17-year-old dies of massive overdose after stealing pills used by cancer patients from his drug dealer
A 17-year-old teenager stole 100 Zomorph morphine tablets from a drug dealer while buying cannabis and died of a massive overdose after ingesting the tablets, an inquest has heard.
Joel Lewis, from South Wales, went to buy cannabis with his friend and at the time pocketed the morphine tablets, which was in a blue box. He told his friends initially that the morphine made him relaxed. One day, however, the teenage landscape gardener ingested an extra dose of the tablets and was found unresponsive in bed by his mother. The paramedics had been unable to revive him.
According to Daily Mail, acting senior coroner Graham Hughes said at the inquest that the toxicity levels in Joel were the highest that he had ever seen. The tablets that Joel ingested are reportedly prescribed by doctors as painkillers for cancer patients. Along with the morphine, the coroner also found cocaine and cannabis in Joel’s system.
At the hearing, Jordan Jones who was Joel's best friend also said, "We decided to get some drugs for the weekend as we normally do. We opened the box, there were 100 Zomorph tablets in blister packs as they would if they came from the doctors."
After this, the two friends researched the tablet online and found that it contained morphine. Jordan added, "I knew that morphine was dangerous, I didn't want anything to do with them."
Through a written statement, Jordan also recalled meeting Joel at a friend's place. "I asked him how did he feel and he said: 'Lightheaded, it feels nice.' I said: 'Like Mr Floppy is it?' - he said 'yes.'"
Joel's mother Lysa Lewis also recalled that her son was watching 'The Greatest Showman' on TV at 3 am the day he died. An hour later, she heard him snore and went to him and told him to sleep in the bed. She said, "Before I went to work at 6.15 am I went to his room and left a cigarette and some money for him. He grunted to me in response as teenagers do."
She was concerned later in the day when Joel didn't call his mother or respond to her calls either. She found him in bed, lying on his side, foaming at the mouth. She performed CPR until the paramedics arrived, who then declared Joel dead. The mother said she knew Joel associated with drug users and knew he smoked ‘weed’.
The senior coroner, also said, "It's a very high reading indeed. I can't recall such a high level at an inquest. Joel was a naive user in terms of morphine, he would not have built up any tolerance to the drug." The incident was then recorded as drug-related death.