Drugs used in medicine are routinely given what is called LD-50. The LD-50 rating indicates at what dosage 50% of test animals receiving a drug will die as a result of drug-induced toxicity. A number of researchers have attempted to determine marijuana’s LD-50 rating in test animals, without success. Simply stated, researchers have been unable to give animals enough marijuana to induce death.
At present it is estimated that marijuana’s LD-50 is around 1:20,000 or 1:40,000. In layman terms this means that in order to induce death a marijuana smoker would have to consume 20,000 to 40,000 times as much marijuana as is contained in one marijuana cigarette. NIDA supplied marijuana cigarettes weigh approximately .9 g. A smoker would theoretically have to consume nearly 1500 pounds of marijuana within about 15 minutes to induce a lethal response.
In practical terms, marijuana cannot induce a lethal response as a result of drug-related toxicity. Even if someone is smoking marijuana concentrates or dabs which can be 3 to 4 times more potent than their flower counterparts, that’s still hundreds of pounds of marijuana dabs within a 15 minute period. A person would pass out before they experienced a lethal dose of marijuana. Something could harm the person if they fell while passing out resulting in death, but that’s different than the marijuana itself causing death.
Some readers are probably wondering why the federal government fight so hard against marijuana research and to keep it illegal. You can read this article to find out THE REAL REASON WHY MARIJUANA IS ILLEGAL IN THE U.S.
