  As you point out there was a series of bad decisions but I think the first thing that Stewart's attorney is going to jump on it the thc.  If the Ward family attorney can successfully refute those claims this case will be interesting to follow.

Hey Sarge.  Did you ever listen to Mike North on the score?  He had it down when he used to rant about people owning up to their responsibilities, he used to say the PUSSIFICATION OF AMERICA, and I used to love when he said it because he was dead on.....3 kids?  I am in the dark here......

Ok, now I'm officially caught up in this thread. The thing is, Stan, the Ward family's attorney doesn't have to refute any of those claims as they have no meaning in a civil suit. Tony Stewart (attorney) is the one who somehow has to prove/or disprove the claims made against him. The Ward Family doesn't have to prove or disprove anything. Kevin ward could've ran at Stewarts car with his helmet on backwards, rendering him blind as a bat and Tony Stewart could still be forced to pay. Why? Because Tony Stewart didn't take every action necessary to prevent the accident (at least that's what they're going to say). I personally think that's a load of BS and some may feel the same, some may not. Consider this, the Ward Family may end up paying Tony Stewart when this is all said and done. I know it sounds crazy, but wait and see. 

I'm not Tony's accountant so I'll let his people worry about his money and the outcome of this lawsuit. 

Common sense and any past experience with MJ (I came up in the late 60's so I'll plead the 5th) tells us that it did not cause him to hurl himself in front of oncoming Sprint Cars.  If that were the case Willie Nelson would have been run over by his tour bus decades ago.

Seriously though, after five hours any sense of euphoria would have subsided and he would have been thinking normally.  As you point out there was a series of bad decisions but I think the first thing that Stewart's attorney is going to jump on it the thc.  If the Ward family attorney can successfully refute those claims this case will be interesting to follow.

I have not seen the toxicology report so I don't know what is deemed "a level enough to impair judgment".    Those that post that it does not matter are 100% correct.   I think it would be very difficult to smoke enough in the pit area close enough to feature time to make a difference, even with vape.    There has been no mention of prescription drugs or other dietary supplements.....as we all know both can have the side effect commonly known as 'roid rage.   

The reason I suspect edibles is both the discreet (and delayed) aspect and the easy ability to take too much and have bad side affects.  My guess is that he ate some during the night, and not having an immediate affect took more.   when the adrenilene started pumping his body started processing everything that was in his stomach.   I can only imagine that without controlled conditions of retail and medical marijuana that the amount of THC in the edible is unknown and not consistant.  

As most know,  pot usually mellows a person out, but there are at least 3 documented cases in Colorado where someone ate a whole 100 mg THC candy bar that was sold to be 10 individual doses of 10 mg each.   In one case the college kid flipped out at something and ran off of his hotel room balcony, in another a lady was killed by her raging husband while she was on the phone to 911.  

Actually what this confirms to me is that he was in fact NOT high at the time of the accident. If he smoked 5 hours earlier and was still stoned that would be incredible and some magical cannabis I have yet to encounter. In my mind the fact that he got out of the racecar had more to do with the effects of testosterone mixed with adrenaline rather than residual trace amounts of THC in his system. I speak from experience when I say that "if" he smoked cannabis approximately 5 hours earlier he most certainly wasnt feeling the effects of it at the time of the accident. Edibles? Maybe but thats a whole different story. Edibles would spike his levels and show up as a much higher concentration in his blood stream so I think its safe to rule that out. In the end a hot headed kid got into a situation that killed him nothing more nothing less.

Exactly: " fact that he got out of the racecar had more to do with the effects of testosterone mixed with adrenaline rather than residual trace amounts of THC"

Henry knows. When I've had the misfortune to misjudge edible intake, I could barely get out of the recliner, much less a sprint car  (& fuhgettabout getting IN one!)

You are probably the only one on here that might know what I am talking about.   The guy that killed his wife while she was on the phone with 911 was in the news again yesterday....he is going to try and plead "not guily by reason of temporary insanity due to unintended intoxication".   Apparently his lawyer thinks that since the guy THOUGHT he was taking 10 mg and instead ingested 100 mg, he was temporarily insane.  (good luck!)   This and the kid on the balcony is what caused Colorado to rewrite the rules for packaging and sale of edibles.  

I just read that the toxicology report done on Kevin Ward actually states he had smoked marijuana within 5 hours of the accident.  Maybe that has been public knowledge all along and I'm just now finding out.  I had only read previously that it just showed marijuana in his system, not when.  

We've all read on here people defending use of marijuana by racers, which most know is idiotic, but this information is crazy to me.  There will be some idiot who jumps on here and states there is no way they can know when he smoked it, only that it was in his system...but I will trust the scientists on this one.  Of course his parents are disputing the accuracy of the toxicology report.  I'm certain science has methods to know within a certain window how recent the use was.  Especially in a circumstance where the ruling is within 5 hours.  I'm guessing it means there were still high levels in his lungs, not just his bloodstream.

That means this kid was getting high at about the time rigs were being put in the pits or possibly after.  I can't imagine the foolishness of a driver smoking a joint right before the driver's meeting then strapping into one of these things a couple hours later.  I mean I can get past getting high the night before and then racing the next day.... but this is absolutely crazy to me.

The point of my post is that pot CAN cause someone to flip out and lose control....it is documented but it does takes a large amount to do so.  I personally believe it is highly doubtful that you can get enough THC in your system by vaping or any form of smoking to cause this, but I do believe it is possible through ingestion.

You are correct,  it really does not matter WHY the kid flipped out and tried to tackle a moving racecar.   The civil suit claims that Smoke should have seen him and avoided him and therefor root cause of the flipout is inconsequential.

IMHO they can solve this real quick.   Just put the Texas bible thumping lawyer in a racecar with the same seat, wing (in the same position) and helmet (with the same number of tearoffs) and push him around a similarly banked and lit track.   Have another racecar in front of him that swerves around a black cardboard cutout at the last minute.