Has no one really died from smoking pot?

[Nikia]

I am not saying that I don't think that it is a relatively safe substance. It's just that people die from so many seemingly safe things. People die doing strenuous activities like shoveling snow or running distance races. People have had seriously heart attacks, ruptured aneurisms, and strokes from severe emotional stress. People die from taking medication as directed. When I looked up needle phobia after passing out from having blood draw, I found out that several people had died from that too.
With the prevelance of pot smoking, a few people per year have to drop dead from heart attacks and such that they wouldn't have dropped dead from if they didn't smoke pot. If they don't, wouldn't that suggests that it actually prevents heart attacks. I did see a claim that it can prevent severe damage in 80% of strokes. If smoking pot isn't life ending, could it actually be life saving?

[elfwitch]

1. I've been so stoned I though I might die...

been so high that I thought I might forget to breathe. But I've never heard of any direct deaths related to weed.

[elperromagico]

8. Me too.

I found myself intently focused on my breathing once, feeling that I had to do so in order to breathe. Same thing with blinking.

Odd, isn't it?

[sundog]

22. lol - paranoid ? --

I once had a friend who checked herself into a hospital cause she was sure that she was havong a heart attack (hmmm at 23) - nedless to say, she just sat there till she came down...

[Racenut20]

2. Only when they run their car into a tree or light post or something.

[aden_nak]

11. Yep.

The only marijuana related deaths that I am aware of are due to someone operating a vehicle or other machinery while under the influence. In which case, it is no more dangerous (and many will say less dangerous) than alcohol. From a health standpoint, granted, no one is going to be coming out with a "Pot Diet" anytime soon, but it does far less physical harm than cigarettes or alcohol, and is not shown to be intrinsicly linked to any particular health failure (tobacco -> lung cancer, alcohol -> liver failure).

[mitchtv]

12. usually not driving fast enough for that kind of damage

but getting rear ended for stopping on a green , might cause damage.

[Feanorcurufinwe]

20. You are obviously speculating, rather than citing statistics or sources.

I would be interested in finding out what studies and statistics show about the level of impairment that results from marijuana intoxication.

[Wcross]

57. LOL- At ten miles an hour?

I was in Buffalo once for a Rolling Stones concert. It was the evening before the show and I was driving down a road with a car full of friends and we were all baked going out to get something to eat. It was a four lane road and I was in the left lane and all the cars behind me were flashing their lights and honking. One of my bud's says "hey man, is the car on fire? All those people are flashing their lights at us!" I look down at the speedometer and I was doing 15mph in a 50mph zone!

[Massacure]

3. Does the U.S. even keep statistics on weed deaths?

[Loonman]

10. I think it was estimated

That you would have to smoke a pound an hour for 12 hours to die from it.

[mzmolly]

15. In the short term. Long term effects are much like smoking cigs.

;)

[Beaker]

28. How so?

the two substances are totally different.
because pot acts as a bronchial dilator, smoking it actually can make breathing easier for some- and in fact it was once prescribed for asthmatic attacks.
What actual studies have you seen that show long term affects to be "much like smoking cigs"?

[tridim]

37. That's true

My dad, who was an asthmatic, told me stories of how he used to sit in the doctor's office inhaling fumes from a big ceramic bowl of smoldering cannabis. It's medicine.

There is some tar and CO in pot smoke (or any smoke for that matter). That's probably what the poster was referring to.

[Taverner]

42. It is a carcinogen

Smoking ANYTHING is unhealthy, however the way one smokes pot is different than cigs. With cigs, you take several puffs on the cigarette, and inhale MANY carcinogens. With pot, you take one, maybe two puffs, hold it in and then release. You absorb more carcinogens per puff, but you take less.

Of course, pot is 100% healthy if you make brownies out of the oils (and in fact, Marijuana oils area a great way to get 100% of your Essential Fatty Acids.)

[mzmolly]

49. Right, the smoke is the issue to my understanding. The substance

has many medicinal benefits otherwise.

Interesting info on the asthma situation? My friend is a heavy pot smoker, and has asthma. Perhaps it's helpful for her?

Part of it could be the expectorant factor I imagine?

