Was Miami Face-Chewing Attack Caused by Cannabis-Induced Psychosis?

Toxicology reports released last week by the Miami-Dade Medical Examiner found that there were no traces of bath salts in the body of Rudy Eugene, the "Miami Cannibal" who attacked 65-year-old Ronald Poppo under the MacArthur Causeway on May 26.

Reports show that traces of marijuana were the only drugs identified in Eugene's body at the time, ruling out the possibility of harsher drugs such as hallucinogenics or amphetamines as the cause of the 31-year-old's horrific attack.

According to Local10, Eugene had once been diagnosed with schizophrenia in the past after a misdemeanor arrest, however it is unconfirmed if treatment was ever sought. While further investigation is needed in this case, a diagnoses of schizophrenia coupled with the use of marijuana could help explain what triggered the incident.

An article published in Current Psychiatry in October of 2011 states that while a causal relationship between cannabis use and psychosis has not been firmly established, numerous longitudinal studies show that the risk of development of psychosis is three times higher in those of cannabis users when compared to non-users. In addition to increased risk, the onset of symptoms in patients with schizophrenia usually occur about two to three years earlier if they have a history of cannabis use. A 10-year study on cannabis use published in the British Medical Journal in 2011 found cannabis to be "an environmental risk factor," increasing the risk of "incident psychotic experiences", and with continued use, increases the risk of "persistent psychotic experiences." Both the article and study show that risk increases with higher dosages. Having been diagnosed with schizophrenia, it is possible that marijuana could have worsened any conditions that Rudy Eugene had, since cannabis use puts patients with schizophrenia at a higher risk for increased symptoms, relapse, and experiencing cannabis-induced psychosis.

Despite the uproar over this high-profile case, family members of Rudy Eugene defend his character prior to the attacks. In an interview with Local10, Ruth Charles, mother of Eugene, said that she didn't believe mental illness was a component and expressed shock and disbelief that Eugene was capable of such a violent attack. Eugene's brother Marckenson Charles said in an interview that "Anybody who knew him knows this wasn't the person we knew him to be." According to police records, Eugene was arrested 8 times since the age of 16, four of which were in connection with marijuana. In 2004, Eugene made history as the first person ever to be shocked with a Taser by a North Miami Beach officer, and was arrested for beating and threatening to kill his mother. Eugene's girlfriend Yovanka Bryant also came to his defense. In an interview with Dr. Drew on HLN, she said "There were no warning signs," and that Eugene "Was always loving and supportive" towards her children. Bryant and Eugene had been dating for approximately four months.

Investigation is still underway as to what could have caused the attack on Poppo, who is slowly recovering from losing an eye and having the majority of his face chewed off, including his nose. The three pills that were originally reported to have been found in Eugene's stomach were not identified in the report released by the Medical Examiner.

 

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Comments

[Chigirl60]

08:29 PM on 08/25/2012

Considering how many people either use or abuse pot, more scientific studies should be done to identify risks and benefits.

[Dan Cole]

09:15 PM on 07/23/2012

This article is a joke. the marijuana schizo connection is absolute bunk. first, thc stays in your body for up to 3 weeks. A high lasts at most a couple hrs. second, All 16-35 year old's in the US who have been diagnosed with schizo in the past 80 yrs equals to be a very consistent .9 to 1.1 percent of the population. a line graph of this would look virtually like a straight line. The line graph for the percentage of 16-35 year old's in this country he smoke marijuana on a regular basis is all over the place with dips and peaks upwards of over 10 percentage points. if you overlap the two graphs you can not find a single consistency when it comes to correlation.
most of the original study's on this topic where funded by religious orgs that where specifically looking for any evidence to demonize marijuana. the original study's where very poorly done and contradict study's that show THC and CBD are actually beneficial for some types of psychosis.

The media needs to higher ACTUAL SCIENTISTS to wright anything science related because you people have no problem repeating BS or misrepresented scientific findings over and over again like this stupid marijuana schizo link. even if true this would only affect a small percentage of .9 to point 1.1 percent of the population.

[Chigirl60]

08:28 PM on 08/25/2012

You might want to 'hire' a tutor to help you with the language,

[Dan Cole]

12:18 AM on 08/27/2012

WOW, right to the insults huh. I assume that was an attempt to attack my spelling and punctuation which i simply don't care about, instead of debating the facts i presented witch you are having trouble swallowing. I am too busy to cross all my T's and Dot my I's to impress the ill informed internet commenter population. Besides, I would rather be a less educated and more informed citizen than a well educated poorly informed fool like yourself. Judging by the comment you left above mine,"Considering how many people either use or abuse pot, more scientific studies should be done to identify risks and benefits". You clearly don't know what your talking about. you will lose every single marijuana related argument with me. I only see people write foolishness like that when they are ill informed and heavily biased on topics like this.
Marijuana has been used and STUDIED for over 6,000 years. Longer than alcohol and tobacco. the fact that our disingenuous government has put the most harmless drug on the planet in the schedule 1 category means its Very difficult to get a permit to study it. If a scientist wants to get one, they have to practically lie and say they are looking for negative affects associated with cannabis to study it. If they say they are looking for health benefits that are related to marijuana they almost always get turned down.

