Ronald Poppo
Marijuana Prohibition Causing Zombie Apocalypse?
Zombies have a special place in our hearts, even as they are without that key blood pumping organ. George A. Romero took our fear of the undead to new heights in the 1968 classic “Night of the Living Dead”. Since then countless zombie movies and now video games have tried to quench our blood thirst. However, sci-fi fans and others who refuse to lay on a silver platter and become zombie lunch have prepped for the “Zombie Apocalypse”, a real life scenario where the strong survive and the weak are turned, dragging their bones around seeking flesh. In a world with a heightened fear of pollution, radiation, and chemistry sets gone wrong, it seems more and more people are fearing a world where our infrastructure breaks down, and we are left to our own will to survive.
Preppers for the Zombie Apocalypse may not seem so ridiculous all of a sudden. Cannibalism was all the rave this week, as a man in Florida attacked a homeless man by eating away at his face. When told by a policeman to stop, Rudy Eugene was unresponsive and reports say he only growled back at the officer. He continued to tear away at the man’s face and unfortunately was shot. The victim was 65-year-old Ronald Poppo, who remains hospitalized with most of his face torn away.
Many are reporting that Rudy Eugene had used “bath salts” that are actually geared at achieving an LSD like high. The problem highlights the constant struggle to regulate and eliminate the synthetic drug market. Products such as K2 and Spice, which mimic THC’s effects have been outlawed on both state and federal levels. However, scientists fear that the battle is a losing one because the makers of these products will always find a way to create slightly different chemical compounds that circumvent the law. Government officials will now likely have the new LSD synthetics on their radar, but ultimately it may prove to be too late. Synthetic marijuana products have been linked to strokes, seizures, and other health complications especially in teens. Our first high profile case of synthetic LSD may have ushered in the undead revolution.
Although the case is isolated so far, it sheds light on the larger and more frustrating picture. Regulation is needed and the black market for quasi legal drugs has clearly taken a huge step. It started with our country’s failure to regulate marijuana and the idea that synthetics without any safety information available could be created. Zombie movies and popular video games such as Resident Evil (also a movie series), Left For Dead, House of the Dead, Dead Rising, Call of Duty Black Ops/World at War, may captivate our imagination, but our heads is where this phenomenon should stay.