[Beaker]

51. some info on pot & asthma

http://www.pdxnorml.org/ARRD_asthma_1975.html

Effects Of Smoked Marijuana In Experimentally Induced Asthma (Summary)

By Donald P. Tashkin
Bertrand J. Shapiro
Y. Enoch Lee
and Charles E. Harper

Summary

After experimental induction of acute bronchospasm in 8 subjects with clinically stable bronchial asthma, effects of 500 mg of smoked marijuana (2.0 per cent delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol) on specific airway conductance and thoracic gas volume were compared with those of 500 mg of smoked placebo marijuana (0.0 per cent delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol), 0.25 ml of aerosolized saline, and 0.25 ml of aerosolized isoproterenol (1,250 ug). Bronchospasm was induced on 4 separate occasions, by inhalation of methacholine and, on four other occasions, by exercise on a bicycle ergometer or treadmill. Methacholine and exercise caused average decreases in specific airway conductance of 40 to 55 per cent and 30 to 39 per cent, respectively, and average increases in thoracic gas volume of 35 to 43 per cent and 25 to 35 per cent, respectively. After methacholine induced bronchospasm, placebo marijuana and saline inhalation produced minimal changes in specific airway conductance and thoracic gas volume, whereas 2.0 per cent marijuana and isoproterenol each caused a prompt correction of bronchospasm and associated hyperinflation. After exercise induced bronchospasm, placebo marijuana and saline were followed by gradual recovery during 30 to 60 min, whereas 2.0 per cent marijuana and isoproterenol caused an immediate reversal of exercise induced asthma and hyperinflation.

no medicinal value MY ASS...

[Beaker]

50. the best way to cook with pot is to make green butter...

and then use the butter to make...whatever.
rather than brownies, I make fudge.

btw- what is the carcinogenic chemical in pot smoke?

tobacco smoke includes everything from formaldehyde to ammonia...

[Taverner]

66. I know Carbon is one

inhaling carbon is usually a bad idea...

[GumboYaYa]

54. Also, a water bong is a very good filter for smoke.

If you use a bong, you will greatly reduce the amount of carcinogens in the smoke. Another option is to use a vaporizer. I have heard that the "smoke" from a vaporizer is very very clean. From the limited times I have used one, that seems to be true. Unfortunately, a good vaporizer costs an arm and a leg.

[Beetwasher]

30. Not Necessarily True

There's no real data to support that assertion...

[mzmolly]

48. I think there is data, but it's not proven one way or another.

:shrug:

[Beetwasher]

64. Actually, I've Yet To See Many Good, Reputable

Studies analyzing the long term physiological effects of cannabis, with replicated results...They just haven't done the actual research because the funding and support isn't really there...

[Heddi]

43. Not really---at least not regarding Oral Cancer.....

I work for a cancer research center---this one that did the research, actually (FHCRC).



http://www.fhcrc.org/news/science/2004/06/01/marijuanastudy.html

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JUNE 1, 2004




Study Finds No Association Between Marijuana Use and Incidence of Oral Cancer, Contrary to Previous Reports

SEATTLE — Contrary to previous research findings that have suggested a link, marijuana use does not appear to be associated with an increased risk of developing oral cancer, according to a large, population-based study led by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

Their findings, the result of the most comprehensive evaluation to date regarding the association between marijuana use and the incidence of oral squamous-cell carcinoma, appear in the June issue of Cancer Research, a publication of the American Association for Cancer Research.

The study, conducted in collaboration with researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and Seattle's Center for Health Studies, Group Health Cooperative, found no association between marijuana use and increased oral-cancer risk, regardless of how long, how much or how often a person has used marijuana. The study also found no increased risk among marijuana users who had other underlying risk factors for oral cancer, such as a history of tobacco use or heavy alcohol use

snip

The Fred Hutchinson study counters findings from a smaller investigation, widely publicized in 1999, which suggested that ever-users of marijuana were at more than twice the risk of getting head-and-neck squamous-cell carcinoma as compared to non-users.

"Our study casts a fair bit of doubt on the overall conclusion of the previous study," Schwartz said.



snip

Despite the strengths of the most recent study, Schwartz is quick to point out its limitations. First, like the previous study, it relied on participants' self-reporting of marijuana use, which could have been somewhat biased. Second, only 60 percent if the intended subjects actually participated.

"However, those who did participate in the study appeared to be representative of what we'd expect in terms of lifestyle factors associated with oral-cancer epidemiology," Schwartz said. "The oral-cancer patients in our study tended to smoke a lot more, they drank a lot more and they were of lower income and education level than the general population. In addition, our study's control group echoed national estimates of marijuana use."

[mzmolly]

47. That's good to know. I understand it's a good thing for opening up blood

vessles as well?

[slutticus]

58. I think you would pass out before you could do that....

[HornBuckler]

4. Well I Am Sure

Somebody Got Fired Up And Got In An Accident En Route To Taco Bell. But I've Never Heard Of Anyone Dying From The Act Of Smokin'. Their Lungs Are Certainly Worse Off.

