Medical Marijuana Overdose - Is it Possible?

[TheStatutoryApe]

I remember hearing in the news not that long ago that 'marijuana overdoses' have begun cropping up in hospitals due to the extreme increase in THC content of current marijuana breeds. I mentioned this the other day to some people and decided to look it up but all I find when searching 'marijuana overdose' in google is that it is a myth.

Does anyone know anything about this? I was imagining that symptoms would likely be things like; difficulty breathing, weak pulse, black outs, and sudden losses of consciousness.
While it may not be an overdose in the sense that it is potentially fatal is it possible to develope temporary but dangerous physical problems that are not merely psychosomatic?

 

[WarPhalange]

My uneducated opinion says that if you breathe in a lot of smoke, it will be hard to breathe and you can get the same symptoms you'd get if you had a low oxygen concentration otherwise.

On the flip side, would it be like holding your breath, where you'd pass out before your body let you do something stupid?

I don't know. Where are our resident pot heads here? Do we have them?

 

[hypatia]

People can have acute panic reactions with use of the drug, and some do seek medical help. I don't know if its considered a overdose, of course back in the day, they called it a "bad trip".
I have noticed, in the aging population of marijuana smokers, a particular concern in those with coronary artery disease, hypertension and cerebrovascular disease.
Its known that marijuana does increase the heart beat{tachycardia}.It alters blood pressure, increases myocardial demand and triggers angina in people who have existing medical problems.

 

[quadraphonics]

A couple of things: first, the canard about "much higher THC content in modern pot" is itself a myth. The THC content has not changed substantially. This myth can be traced to a change in the methodology of the government lab that tracks marijuana potency. Prior to some time in the 1980's, they were prohibited from buying marijuana, and so had to depend on donated samples which, unsurprisingly, tended to be of very low quality. So, they were systematically underestimating the THC content by a huge margin. The law was changed in the 1980's to allow them to buy pot for testing, and the results instantly fell into line with reality. No big deal, right? Well, it wouldn't have been if overzealous high school health teachers and guidance councellors hadn't seized onto the apparent (meaningless) increase in tested THC levels as evidence of "stronger modern pot." Probably the urge to do so stems from the fact that around this same time, many former flower children were reaching middle age and struggling to figure out how to justify telling their children not to smoke pot. So, the "strong modern pot" legend was born, and endures to this day. Meanwhile, most people in the US are still smoking the same low-grade Mexican ditch-weed that has been around since who-knows-when.

As far as actual overdosing goes, a couple of things are worth mentioning: there is a fundamental limit to how high a blood-THC-level you can attain by smoking, but not by eating. This is why people will report different (stronger) effects when eating marijuana/hash than smoking it. So, if it is possible to overdose, you will almost certainly have to do it by eating the drug, and not smoking. Likewise, even if marijuana is stronger than it used to be, the extra THC probably isn't ending up in people's bloodstreams anyway. That said, I've never heard any reports of an actual overdose. It is known to give some people, in some situations, panic attacks, which can be very frightening but are not inherently dangerous. People are also known to faint, although it's unclear if marijuana alone does this, or if it is some combination of that and alcohol and tobacco. The fainting does seem to be physiological, though.

That said, you would expect that, were it possible to OD, we would have heard of someone doing it by now. There are plenty of people that aren't shy about getting as much THC into their systems as possible, as often as possible, and yet they don't seem to be overdosing. So... I'd say "myth."

 

[gravenewworld]

Unless you are grinding up weed, extracting out its active ingredients, and injecting them into yourself IV, it is literally impossible to OD on THC by eating it because the LD50 value of it is so ridiculously high for oral consumption it would be impossible to obtain that much THC in marijuana and eat it. Smoking weed does put stress on the heart. So that might be of some danger. Activation of CB1 receptors can also cause your blood pressure to lower, which is why you might pass out if you over activate them. That being said though, there are far more dangerous drugs out there with more severe side effects that were/are approved by the FDA. It makes you wonder why Marinol is allowed to be sold legally why MJ is illegal even though Marinol takes a longer time to work, is less efficacious, has stronger psychotropic side effects than MJ, and costs 20x's more.

