This editorial deals with a topic I have long wanted to discuss, but due to recently released facts I can no longer stand to stay silent.
The death of fellow student, Robbie Nottingham, has troubled me since the day I heard about it. Although I never met him, his death affected me like it did many other students at this university.
I had the same questions about what had happened that his parents did (and still do). Was it a homicide, a suicide or just some horrible accident? Why was the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation not called immediately? Why was there not more investigation? Why did no one living there at the time hear or see anything?
The kicker came last week when Nottingham’s autopsy results were released. The report said that there was no evidence of homicide or suicide, however there was delta-9-tetrahydrocannibol (or THC, the chemical found in marijuana) in his system.
The expert on toxicology, ETSU’s own Dr. Kenneth Ferslew, was quoted in the Johnson City Press saying that the amount was significant and could cause a variety of symptoms such as confusion, loss of balance, hallucinations, vision problems and euphoria.
This is where my faith in the report begins to waiver. I have no doubt that all these symptoms could actually be caused by smoking marijuana, but not to a degree that would cause an otherwise healthy young man to fall from a second-story porch.
Had they found LSD, ecstasy, mescaline, PCP or heroin in his body, I might be willing to believe that the fall was in fact drug-induced. But not from smoking some pot an hour before the fall, as the report insinuates.
Let’s discuss the platform from which he fell for a second. He was not hovering dangerously above the ground on some ledge without a guardrail. He fell from a porch just like yours if you live at Buccaneer Ridge or Seminole Ridge.
They are equipped with guardrails of appropriate height and strength.
The point is that Nottingham was not acting in a careless manner. I feel sure that all around the world there are people that smoke marijuana and navigate stairs and balconies just fine.
Just how much does marijuana affect motor skills anyway? Well, a few weeks ago a television show called Fifth Gear experimented with the effects of marijuana on one’s ability to drive.
The test results were shocking. In the experiment, the test subjects were given a simple road test while sober and then the same test after smoking one marijuana cigarette. The drivers navigated a winding course lined with orange cones and at the end, they were asked to parallel park.
Sober, only one driver made a mistake. He knocked down a cone while parking. Guess how many mistakes were made under the influence of marijuana? None!
Everyone drove the course perfectly after smoking marijuana. How odd is that?
Now, I’m not saying that we should all go out and smoke a big doobie before driving, but the fact is that these people’s motor skills were not affected to the point they could not drive. I’m pretty sure that if they were not wrecking their cars, they could have walked around on a two-story balcony without falling off.
What happened to Nottingham was tragic, but I believe the real tragedy here is not having any answers. It is looking like no one will ever know for sure what happened that night.
This situation has been strange from the beginning. This was the second time in a year ETSU was forced to deal with the death of a student. In a town this size, that is a big deal.
In the first death, that of James Norwood, we got most of the answers we needed. People have been accused and convicted … the only question remaining is how people could be so brutal and careless of human life.
It looks like the Nottingham family will never receive the answers they deserve, and that is a damn shame.

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