It’s not an urban myth that cannabis has never lead to death. Here are 17 quotes from reputable authorities that explain why:
- “Because cannabinoid receptors, unlike opioid receptors, are not located in the brainstem areas controlling respiration, lethal overdoses from Cannabis and cannabinoids do not occur.”
- “As much as I searched, I could not find a documented case of death from marijuana overdose.”
- “Nearly all medicines have toxic, potentially lethal effects. But marijuana is not such a substance. There is no record in the extensive medical literature describing a proven, documented cannabis-induced fatality.”
— Francis L. Young, Administrative Law Judge
- “No acute lethal overdoses of cannabis are known, in contrast to several of its illegal (for example, cocaine) and legal (for example, alcohol, aspirin, acetaminophen) counterparts…”
— Stephen Sidney, MD, Associate Director for Clinical Research at Kaiser Permanente
- “[M]ore than 400,000 deaths each year are attributed to tobacco smoking. By comparison, marijuana is nontoxic and cannot cause death by overdose.”
— National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML)
- “Tetrahydrocannabinol is a very safe drug. Laboratory animals (rats, mice, dogs, monkeys) can tolerate doses of up to 1,000 mg/kg (milligrams per kilogram). This would be equivalent to a 70 kg person swallowing 70 grams of the drug — about 5,000 times more than is required to produce a high.”
— Leslie L Iversen, PhD
- “Marijuana, in its natural form, is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man. By any measure of rational analysis marijuana can be safely used within a supervised routine of medical care.”
— Francis L. Young, Administrative Law Judge
- “Unlike many of the drugs we prescribe every day, marijuana has never been proven to cause a fatal overdose.”
— Joycelyn Elders, MD, former US Surgeon General
- “I mistakenly believed the Drug Enforcement Agency listed marijuana as a schedule 1 substance because of sound scientific proof. Surely, they must have quality reasoning as to why marijuana is in the category of the most dangerous drugs that have “no accepted medicinal use and a high potential for abuse.” They didn’t have the science to support that claim, and I now know that when it comes to marijuana neither of those things are true.”
- “Cannabis does not paralyze the breathing or the heart. Deaths due to cannabis use are usually accidents that are not caused by the substance, but to the circumstances of use.”
— Jost Leune, head of the German Association for Drugs and Addiction
- “Marijuana can’t kill you no matter how much humans have consumed. And people have tried to consume large quantities, either through inhaling the smoke of lots and lots of collected flowers, which is where the active ingredients are found, or they’ve tried to extract the active ingredients from the flowers into solvents like butter or alcohol…. But generally speaking, there’s been no recorded deaths just related to the use of the drug itself in no matter what quantity you’ve consumed.”
— Sunil Kumar Aggarwal, MD, PhD
- “A smoker would theoretically have to consume nearly 1,500 pounds of marijuana within about fifteen minutes to induce a lethal response.”
— Francis L. Young, Administrative Law Judge
- “Since marijuana smoking can’t kill outright — there’s no such thing as a fatal marijuana overdose — short-term use isn’t deadly.”
- Marijuana is rarely the only drug involved in a drug abuse death. Thus … the proportion of marijuana-induced cases labeled as ‘One drug’ (i.e., marijuana only) will be zero or nearly zero.
— Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
- “In strict medical terms marijuana is far safer than many foods we commonly consume. For example, eating ten raw potatoes can result in a toxic response. By comparison, it is physically impossible to eat enough marijuana to induce death.”
— Francis L. Young, Administrative Law Judge
- “Although the use of cannabis is not harmless, the current knowledge base does not support the assertion that it has any notable adverse public health impact in relation to mortality.”
— Stephen Sidney, MD, Associate Director for Clinical Research at Kaiser Permanente
- This one’s not a quote, but if you visit the Center for Disease Control’s website, you’ll see that alcohol and illicit drugs take about 29,000 and 17,000 American lives per year respectively, while marijuana is not even listed as a cause of death.
While the compounds naturally occurring in cannabis cannot lead to death, things like mold, pesticides, and chemical solvents used for extraction can harm you, especially if your immune system is weak. Read this article for tips on how to protect yourself.