 

[sketchtrack]

Some people get nervous in public that people will observe their highness and that makes them get anxiety. Other times people who have never smoked don't know the effects and get paranoid that they are overdosing even though it is impossible, still the fear causes panic. It is you doing it though, kind of like giving a speech for shy people, same kind of thing.

As far as long term damage, it isn't good for the lungs breathing smoke. I have heard that people who smoke pot are less likely to get alzheimer's

http://alzheimers.about.com/b/2006/10/06/marijuana-may-prevent-alzheimers-disease.htm

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

After actually reading about it I thought that perhaps these reported 'overdoses' were really just panic attacks.

Apparently a person would have to consume pounds of marijuana to actually reach an overdose level.

As far as long term effects the only I have heard of is the potential of cancer since there are supposedly more carcinogens in marijuana smoke than cigarrette smoke. Though I would imagine that people tend to smoke far less marijuana than smokers smoke tobacco.

 

[gravenewworld]

After actually reading about it I thought that perhaps these reported 'overdoses' were really just panic attacks.

Apparently a person would have to consume pounds of marijuana to actually reach an overdose level.

As far as long term effects the only I have heard of is the potential of cancer since there are supposedly more carcinogens in marijuana smoke than cigarrette smoke. Though I would imagine that people tend to smoke far less marijuana than smokers smoke tobacco.

The word is still out on that one.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/04/17/health/webmd/main2696726.shtml



"All things are poison and nothing is without poison, only the dose permits something not to be poisonous." -- Paracelsus

 

[sketchtrack]

The word is still out on that one.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/04/17/health/webmd/main2696726.shtml
"All things are poison and nothing is without poison, only the dose permits something not to be poisonous." -- Paracelsus

I think that marijuana can be a good thing if used responsibly in moderation. If you ever are really mad and there isn't a very good reason, a very small does of THC will help you calm down and put things into perspective. I think it gives me ADD though. I think it is stupid when peoples lives revolve around it and they smoke as much as they can to be cool. To me it is like a once a month celebration when I accomplish something difficult like finals.

 

[blimkie.k]

Its defiently impossible to OD by smoking it atleast, one would pass out or vomit "green out" before this would happen in my opinion, I also have some experience haha. I read once that after testing it on mice or it was determined that the lethal dose of thc for an adult male would be something like 80 grams of THC. That is just rediculous think about how many ounces one would have to consume or smoke to get that much THC, very unlikely. Ill poke around and see if I can find this article it was years back though.

 

[blimkie.k]

Not the same article I remember reading but,

From the durg library,

"The non-fatal consumption of 3000 mg/kg A THC by the dog and monkey would be comparable to a 154-pound human eating approximately 46 pounds (21 kilograms) of 1%-marihuana or 10 pounds of 5% hashish at one time."
http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/library/mj_overdose.htm

Keep in mind that dosage was given to a dog and was unfatal.

And from wikipedia...

"In order to create a lethal overdose in a human, one would have to consume 1500 pounds in under 15 minutes.[10]"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetrahydrocannabinol#Toxicity

Im calling this one busted folks, unless your a rodent.

 

[Evo]

Blinkie, FYI, OD stands for "overdose". It has nothing to do with a fatal dose.

 

[blimkie.k]

Thanks for the insight.

 

[Andy Resnick]

According to my Merck handbook, the LD50 dose for tetrahydrocannabinols ranges from 800 mg/kg (male rats) for the psychoactive (delta-9) form to 27.5 mg/kg for the delta-8 isomer.

This translates (for a 100 kg person) to 80 g of THC. I couldn't easily find an estimate for the fractional weight of THC in the plant.

 

[OAQfirst]

This myth can be traced to a change in the methodology of the government lab that tracks marijuana potency. Prior to some time in the 1980's, they were prohibited from buying marijuana, and so had to depend on donated samples which, unsurprisingly, tended to be of very low quality.

Why would a government lab be prohibited from buying marijuana? And why would it matter? The seeds are easy to acquire and growing the plant is simple.

