Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Marijuana activist dies following explosion
Ottawa Citizen ^ | November 1, 2003 | James Gordon

Posted on 11/01/2003 9:04:19 AM PST by Loyalist

CREDIT: Jonathan Hayward, The Canadian Press

Don Appleby died of his injuries suffered in an Oct. 12 explosion while he was trying to make a concentrated oil using marijuana and butane.

Don Appleby's fight against the aids virus that was sapping him was made more difficult by a tragic paradox. While the Ottawa man was one of the few Canadians who could legally smoke marijuana for medicinal purposes, he could rarely afford it due to his minuscule disability pension.

In the end, he was killed in the struggle to produce the drug that was helping him survive.

On Oct. 12, Mr. Appleby was in the bathroom of his Blake Boulevard apartment, trying a dangerous method to get some use out of the non-smokable parts of his marijuana plants.

By injecting butane into a plastic container with the plant in it, he hoped to make a concentrated oil he could use. Friends suspect he then tried to light a joint, igniting an explosion that blew the bathroom door off its hinges.

Residents of the apartment above his heard the explosion, and rushed him to the Ottawa Hospital's General campus. It's where he remained in intensive care since the incident, and where he died Thursday morning.

Ron Whelan was Mr. Appleby's close friend, and was living under the same circumstances. He said yesterday that Mr. Appleby never should have died the way he did.

Both 44, they received about $900 a month on disability, not nearly enough to pay for both marijuana and food. While the government would pay for the $1,500-$2,000 of aids medication Mr. Appleby needed, they wouldn't pick up the cost of the marijuana. Nausea was a side-effect of the pills, and without the drug, he couldn't keep them down.

Forced to buy marijuana himself and pay rent, his friends say Mr. Appleby was reduced to scrounging through dumpsters to find the food he could no longer afford. He would go searching behind restaurants late at night so nobody would see him. At the same time, he wasn't shy about asking people with marijuana gardens to help him.

"You do what you have to do to survive, whether it's beg, borrow or steal," Mr. Whelan said. If one had a bag of dry macaroni from the food bank, he would often go to the other's place to share.

Mr. Appleby decided to try and save some money by growing his own marijuana, and after two failed gardens, things were starting to work out for him. Still, the cost to grow was still high. With no other source of medicine, he resorted to the butane method. He never recovered from the burns that covered 75 per cent of his body and his scorched lungs.

Mr. Whelan said although Mr. Appleby experienced difficult times in the past, he really blossomed after meeting people similar to him. He loved participating in marijuana rallies, and helping others.

"The world needs more people like Donny," he said. "He was there for the underdog, and it's a terrible loss for everyone who knew him."

Mr. Whelan said he doesn't blame the government for what happened to his friend, but said it should take more responsibility and provide for people like him.

© Copyright 2003 The Ottawa Citizen


TOPICS: Canada; Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: 420; chronic; darwin; darwinaward; donappleby; explosion; ganja; grass; hippylettuce; marijuana; maryjane; pot; puffthis; reefer; spliff; warondrugs; weed; wod; wodlist
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 101-120121-140141-160 ... 321-333 next last
To: Loyalist
Don Appleby died of his injuries suffered in an Oct. 12 explosion while he was trying to make a concentrated oil using marijuana and butane.

This guy's a DARWIN AWARD WINNNER on just so many levels...

121 posted on 11/02/2003 2:29:42 PM PST by HamiltonJay
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: robertpaulsen
Heh -- good one. :) No, I suggest not jailing nonviolent drug offenders. Fine them instead. Have them pay into the fund pool rather than help to drain it.
122 posted on 11/02/2003 2:32:19 PM PST by ellery
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 119 | View Replies]

To: Nathaniel Fischer
If they're paying for medication for a medical problem, then YES. Whether or not the government pays for medical care is not the issue in this article.
123 posted on 11/02/2003 2:32:28 PM PST by Hildy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 116 | View Replies]

To: MrLeRoy
"Don Appleby died of his injuries suffered in an Oct. 12 explosion while he was trying to make a concentrated oil using marijuana and butane."

You would use the gestapo to close down the meth lab next door. What about marijuana labs????
124 posted on 11/02/2003 2:33:27 PM PST by cinFLA
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: cinFLA
You would.
125 posted on 11/02/2003 2:37:30 PM PST by xrp
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 124 | View Replies]

To: robertpaulsen
Criminalizing butane? Hardly.

Why not? According to your link, it can be used to procure drugs.

But knowing this, I will not be voting for the legalization of hemp, will you?

I didn't realize such a vote was pending. Is this on a federal level? Or state?

126 posted on 11/02/2003 2:38:47 PM PST by ellery
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 118 | View Replies]

To: ellery
"And jailing nonviolent drug offenders doesn't affect the rest of us."

Violent, nonviolent -- makes no difference to me. They're being jailed for drugs, not whether they were violent or nonviolent.

It does affect the rest of us ... in a very positive way. It takes them off the street, and sends a message that this kind of behavior is unacceptable.

Yes, the "prison" pays for it. And if the taxpayers didn't want the "prison" to pay for it, they would change the law.

127 posted on 11/02/2003 2:39:24 PM PST by robertpaulsen
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 112 | View Replies]

To: Nathaniel Fischer
You think the government should pay for it?

