Today's story is part drug war, part police indifference and callousness, part police cover-up. It comes by way of a lawsuit filed by the family of Michael Saffioti. 
 
 Saffioti failed to make a court date on a misdemeanor charge for pot possession. In July of last year, he surrendered himself to Snohomish County, Washington authorities, who promptly jailed him. (The streets of Snohomish County were a little safer that day.) When it came time for breakfast the following morning, Saffioti is seen on video having a conversation with a guard while holding his tray. Presumably, he was inquiring about any dairy products in the meal. Saffioti had a severe allergy. He's then seen taking a few bites of some oatmeal. (You can watch the video here.) 
 
 The awfulness that followed is detailed by KIRO TV. 
 
 Within a few minutes, Saffioti was back at the guard desk, using his inhaler. According to the legal claim, he asked to see a nurse. Instead, he was sent to his cell. Over the next half hour, the video shows other inmates looking in Saffioti's cell as he jumped up and down. The legal claim says he pressed his call button and was ignored. 
 
 It also alleges that the guards told him h was "faking." 
 
 About 35 minutes after he ate, a guard found Saffioti unconscious in his cell. The guard called for help and Saffioti was dragged out. Nurses arrived and performed CPR. Everett firefighters took over and rushed Saffioti to the hospital where he was pronounced dead a half hour later. 
 
 Then the coverup began. County officials stonewalled Saffioti's mother's attempts to obtain video of the events leading to her son's death, first by denying its existence. After Saffioti's family discovered the police had lied about that, they turned over only non-incriminating portions of the video. The family was eventually able to force them to hand over the entire thing. So far, attorneys for the family have also been barred from interviewing jail staff or responding medical personnel. 
 
 This is the eighth death in the Snohomish jail in three years. Johnathin Vankin reports that "a recent investigation by the National Institute of Corrections found that the jail’s health department is seriously understaffed and that overcrowding in the jail has caused serious safety hazards." 
 
 But New York criminal defense attorney Scott Greenfield points out that this is about more than just staffing and funding. 
 
 This young man’s death reflects the toxic mix of dehumanization, neglect and deceit. Inmates complain constantly about nearly every aspect of life in jail. The accommodations don’t suit many, and there isn’t much reason not to complain. The product is that complaints are ignored. After all, to the guards, these aren’t people, but inmates. That’s what inmates do, complain. Do something about the complaints and they’ll just be back complaining about something else tomorrow. Ignore them and they’ll still be back, but it’s easier to just ignore them again tomorrow. The problem is that every once in a while, a complaint, like a life-threatening food allergy, is real. Not just real, but brutally real. To take the time to listen, to hear, to take seriously, a complaint is more than a guard can bear. Jails are all about routine, and routine applies to everyone. To expect CO’s to treat inmates like people, to take the time to distinguish between real complaints and the typical noise is to expect them to be caring, intelligent people. That’s not part of the routine. 
 
 Saffioti's food allergies were apparently so severe that he was sometimes called "bubble boy." His condition required constant attention. According to his mother, the knowledge that the smallest break in vigilance could result in his death caused Saffioti a lot of anxiety. Understandably so. She says he smoked pot to help relieve that anxiety. As both Greenfield and Vankin point out, the cruel irony here is that four months after Saffioti's death, recreational pot was legalized in Washington state. 
 
 The story is reminiscent of the Jonathan Magbie tragedy. Magbie was a quadriplegic who was allowed to die in a Washington, D.C. jail cell while serving a 10-day sentence for possession of pot. He was jailed despite no prior convictions, and in spite of his need of constant care to stay alive. According to his mother, Magbie smoked pot to treat the effects of his paralysis. Medical pot is now legal in D.C., and the city looks poised to at least decriminalize pot for recreational use, if not legalize it outright. 
 
 

 By Graham Johnson 
 
 Video obtained by KIRO 7 through a public records request shows a Snohomish County Jail inmate questioning the breakfast he was fed that ultimately killed him. 
 