[Dan Cole]

12:18 AM on 08/27/2012

If you look at all the study's outside and inside the country you will come to a realization that The reason why our gov'mint doesn't want study's done on cannabis is because they are having a hard time keeping the factual information from the people. turns out, study after study (including a NIDA funded and supported study) has shown that people who ONLY smoke marijuana ( and no other smoke able drugs) had less of a chance of ending up with cancer than someone who dos no drugs at all. Not only that but there is no association with inhaling marijuana smoke and lung cancer. Not only that but people who smoke marijuana and cigs where 50% less likely to end up with cig related cancer. Further studies in the US and around the globe have shown that THC and CBD kills cancer cells (tumors) quickly when applied directly and is the safest method of killing cancer to date. look it up. SO not only does pot help stay off the potential cancer from smoking the carcinogens, but still has enough kick to cut your chances of cancer from cigs in half. that's one important drug.

[john1923t]

10:28 PM on 07/20/2012

where is this stuff coming from? my son died( suicide) from it, and i want to know who supplied it to the store in sndusky ohio. i may have a little street justice to hand out, since our laws wont stop it.

[Bloviator88]

10:28 AM on 07/11/2012

Reefer madness!!! I knew it!!! Pot is turning our productive citizens into flesh eating ZOMBIES!!! No wonder Obama put out his kill on sight order for Weed smokers. Run for the hills!!!!!!!!!!

[pinball702]

08:39 PM on 07/10/2012

No, no! The psych guys aren't seeing the real situation. Just because people with psychotic tendencies sometimes use marijuana doesn't make marijuana 'the bad guy'. The article says:

"...the risk of development of psychosis is three times higher in those of cannabis users when compared to non-users."

First of all, how does one estimate the 'risk' of developing psychosis? Second, maybe psychotics are three times more likely to use marijuana. It's a bogus study and there is no such thing as a 'marijuana psychosis'. Get real.

[Jnce]

03:09 AM on 07/13/2012

One does not 'estimate' the risk of psychosis, one measures the number of people who are diagnosed psychotic. Then psychotics who also used marijuana turn out to be a group three times as large.

[billstewart]

06:13 PM on 07/10/2012

If you read the news reports, after the first day or two, you'd see that his girlfriend said he'd had problems with rage for a long time, and that marijuana helped him control it, but that he'd quit using marijuana a week or so before.

So yeah, there were traces of marijuana metabolites in his system, but that doesn't mean it was marijuana-induced psychosis (though that is a real problem for some people), but much more likely that he had mental problems that badly needed treatment, wasn't getting treatment, and came from a family that didn't want to believe that they might have mental problems.

[humpfree]

02:37 PM on 07/10/2012

The rate of schizophrenia affliction (about 1%) has remained flat over the last 50 years while MJ use has increased. I'm no statistician but if MJ use causes schizophrenia this shouldn't be the case. The honest research shows those suffering from mental illness may be more prone to using MJ as a means of self medicating. It would seem the correlation is confused for causation (likely with full intent) by the "numerous longitudinal studies" cited (but not really cited) in the article.

[silly silly]

07:48 PM on 07/23/2012

Nothing in the article says that MJ causes schizophrenia!!!
The only thing that this article says is that use of MJ can induce more psychotic episodes and an earlier onset of schizophrenic symptoms in those that already are or would be schizophrenic.
Please, read more critically. This article in no way says MJ causes schizophrenia.

As far as 'honest research' goes... i think both sides (anti-pot and without any reservations pro-pot people) aren't really being 'honest'.
I know people who believe their mental health is improved by their use of MJ and i believe them.
I believe that MJ is as effective a treatment, if not potentially more (for some) than prescribed/legal psych drugs.

That said, i also know it makes me anxious and paranoid to smoke a bowl ... it has a de-stabilizing effect on my mood and mental health. I know i'm not alone.
So, ummm, pleeeeeeease can people stop defending MJ as if it is absolutely harmless!!!

p.s. i am a firm believer that MJ should be legalized and that in doing so we may be able to make better use of it for medicinal purposes.

[humpfree]

11:32 AM on 07/24/2012

You're reading into my post. I certainly didn't say it's harmless. You can have that argument with someone else.

Schizophrenia is marked by psychotic episodes and the claim that it's caused by MJ is well worn. I think bringing it into the debate is plenty fair.

Like you, I don't enjoy it much. But I know plenty who do. These are good people from all walks of life. It's not tearing their lives apart... unless they get caught. That's why I favor ending MJ prohibition.