 

[MarcoTokes]

I just recently had a marijuana, "overdose" you may say. It was the most unpleasent time of my life. To anyone who reads this, please, please, PLEASE know your limits. I thought I was the cool guy with all my buddies so i smoked way over my limits and i ended up in the hospital. It's been the worst week of my life I was almost positive i was going to die. Some things i felt were rapid heart rate, difficulty breathing, Paranoia, disorientation, delirium and extreme panic attacks. I still haven't recovered from the incident and it's been almost 5 days and I feel like absolute garbage. I may return to smoking one day but if i do it will be very low amounts.

 

[Astronuc]

Perhaps it is best not to smoke at all, just like it's best not to drink excessive amounts of alcohol.

 

[dx]

I think most 'overdoses' and hospitalizations attributed to marijuana are actually just inexperienced people getting scared. A police officer once confiscated some marijuana, baked it brownies, and called 911 because he thought he overdosed ("I think we're dying!"):

 

[fluidistic]

I think the overdose really depends of the smoker. For example when I was 16 years old I smoked marijuana with my cousin. I only took about 3 breathes of it. I suddenly lost my hands sensations, I had a very strong loss of memory (couldn't go into the kitchen to drink some water. Every 30 seconds or so I didn't know where I was, in my house. It was really scaring) and my body was shaking itself. I ended up in my bed, thirsty and shaking as if I got really frozen, for about 5 hours. My cousin was just happy and he smoked much more than I. He felt the effects for about 3 hours. (It was pure cannabis we saw growing up, so I'm pretty sure it wasn't any other drug). A few other times I smoked again, and every time I ended with the same symptoms while my friends who were accustomed could handle much more than I.
I think you can call what I had an overdose, although the dose of THC was somewhat small.

 

[dx]

That's not an overdose fluidistic. The things you described are more or less standard effects of smoking marijuana, especially loss of short-term memory, dry mouth, and thirst.

 

[evilpostingmong]

I think most 'overdoses' and hospitalizations attributed to marijuana are actually just inexperienced people getting scared. A police officer once confiscated some marijuana, baked it brownies, and called 911 because he thought he overdosed ("I think we're dying!"):

Back from the grave. LOL I heard somewhere that eating marijuana is much more
potent than smoking it. I remember getting buzzed and
laughed at everything, including cars. btw i don't smoke often

 

[fileen]

I use to smoke every day in high school, and we would often have one or two people freaking out thinking they were going to die. We would always just give them a glass of water, take them outside for some fresh air, and talk to them until they got over it. No one ever died. The only time I had any problems was when I mixed it with alcohol. The experience was pretty terrifying. I think the big thing is the increased heart rate and shaking that makes one believe they are in serious trouble. As soon as someone realized I was panicking, they gave me some water and distracted me with some spongebob square pants. I forgot all about my fear and the rest of the night was fine.

 

[IsmokePot]

Perhaps I could be of some assistance. Granted I bet there are many people who smoke a lot more than me, I do smoke alot, and I mean ALOT.
I smoke on a daily basis, and not just one or two times a day. If it is possible, you would need to inhale or consume such large amounts that before this is even possible you would most likely pass out. There have been a few times where I had gotten so high I did panic, and after sitting there for awhile imagining I was on a roller coaster I sobered up, fell asleep, woke up the next day and laughed at how hard I tripped. Me and one of my good friends that I smoke with buy anywhere from $60-$120 of weed in one day and smoke it all that same day. We don't do this everyday, but its definitely not rare. I am not sure about consumption of pot as I have not done this yet, but look forward to when I do, I'll let you all know how that goes. Basically I think its nearly damn impossible to overdose on marijuana, and if it is you would probably need to intake pounds in a very short amount of time, which I doubt anybody is going to accomplish unless their actually attempting to overdose. There are no reports None in all of history of anyone ever overdosing on pot, and like I said there are people who intake way more than I do on a daily basis and though they may be completely baked out of their minds, their still alive and still funtionable.. or will be when they sober up. And I would just like to add this in here, the government talks about all the people in rehab because of marijuana use and dependence? Funny thing is, most people in there are forced into it because of the laws. Basically their given a choice, jail and fine, or rehab?? Well that's a tough decision. Sorry for the novel, hope I was of assistance.