[TX-RAT]

5. Nobody's over dosed either.

[Loonman]

6. Nope, not a one, not due to effects on their person, in and of itself

Nobody ever died from LSD, either. So all the stories you heard were just.....stories.

[Beaker]

53. LSD is not addictive or poisonous...

but people have died on it, mostly due to "behavioral toxicity" (i.e. doing something stupid while tripping your brains out.)

the most dangerous thing we ever did while tripping was to drive to O'Hare, and going to the top of the parking garage because the observation deck was closed.

another time we were having an acid party at a farm, and one of the first-timers climbed a rickety old windmill in the dark, while it was raining, another guy jumped off the garage roof and broke his ankle...meanwhile I was with a couple others, driving around shooting mailboxes with a shotgun out the sunroof of the car.
who said that youth is wasted on the young...?

[Worst Username Ever]

7. Not from overdose, just from doing stupid things, safer than alchohol.

Although I have heard that one J is as bad as 5 cigarettes, cancer-wise.

[Beaker]

19. you can't really compare pot to tobacco/cigarettes...

the tobacco in cigarettes has been treated with a lot of chemicals, and a lot of the dangers come from that.
not all smoke is alike- i've never seen a shred of evidence to indicate thatpot-smoking leads to lung cancer, especially not in the way that cigarettes do.

[Beetwasher]

31. You Are Correct

There is no equivalent of the tar and other carcinogens that are in cigarette smoke in cannabis smoke (though it does have some)...

[GumboYaYa]

9. I've felt like I was gonna die a few times when

I ran out of pot.

[ZenLefty]

13. The toxicity of cannabis

They way I understand it is like this:

The amount of pot required to achieve toxic levels of cannabis in your system is very high. However, the amount required to get stoned is much less - like 1 or 2 joints. And if you keep smoking more joints, you don't get more stoned, you just float at the same level of stonedness. So there's no point, economically or practically, to smoke the number of joints it would take to die from it.

Never smoked before, but that's the way it's been explained to me.

[mzmolly]

14. Actually it is said to cause lung cancer. My mom had a friend with

5 children die. They think it was pot. :shrug:

[Beaker]

18. where is it said to cause lung cancer?

never heard that one.

[mzmolly]

23. Well it's debatable but here are a few articles on the subject:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/141891.stm

Marijuana damages DNA at least as much as tobacco and may have a link to lung cancer, according to a study of mothers and their new born infants.
Researchers in America have found that blood from marijauna smokers has nearly three times as many DNA mutations as that of non-smokers.

Marijauna smoke contains many of the carcinogenic chemicals found in cigarette smoke, but, unlike tobacco, has never been linked to the kinds of genetic mutations associated with lung cancer.

But Dr Marinel Ammenheuser and her colleagues at the University of Texas Medical Branch now have evidence that marijauna smoking causes the same kind of damage to DNA as tobacco.

It is tobacco, so I wouldn't be surprised.

I guess I'd say enjoy in moderation. I know people who smoke it like winston's. ;)

The other side:

http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread10025.shtml

He said cannabis contains just as many harmful compounds and irritants as tobacco, but even heavy marijuana smokers - those who consume four to six joints daily - don't smoke nearly as much as tobacco smokers.

"The critical issue is the amount of smoke inhaled."

He said marijuana smokers have slightly more respiratory complaints than non-smokers, but the difference is so small that it is of no practical significance.

[Beetwasher]

34. Hmmm

I find it interesting that the Cannabis News site makes the claim that: "...cannabis contains just as many harmful compounds and irritants as tobacco..."

That's just simply not true from the research I've seen. Cigarrettes have a considerable amount MORE. Cannabis smoke DOES contain carcinogens, but not "just as many" as cigarettes.

[mzmolly]

45. I bet your right about the chemicals. Though I am curious about large

scale growers and what they might use to enhance crops?

I know a guy who grows his own which is a pretty safe bet chemically speaking. ;)

[Beetwasher]

65. Yeah, That's Why It Would Be A Whole Lot Safer

If it was regulated...The same could be said of anything, including vegetables in the supermarket! ;-)

FYI, tobacco companies actually ADD ammonia to cigarettes...That doesn't combust too healthily...

[Beaker]

56. a lot of the chemicals in cigarette tobacco-

are put there by the cig companies, NOT ma nature.
nobody adds anything to pot before selling it.

[Beetwasher]

62. Right, Exactly!

That's my point...They actually put ammonia in cigarettes for example...

