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murder while on drugs, is it murder?
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
Was reading in the paper this morning about this guy who killed someone while apparantly in some kind of psychosis triggered by smoking canabis. The guy was sentenced to manslaughter, not murder because of this 'psychosis'.
what do you guys think? He should be let off with the lower charge because he was on drugs which may have made him not know what he was doing?
or should he be charged with murder anyway - after all, he chose to take the drugs and shouldve known that with drugs there is a chance he could do something irrational?
Personally, I'm not sure but it doesnt sit quite right with me that someone should get a lessened charge (and sentence) because they were on drugs at the time of the incident. the fact that he took drugs doesnt make the victim any less dead. :chin:
I mean, we dont say when a drink driver kills someone, oh well you were drunk so you werent to know what you were doing.....
what do you guys think? He should be let off with the lower charge because he was on drugs which may have made him not know what he was doing?
or should he be charged with murder anyway - after all, he chose to take the drugs and shouldve known that with drugs there is a chance he could do something irrational?
Personally, I'm not sure but it doesnt sit quite right with me that someone should get a lessened charge (and sentence) because they were on drugs at the time of the incident. the fact that he took drugs doesnt make the victim any less dead. :chin:
I mean, we dont say when a drink driver kills someone, oh well you were drunk so you werent to know what you were doing.....
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well if that was it, i apologise
I still ask the same question tho, should someone killing someone while under the influence of drugs get a lesser charge?
The thing is, if someone's under the influecene of drugs, then they won't really know what they're doing. However, if it's the reasonable average man off the street, then he'd more than likely know what he was doing and what the consequences will be. (if he wasn't under the inluence, that is)
This is different though. This bloke had mental health issues.
Indeed.
NQA is right - you have to look at the person as an individual before deciding that because they were drunk they didn't know what they were doing and therefore being cleared of murder.
I already apologised if i got the meaning of the original article wrong (and sorry Sofie, I didnt find a link to it, I just read it in a newspaper). I wasnt asking should this particular guy be given what sentence, more that the article got me thinking about the question in general.
Or spiked their drink?
With cannabis?
It's quite clear that the person already had mental problems hightened by their cannabis use, psychosis can make people think all sorts of paranoid delusional beliefs.
Sort yourself out!
Wasn't talking about this case!
Fuck off.
And in any case, spiking someone's drink will make them eventually go unconscious, not violent.
the reason why this man was found guilty of the lower crime was because of his mental health issues, something which was arguable exacerbated by his drug use but not caused by his drug use.
you could take drugs then go off and kill somone you hate. :chin:
hehe Intelligent reply.
Depends what you spike it with.
Think before you type.
Why don't you fuck away off. I know what people spike people with. The main drugs are GHB and Rohyphnol, these two drugs are liquid based drugs that make the consumer uncoordinated at first, then make them go unconscious after a while (especially mixed with alcohol) hence the term "date rape drug." These drugs are the easy to spike people with because the victim can't automatically tell if they're spiked and are tastless, another drug is ecstacy which floats on top of liquids because of it's density, yet again, it won't make a person become violent because of it's chemical nauture.
Madness! I suppose you aren't in control of yourself though.
And I thought Jawalking was walking with a joint. :P
Anway, this was in m Local paper... poor chap... but yeah, as Skive said, he has an existing mental condition. The cannabis would have hardly helped it, but it didn't cause it. Still, it was scary to read about in the local paper.
Poor chap. Hopefull he will get some proper care now. This is a wonderful example too of how "Care in the community" doesn't work. So many big old assylums now abbandonned... and people with worrying health issues who should be in them... outside. This guy should have been in care. Then, one would assume this wouldn't happen.
The assylums are interesting to look round though.
No, thats what the media thinks people are spiked with, there really is very little evidence for it what so ever. Especially for rohyphnol which hasnt been on the prescription list here for ages.
If you spiked someone with datura (difficult but not perhaps impossible) or methamphetamine (easy) I'd say it would be likely they might get violent.
That's going a bit far! You'd have to really hate someone to do that!
I'm just saying you could probably spike someone into being violent if you really wanted to.
I would say a mix of DIPT and methamphetamine would make most people go a bit wierd.
But thats going quite off topic.
Maybe, but it doesn't mean you can't kill again...
IMO when you kill someone if you are jaywalking or on drugs it should make no dfference at all... you still have kill, so you are a murderer and on top of that what guarantee that it will not happend again... fuck all...
Aye, but anone could kill someone if sleepwalking, if only by accident. So should we lock anyone who sleepwalks away? I think thats a bit far.
I mean, your actions whilst asleep have very little resembalance to what your body is doing if it is sleepwalking. And if you wake up someone who is sleepwalking, they can turn violent and be confused.
Sleepwalking is a difficult thing, but locking people up for it won't help.
Sleepwalkers as are potential murderer as everyone else, but we don't lock everyone, only the ones that do kill, so same can apply here... Lock sleepwalker that kill, drug users that kill, or anyone that kill... quite simple really...
What do you mean there's little evidence, I've personally mixed GHB and alcohol and I can say the last thing you want to do is have a fight.
People getting spiked with datura? That'll be the day. :rolleyes:
But some of those killers - wern't concious of what the were doing. There is a difference.
I meant that there are virtually no proper studies into date rape, and the ones that have looked into it havent found GHB in anywhere near as many cases as the media would make you think.
And of course Rhyophnol isnt liquid based as you suggested.
But then this is really getting off the point.
No there isn't... It was their subconcious, which is still part of them, which means that everytime that person is not concious it is potentialy able to kill... So it is still a danger...