When Maureen Dowd wrote her now-viral column for the New York Times about her experience in Colorado with a marijuana candy bar, she described her body's state as "paranoid" and "hallucinatory."
“As my paranoia deepened, I became convinced that I had died and no one was telling me,” she wrote.
If only someone had told the New York Times columnist that eating that much edible marijuana could have such drastic effects.
But apparently, someone did.
The Cannabist reported Wednesday that Dowd was warned of the effects of the drugs by an expert in the area, Matt Brown, co-founder of a tourism company known as My 420 Tours. Brown claims that he was asked by Dowd's assistant to give her a "behind-the-scenes tour," and in doing that, he says they discussed at length the varying effects of the edibles.
"She got the warning,” Brown told the Cannabist. “She did what all the reporters did. She listened. She bought some samples... I don’t remember what exactly. Me and the owner of the dispensary we were at and the assistant manager and the budtender talked with her for 45 minutes at the shop."
Brown added that just hours before her column was published in the Times on Tuesday, Dowd called him to ask if her reaction was normal. The phone call lasted for about 45 to 60 minutes, Brown said, but none of their conversation or his previous warning made it into her piece.
"All of the problems that happened in her hotel room as she’s breaking off pieces of the infused candy bar... there’s something missing," he said. "When she was learning how to drink alcohol she could have seen other adults using moderation and other adults in bars puking and making an ass out of themselves — because it’s enjoyed communally and legally in bars."
(h/t: Talking Points Memo)