"Weed Whacked", Way to Die #429, is the fourth death to be featured in "The Lighter Side of Death", which aired on March 1, 2009.
Plot[]
On February 8, 2002, investigators found two young men lying dead, with a video camera close by. The confiscated tape uncovers a very stupid and avoidable death.
The two men were desperate stoners, who had run out of their precious marijuana. As the tape shows, they set out to try out anything they assumed that provide "a buzz." The two potheads were so frantic, that they actually tried smoking horse droppings.
Finally, the young dopers made a discovery: an unknown green would indeed get them high. Suddenly, the two men start vomiting. The misguided youths didn't realize that they had smoked the leaves of Poison Sumac, the most poisonous plant species in the United States. It resulted in the alveoli in their lungs swelling up and filling with fluid, a reaction known as pulmonary edema, and they both died within minutes of asphyxiation.
Transcript[]
([] is playing, 2 dying men cough)
Narrator: On February 8, 2002, investigators found 2 young men lying dead, with a video camera close by. The confiscated tape reveals a very stupid and avoidable death.
(Let's back up...)
Stoner #2: Yeah, we got papers, we got lighters, we got pipes, we don't have weed...
Stoner #1: No weed...
Narrator: The 2 men were desperate stoners, who had run out of their precious marijuana.
Stoner #2: Man, that was like some **** for some weed right now, man.
Narrator: As the tape shows, they set out to sample anything they thought that could provide "a buzz."
Stoner #2: ...a little bit of this one?
Stoner #1: We got some mustards, mustards plants here.
Stoner #2: I don't know if I'm higher, just feel really stupid, you know...
Stefan Timmermans: I think this situation is almost the most classic example of Social Darwinism.
(Ancient Tribe Dead (Reconstructed) is playing)
-Stoner #2: And... that...
-Narrator: The 2 potheads were so desperate, they actually tried smoking horse droppings.
Stefan Timmermans: You try a different plant, and you see how you react to them, and if it's safe, you eat more of them, if it's not safe, you leave them alone.
Narrator: Finally, as the tape shows, the young dopers made a discovery:
Stoner #2: I'd be damned if we don't get high of this...
Narrator: An unknown green plant they were certain would get them high.
Stoner #1: That, joint.
-Stoner #1: (Coughs)
-Stoner #2: Hmm-hmm-hmm. Hmm, that- that's a taste of glory right there.
([] is playing)
Stefan Timmermans: This is the kind of...behavior that we have...exhibited for many many centuries.
(The stoners now don't feel right, disgusted)
Stefan Timmermans: But this is not appropriate now anymore. We don't live in nature anymore, we live in cities.
Stoner #2: Bros, I think something's wrong...
(Stoner #2 spits the plant that they smoked, Stoner #1 feels poisoned)
Narrator: The misguided youths didn't realize they had smoked the leaves of Poison Sumac, the most toxic plant species in the United States. It caused their lung cavities to swell up and fill with liquid, a reaction known as pulmonary edema.
([] is playing)
Dr. Steven Burnstein: Edema is swelling pulmonarias lungs.
(CGI lung's alveoli rots, so does the air sac)
Dr. Steven Burnstein: The lungs are made of the air sacs. If you feel those air sacs with fluid, air can get into the air sac, and therefore gases can be exchanged across the membrane of that air sac.
Stoner #1: (Coughs)
Narrator: Desperate to get high, these two stoners made some very stupid decisions. That's why they call it dope.
Cast & Interviewees[]
- Dustin Coffey - Stoner #1 (Lead; Intended victim)
- Abdul Quincey Matthews - Stoner #2 (Lead; Intended victim)
- Stefan Timmermans - Himself (Sociologist)
- Dr. Steven Burstein - Himself (Cardiologist)
Trivia[]
- It is based on juice toxicity.
- This death is so similar to ReToaded, since both male victims are played by same actors and got poisoned to death with one of them making himself shirtless at the last second, along with the quest of looking for a way to get high while they're filming themselves.
- This is one of those rare deaths where the victims don't have any names.
- This death takes place 6 years before Fiddle Licked.
- Not counting S*** Dead, this is the first ever death in the entire series (specifically in the English version of the show) to feature the deaths of people that are considered a lighter shade of bad compared to some of the other villainous individuals that are generally stigmatized for their aggravating qualities, even if they are still mostly stigmatized to an extent due to factors such as how they may potentially disregard the harmful effects or something else entirely.
- Considerably, this is also the first ever death where the controlled substance of marijuana/cannabis is involved in or at least mentioned at some point. The next three deaths to have this happening are Forked-Up, Clay Achin' and Ass-hoppered.
Segment Nicknames[]
- Whacked!
- Poison Jab'd
Foreign Names[]
- Golpe de Hierba (Weed Punch) - Latin American Spanish and Mexican Spanish dub
- Hierba Mortal (Mortal Weed) - European Spanish dub
- Tapa na Mortera [A pun on "Tapa na Pantera" (Slapping the panther) an expression related to weed usage and "Morte" (Death)] (Slapping the Deather) - Brazilian Portuguese dub
Gallery[]
