Here's How Many People Fatally Overdosed On Marijuana Last Year

Here's How Many People Fatally Overdosed On Marijuana Last Year

With marijuana now legal in some form throughout 23 states, the number of Americans who fatally overdosed on the drug last year was significant:



The rate of absolutely zero deaths from a marijuana overdose remained steady from last year, according to figures released this month by the Centers for Disease Control. But while Americans aren't dying as a result of marijuana overdoses, the same can't be said for a range of other substances, both legal and illicit.



A total of 17,465 people died from overdosing on illicit drugs like heroin and cocaine last year, while 25,760 people died from overdosing on prescription drugs, including painkillers and tranquilizers like Valium, according to CDC figures.
Opioid overdose levels rose so sharply in 2014 -- spiking 14 percent from the previous year -- the CDC described the levels as "epidemic."
"More persons died from drug overdoses in the United States in 2014 than during any previous year on record," the CDC reported earlier this month.



Alcohol, an even more accessible substance, is killing Americans at a rate not seen in roughly 35 years, according to a Washington Post analysis of federal data. The more than 30,700 Americans who died from alcohol-induced causes last year doesn't include alcohol-related deaths like drunk driving or accidents; if it did, the death toll would be more than two and a half times higher.

According to a widely cited 2006 report in American Scientist, "alcohol is more lethal than many other commonly abused substances." The report further puts the lethality of various substances in perspective:
Drinking a mere 10 times the normal amount of alcohol within 5 or 10 minutes can prove fatal, whereas smoking or eating marijuana might require something like 1,000 times the usual dose to cause death.

Though marijuana has yet to lead to a fatal overdose in the U.S., it does have the potential to be abused and lead to dangerous behaviors like drugged driving -- but taking too much will likely lead to, if anything, a really bad trip.
Despite the changing tide in American attitudes toward marijuana for both therapeutic and recreational uses, legalization is still vigorously opposed by groups like the pharmaceutical lobby (who stand to lose big if patients turn to medical marijuana for treatment) and police unions (who stand to lose federal funding for the war on drugs).

Even among 2016 presidential contenders, Democratic hopeful Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is the only candidate from either party to support outright legalization of marijuana by removing it from the federal list of Schedule 1 drugs, which includes substances like heroin and LSD.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/en...14_56816417e4b06fa68880a217?section=australia

I've been around and heard of people who were new to getting stoned and they thought it was possible to OD on herb from smoking it, or THC if you ate it in edibles but I told them how it's not and that you would have to smoke and eat literally tons of it in order to do this.

But you hear about people overdosing on alcohol, opiates, cocaine/crack, and meth all the time.

Pardon me, but I'm skeptical of the whole "zero deaths ever" thing about cannabis. I find it hard to believe that throughout (even recent) history there was not a single person with some fucked up condition who reacted poorly to a large dose of cannabis and ended up six feet under. Cannabis increases heart rate, so... somebody with a poor heart ODing and dying? No? Just me? Fuck it then.

PS I'm talking about the general argument of cannabis enthusiasts that cannabis has never killed anyone in an overdose, not just this article which talks about recent years.

belligerent drunk said:

Pardon me, but I'm skeptical of the whole "zero deaths ever" thing about cannabis. I find it hard to believe that throughout (even recent) history there was not a single person with some fucked up condition who reacted poorly to a large dose of cannabis and ended up six feet under. Cannabis increases heart rate, so... somebody with a poor heart ODing and dying? No? Just me? Fuck it then.

PS I'm talking about the general argument of cannabis enthusiasts that cannabis has never killed anyone in an overdose, not just this article which talks about recent years.

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It might as well be zero. I'm sure you're right that cannabis has played a large role in a few deaths in human history, but it's so rare that we might as well say zero.

If you take cannabis and you die from a heart attack that wouldn't have happened had you not taken cannabis, is that really an overdose even then? I'd say it's dubious. Because it's not so much an overdose since the actual dose isn't all that significant outside them being under the influence of cannabis. It's more of a cannabis involved heart attack, but theres countless other things, including actions unrelated to drugs that could have put stress on this hypothetical persons heart triggering a heart attack.

In practical terms, it might as well be said that you can't overdose on marijuana.

I was more thinking of something like an overdose that wouldn't kill an average person happened to kill someone with a weak heart (who wouldn't have died on a standard dose, hence the term overdose), not that they would have experienced said heart attack outside of cannabis for a long time/ever. But you're right, it's very unlikely, to the point that in practical terms you could say you can't overdose on cannabis.

belligerent drunk said:

I was more thinking of something like an overdose that wouldn't kill an average person happened to kill someone with a weak heart (who wouldn't have died on a standard dose, hence the term overdose), not that they would have experienced said heart attack outside of cannabis for a long time/ever. But you're right, it's very unlikely, to the point that in practical terms you could say you can't overdose on cannabis.

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Considering ideal scenarios is common in sciences but "ideal conditions" do not represent a true find. Sure it could be argued that "mature fully developed adults at the peak of their health are not likely do die from THC" but as this doesnt represent the population as a whole or the world as it is it is not a true statement. You can use it to base reality against so yes the fact that ideal statement is true makes it so that your statement is *mostly correct* however, that isnt an absolute term.

This is why absolutes should be avoided. You almost never *wink wink* want to say absolute terms because you can usually find one case that disproves your absolute and completely devalues your otherwise well put stance.

