A California woman who stabbed a man she was dating 100 times and killed him, before turning the knife on herself and her dog, has been handed 100 hours of community service.
Bryn Spejcher, 32, was given the astonishingly low sentence following psychiatrists' ruling that the tragedy was '100 percent' caused by cannabis-induced psychosis, which she suffered after taking two hits of the victim's bong.
The judge ruled that Spejcher 'experienced a psychotic break from reality' and 'had no control over her actions' when she killed Chad O'Melia, then 26, on Memorial Day weekend 2018.
She will spend the 100 hours educating others on marijuana-induced psychosis and two years on probation - but has promised to spend the rest of her life debunking the myth that cannabis is harmless.
O'Melia's family cried when the sentence was read out at Ventura Superior Court, with the victim's father warning it gave 'everyone who smokes marijuana in this state a license to kill’.
Bryn Spejcher, an audiologist from Chicago, underwent emergency surgery after stabbing herself in the face and neck during a weed-induced coma
Campaigners told DailyMail.com that the judge's ruling was 'unforeseen' in cannabis psychosis cases, while Spejcher's attorney Robert Schwartz said the case should act as a warning against the use of 'increasingly potent' marijuana.
'We will see more tragic cases like this as the availability of high-potency marijuana spreads across the country.'
Spejcher, an audiologist, who is originally from Chicago but lives in Thousand Oaks, California, was found guilty of manslaughter in December 2023, following a dramatic and heart-wrenching trial.
At the time, Spejcher, who is partially deaf, described how she'd taken one puff of a bong but 'did not want to smoke anymore'.
She said she felt 'pressured' by O'Melia, who was a regular smoker and who she'd been dating for a month.
Within minutes of inhaling the potent cannabis-infused vapor for the second time, Spejcher began 'hearing and seeing things that weren't there', and believing she was dead, and that she had to stab O'Melia in order to bring herself back to life.
Some of the country's top forensic psychiatrists concluded that this experience was '100 percent' consistent with previous accounts of cannabis-induced psychosis.
'We know, pretty conclusively, that marijuana can lead to psychiatric illness,' Dr Timothy Fong, faculty leadership of the Cannabis Research Initiative at University of California, Los Angeles and clinical psychiatrist, told DailyMail.com.
Sentencing today, Judge Worley said: 'The task [of sentencing] is made all the more difficult by the knowledge that the decision will impact good people.'
But he added that he does not believe further incarceration is necessary.
The sentencing proceedings featured closing statements from close members of both the Spejcher and O'Melia family.
Spejcher's brother, mother, father, grandmother and one of her oldest friends spoke of her 'life spent helping others', referring to her numerous paid and voluntary roles assisting deaf and hard-of-hearing people.
'Helping others was the only career goal she ever had,' said her mother, Laurie Pearce.
Meanwhile her father Michael told the court room that his daughter had spent her time on probation volunteering at her local pets store and learning sign language during the evening; 'in the hope that maybe one day she could get back to helping those in the hearing impairment world'.
In her closing statement, Spejcher said: ‘I wish I could go back in time and prevent this tragedy from happening.
‘I wish I had known more about the dangers of marijuana. Had I known. I would never have smoked it that night or at all.’
She promised to dedicate her life to sharing information on marijuana and it’s harms.
Bryn Spejcher, 32, was given the astonishingly low sentence following psychiatrists' ruling that the tragedy was '100 percent' caused by cannabis-induced psychosis, which she suffered after taking two hits of the victim's bong.
The judge ruled that Spejcher 'experienced a psychotic break from reality' and 'had no control over her actions' when she killed Chad O'Melia, then 26, on Memorial Day weekend 2018.
She will spend the 100 hours educating others on marijuana-induced psychosis and two years on probation - but has promised to spend the rest of her life debunking the myth that cannabis is harmless.
O'Melia's family cried when the sentence was read out at Ventura Superior Court, with the victim's father warning it gave 'everyone who smokes marijuana in this state a license to kill’.
Bryn Spejcher, an audiologist from Chicago, underwent emergency surgery after stabbing herself in the face and neck during a weed-induced coma
Campaigners told DailyMail.com that the judge's ruling was 'unforeseen' in cannabis psychosis cases, while Spejcher's attorney Robert Schwartz said the case should act as a warning against the use of 'increasingly potent' marijuana.
'We will see more tragic cases like this as the availability of high-potency marijuana spreads across the country.'
Spejcher, an audiologist, who is originally from Chicago but lives in Thousand Oaks, California, was found guilty of manslaughter in December 2023, following a dramatic and heart-wrenching trial.
At the time, Spejcher, who is partially deaf, described how she'd taken one puff of a bong but 'did not want to smoke anymore'.
She said she felt 'pressured' by O'Melia, who was a regular smoker and who she'd been dating for a month.
Within minutes of inhaling the potent cannabis-infused vapor for the second time, Spejcher began 'hearing and seeing things that weren't there', and believing she was dead, and that she had to stab O'Melia in order to bring herself back to life.
Some of the country's top forensic psychiatrists concluded that this experience was '100 percent' consistent with previous accounts of cannabis-induced psychosis.
'We know, pretty conclusively, that marijuana can lead to psychiatric illness,' Dr Timothy Fong, faculty leadership of the Cannabis Research Initiative at University of California, Los Angeles and clinical psychiatrist, told DailyMail.com.
Sentencing today, Judge Worley said: 'The task [of sentencing] is made all the more difficult by the knowledge that the decision will impact good people.'
But he added that he does not believe further incarceration is necessary.
The sentencing proceedings featured closing statements from close members of both the Spejcher and O'Melia family.
Spejcher's brother, mother, father, grandmother and one of her oldest friends spoke of her 'life spent helping others', referring to her numerous paid and voluntary roles assisting deaf and hard-of-hearing people.
'Helping others was the only career goal she ever had,' said her mother, Laurie Pearce.
Meanwhile her father Michael told the court room that his daughter had spent her time on probation volunteering at her local pets store and learning sign language during the evening; 'in the hope that maybe one day she could get back to helping those in the hearing impairment world'.
In her closing statement, Spejcher said: ‘I wish I could go back in time and prevent this tragedy from happening.
‘I wish I had known more about the dangers of marijuana. Had I known. I would never have smoked it that night or at all.’
She promised to dedicate her life to sharing information on marijuana and it’s harms.