[Beaker]

41. one point about the article-

"...it is because marijuana smokers hold the smoke in their lungs for longer and do not use low tar, filtered marijuana joints.

"And they generallly smoke the joints down to a very small butt, which increases their exposure to the cancer causing chemicals."

Dr Ammenheuser admitted that proviing marijuana causes cancer is difficult because most smokers also use cigarettes, or use tobacco as an ingredient in a joint."

Use tobacco as an ingredient in a joint????
not in this hemisphere.

i smoke pot- quite a bit actually, about an ounce a week(just me, my wife doesn't smoke), and have been doing so for over 20 years.
when i smoke, i use a bong, which provides a much better filtering than any cigarette.

i don't smoke cigarettes, and i never have.
i don't drink either alcohol or coffee, but i do drink de-caf pepsi(never diet soda tho...yuck:puke:)

i recently had a chest x-ray, and everything is hunky-dory.

i realize that's not any kind of "evidence"...but the thing is, tobacco smoke and pot smoke are two different things, with differing effects on the body, and just because they both look white, it doesn't mean that you can equate them.

[mzmolly]

46. Interesting info on the bong. I didn't realize that it was such a good

filtering system.

I quite smoking weed years ago *makes me tired and or paraniod* but I thought bongs simply gave one a more intense "hit" if you will. :smoke:

Glad the chest xray is ok. I really dont think breathing in smoke from anything is a good thing health-wise but I think in moderation our bodies can deal with it. :shrug:

[slutticus]

61. The debate is far from over.

"...blood from marijuana smokers has nearly three times as many DNA mutations as that of non-smokers."

This contradicts some researchers findings. They have actually found that some cannaboids are actually anti-cancer agents.

http://www.thesite.org/youthnet/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=214&a=586

Does anyone have any more info about this?

[mzmolly]

63. I find this very interesting.

There is also controversy surrounding what makes tobacco smoke carcinogenic. Tobacco companies have held for years that it is tar, adhering to lesions on the lung caused by smoke damage, that causes cancer. However there is a body of evidence which suggests that it is radioactive elements within the chemical fertilisers used on tobacco plants that causes cancer. The phosphates used in the fertilisers are rich in radium 226 which breaks down into two daughter elements: lead 210 and polonium 210, which each have a huge half life (they stay toxic for a very long time). These radioactive particles become airborne, and attach themselves to the fine hairs on tobacco leaves.

A vast number of studies have linked these particles, and their high incidence in the lungs of cancer victims, with the causes of cancer in those who smoke. As no phosphate is used in the fertilisation of cannabis, campaigners argue that it is free from radioactive particles and thereby not carcinogenic, at least not in the same way.

So, the phosphates could be causing lung cancer? Very interesting.

[Worst Username Ever]

68. Not entirely informative but:

snip

Scientists believe that marijuana can be especially harmful to the lungs because users often inhale the unfiltered smoke deeply and hold it in their lungs as long as possible. Therefore, the smoke is in contact with lung tissues for long periods of time, which irritates the lungs and damages the way they work.
Marijuana smoke contains some of the same ingredients in tobacco smoke that can cause emphysema and cancer. In addition, many marijuana users also smoke cigarettes; the combined effects of smoking these two substances creates an increased health risk.

http://www.stopaddiction.com/drugpages/marijuana_addiction.html

[cheezus]

36. well, DUH - inhaling smoke isn't good for you

and yes, an unfiltered joint gives off more badness than a cig.

but compare the total amount smoked.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

16. In assigning cause..one looks to proximate cause

People die doing strenuous activities like shoveling snow or running distance races. People have had seriously heart attacks, ruptured aneurisms, and strokes from severe emotional stress

The reason those things CAN be considered PROXIMATE cause is because the individual most probably had coronary blockage....exertion increases the demand for blood flow and when there is blockage...it is like a clogged hose...therefore the increased demand in bloodflow TO the heart without the heart's ability to pump it out as fast as it took it in made the physical exertion the PROXIMATE cause of the event...easily provable physiologically.

People die from taking medication as directed.

Usually because they have an anaphylactic reaction to it...or because the drug was poorly vetted such as Rezulin before getting to market.

With the prevelance of pot smoking, a few people per year have to drop dead from heart attacks and such that they wouldn't have dropped dead from if they didn't smoke pot. If they don't, wouldn't that suggests that it actually prevents heart attacks. I did see a claim that it can prevent severe damage in 80% of strokes. If smoking pot isn't life ending, could it actually be life saving?

Not necessarily...the only physiologic reason I can imagine one would drop dead from smoking pot would be fatal asthma...there is no evidence that inhaling smoke causes heart attacks.

