Nickolas Sandoval, 24, died Wednesday in Corinth, after asphyxiating on a bag of marijuana...the story left me feeling totally depressed by the circumstances leading to his terrible, and unnecessary death...he was stopped on the side of the road changing a flat tire, and evidently panicked when police pulled in behind him with lights flashing to render assistance, and tried to swallow a plastic bag containing an unspecified large amount of pot...one officer attempted to use the Heimlich manuver, while the other radioed for assistance...paramedics were able to remove the bag, but could not revive him...it turned out that he had plead no contest to three misdemeanor possession charges for marijuana in 1999, and 2001...i'm guessing that those previous involvements with the legal system had left him scarred by the experience and unable to control the panic at the thought of suffering further dealings with the police, and injustice system...while in this instance, the police had only stopped to help, it seems obvious that past brushes with the law were very bad...having been victimized by the police in the past, i certainly understand how a person might feel that any police presence is going to be a bad thing...dealing with the courts, and probation department is even worse...the worst thing is that this could have easily been prevented if society would stop insisting on turning people into criminals, just because they smoke pot...yes it is illegal, but so what...it is less harmful than alcohol, yet the system, at least in Texas, acts as if smoking a joint is worse than murder...maybe things will change some day, but i'm not holding my breath.
Posted by Angstman at November 22, 2003 07:11 AM | TrackBackOR, he could have stopped breaking the law. Just because you don't agree with a law, doesn't mean you can ignore it.
Posted by: Geoffrey at November 22, 2003 11:42 AMyes i know that....however, given the unbelievable number of laws, or at least in Texas, it is almost impossible to get through a normal day without breaking at least one...my point here was the unfair penalties, and stigma levied in Texas for possession...plus, the cops break the laws here all the time...they flaunt traffic laws, to the point of having killed quite a few civilians, and they never accept blame...we are in the middle of a huge scandal involving a Dallas narcotics detective, who llied his ass off to get convictions...and my personal experience of being pulled over for no legitimate readon, followed by a completely illegal search of my vehicle, despite my objections, resulting in my arrest, and knowing there is no way to fight it, because it is my word against theirs, and you know how that goes...i totally respect good, honest cops, unfortunately the job attravts too many assholes who do it for the power it gives them over the average person.
Posted by: Angstman at November 22, 2003 06:19 PMThat was a great speech. It has nothing to do with the fact that he killed himself breaking the law, but a great speech none the less.
Posted by: Geoffrey at November 23, 2003 03:31 PM