Can Pot Be Lethal?
New
post-mortem examinations suggest that
marijuana can kill.
By Bob Grant | February 24, 2014
WIKIMEDIA, PSYCHONAUGHTIt
is possible for cannabis alone to cause
death, according to German researchers who performed post-mortem
examinations of 15 people. Two of those deaths could not have been
caused by anything but cannabis intoxication, the researchers suggest in
a study published inForensic Science International this
month (February 14). Benno Hartung of University Hospital Düsseldorf
and colleagues examined 15 people whose deaths were linked to cannabis,
performing a battery of tests, including autopsy, toxicological and
histological testing, and immunohistochemical analyses, in an attempt to
isolate the effects of the drug and rule out other factors, such as
liver disease and alcohol use. “It’s a diagnosis of exclusion so you
have to rule out all other
possibilities,” Hartung told New Scientist.
Recent studies have
suggested that
marijuana use is not as harmful as once believed, and advocates of
medical use of the drug commonly cite the statistic that there has not
been one recorded incident of someone overdosing on pot. But Hartung and
his team claim that two of the deaths they studied, caused by cardiac
arrhythmia, were triggered by cannabis use, though a mechanism whereby
marijuana can cause such drastic changes in the heartbeat remains
elusive. “These deaths are rare and will remain rare,” David Raynes at
the UK National Drug Prevention Alliance told New Scientist. “The real risks are from long-term effects on the young brain.”
Still,
Hartung recommended that other researchers investigate deaths involving
marijuana. “Even though it may be rare, I hope others investigate death
by cannabis intoxication in other cities,” he said, “particularly in
light of the increased use of cannabis for pain
relief,” he told New Scientist.
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