[jojobinx]

06:00 AM on 07/10/2012

How many cases of smoking weed have been linked to canabalism in your
Lifetime? I am 56 and find the connection ludicrous. Let's face it the
so called moral majority would link it to
anything horrific to stop it from being legalized.

[Toolologist]

01:40 AM on 07/10/2012

Give me a break. I know marijuana can cause the munchies, but I've never heard of it causing cannibalization. What was that about 3 unidentified pills found in his stomach? I'd guess they might have something to do with it.

[Jeremy Echols]

12:38 AM on 07/10/2012

Back when marijuana wasn't illegal, face-chewing was the norm, you know. Also, the millions of Americans today who regularly use cannabis also chew faces off all the time, they're just better at hiding the evidence.

[Edward Wilkes]

10:09 PM on 07/09/2012

Nonsence!

[DocJoseph]

11:03 AM on 07/09/2012

"While further investigation is needed in this case, a diagnoses of schizophrenia coupled with the use of marijuana could help explain what triggered the incident."

Or maybe just schizophrenia and an unhealthy appetite. "Traces" of marijuana?

I think that we tend to look for excuses, or triggers, when mental illness alone is sufficient to explain aberrant behavior in the mentally ill. But would anyone have suggested that trace amounts of alcohol triggered such an attack?

[itsveryreal11213]

01:16 PM on 07/10/2012

Yes. There are stories of drunks biting ears ala Tyson. Just saying! And noses.
But psychosis, sure. All the time. Mentally ill people shouldn't be taking street drugs if they're prone to psychosis. They can't afford to find out that they might have a bad reaction.

Just thinking, not specifically directed towards you; I can see you know enough about it.

[Damon G]

09:51 AM on 07/09/2012

People rush to blame it on something, but crazy people do exist. And then it is possible it was something they don't know about and can't detect. The attention is all but guaranteeing that this will happen more times.

[Paul Paul]

03:06 AM on 07/09/2012

I have lived with the mentally ill and I was horrified by how often the police raided and how they treated people with disabilities. I assure you there's a very good reason for calling them pigs.

Heavy handed policing of the intellectually, mentally or emotionally disabled and deeply introverted can only result in giving these people very serious problems often resulting in deepening drug dependence, self harm, suicide, violence and sometimes murder.

Take the budget for this brutal behaviour away from the police and give it to community health organizations that really help people.

The problem is not in the drugs it's in the way people are being treated by an abusive gang of old men who rule with an iron fist and have no idea of how violent and dangerous and feared they are and how the use of violence only spreads the use of violence for reasons of greed, fear and broken down insanity.

It’s time to own up to the damage done.

End the drug war.

[silly silly]

09:36 PM on 07/23/2012

PaulPaul
smoking weed can amplify my mental issues and i know it's an only option for relief for some... i think you're speaking about the real issues here tho.

my 'welfare' check (not $ but when a cop shows up to check on one's welfare) once included; being patted down twice at my apartment complex, handcuffed and driven off in front of everyone on the busy street of my small town.

i'm petite, i was totally calm (just suicidal depressed) and never protested for a second complying with a psych hold... i shudder every time i think of the people i know like those you have lived with who have encountered far worse than a bit of embarrassment like i did. i'm terrified of even legitimately expressing anger if i try to 'get help' and resort to sheepish behavior ... for those like me that don't have the luxury of making themselves lose their spirit and make themselves small lest they intimidate others, i empathize how they are all too often treated.

this horrible act this man committed... there's no justification or true explanation yet i agree with what i believe you are saying... as long as we do not address how we treat our most vulnerable members of society and the violence that is pervasive in our systems of 'help' (the mental health and legal systems), these terrible tragedies will happen.

[Paul Paul]

03:05 AM on 07/09/2012

Eugene was the kind of guy who kept it bottled inside, he tried to hold it in but society just goes too far in the form of the cops. He had been searched and arrested on numerous occasions. He was doing the right thing, he was medicating on pot to keep his cool but it can be really hard to keep your cool when you are a powerless black guy always in danger of being dragged away by all powerful white men with guns, it just builds up inside you till it explodes.

Nor does this article mention that there was very little THC in his system, it had been a while since his last medication.

And notice how the photos of both men are mug shots. That's how the police interact with the disabled and homeless, they arrest them. The weakest most vulnerable people in the community are being systematically attacked for their choice of natural medication in order to protect company profits, and through harassment and abuse they turn into ticking time bombs and we just leave them to walk freely in the community ready to explode at any moment. And when someone breaks under the pressure the media says “See, that’s what drugs do to you”. We'll just forget about the completely callous, incompetent interference of the police. The police totally failed in their duty of care to this man and the community by abusing him and denying the community the chance to manage community health competently.