Marijuana overdose: How much amount of weed to OD?

Can marijuana cause overdose? Yes. Symptoms include mental impairment and distressing emotional states, such as paranoia, hallucinations, and disconnection from reality. More on how much marijuana it takes to overdose in this article.

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Have you ever tripped out when smoking weed? Chances are you were experiencing an acute overdose of marijuana. Here, we will explain more about marijuana overdose, its symptoms and prognosis, as well as associated death rate. Your questions about how to avoid these risks or getting help for marijuana addiction are invited at the end.

How does unintentional marijuana overdose happen?

Marijuana is a plant called Cannabis Sativa. Marijuana leaves, seeds, stems, and roots are consumed by users for the purpose of feeling intoxicated or high. THC, or tetrahydrocannibinol, is one of the hundreds of compounds within marijuana, but is the principal chemical that produces major intoxicating effects; it is too much THC that causes overdose. Marijuana overdose occurs when users toke bigger doses more often, both during medicinal or recreational use.

Marijuana overdose – How much is too much?

Marijuana overdose complications are the result of the presence of THC and its concentration. THC can go up to 17% per dry weight of material and it is called sinsemilla. How much marijuana it takes to overdose can vary by person. Factors such as previous exposure to THC, tolerance, dependence, general health, height, weight, and age can all play a role in how much amount weed is safe for you. However, whether or not you’re mixing marijuana with other substances can also play a part in the severity of overdose (such as when you mix marijuana with alcohol).

In order to reach the wanted effect of high several “hits” are taken within minutes. Extremely high doses of marijuana, or doses combined with alcohol or other drugs can easily lead to intoxication or overdose. Especially when marijuana is used either as a starter drug or used on a daily basis. Likewise, when you smoke weed at the same time as using another illicit drug, you can provoke stronger effects of marijuana used on its own.

Immediate short-term effects of euphoria usually occur in the minutes directly following the administration of marijuana. A typical marijuana “joint” contains less than 10 mg of THC, and a user would have to smoke thousands of those in a short period of time to approach toxic levels. Still, marijuana with hashish, a concentrated oil containing the extract of the cannabis plant, can contain high concentrations of the psychoactive THC resins and can provoke overdose.

Marijuana overdose complications

Marijuana overdose does not cause death, but may cause mental impairment and distressing emotional states, such as paranoia, hallucinations, and disconnection from reality. Overdose can also cause fast or disturbed heart rhythm, sleepiness, clumsiness, dry mouth, dizziness, and low blood pressure. So far there have been no reported cases of lung cancer or emphysema attributed to marijuana overdose.

Overdose symptoms occur usually due to lack of awareness. Individuals who are suffering from a marijuana overdose may display the following symptoms:

  • dilated pupils
  • extreme feelings of paranoia
  • nausea and vomiting
  • problems breathing

Marijuana overdose prognosis

Marijuana overdose usually resolves within a few hours of acute intoxication. However, some of the effects of marijuana overdose can be long lasting. People who experience hallucinations or delusions are also exposed to a higher risk of developing addiction, even in cases when marijuana is used medicinally. And marijuana overdose can lead to cases of long term depression, addiction, and even suicide.

Marijuana overdose death rate

There are cases with severe shutdown of blood circulation to the arms or legs in young people who smoked marijuana. In some cases, it was so severe that amputation was required. There is some debate as to whether smoking cigarettes, contaminated marijuana, or using other drugs may be part of this problem.

However, so far officially there are no overdose deaths directly from the use of marijuana. Still, marijuana is the most common companion to other illicit drugs with rough overdose symptoms and high death rate in USA.

Marijuana overdose amount questions

Still have questions about marijuana overdose? In case of any questions related to marijuana overdose please feel free to post them in the comments section bellow. We will do our best in providing you with a personal and prompt answer.

Reference sources: National Highway and Traffic Administration: Cannabis
National cCiminal Justice Reference Service : Marijuana Myths and Facts
National Institute on Drug Abuse:Marijuana Drug Facts Week
About the author
Lee Weber is a published author, medical writer, and woman in long-term recovery from addiction. Her latest book, The Definitive Guide to Addiction Interventions is set to reach university bookstores in early 2019.
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