Death after consuming a marijuana edible
This report describes the investigation by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) into a well-publicized fatality that occurred shortly after recreational marijuana became available in that state.
In March 2014, a 19-year-old man ingested one piece of a marijuana cookie purchased by his 23-year-old friend. (Note: at that time as well as now, the legal age for using marijuana in Colorado was 21.) When he felt no effects after 30-60 minutes, he ingested the remainder of the cookie:
“During the next 2 hours, he reportedly exhibited erratic speech and hostile behaviors. Approximately 3.5 hours after initial ingestion, and 2.5 hours after consuming the remainder of the cookie, he jumped off a fourth floor balcony and died from trauma.”
The CDPHE investigation of this case provides some interesting details that hadn’t been reported previously in media coverage:
The deceased teenager had no previous history of drug or alcohol abuse, or mental illness.
The cookie content was listed on the label as “65 mg THC/6.5 servings.” The victim initially followed instructions and ate one-sixth of a cookie, but ingested the rest of the total 65 mg shortly thereafter.
The victim’s THC level at autopsy (central blood) was 7.2 ng/ml.
There are several things to note in this report. The THC level of 7.2 ng/ml at autopsy (performed 29 hours after death) was surprisingly low — the (rather arbitrary) legal limit for driving in Colorado i...
Source: The Poison Review - Category: Toxicology Authors: Leon Tags: Medical 11-OH-THC death fatality edible marijuana pot Source Type: news
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