• CD Moderators: someguyontheinternet
  • Cannabis Discussion Welcome Guest
    Posting Rules Bluelight Rules

What would cause death in a THC overdose?

J

JackiesBabyy

Bluelighter
Joined
May 16, 2011
Messages
595
Lets say someone OD'd on THC by taking hundreds of marinol pills(This has actually happened before.), what would be the factor that kills the person? Respiratory depression? Heart attack?
 
Do you have a source for this? (for the death by Marinol pill overdose, I mean)

Considering cannabis' amazing safety record, a death would most certainly be recorded in the media or in the medical literature.
 
NeighborhoodThreat said:
Do you have a source for this? (for the death by Marinol pill overdose, I mean)

Considering cannabis' amazing safety record, a death would most certainly be recorded in the media or in the medical literature.
Click to expand...

Wikipedia's THC article. I know, it's wikipedia, but they source it too. "There has never been a documented human fatality from overdosing on tetrahydrocannabinol or cannabis in its natural form,[21] though the synthetic THC pill Marinol was cited by the FDA as being responsible for 4 of the 11,687 deaths from 17 different FDA approved drugs between January 1, 1997 to June 30, 2005.[22] Information about THC's toxicity is primarily based on results from animal studies." from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetrahydrocannabinol
 
NeighborhoodThreat said:
Do you have a source for this? (for the death by Marinol pill overdose, I mean)

Considering cannabis' amazing safety record, a death would most certainly be recorded in the media or in the medical literature.
Click to expand...

i dont remember the exact source, but i know that the FDA accounted somewhere between 2-4 deaths (cant remember exact number but it was very low def below 5) to overdose of marinol. there are, however, no recorded deaths from natural cannabis. EVER. In fact, a court ruling (again something i read a while ago, cant remember exact source) found that it was 'feasibly impossible' for anyone to overdose on natural cannabis. its simply not possible. the only way overdoses have been achieved is by administering VAST and i mean VAST amounts of THC in a medical setting. i believe for natural cannabis, the lowest possible LD50 (overdose where half participants died) in rats was 48mg/kg of body weight (ROA: inhalation). considering the amount of THC in weed, then considering how much is lost during combustion, the 48mg/kg is basically impossible to achieve. the body eliminates it faster than it can be taken in after a certain point. plus, at a certain point when getting high, you just cant keep taking hits anymore because you end up in space and cant take another hit till you come down somewhat, and even then usually you dont want one.

just saw the post above, the sources i had were not from wikipedia. you could try following the citations for those parts on wikipedia....
 
gearfiend said:
i dont remember the exact source, but i know that the FDA accounted somewhere between 2-4 deaths (cant remember exact number but it was very low def below 5) to overdose of marinol. there are, however, no recorded deaths from natural cannabis. EVER. In fact, a court ruling (again something i read a while ago, cant remember exact source) found that it was 'feasibly impossible' for anyone to overdose on natural cannabis. its simply not possible. the only way overdoses have been achieved is by administering VAST and i mean VAST amounts of THC in a medical setting. i believe for natural cannabis, the lowest possible LD50 (overdose where half participants died) in rats was 48mg/kg of body weight (ROA: inhalation). considering the amount of THC in weed, then considering how much is lost during combustion, the 48mg/kg is basically impossible to achieve. the body eliminates it faster than it can be taken in after a certain point. plus, at a certain point when getting high, you just cant keep taking hits anymore because you end up in space and cant take another hit till you come down somewhat, and even then usually you dont want one.
Click to expand...

How about someone eating ungodly amounts of strong cannibutter? (Made with a sativa strain) Would death come from a THC overdose first? Or from whatever causes death from shoving too much stuff in your stomach at once?

EDIT: And, in my experience, you can only get so high with THC (same is not true with full agonist cannabinoids like AM-2201 and JWH-018). I have my limit and if I try to smoke more past that I simply won't get any higher.
 
The only way people die from anything involving THC in any form is when they're using some other med at the same time.
 
The Network said:
The only way people die from anything involving THC in any form is when they're using some other med at the same time.
Click to expand...

Another way I could imagine someone indirectly dying from THC is if somebody with a bad heart condition ate a lot of edibles and had a panic attack, which increases your heart rate a ton which could in turn cause a heart attack.
 