No...the fact that something is not the cause does nothing to suggest it is the cure.

In cases of people to weak to eat from cancer treatments or the like...I would suggest pot could indeed be life saving compared to wasting away.

[Beaker]

17. on CSI a kid died from holding in his bong hit too long...

or something like that. I was pretty stoned when i saw it.

btw- why would you think that pot could cause a heart attack?

cigarettes, sure- nicotine is a vascular constrictor, whereas pot is a bronchial dilator...did you know that it used to be prescribed for asthmatics?
it's also an anti-imflammatory and pain reliever-
and who knows what all could have been derived from it by now, if more testing were allowed.

[Nikia]

44. It causes physiological changes

I think that it usually increases ones heart rate and has varying effects on blood pressure. I that there is increased blood flow which is why reddening of the eyes and sometimes face. I suppose that increased blood flow is a good thing though unless you have a aneurysm.

[Beaker]

55. now that you mention it...

the kid did have an aneurysm, and i think it burst due to his holding his breath long and hard...but either way- it's still a melodrama, not a factual show.

[Beaker]

21. does getting high and having a fatal car accident count?

i just consider that to be cleaning up the gene pool.

[Loonman]

25. Only if you are getting high while driving and lose your grip on the wheel

Nice disingenuous question, there.

[LynneSin]

24. I'm sure people have died while smoking pot, but not necessarily

from the pot

:shrug:

[Loonman]

26. It helps your night vision.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/life/news/story/0,12976,1255752,00.html?=rss

[IranianDemocrat]

27. Maybe if you get stoned enough to jump off a friggin bridge.

.

[sundog]

29. I think in moderate amounts,

it is probably both mentally & physically good for you -- very balancing if it's done in the right place & right time -- seems to work for me at least...

[Melsky]

32. Smoking is not good for you

but that is not the only way to use pot.

Vaporizers take the THC out of the pot, leaving the solid parts behind.

It can be cooked in butter and eaten. Most people use it in brownies or cookies, but it can be used in any recipe.

[sundog]

35. actually, eating is the best high (n/t)

--

[cheezus]

38. takes a lot more, onset is later, and lasts much longer

best is rather subjective.

[cheezus]

33. 20 lbs at ones - he's a source for ya

http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org/definition/english/Ca/Cannabis.html
snip

No fatal overdose due to cannabis use has ever been recorded in two millennia of medical history. One study found an LD50 of pure Δ-9-THC in milligrams/kilogram for mice and rats respectively as 481.9/666 orally; 454.9/372.9 intraperitoneally; and 28.6/42.47 intravenously. Assuming 100% efficiency in extracting THC from marijuana (in reality, extraction efficiency is nowhere near 100%), and high grade marijuana that was 6% THC by weight, a 68 kg (150 lb.) human would have to rapidly ingest almost 20 pounds of marijuana to achieve this dose, in which case a person would experience respiratory failure due to smoke inhalation long before actually overdosing on THC.

//lots more info there

[tridim]

40. Where can I get some "pure Ä-9-THC"?

That sounds like fun! Oddly enough, if THC extracts were legal and widely available, people would only have to injest a tiny amount of the drug to get high. It'd be even safer than safe. Drug warriors are all idiots.

[DrWeird]

59. Easy. Just score some weed...

grind it up (mortar and pestle work best) in an organic solvent (probably acetone would work), pass it through some cheesecloth, then let the acetone evaporate. You're left with THC, plus some chlorophyll, and trace other junk.

[DrWeird]

39. It's true.

Nobody's ever died from marijuana intoxication.

The active component in marijuana has been approved by the FDA for treatment of several diseases. Notably glaucoma and nausea due to chemotherapy.

Pretty much everything bad that you've heard about marijuana from drug prevention programs, commercials, etc. is complete bullshit.

[Beaverhausen]

52. here are some interesting stats

http://www.jackherer.com/comparison.html

[Beaker]

60. from popular mechanics...the REAL reason pot became illegal

Popular Mechanics - February 1938

[TeeYiYi]

67. Actually, I had a friend who did . . .

. . . she was home alone smoking a joint as usual. Quite a big woman. Anyway, the guess is that she took a big hit and started coughing pretty hard, then fell off the bed — dead. :shrug:

I don't know if the coughing caused a heart attack or if she inhaled something other than smoke but she's dead.

TYY

[geniph]

69. It's hard to kill yourself driving

when you sit there at a stop sign waiting for it to turn green...you might get rear-ended, but you're unlikely to meet a fiery demise.