Man Calls 911 Because He"s "Too High"

Some people, it seems, just can’t hold their marijuana.

An Ohio man reportedly called 911 in early October to let them know he was “too high” on cannabis. They heard his plea for help and promptly sent someone over to arrest him. When they got there, they found him lying amid a bonanza of half-eaten snack food.

The bizarre emergency telephone call came from a 22-year-old man living in Austintown, a community located near Youngstown, Ohio. According to a local television report, which didn’t identify the man, police responded to the man’s call only to find him curled up “in a fetal position” and surrounded by “a plethora of Doritos, Pepperidge Farm Goldfish, and Chips Ahoy cookies,” according to the resulting police report.

The call came in on the late afternoon of Oct. 2, according to police. When officers arrived at the man’s home, he told one of them that his hands were numb because he had smoked too much marijuana. He offered the police the keys to his car, where he said he had smoked the cannabis.

Police reached the man’s house at about 5:20 p.m., which means the man may have smoked at the appointed time – 4:20 p.m. – and then had a panic attack that lasted roughly an hour. There have been few if any reports of marijuana causing even minor paralysis, but there have doubtless been people who thought they were paralyzed while high.

Smoking paraphernalia was found in the car

In the car, officers allegedly found a glass pipe, rolling papers, several roaches, and a glass jar full of marijuana. Police said the man would be charged with drug possession and possession of cannabis paraphernalia. There was no word on whether his use of emergency services would lead to separate charges.

The young man joins a long and ever-growing list of people who have intentionally attracted the attention of law enforcement while stoned.

Last year a Texas woman called her local emergency services line to report that the marijuana she had just purchased wasn’t dank enough. Evelyn Hamilton, who was 37 at the time, dialed 911 after she determined that the cannabis her dealer had just sold her wasn’t up to scratch.

Hamilton told 911 operators she had paid $40 and received “seeds and residue” in return. She told them she called them when the dealer and the dealer’s family wouldn’t give her money back. She was arrested following the call and slapped with drug charges.

Early this year, a Florida couple high on drugs mistakenly believed they had locked themselves in a closet while high. They apparently had such a hard time turning the knob they called 911. John Arwood and Amber Campbell were both charged with trespassing, though they escaped drug charges – because they had used up all the drugs while “locked” in the closet.

Man Calls 911 Because He"s "Too High"