MIAMI – Lab tests detected only marijuana in the system of a Florida man shot while chewing another man's face, the medical examiner said Wednesday, ruling out other street drugs including the components typically found in the stimulants known as bath salts.

There has been much speculation about what drugs, if any, would lead to the bizarre behavior that authorities said Rudy Eugene exhibited before and during the gruesome attack that left the other man horribly disfigured. A Miami police union official had suggested that Eugene, who was shot and killed by an officer, was probably under the influence of bath salts.

The Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner said in a news release that the toxicology detected marijuana, but it didn't find any other street drugs, alcohol or prescription drugs. Eugene also tested negative for adulterants commonly mixed with street drugs.

The department ruled out the most common components found in bath salts, which mimic the effects of cocaine or methamphetamine and have been associated with bizarre crimes in recent months. An outside forensic toxicology lab, which took a second look at the results, also confirmed the absence of bath salts, synthetic marijuana and LSD.

Messages left with the medical examiner's office for comment were not immediately returned.

An expert on toxicology testing said that marijuana alone wasn't likely to cause behavior as strange as Eugene's.

"The problem today is that there is an almost an infinite number of chemical substances out there that can trigger unusual behavior," said Dr. Bruce Goldberger, Professor and Director of Toxicology at the University of Florida.

Goldberger said that the medical examiner's office in Miami is known for doing thorough work and that he's confident they and the independent lab covered as much ground as possible. But it's nearly impossible for toxicology testing to keep pace with new formulations of synthetic drugs.

"There are many of these synthetic drugs that we currently don't have the methodology to test on, and that is not the fault of the toxicology lab. The challenge today for the toxicology lab is to stay on top of these new chemicals and develop methodologies for them, but it's very difficult and very expensive." Goldberger said. "There is no one test or combination of tests that can detect every possible substance out there."

It's not clear what led to the May 26 attack on Ronald Poppo, a 65-year-old homeless man who remains hospitalized. Eugene's friends and family have said he was religious, not violent and that he didn't drink or do drugs harder than marijuana.

"There's no answer for it, not really," Eugene's younger brother, Marckenson Charles, said in an interview. "Anybody who knew him knows this wasn't the person we knew him to be. Whatever triggered him, there is no answer for this."

Surveillance video from a nearby building shows Eugene stripping Poppo and pummeling him, before appearing to hunch over and lie on top of him. The police officer who shot Eugene to death said he growled at the officer when he told him to stop.

Charles, Eugene's brother, said the family does not plan to pursue any legal action against the police for shooting Eugene.

"They used the force they felt was necessary, even if we don't agree with that,' he said.

He said that Eugene has been buried.

Shortly before the attack, a person driving on the MacArthur Causeway told a 911 dispatcher a "completely naked man" was on top of one of the light poles on the causeway and "acting like Tarzan." Still, police have said little about what may prompted Eugene to attack Poppo.

Poppo has undergone several surgeries and remains hospitalized. His left eye was removed, but doctors said earlier this month they were trying to find a way to restore vision in his right eye. He will need more surgeries before he can explore the options for reconstructing his face, doctors have said. A message left with the hospital was not immediately returned.

Poppo's family has said it had no contact with him for more than 30 years and thought he was dead.

Eugene's girlfriend, meanwhile, has said he never showed any signs of violence. Yovonka Bryant said she and Eugene often read the Bible and the Quran together, and often watched a religious television program in the mornings. She said she never saw Eugene drink and only saw him smoke marijuana once at a party.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/06/27/medical-examiner-finds-only-marijuana-in-miami-face-chewer-system/?test=latestnews#ixzz1z3h9AoUP

And people say Marijuana is a harmless drug.

more harmless than alcohol, which has caused people to do terrible things much more often than weed has

I still dont believe thats all he had,,,,

Apparently "reefer madness" is back.

I bet he had a mental illness/chemical imbalance, which when combined with the THC in marijuana triggered the episode.

I believe thats most likely. use of thc by someone already suffering an illness could cause the extreme episode that occurred...

It can trigger something similar to an acid trip under certain circumstances.

Most aren't our age my friend, and probably have no clue to what you are referring!

Anslingers baby of the 50's. The original govt propaganda vid

http://www.youtubevideos.net/reefer-madness-movie

What they smoking these days ain't yer Grandpa's weed.
I hear that hybrid chit is purty potent.

It's still just pot....

It's the user.... like guns, they don't kill people, people kill people!

People are going to use it if it's illegal or not, but the "cash" profits are better if it is illegal.... to the real gangsters

What a joke, THC can stay in someones system for 90 days. Only fools would associate his cannabis consumption to his horrific mental meltdown that day.

For the last time, there has never been a single case of marijuana only overdose.... EVER! Falling asleep is not an OD!

Reefer Madness is still an extremely popular movie and gets midnight showings frequently. Was even remade as a musical in 2005.

The ONLY Chewing thats been done because of Mary Jane, was a bag of cheetos or other munchies...

That's usually what kills you when you OD though, falling asleep. You don't have to die to overdose.

To OD on marijuana makes about as much sense as to OD on tobacco would though.

When mixed with chemical imbalances/mental illness, it's effects can be quite different than that of a normal high. So, I believe it's possible for one to react in that way, and for them to find only marijuana in his system. They will most likely portray it as weed alone causing it, but it's actually marijuana and the mental illness of that person

i think it is the zombie apocalypse... see if the other guy wakes up and eats a nurse...

Promises promises.

Am I a zombie?
I've eaten a few nurses in my lifetime.