To awnser your original question one simply needs to click the link they provide for that citation. That gives you a document outlines the number of deaths due to cannabis, which is 0. It also lists the 4 deaths due to the Marinol. Keep reading to the bottom and it describes why.

Heres a snippet:

"Each of the 3 cannabis-associated cases of
cerebellar infarction was confirmed by biopsy (1
case) or necropsy (2 cases)... Brainstem
compromise caused by cerebellar and cerebral
edema led to death in the 2 fatal cases."
Apr. 4, 2004 - Thomas Geller, MD

I suggest if you see a citation you check it out, it was as easy as clicking that link and looking over the document cited in wikapedia.
 
I honestly don't think it would be feasible for a human being to overdose on THC. Even if you were trying to execute someone with THC (let's imagine for a while, that the "cruel and unusual punishment" clause for the death penalty lead us to find more humane ways to bring death row felons to the end of their lives...), it would take so much, you would literally have to be injecting them full of it, very rapidly.

Let's imagine we are working with a different cannabinoid, let's say a full agonist at CB1 (THC is a partial agonist), and let's say a much more potent one, like JWH-018.

From anecdotal reports, it seems increased blood pressure/heart rate are possibilities. I am imagining this is what would be (at least in part) a cause of a theoretical THC overdose.
 
Captain.Heroin said:

Let's imagine we are working with a different cannabinoid, let's say a full agonist at CB1 (THC is a partial agonist), and let's say a much more potent one, like JWH-018.

From anecdotal reports, it seems increased blood pressure/heart rate are possibilities. I am imagining this is what would be (at least in part) a cause of a theoretical THC overdose.
Click to expand...

I could see this, very easily. Make someone vape a full gram, or some such craziness. I would certainly think it would kill you. I'd guess something along the lines of what you said, heart rate increase (though the death could be from heart attack due to panic, not really THC).

I've never heard of a record of death from natural cannabis (non-extracts). It's quite amazing. I don't know of many other recreational drugs that have such a low risk rate.
 
Believe it or not there are tox databases that list in gruesome details how much of Compound XYZ it takes to kill a rat, and what part of Mr. Rattus does him in - organ failure, breathing depression, fluid loss...

It turns out that THC is fairly non toxic as compounds go, but even so if you feed a rat 500mg/kg (a truly absurd dose- and thats only the ld50...), death occurs by either respiratory depression, convulsions, or both. Diarreah, tremors, breathing disruptions, ataxia, loss of righting reflex are all very common at high doses. (>50mg/kg)

Judging from the etiology of JWH overdoses I would expect a cannabis overdose to be a terrible way to die.
 
^ Damn, thats some heavy stuff. I Always imagined a thc overdose to be like a heroin one, pass out and boom never wake up. Luckily I doubt i'll ever experience either. ^___^
 
Can you imagine the psychological effects of taking such absurd dosages? My guess is it would be pretty nightmarish. IIRC in the past cannabinoids have been used as a means of torture so I wouldn't be surprised if such an overdose would be terrifying to say the least.
 
SirRollsAlot said:
You truly believe vaping 1 gram of marijuana would kill you? Shit me and mah homies should be long gone then:D
Click to expand...

Um no, I believe they were referring to pure THC or 1g of a pure agonist like JWH-018. Death may not happen, you just might wish to be dead.
 
My dog ate a whole tray of pot cookies I made once and when I got home he was laying on the floor unable to move or even wag his tail. I brought him to the vet and was told that everything was fine but that his gag reflex had been disabled so if he threw up it could cause respiratory problems. They gave him an IV to flush him out (not sure if this would really help or not), and he was fine in a day or so.

I'd imagine that an overdose would do something to autonomic functions, like breathing.
 
Foreigner said:
My dog ate a whole tray of pot cookies I made once and when I got home he was laying on the floor unable to move or even wag his tail. I brought him to the vet and was told that everything was fine but that his gag reflex had been disabled so if he threw up it could cause respiratory problems. They gave him an IV to flush him out (not sure if this would really help or not), and he was fine in a day or so.

I'd imagine that an overdose would do something to autonomic functions, like breathing.
Click to expand...

I'd be interested to find out how often veterinarians see dogs that have eaten hash or edibles being taken into the clinic by their worried owners. I bet it happens an awful lot. I would imagine they've probably had dogs come in that have eaten even shed loads of hash and still survived.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top