 Michael Saffioti, 22, was no career criminal. 
 
 
 
 He had turned himself in because of an outstanding misdemeanor warrant for marijuana possession. 
 
 The video comes from jail module E-4 on the morning of July 3, 2012. 
 
 
 
 Around 5:46, a group of inmates arrived to serve breakfast and men began lining up. 
 
 
 
 While others sat to eat, the camera first captured Saffioti at the guard's desk, holding his tray. 
 
 
 
 Saffioti suffered from extreme dairy allergies and took regular pains to protect himself. 
 
 
 
 Because he had been at the Snohomish County Jail once before, guards had a medical file on him. 
 
 
 
 "Our theory is that they absolutely knew about Michael's medical needs," said Cheryl Snow, the attorney for Saffioti's mother, Rose. Snow has filed notice of a $10 million claim against the county, which says no special diet trays were sent to the module that morning. 
 
 
 
 The video shows Saffioti apparently discussing his food with the guard, servers and fellow inmates. 
 
 
 
 Eventually, he took a few bites. 
 
 "We know that he asked questions and made inquiries and he was assured the oatmeal in the food was safe for eating," Snow said. 
 
 Within a few minutes, Saffioti was back at the guard desk, using his inhaler. 
 
 According to the legal claim, he asked to see a nurse. 
 
 Instead, he was sent to his cell. 
 
 Over the next half hour, the video shows other inmates looking in Saffioti's cell as he jumped up and down. 
 
 
 
 The legal claim says he pressed his call button and was ignored. 
 
 
 
 About 35 minutes after he ate, a guard found Saffioti unconscious in his cell, cell. The guard called for help and Saffioti was dragged him out. 
 
 
 
 Nurses arrived and performed CPR. Everett firefighters took over and rushed Saffioti to the hospital where he was pronounced dead a half hour later. 
 
 
 
 "This video shows Michael clearly made his needs apparent, that his needs were ignored. Once he suffered distress he was further ignored," Snow said. 
 
 
 
 Snow had to file a public records complaint against the county to get the video, which she says backs up what witnesses have told investigators. 
 
 
 
 Her complaint says the county originally claimed the video didn't exist. 
 
 
 
 Snow says she has also been prevented from interviewing officials from the Snohomish County Medical Examiner's Office and responding Everett firefighters, despite early promises to Rose Saffioti of transparency from county officials. 
 
 
 
 "Instead of us having transparency we have come up against a brick wall," Snow said. 
 
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– Michael Saffioti was in Washington's Snohomish County Jail on a minor marijuana possession charge—the 22-year-old had actually turned himself in. But he paid an enormous price: He had severe dairy allergies, and died after apparently being served oatmeal containing dairy. The guards allegedly accused Saffioti of "faking" his distress, the Huffington Post reports. Though Saffioti died on July 3, 2012, his story is making headlines now because his mother is suing the county, alleging the jail knew about his medical needs and served him unsafe food anyway. This week, KIRO TV got footage from the jail that appears to show Saffioti talking to the guards, servers, and even fellow inmates about his breakfast—video his mother's lawyer had to fight to obtain; she says the county initially insisted it didn't exist. After being "assured the oatmeal in the food was safe for eating," the lawyer says, Saffioti took a few bites. Just a few minutes later, he started using his inhaler and returned to the guard desk. But instead of being sent to the nurse, as he requested, Saffioti was returned to his cell, the lawsuit claims. More video shows him jumping up and down as other inmates look in; the lawsuit claims he also pressed his call button, but received no response. Thirty-five minutes after he started eating, Saffioti was found unconscious in his cell by a guard; he was soon pronounced dead at a hospital. And because Saffioti had been at the jail before, "they absolutely knew about Michael's medical needs" and even had a medical file on him, the lawyer says, adding that the module received no special diet trays on the day of Saffioti's death. (Another tragic story today: A teen seeking help after a car crash was shot dead after knocking at someone's door.)