Also you mean something like LD50 when you use the term "over dose" it literally means what it says, to over shoot your standard dose and suffer ill effect due to the "over dose"

Please note that i am not trying to attack you but help you get more people to agree. When you use absolutes it challenges people to defy you with an example. This will be important if you ever find yourself in a position to represent a case or an argument it will prevent you from being dismantled easily

belligerent drunk said:

I was more thinking of something like an overdose that wouldn't kill an average person happened to kill someone with a weak heart (who wouldn't have died on a standard dose, hence the term overdose), not that they would have experienced said heart attack outside of cannabis for a long time/ever. But you're right, it's very unlikely, to the point that in practical terms you could say you can't overdose on cannabis.

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Something like this? -

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...DIE-cannabis-poisoning-smoking-joint-bed.html

Yeah, except half a joint doesn't really sound like an overdose, I was thinking more like half an ounce. Hopefully nothing is left out of that article that could speak against cannabis being the real reason, because given the nature of this media it wouldn't surprise me. It does read like a typical anti-cannabis scare story. Why do they feel the need to mention the fact that she was a churchgoer like, what, 20 times?

Praise the lord.

I could swear I recall reading about a death in Colorado associated with Marijuana use. But maybe it was an indirect cause (e.g. killed while high by choking on Cheetos)?

^

DENVER - This week, two Denver deaths were linked to marijuana use, and while some details of the deaths have yet to emerge, they are the first ones on record to be associated with a once-illegal drug that Colorado voters legalized for recreational use, as of January 1, 2014.

One man jumped to his death after consuming a large amount of marijuana contained in a cookie, and in the other case, a man allegedly shot and killed his wife after eating marijuana candy.

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http://www.cbsnews.com/news/two-denver-deaths-tied-to-recreational-marijuana-use/

belligerent drunk said:

Pardon me, but I'm skeptical of the whole "zero deaths ever" thing about cannabis. I find it hard to believe that throughout (even recent) history there was not a single person with some fucked up condition who reacted poorly to a large dose of cannabis and ended up six feet under. Cannabis increases heart rate, so... somebody with a poor heart ODing and dying? No? Just me? Fuck it then.

PS I'm talking about the general argument of cannabis enthusiasts that cannabis has never killed anyone in an overdose, not just this article which talks about recent years.

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I watched an old documentary on Bruce Lee and the doctors blamed cannabis as the cause of death.
It was total nonsense but they needed a reason to collect the insurance money and didn't want to involve pills/steroids into the conversation.

As in poledriver's post (#11), I am sure that some people have freaked out while high - especially on edibles - and done something dangerous or stupid, or killed themselves. Any widely-used drug that alters thinking and perception must be linked to - maybe not responsible for - some deaths. The key is assigning responsibility, as was also discussed above.

I fatally overdosed on some dank!

Pot ODs are the worst. Last time, I overdosed hard and I woke up, get this, with my hand in a bag of chips and I had missed my bus to class...

It was like a minor inconvenience!!! Can't everyone see the poisonous as well as malicious affect caused by the smoking of this "natural" "plant". Yea, right. Like weed grows on trees or something come on.... Get with it folks. Open your eyes to the truth!

Watch out for the 'it's a natural plant' argument, as cocaine and opium are both planet derived

trozzle said:

Watch out for the 'it's a natural plant' argument, as cocaine and opium are both planet derived

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This.

Right Bro,I ate a brownie last night,This dude I work with throws me this stinking as edible on or lunch break and says my cousin made ther there no joke..So I eat th thing thinking no big deal..I have never been as

lazyboy0222 said:

Right Bro,I ate a brownie last night,This dude I work with throws me this stinking as edible on or lunch break and says my cousin made ther there no joke..So I eat th thing thinking no big deal..I have never been as

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Hehehehe - you okay? Ya didn't quite finish your post and I'm hoping everything's alright.

belligerent drunk said:

Pardon me, but I'm skeptical of the whole "zero deaths ever" thing about cannabis. I find it hard to believe that throughout (even recent) history there was not a single person with some fucked up condition who reacted poorly to a large dose of cannabis and ended up six feet under. Cannabis increases heart rate, so... somebody with a poor heart ODing and dying? No? Just me? Fuck it then.

PS I'm talking about the general argument of cannabis enthusiasts that cannabis has never killed anyone in an overdose, not just this article which talks about recent years.

Click to expand...

How has no one articulated the point yet that in the scenario you mentioned the true cause of death is the condition not the drug??

If I'm scared of black cats and I have a weak heart and see one and die should they include the black cat as the cause of death in the coroner's report, or my weak heart LOL??

Likewise, I am positive people have died from weed induced asthma attacks as regular asthma kills people every year (I have it myself and have gotten some bad asthma attacks from weed but I have a VERY mild form so I usually tolerated it fine over MANY years of daily smoking, just coughing up a lung every time and having people wonder why I cough so much ahhaah)....

But STILL, in that case the true CAUSE is the asthma, not the weed.

If someone kills someone with a gun, did the gun do it or the person?

Likewise, doctors talk about "treating a symptom rather than condition".

If someone has an underlying condition causing chronic headaches that DOES indeed have a true cure, but instead they just take Tylenol all day, they can't be said to be "treating their condition".

That last one is just a metaphor, but it still drives home the same point.

There are "CAUSES" and then there are "linked factors".

I'm sure weed has been a LINKED FACTOR in plenty of deaths but I don't think it's ever been the true CAUSE of a single death.

In talking about drugs that CAUSE deaths we are generally talking about drugs which can kill even a perfectly healthy person.

You can be in perfect health and OD on Heroin, Coke, Meth, Alcohol, et etc, but not weed.

That's the point, that it's never really been a true CAUSE to a death.

And even in those deaths where it's been a related factor, there probably would have been a good chance something else would have killed them eventually, maybe even not a drug at all, maybe just the condition itself, etc.