Toxicology tests in teen overdose could take weeks, police say


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FARMINGTON — Police say it could be weeks before they confirm whether a 17-year-old Viewmont High School student fatally overdosed on LSD.

Cade Galbraith died over the weekend from a drug overdose. Farmington police say he and three friends, all 16 and 17 years old, went to a house after school on Friday and took what they believed was LSD. They were in the family room when they were discovered, Hansen said.

As of Tuesday, investigators had not confirmed whether the drug the boys took was LSD.

"We just know what the boys have told us, and they said it was LSD," said Farmington Police Chief Wayne Hansen.

Hansen said it would take four to six weeks for toxicology tests to be completed to determine what substance the boys took. When asked whether detectives found any other possible contributing substances at the scene such as alcohol or other drugs, Hansen replied, "Not that we can release right now."

LSD usage in Utah
By Sandra Yi
Experts say LSD is not commonly used in Utah.

"Less than one percent of Utah youth are reporting the use of LSD within the past 30 days," said Brent Kelsey, the Assistant Director of the Utah Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health.

Kelsey said overdosing on LSD doesn't happen too often either.

"More often when someone dies from LSD, it's because of something they do to themselves of an accident that occurs while someone is under the effect of the drug," Kelsey said.

But he said Utah kids are turning to other drugs and alcohol.

A 2013 Student Health and Risk Prevention Survey showed seven percent of students said they had used alcohol in the past 30 days. Nearly six percent said they had used marijuana.

But overdose deaths among Utah youth did not usually involve illicit drugs.

2012-2013 data from the Utah Department of Health Violence and Injury Prevention Program showed eight youths from ages 10 to 17 died from a drug overdose. Of those, 63 precent were ruled as undetermined/accident and 88 percent did not involve illicit drugs. The majority involved prescription drugs.

As to whether police suspect other substances might be involved, he said: "We're wondering, we just really don't know."

Hansen noted that it was rare for a person to fatally overdose on LSD alone. He said there had been "a few scattered incidents" of reported LSD abuse in Farmington recently, but nothing that would make it a trend.

Galbraith and two of the boys were taken to a local hospital. The fourth boy did not require hospitalization. One boy was released Friday night and the other Saturday afternoon.

Police planned on interviewing the two boys who were released from the hospital sometime this week. Hansen said they also want to re-interview the fourth boy who was still intoxicated the first time they talked to him.

Galbraith was a member of the Viewmont hockey team. The team planned to dedicate all three of its games Tuesday to Galbraith, starting at 6:45 p.m. at the Salt Lake City Sports Complex, 645 S. Guardsman Way (1580 East).

Contributing: Sandra Yi and Peter Samore

[listen to ‘Crunching the numbers on LSD abuse’ on audioBoom](https://audioboom.com/boos/3219221-crunching-the-numbers-on-lsd-abuse)
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