"Dont drink and drive, smoke and fly"
I don't believe marijuana is for everyone.
Honestly some people probably shouldn't use it depending on how they react to it.
There are many useful videos that have facts on marijuana and marijuana use.
Go to www.youtube.com
and type in MPP, or something about marijuana facts and enjoy the knowledge and truth.

 

[fileen]

www.youtube.com[/url]
and type in MPP, or something about marijuana facts and enjoy the knowledge and truth.

I know someone who just got kicked out of university due to a marajuana problem. He spent all his money on pot, never went to class and accidentally overdosed on crystal meth that he didnt know was in his weed. He now has a huge debt, and a severe addiction which he has willingly gone to rehab for. Not everyone can handle the addictive nature of drugs, pots not even a physical addiction, but some people get really addicted mentally. I quit no problem, and I was using all manner of drugs including alcohol and nicotine, both of which are very addictive. It really depends on the person, and whether or not they believe they can quit. I quit because a friend of mine was very high and decided to walk home from a party. Everyone was so messed we didnt even notice him leaving, so our general rule of no one leaving for anything unless they were sober was ignored. He went outside, and presumably either panicked or decided to go to sleep because he was hit by a car while laying in the middle of the road. Drugs can be great fun, but they can easily ruin your life. Some people can handle it, but a lot of people cant.

 

[evilpostingmong]

I know someone who just got kicked out of university due to a marajuana problem. He spent all his money on pot, never went to class and accidentally overdosed on crystal meth that he didnt know was in his weed. He now has a huge debt, and a severe addiction which he has willingly gone to rehab for. Not everyone can handle the addictive nature of drugs, pots not even a physical addiction, but some people get really addicted mentally. I quit no problem, and I was using all manner of drugs including alcohol and nicotine, both of which are very addictive. It really depends on the person, and whether or not they believe they can quit. I quit because a friend of mine was very high and decided to walk home from a party. Everyone was so messed we didnt even notice him leaving, so our general rule of no one leaving for anything unless they were sober was ignored. He went outside, and presumably either panicked or decided to go to sleep because he was hit by a car while laying in the middle of the road. Drugs can be great fun, but they can easily ruin your life. Some people can handle it, but a lot of people cant.

I second that. Not everybody CAN handle drugs. Though I tend to panic from time to time
after taking some pulls, I am always with a friend (at least) when I smoke and he
doesn't get high very easily.

 

[evilpostingmong]

I use to smoke every day in high school, and we would often have one or two people freaking out thinking they were going to die. We would always just give them a glass of water, take them outside for some fresh air, and talk to them until they got over it. No one ever died. The only time I had any problems was when I mixed it with alcohol. The experience was pretty terrifying. I think the big thing is the increased heart rate and shaking that makes one believe they are in serious trouble. As soon as someone realized I was panicking, they gave me some water and distracted me with some spongebob square pants. I forgot all about my fear and the rest of the night was fine.

I thought I was the only one, lol. Yes I remember I was at a party, I smoked
some mj then consumed ONE beer. Yes, that's right, ONE beer. I wasn't even
drunk. Next thing I know, I started feeling sick and was on the couch. Then I figured
I needed to walk around a few times to feel better, but that didn't help. So I went
into my friend's room, panicked, came THIS CLOSE to keeling over, layed down
and I sweat so badly that you'd think I had come out of the pool only seconds before.

 

[Andy Resnick]

I'm just curious- is it only Americans that have such a juvenile attitude towards intoxication, or is the rest of the civilized world as backwards?

 

[lisab]

I'm just curious- is it only Americans that have such a juvenile attitude towards intoxication, or is the rest of the civilized world as backwards?

It's pretty embarrassing.

 

[russ_watters]

I've gotten the impression that American teens go through a period of immaturity and rebellion that is far worse than those in other countries.

 

[afker]

Are any of u really trying to say that u have smoked before? first off the guy that's trying to say he got all sick for 5 hours cause he smoked some wild bud, you prolly felt garbagety cause it was fresh picked and not cured (dried for smoking) so what u smoked didn't have THC in it, thus prolly got the equivalency of smoking a leaf. second the only short term side effect of getting high... is being stoned and all the normal effects of that (which would be cotton mouth and the munchies) but as far as smoking to much goes u would more then likely just want to go to sleep, i have seen people pass out and collapse but that's such a rare occurrence that i honestly wouldn't worry about it. I've been smoking for 6 years and only seen 1 person pass out and the only way to die from smoking bud is to smoke half ur body weight and die from to much smoke, but i am highly skeptical that anyone that posted before me (except for maybe one or two) can even smoke more then a bowl.

 

[madness]

There really is no danger of an overdose from cannabis. The only problem to worry about (other than the regular health effects of smoking) is that in some people, long term heavy use can trigger temporary psychosis. Some people may not enjoy the effects of being stoned and my panic or become paranoid, but this is not the same as an overdose.

 

[Pythagorean]

I've gotten the impression that American teens go through a period of immaturity and rebellion that is far worse than those in other countries.

Should we blame their role models? Government? Education? Parenting? Capitalism? Media?

 

[Proton Soup]

Should we blame their role models? Government? Education? Parenting? Capitalism? Media?

yes. in europe, kids are allowed to experiment with alcohol at a much younger age. here, we keep getting more and more restrictive. i wouldn't be surprised if there were soon to be a move to raise the drinking age to 25. that's about the age where the brain is considered fully developed and we are better able to evaluate risk. it would also, in theory only, keep them drug-free all the way through grad school. which, who knows, might not be such a bad thing since the grad degree seems to be becoming the brass ring that the undergrad degree once was.

 

[Kronos5253]

Everyone here seems to have a different view of what an overdose is. Some people are taking it as the same as a heroin overdose, some aren't.

Lets try to define what the OP means by overdose before we get into too much more depth on this concept. We obviously have found that overdosing in the sense of drugs like heroin, or even prescription drugs is nearly impossible, or at least extremely, EXTREMELY difficult.

Remember also that for those who have added their experiences with "overdosing" on marijuana, that there is always the possibility that what you had was laced with another drug, like PCP or LSD, which can make consuming it in any fashion fatal if you consume too much, but only because of what it is laced with. This is part of the problem with buying marijuana off of the street from dealers, and is a big reason why supporters of the legalization of marijuana would like to have it legalized. You know what you're buying, and you know it's safe (or at least safer, depending on your POV on marijuana).

 

[weedy666]

i once had too much weed, and it was real bad trip. it started with vibrations all over my body, which was very cool, but then, i had sensations of pins stinging everywhere. and then it started feeling like i was being jolted by electricity for like, 15 minutes. every bad memory, every painful experience flashed before my eyes. it only stopped after i splashed cold water over my face.
also whever i smoke up, i have this sour taste of lemon, all over my body. is that normal?

 

[Stratosphere]

I don't understand marijuana. I will admit that I had unfortunately smoked three times before. All of them with friends. I'm not sure why I did it but I did and I must say the whole thing is very stupid. It did almost nothing for me, and yes I smoked high quality stuff and quit a bit of it too but it only felt as if I hadn't eaten for 2 days.

Most of the kids in my school are stoners, and I have to put up with them for the rest of my high school life. When I ask them why they do it they say because it's fun. Most of them don't have the intelligence of my 12 year old brother. They have no other skills either, all they talk about is weed and other drugs. They are also experimenting with other drugs now too. Some of them are nice kids but others are real losers. I try and tell them that it's only a waste of money but they won't listen.

Also the only reason I see kids drinking alcohol is because it's illegal, my mom, (shes from Europe so she see's it as no bid deal) let's me drink a little bit of wine every once and a while and I NEVER have abused it while other kids I know would go crazy with any alcohol they find.

 

[nrqed]

While it may not be an overdose in the sense that it is potentially fatal

Too bad, it would get rid of a lot of as*****s who enrich the drug dealers.

 

[bsrb13]

i've never heard of a MJ overdose...i've had bad experiences with laced stuff and mixing it with the wrong things, but no ODing...i always thought you'd get sick from the smoke and lack of oxygen before you'd OD on THC.

and I've never heard it's stronger when you eat it...i've eaten it and it had a weaker affect on me than when i smoke it. even when i kept going back to the wrong brownies, lol.

 

[russ_watters]

Closed pending moderation.