Here's How Many People Fatally Overdosed On Marijuana Last Year

[still_one]

With marijuana now legal in some form throughout 23 states, the number of Americans who fatally overdosed on the drug last year was significant:

The rate of absolutely zero deaths from a marijuana overdose remained steady from last year, according to figures released this month by the Centers for Disease Control. But while Americans aren't dying as a result of marijuana overdoses, the same can't be said for a range of other substances, both legal and illicit.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/marijuana-deaths-2014_56816417e4b06fa68880a217

[MADem]

1. But....but....but.....

Maureen Dowd THOUGHT she was gonna die!!!!!





She didn't take those warnings about edibles seriously!!!

[Warren DeMontague]

3. Jimmy Carter could have mellowed her shit right out.

"Put on some music... Do you have any Allman Brothers?"

https://screen.yahoo.com/ask-president-carter-000000735.html

[Logical]

12. Wow, was she clueless, I love the people who asked if her first......

Time drinking alcohol she would have drunk a whole bottle of Jack Daniels! She would've been dead. Or at least in the ER .

She spent a few hours paranoid, seems like a pretty easy lesson .

[MADem]

17. Here's her article on the topic....guess all those years of commenting made her forget any

reporter's training she got in her youth--that whole thing about researching your topic before diving in, asking questions, etc...!

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/04/opinion/dowd-dont-harsh-our-mellow-dude.html?_r=0

[Warren DeMontague]

2. Uh, yeah.

Zactly.

[Juicy_Bellows]

4. You forgot me....

Uhh wait, am I dead dude?

[SCantiGOP]

5. I've overdosed several times

Always results in going to sleep.

[eggplant]

6. I'm not so sure.

There have been a number of unexplained vending machine related deaths.

[Fumesucker]

10. OK, well that explains this then...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10027480515

[mimi85]

11. I really did

laugh out loud at this. Thank you for the mood booster.

[Strelnikov_]

7. I fatally overdosed on MJ last week

But Jesus sent me back over. He is a really nappy dresser.

[SCVDem]

8. The cure for too much buzz?

The Munchies!

[Katashi_itto]

9. Sob, so much weed..just gone!!!

[Logical]

13. My first time use was in August and I ate too much.....

I did not get sick, I did not pass out, I did not throw up, I went to sleep and woke up with no hangover. Pot should be legal everywhere!

[Half-Century Man]

14. The closest I've ever seen to someone being overcome by smoke from pot

Is when my brother set his sofa on fire coughing into a dry bong.

[JackInGreen]

15. I've made myself "green sick" a fewtimes

Happens when you smoke a quarter, drink no water, and eat 2 jars of peanuts.

[pnwmom]

16. Just a reminder to be careful. There has been an increase in the rate of

children being admitted to the emergency room since it was legalized in Colorado. A child who ends up on a respirator is in a serious medical emergency.

The story below is about just one hospital in Colorado -- other ER's across the state are experiencing similar increases in these entirely avoidable cases.

ON UPDATE: Pets, too, are at risk. I know someone whose dog ended up seriously ill after eating a bunch of pot. A nice big vet bill with no insurance.

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_25807342/childrens-hospital-sees-surge-kids-accidentally-eating-marijuana

AURORA — The number of children coming into Colorado's largest pediatric emergency department after accidentally eating marijuana is on pace to more than double last year's total.

Michael DiStefano, the medical director of the Children's Hospital Colorado emergency department, said nine kids so far this year have been brought into the hospital for accidental marijuana ingestion. Of those, seven were admitted to the hospital's intensive-care unit — most commonly for what DiStefano said was either extreme sedation or agitation. One of those kids had breathing problems that required a respirator, DiStefano said.

Most of the children admitted are between 3 and 7 years old, DiStefano said.

Last year, the hospital saw eight children in its emergency room who accidentally ate marijuana. Between 2005 and 2013, only eight children were admitted at the hospital for unintentional marijuana ingestion, DiStefano said.

SNIP

http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2015/09/04/436918240/when-pets-do-pot-a-high-thats-not-so-mighty

"Over the past year alone, we've had double the marijuana exposures," says Dr. Ahna Brutlag, senior veterinary toxicologist at the Pet Poison Helpline.

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has seen a similar increase. In 2014, the ASPCA's poison control centers received calls on about 539 cases of animals accidentally consuming cannabis, up from 320 in 2013.

"What's worrying to us is the severity of cases now," says Dr. Heidi Houchen, a veterinarian at Northwest Veterinary Specialists in Clackamas, Ore. "We still see the classic case: red eyes, wobbly, urinating on themselves, a little twitchy ... but they can progress through the sedate, leaning, urine-dribbling stage to becoming completely comatose or absolutely rigid. They've come in and had seizures. They can come in a panic, really sensitive to noise and touch. They can pass away."

Part of the problem is that pets are sneaking away edible cannabis products. "If a brownie is sitting on the coffee table, that dog is going to eat it whether it has marijuana or not. I think the enticement and the opportunity for a pet is greater [with edibles]," Brutlag says.

[LuvNewcastle]

18. I think I'm going to od this morning.

It won't be the last time, either.

[Faux pas]

19. Ahhh the truth finally comes out!