witch hunt! witch hunt!
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Seems like pretty wild speculation that the family was dosed intentionally. If I had to guess Iâd say it was more likely that there was a naturally occurring compound that they ingested that caused the reaction - did anyone check the pastrami on rye bread sandwiches they had for lunch? or the mushrooms in the salad?
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That would certainly explain why it didnât break down upon heating. Iâm not sure how much would get picked up off the plate, though. Iâd also look into the steak sauce; that would have been ingested directly, also without cooking. I wonder whether itâs possible for people to show symptoms from eating beef from an animal that was fed ergot-tainted grain; that might easily explain the lab tests. I can imagine the toxins surviving in the pink, effectively uncooked part of the middle of a rare steak.
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Even if itâs naturally-occurring, it might still be the beef.
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I see no mention that the contaminants would be passed on to people ingesting the beef, though. Wouldnât the cattleâs body metabolize it?
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Hmm. First theraputic experiments with LSD in 40 years, and what splash headlines do we get? Tinfoil beanies on everyone, and lets play âhunt the hidden agendaââŚ
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Because, Florida.
Makes sense to me.
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Did you ever stop to consider, man, that maybe the toxicologistâs offices are like totally contaminated with LSD and it got into all the blood and steak samples?
Thatâs right - I just blew your mind.
Seriously, crazy story. Is there no other food item that the family consumed in common?
And I think the medical personnel would have noticed the severe vasoconstriction that would accompany cases of ergotism, SpaceDoggity.
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So utterly not buying it. Barney Fyfe declares âit were that there LSD, fer sureâ and theyâre absolutely certain nothing came from the family. Mighty fast work there, deputy.
This one doesnât stand up to Occamâs steak knife; no sirree, not one little bit.
Some of the other circumstances: it was the first meal cooked in their new home, which they had occupied for just two days. What kind of shape are they in financially? Who lived there before? Had there been a foreclosure? Did the previous tenants leave on good terms? Inquiring minds want to know.
Edit: Thereâs no mention of the condition of their pupils. Without question, checking for pupil dilation (even without thought of LSD) would have part of their screening. A huge dose of LSD would have left them with nearly no visible iris at all, and the subsequent âdiscoveryâ of LSD would be far less of a surprise. Iâm betting there was no dilation observed, hence no tripping.
Look elsewhere for your explanation.
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I donât think you understand how poisoned they were. Everyone had to be intubated. That means they were unconscious and had a breathing tube inserted into their throats. Thatâs more than a bad trip.
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Not if itâs slaughtered quickly. âUh oh. This oneâs sick. Letâs send it to slaughter before it gets too obvious.â Bear in mind also: LSD is fat-soluble, which is why people have flashbacks. If ergot metabolites are similarly fat-soluble, they could easily end up in the marbled fat in the undercooked interior of a steak.
Now, granted, Iâm only speculating that the beef could sicken people, but since contaminated grain is known to sicken cattle, itâs a possibility that seems worth considering. Bear in mind that publications marketed to the beef industry are going to spin things in terms of how to keep the animals healthy and how to keep producers in business; I wouldnât expect them to go out of their way to suggest that anything might possibly make beef dangerous.
Barney trippinâ balls would be quite amusing.
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There is no way you could ingest enough LSD to cause actual medical problems, needing intubation, and not feel the effects until latter that night, or even after a quick drive to the hospital. LSD takes no more than 30 minutes to kick in, and the higher the dose, the faster the effects are felt. LSD requires a very very high dose to cause any medical problems, and when it does, itâs not repertory problems, itâs circulation problems beginning in the extremities. This has absolutely no credibility. Bullshit.
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No buying that either.
Publications marketed to beef consumers would certainly be spun. Iâd expect internal beef-industry information to say things like: âthis can be passed on to consumers, so cull your herd.â We see that this happens with fowl populations when they are at risk of avian influenza contamination, so I wouldnât really think it would be vastly different for the beef industry.
Tune in, turn on, drop cow.
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Doesnât LSD break down when exposed to high temperatures? This makes it unlikely that the raw beef was contaminated, unless they ate the steaks raw.
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I suspect the balloon. Just hanging out there on the porch, looking all suspicious.
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Nowadays sure. We used to get ours via Fax machine when I was a kidâŚ
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Iâd considered that. First, we donât know what ergot metabolites would have persisted in the beef and survived human digestion; the side effects might be entirely different when eating contaminated meat vs. eating contaminated grain directly. Second, the medical personnel might easily have noted and treated vasoconstriction (assuming that was a side effect in this case) without connecting the dots and calling it ergotism. Third, HIPPA presumably prevents health care providers from contributing to the story; law enforcement are subject to no such restrictions, but theyâre naturally inclined to suspect criminal activity, so theyâre playing up the LSD angle.
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Problem there is when some jackass puts the blotters in upside-down, and you get a sheet of dudsâŚ
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