Authorities on Monday released an initial toxicology report for Sandra Bland after her July 13 death in the Waller County Jail in Texas, revealing that she likely had to access to marijuana while in custody.
The report revealed that the amount of THC, one of the active components of marijuana, in Bland's system was 18 micrograms per liter. That's more than three times the legal limit for drivers in Colorodo and Washington, states where recreational use of marijuana is legal, according to AP.
Experts believe that this amount raises the possibility that Bland may have used marijuana in jail.
"I don't think it's possible to rule out the possibility of use while in jail," said University of Florida toxicology professor Bruce Goldberger, who reviewed the report for The Associated Press. Bland was impaired by marijuana at the time of her death, Goldberger said, according to Fox News.
Bland was arrested on July 10 after she made an improper lane change in Waller County. Three days later, on July 13, she was found dead in her jail cell.
Robert Johnson, chief toxicologist at the Tarrant County medical examiner's office in Fort Worth, Texas, said that the high THC level suggests she "either had access to the drug in jail or she was a consistent user of the drug and her body had accumulated THC to the point that it was slowly releasing it over time."
However, Johnson went on to note that he had "never seen a report in the literature or from any other source of residual THC that high three days after someone stops using the drug."
Goldberger also noted that Bland had a "remarkably high concentration" of THC for someone who had been in jail for three days.
Chronic users who stop using marijuana will have higher concentrations than non-chronic users, however, "the concentrations do not persist at this level, at least in my opinion," Goldberger stated. He defined chronic as someone who uses cannabis daily, sometimes repeatedly.
Waller County District Attorney Elton Mathis declined to comment on the report. One of his prosecutors, Warren Diepraam, said last week that he wouldn't rule out drugs being smuggled into the jail, according to KBTX.
The presence of THC in her system has social media users asking a variety of questions, including:
Did the THC have an impact on her state of mind when she was pulled over? Did it have an impact on her state of mind when she committed suicide?
One theory that many social media users have started to suspect is that authorities somehow introduced the THC into her system while she was in custody.
Regardless of what happened, authorities know they have a long investigation ahead of them.
For HNGN's previous coverage of Sandra Bland's death, click HERE.
