Have you lost a loved one to a Marijuana overdose?

Question

My cousin overdosed on pot. He was just a kid. 19 years old, and a senior in high school. Everyone love him. He was a football player, and an active member in our church.

Well 1 day, during his senior year, he went to a party. Some liberal parents had gone out of town, and left their child unattended (why am I not surprised by the irresponsible parents) so of course, he threw a party. Well when my cousin arrived the kids were drinking, smoking, and behaving poorly.

Since most of these kids were passing around a marijuana cigarette, my cousin felt out of place. At first, he refused to smoke. But the kids kept putting peer pressure on him by saying things like, "one puff won't hurt you" and "all the cool kids are doing it." Finally, my cousin succumbed to the pressure, and he took a puff.

Immediately he went into convulsions. Then he stopped breathing. Finally, his heart just gave out. By the time the paramedics arrived it was too late. My cousin was DOA.

Kids, don't do pot!

Answer 1

I knew that, thats why i smoke crack cocaine instead

Answer 2

I'm a veteran paramedic and I do not condone drug abuse of any kind, including alcohol.
However, I also do not exaggerate or lie about the effects of drugs when I give talks to schoolkids. To do so loses me any credibility on drug issues. Can you overdose on marijuana? Of course you can, you can overdose on *any* drug and anyone implying otherwise is ill informed.
But let's be clear, an overdose simply defines that a dosage beyond a safe amount (for that user) has been taken and does not necessarily mean that "overdose = death".
An 'overdose' of marijuana could manifest as acute psychosis, tachycardia (fast heart rate) and hypertension (high blood pressure). A person with a heart condition or already high blood pressure could potentially be damaged further, and someone with acute psychosis might do something life threatening.
But these possible effects of marijuana are not the same as overdoses of other drugs - say, heroin where the drug directly causes respiratory failure.
So to state that marijuana is in the same league as fatal overdose drugs like heroin, benzos, speed, etc is not true.
It can be more dangerous for some people with pre-existing medical conditions, but let's be honest and keep to the facts.

I have only ever attended two cases involving marijuana that were of any real danger - one patient had tachycardia and extremely high blood pressure and the other patient rolled her garbage truck whilst stoned!
I have attended more deaths and trauma related to heroin, speed and alcohol than I can count.

Answer 3

You can't OD on pot. If that really happened then it must have been laced with something, or the person who died suffered an allergic reaction. That would be extremely rare. I've worked in the mental health field for over 20 years and I've worked with a lot of addicts. Never heard of either of those things happening or read about them in any of the professional journals.

A more valid warning than "don't do pot" would probably be don't put anything into your body if you don't know exactly what it is and what the effects, both short and long term, can be.

Answer 4

Back in the day a guy I knew took one hit of a joint and later crashed through a sliding glass door falling and striking his head on the corner of a hot tub breaking his neck and splitting his head open .
An autopsy revealed no alcohol as some would suspect or other drugs except marijuana .
The wet floor contributed I am sure but so did the influence of the pot .



POT does kill .

Answer 5

I'm sorry sir, but your story simply isn't true--or you're leaving out massive details. According to this report: http://www.netscape.com/viewstory/2006/11/12/what-is-the-lethal-dose-of-marijuana/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.druglibrary.org%2Fschaffer%2Flibrary%2Fmj_overdose.htm&frame=true

an average sized person would have to eat 46 pounds of marijuana to die from it.

If your story were true, the media would have eaten it up because it would have been the first death of its kind in the world. To my knowledge, no one on this planet has ever died of one puff of marijuana. The only way this could happen is if it were laced with something very deadly. And if so, the other people who were passing the joint around would have died or become very sick as well.

I understand that you're trying to make a stand against marijuana, but fabricating a story about your teenage cousin dying from one puff of it simply isn't cool. "Kids, don't do pot!" is the line that gives you away--that's your real reason for posting this "question." If your story is true, please post a link to one of the local newspaper stories that covered your cousin's "death," there would likely be a few to choose from.

Answer 6

NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO!

I'm sorry for your loss however...

The drinking and OTHER THINGS your cousin was doing caused his death. For instance, cocaine is a drug I have seen give users sudden, adverse reactions such as you described (convulsions, respiratory arrest, etc.). IF someone put that or other chemicals into the pot that could have also been a factor.

Smoking marijuana DOES NOT SLOW CARDIO VASCULAR OR PULMONARY ACTIVITIES!!!! It is not possible his death was a direct result of the pot alone.

...and I have never come across any documentation that suggests anyone could have such a severe allergic reaction either.

Answer 7

Marijuana will get you it's laced with all kinds if stuff you may not know about it's best to stay away all drugs except what the Dr. gives you and this includes alcohol and cigarettes.

Answer 8

I have never heard of anyone over-dossing on pot. Now if it's laced with something else that would be a different story.

So unless for some one in a million reason your cousin was allergic to pot I am sure it wasn't the "pot" that killed him.

Answer 9

i've NEVER heard of anyone to die from smoking reefer. if it were laced, sure. i do know someone is allergic to it though, but it doesn't kill them should they happen to encounter it. just a headache and weird visual stuff. maybe he was severely allergic??

also, were you there? how do you know exactly what happened? self reports from bystanders? sounds a lot like an afterschool special. and also, just b/c you're liberal doesn't make you irresponsible, it was just unfortunate.

Answer 10

It isn't even possible to OD on marijuana. Trust me, my brothers smoke pot all day, every day. And it certainly doesn't send you into convulsions. Your cousin was very likely smoking crack. Trust me, my brothers sell crack all day, every day.

Answer 11

Sounds like there was something else in that joint besides marijuana. Never ever in my life heard of a marijuana overdose. If there was such a thing - I would be dead by now.