We are paying for meds now for people who can't afford them. If the pot is cheaper than the alternative, why not?
I'm thinking of glaucoma, where pot is the only substance that will prevent blindness. Don't know about aids.
128 posted on 11/02/2003 2:41:34 PM PST by mugs99 (Restore the Constitution)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 116 | View Replies]

To: pageonetoo
I don't know what any of this has to do with anything, but....

Faith is what saves us from eternal separation from God. Works are worthless...

"Faith without works is dead." Make of it what you will.

If you drink a martini, toke a bong, puff a cigar, or hit a punching bag out of anger, you may be guilty of something. But it is the ernest desire of the heart to follow God that will override any noxious behavior.

That's a dangerous viewpoint. It allows for moral ambivalency and disrespect for God's law by saying "I'm a good person and that's all that matters." You'll hear gays use that all the time, for instance.

Jesus did endorse drinking to excess.

Oh really? Show me where Jesus endorsed drunkenness. Was Jesus a drunkard as well?
129 posted on 11/02/2003 2:45:29 PM PST by Conservative til I die
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 120 | View Replies]

To: ellery
"I didn't realize such a vote was pending. Is this on a federal level? Or state?"

Mostly at the state level. I look forward to your "no" vote.

"Hawaii Representative Cynthia Thielen, however, sees hemp as the eventual savior to Hawaii's eight- year economic slump. Thielen introduced in the state Legislature a bill to permit growing industrial hemp; it recently passed the House and Senate. The governor is expected to sign it into law next month. The bill calls for test plots, which would be monitored by the Drug Enforcement Administration."

"Other states are pushing hard for hemp. Last month, North Dakota became the first state to make growing and selling industrial hemp legal. (Growers will apply for DEA permits to do so.)"

"Pro-hemp legislation has either passed or is brewing in at least 11 additional states. (No hemp legislation is pending in California, although the Democratic Party passed a measure endorsing industrial hemp last month at its annual convention.)"

130 posted on 11/02/2003 2:46:54 PM PST by robertpaulsen
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 126 | View Replies]

To: robertpaulsen
So I expect that you'll be calling for Rush Limbaugh to do about 15 years in the state penitentiary, yes? Or does your hard-ass views on drugs only apply to dirty hippies who probably vote Democratic anyway?
131 posted on 11/02/2003 2:47:53 PM PST by Conservative til I die
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 127 | View Replies]

To: ellery
"not jailing nonviolent drug offenders. Fine them instead."

Fine nonviolent drug dealers? This will deter them?

Words fail me. I really thought you were smarter than this.

132 posted on 11/02/2003 2:51:02 PM PST by robertpaulsen
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 122 | View Replies]

To: robertpaulsen
What's your issue with hemp? You can't get high off of it. What's the problem?
133 posted on 11/02/2003 2:51:23 PM PST by jmc813 (Michael Schiavo is a bigger scumbag than Bill Clinton)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 130 | View Replies]

To: Loyalist
Forced to buy marijuana himself and pay rent, his friends say Mr. Appleby was reduced to scrounging through dumpsters to find the food he could no longer afford.

Sounds like my old college days in the 70's. And I had to go to class. And buy beer.

134 posted on 11/02/2003 3:00:40 PM PST by fat city (Julius Rosenberg's soviet code name was "Liberal")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: fat city
And buy beer.

Lucky Beer with the rhebuses under the bottlecaps - $5 a case (in 1977)! Mac and Cheese! Home made furniture frome bottle crates, spools and scrap lumber!

In retrospect, the happiest days of my life.

135 posted on 11/02/2003 3:03:03 PM PST by freedumb2003 (Peace through Strength)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 134 | View Replies]

To: Conservative til I die
I may have missed that particular story on Rush. Did he commit a crime? Has he even been charged with a crime? What crime is it, exactly, that I'm to be calling for 15 years?

Where in the f$%^ do you get off with a statement like that?

"Conservative 'til you die" my a$$. What kind of conservative calls for 15 years in the state pen for a man who hasn't even been charged with a crime, much less had a chance to defend himself in a court of law and confront his accusers?

He hasn't been found guilty by a jury of his peers, nor sentenced to ANY jail time, much less 15 years.

Nazi 'til you die is more like it.

136 posted on 11/02/2003 3:04:21 PM PST by robertpaulsen
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 131 | View Replies]

"while he was trying to make a concentrated oil using marijuana and butane. "

Sounds like something from Miller's 'real American heroes' commercials.

Sounds like he was using butane to separate the MJ alkaloids from the impurities.
137 posted on 11/02/2003 3:05:11 PM PST by At _War_With_Liberals (Screw 'the security' plan in Iraq. It's time to 'go Saddam' on their medieval asses...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: jmc813
"What's your issue with hemp? You can't get high off of it. What's the problem?

Did you read my linked article? It appears that you can.

That's the problem.

138 posted on 11/02/2003 3:06:36 PM PST by robertpaulsen
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 133 | View Replies]

To: robertpaulsen
So you feel that there will be an epidemic of desperate stoners blowing themselves up if indistrial hemp is legalized? That's almost as silly as wanting to ban butane.
139 posted on 11/02/2003 3:13:36 PM PST by jmc813 (Michael Schiavo is a bigger scumbag than Bill Clinton)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 138 | View Replies]

To: ellery
Oops. Bad link. Here's the correct one.
140 posted on 11/02/2003 3:15:33 PM PST by robertpaulsen
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 107 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 101-120121-140141-160 ... 321-333 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson