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http://www.msn.com/en-us/health/medical/how-much-marijuana-does-it-take-to-kill-you/ar-AA8MoaR
A 23-year-old New Jersey woman was recently arrested for both possession of a controlled dangerous substance and destruction of evidence after police claimed she swallowed “several bags of raw marijuana.” She is by far not the first individual to try and get out of a drug charge by swallowing the evidence, but in the case of marijuana, can ingesting large volumes of the substance actually cause any bodily harm? As far as we know, if there is a lethal dose of marijuana, scientists still haven't found it.
At the scene, EMT and paramedics examined the young woman in question, but she refused medical treatment, North Jersey News reported. The woman was arrested but has since been released and is awaiting court. There have been no further reports on the health of the woman or exactly how much “raw marijuana” she did in fact consume.
We are aware that ingesting illegal drugs such as heroin and cocaine to escape detection end in death far too often, but can swallowing marijuana actually kill you?
To be clear, there has never been a documented case of a single death directly linked to consuming too much marijuana. That’s not to say that people haven’t done things that led to their death while under the influence of marijuana — for of these there are many. However, with this being said, in theory, anything is possible. To test the lethal dose of any substance, ranging from crack cocaine to water, scientists use a test called the LD-50. This involves giving animals a substance until 50 percent of them die. ( I know, tragic, but this is the way facts are determined.)
The New Health Guide reports that in the LD-50 test for marijuana, it was shown that rats and mice could take as much as 1,000 milligrams (mg) per kilogram of marijuana before they started to die. For larger animals, it was found that even giving as much as 3,000mg per kilogram of marijuana was still not enough to kill them. Translated into human proportions, this means that a 140-pound person could eat 4 pounds of marijuana in one sitting and would still not reach the fatal dose.
As for smoking marijuana, the results are similar. As reported by io9, in a 1988 DEA brief, U.S. Administrative Judge Francis Young determined that one would have to consume 20,000 to 40,000 times as much marijuana as contained in a single joint for the dose to be lethal. In layman’s terms, that means an individual would have to smoke around 1,500 pounds of marijuana in about 15 minutes. And since no one has ever (and will probably never) achieve that, even this amount is still theoretical.
But just because large amounts of marijuana can’t kill you doesn’t mean that it’s advised to smoke without limit. Consume Responsiblyreported that the unpleasant symptoms such as increased heart rate, dryness of the mouth, and feelings of paranoia and anxiety can follow consuming more than your limit of marijuana. Fortunately, these symptoms won’t last and are known to fade in as little as 30 minutes.
A 23-year-old New Jersey woman was recently arrested for both possession of a controlled dangerous substance and destruction of evidence after police claimed she swallowed “several bags of raw marijuana.” She is by far not the first individual to try and get out of a drug charge by swallowing the evidence, but in the case of marijuana, can ingesting large volumes of the substance actually cause any bodily harm? As far as we know, if there is a lethal dose of marijuana, scientists still haven't found it.
At the scene, EMT and paramedics examined the young woman in question, but she refused medical treatment, North Jersey News reported. The woman was arrested but has since been released and is awaiting court. There have been no further reports on the health of the woman or exactly how much “raw marijuana” she did in fact consume.
We are aware that ingesting illegal drugs such as heroin and cocaine to escape detection end in death far too often, but can swallowing marijuana actually kill you?
To be clear, there has never been a documented case of a single death directly linked to consuming too much marijuana. That’s not to say that people haven’t done things that led to their death while under the influence of marijuana — for of these there are many. However, with this being said, in theory, anything is possible. To test the lethal dose of any substance, ranging from crack cocaine to water, scientists use a test called the LD-50. This involves giving animals a substance until 50 percent of them die. ( I know, tragic, but this is the way facts are determined.)
The New Health Guide reports that in the LD-50 test for marijuana, it was shown that rats and mice could take as much as 1,000 milligrams (mg) per kilogram of marijuana before they started to die. For larger animals, it was found that even giving as much as 3,000mg per kilogram of marijuana was still not enough to kill them. Translated into human proportions, this means that a 140-pound person could eat 4 pounds of marijuana in one sitting and would still not reach the fatal dose.
As for smoking marijuana, the results are similar. As reported by io9, in a 1988 DEA brief, U.S. Administrative Judge Francis Young determined that one would have to consume 20,000 to 40,000 times as much marijuana as contained in a single joint for the dose to be lethal. In layman’s terms, that means an individual would have to smoke around 1,500 pounds of marijuana in about 15 minutes. And since no one has ever (and will probably never) achieve that, even this amount is still theoretical.
But just because large amounts of marijuana can’t kill you doesn’t mean that it’s advised to smoke without limit. Consume Responsiblyreported that the unpleasant symptoms such as increased heart rate, dryness of the mouth, and feelings of paranoia and anxiety can follow consuming more than your limit of marijuana. Fortunately, these symptoms won’t last and are known to fade in as little as 30 minutes.
