Michael Hastings' Autopsy Finds Traces of THC, Meth

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Adrian Chen

08/20/13 02:34PM

Filed to: michael hastings

The medical examiner's report in the death of muckraking journalist Michael Hastings has been released and, conspiracy theories aside, the coroner has determined his death on June 18th was an accident, and that he had traces drugs in his system at the time he died.

According to the LA Times' Andrew Blankstein, Hastings' death was ruled as caused by "traumatic injuries" as a result of his fiery car crash, and was found to have small amounts of THC and methamphetamine in his blood, but the coroner doesn't believe it contributed to the crash.

The report also reveals that Hastings' family had arrived from New York to try to get him into rehab just a day before the accident. Hastings had been sober for 14 years but had begun to use drugs again in the month before his death, according to the report. Here is the full autopsy report, posted by the LA Times.

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12

cyberman2224 Adrian Chen 08/20/13 02:38PM

The conspiracy theories I kept reading surrounding this involved the disbelief that a car would explode after crashing. Doesn't that happen all the time? Cars are two tons of metal surrounding a container of gasoline. A few sparks and at a speed high enough to rip the car apart and you have an explosion.

8

MolokoPlus666 cyberman2224 08/20/13 02:42PM

The disbelief was in response to the car going over 100 mph on a residential street and hitting a tree without any attempt to slow down. That..and the fact that he told several friends that he was on to something big and he was being investigated by the Feds. Several of his coworkers were also visited by feds shortly before his death. He was quoted as saying he was being followed and needed to 'go off the grid for a while'.

There's your conspiracy theory son

GregSamsa cyberman2224 08/20/13 02:46PM

I think there was video taken from a security camera showing that he did some major damage to the underside of his car just before impact, the implication being that he ripped open the fuel line or something (I don't know cars).

MinorityBabble cyberman2224 08/20/13 02:48PM

The motor was clear across the street, fuel lines would have been detached when the engine separated from the mounts. Add even the smallest spark and there you go...

It would be a bigger shock if his car didn't burst into flames after a wreck like that.

2

RedDwarfGreenBug cyberman2224 08/20/13 02:59PM

The main conspiracy is about whether or not the government took control of his vehicle and murdered him, which is something that is actually entirely possible and has been an available option for a while now ever since cars got things like OnStar. With the way the government has been punishing any journalist who dare do their job, it wouldn't surprise me if they did.

2

Favela Adrian Chen 08/20/13 02:39PM

Wait... Couldn't the small amount of 'meth' be allergy pills, or something? Maybe some Breaking Bad fans have some more meth knowledge and can help me out...

1

Favela Favela 08/20/13 02:48PM

Found an article where he talks about his past experience with addiction:

"...I’m sure I’m breaking one of the Twelve Steps here, and I admit that my reaction probably has more to do with my own baggage as a recovering drunk/addict/screw-up. Add to that some inexplicable desire to seem publicly holier than thou, exacerbated by the fact that I now have a blog. (I stopped using when I was nineteen. Good for me.) But it was this: perhaps Nic wasn’t ready to be poster boy for recovery after having been sober less than a year. Perhaps it was a responsibility that he couldn’t yet fully appreciate. Maybe it put a lot of extra pressure on him to have to give speeches at rehabs for boys while still in a death-grapple with his own being..."

"...But after thinking it over for a few days, and talking about it with other alcoholic-but-on-the-wagon-friends, I realized I was basically being a hypercritical jerk."

"Personally, it took me years of sobriety before I had a clue of what actually happened while I was all messed up, and before I could truly empathize with my family for all the sh-t I put had them through. Only now, coming up on ten years out, have I been able to write and talk about it honestly."

http://trueslant.com/michaelhasting…

skum_saves Favela 08/20/13 02:50PM

I would assume it would be something more along the lines of one of the various types of adderall out on the market

1

Cherith Cutestory Favela 08/20/13 02:58PM

Considering the fact that his family was flying out to get him into rehab it seems unlikely.

Favela skum_saves 08/20/13 03:01PM

That would make more sense to me, I guess. Prescriptions of a lot of kinds contain anphetamines, right?

The possible in the coroners description is important: "Hastings had traces of amphetamine in his system, consistent with possible intake of methamphetamine many hours before death".

Wouldn't it be odd for someone smoking or shooting meth to only have traces in their system? And I'm very wary of the citing of his medical marijuana card. If he had been smoking while driving (I don't know what you call a marijuana DUI), etc. it would have been more than trace amounts too? Seems a bit misleading to mention him having his card in his wallet in the article, these side details conflating as if he were DUI. The article he wrote also makes it seem like alcohol was his main problem.

1

raincoaster Adrian Chen 08/20/13 03:34PM

I resisted getting my tinfoil hat out about this one, frankly, but there is MUCH more to it than what is said here. A friend has done some digging and there is a great deal more to this than meets the eye.

1

mansplaining raincoaster 08/20/13 04:22PM

Then link up your friend.

6

MisterRichardSmoker mansplaining 08/20/13 04:43PM

Indeed. No linky, you bullshitty.

raincoaster mansplaining 08/20/13 05:40PM

She's still investigating, hasn't posted it yet. She's done onsite interviews with the witnesses.

raincoaster MisterRichardSmoker 08/20/13 05:40PM

If it's not online yet, it doesn't exist? Dude, I'm giving you some information that isn't yet public. That's as much of it as I'm giving out right now. Sit on your hands for a few days.

6

I can't wait to be dead Adrian Chen 08/20/13 02:38PM

Suicide?

3

GregorMendel I can't wait to be dead 08/20/13 02:45PM

My thoughts from the beginning. What didn't fit was everyone posting how he was sober for 14 years and would never slip. Well, it's a scary disease, isn't it?

1

Sean Brody GregorMendel 08/20/13 02:56PM

Sober since he was 19?
Man, to have that many good years and then for it all to be gone. Everything.

2

I can't wait to be dead GregorMendel 08/20/13 03:19PM

Having that mentality of putting so many sober years behind him and thinking he'll NEVER slip, needs to go. When you're an addict, you're an addict for life. I'm addicted to cocaine and have been sober for 8 years but I'm scared all the time I'll slip. I think about using all the time. just because addicts have been sober for 10+ years, doesn't mean they can't fall apart and start using again.