August 04, 2017

Coroner Confirms Lightning in a Bottle 2017 Attendee Died From an LSD Overdose

Baylee Ybarra Gatlin of Ventura, California, passed away after being taken from Lightning In a Bottle music and arts festival to Twin Cities Community Hospital In Templeton on May 28.

The 20 year old was attending the festival at Lake San Antonio when she suffered a medical emergency. The autopsy results conducted by the County Coroner were released on Thursday afternoon by the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office, indicating the cause and manner of death for the young woman.

As KSBY reports, “the manner of death is listed as accidental. The cause of death is listed as Acute Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD) Toxicity.”

Following Gatlin’s death, LIB organizers released a statement that read, in part: “Our deepest condolences go out to the family and friends of the woman who passed away at Twin Cities Hospital after attending Lightning in a Bottle.”

The cause of death has left many puzzled. Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) is a non-profit research and educational organization that develops medical, legal, and cultural contexts for people to benefit from the careful uses of psychedelics and marijuana.

According to an in-depth 2008 research on LSD:

“To date, there have been only two fatalities deemed directly due to LSD (Fysh et al. 1985; Griggs and Ward 1977). However, the role played by LSD in both cases is questionable and information in these reports is poorly or incompletely reported. In one case, the dose taken was probably extremely high and the body was discovered one month after LSD ingestion, so the circumstances surrounding death are uncertain (Griggs and Ward 1977), and in the other case, the cause of death is unstated and the author failed to provide the medical history of the patient or the proximal cause of death (Fysh et al. 1985). Since both cases are poorly and incompletely reported, they leave serious questions about the presence, strength and nature of the tie between LSD and subsequent death.”

Our condolences go out to the family and friends of the young woman.

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