Can you overdose on THC? – Hemp | weed | marijuana

Can you overdose on THC? It depends on what you mean by overdose. Usually the term means taking too much of a substance to the point of death.

But in common parlance, talking about overdosing on THC could mean simply taking too much. And that is subjective for each individual.

A connoisseur can smoke several joints a day and maybe eat a 100+ mg cookie before bed. Other consumers, on the other hand, may prefer a single bowl. And maybe only on weekends.

So, overdosing on THC will have different meanings for different people. Essentially, this means you’ve taken enough cannabis to be uncomfortable.

But can THC be fatally overdosed? There’s no scientific evidence, but that hasn’t stopped politicians and public health busybodies from claiming you can.

Can Enough THC Kill a Child?

A Virginia mother has been charged with the murder of her four-year-old son after he died from allegedly consuming large amounts of THC.

The four-year-old accessed his mother’s cannabis gummies, but according to the mother, the gummies were half THC and half CBD.

Still, the Sheriff’s Office press release said, “The child’s toxicity level indicated high levels of THC.” And that “the attending physician told investigators that medical intervention shortly after ingestion could have prevented death.”

Apparently the kid ate a whole jar full of cannabis gummies.

It’s stories like these that politicians and public health busybodies like the alcohol temperance movement cling to.

A 156-member Republican House Study Committee recently released a report blaming state legalization of cannabis for “an explosion in marijuana use among children.”

The committee recommends that if or when the US legalizes cannabis, edibles “in the form of candy or beverages” should remain banned.

Likewise, in Canada, edibles are limited to 10mg of THC. As the government begins reviewing the cannabis law, key public health bodies are calling for a ban or further restrictions.

But is any of this justified? Can Enough THC Kill a Child? what about an adult

Can you overdose on THC?

Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is the chemical in cannabis that creates the “high” that most people are looking for.

It is a phytocannabinoid, which is a plant-based cannabinoid that mimics the endogenous (i.e. natural) cannabinoids in our system.

The effects of THC on the brain and body are harmless to a healthy adult. You cannot fatally overdose on large doses of edibles.

The only side effect of concern is an increased heart rate. However, this concern is not comparable to that of cocaine. Cocaine is the leading cause of drug-related hospitalizations.

Someone trying cocaine for the first time could have a heart attack. Cannabis, especially THC, doesn’t have that reputation.

And while researchers try to link poor cardiovascular health to cannabis users, the evidence is far from conclusive.

Smoking cannabis (like smoking anything else) can lead to poor lung health and eventually affect the heart.

Even if you are a child with a developing heart or an elderly person with heart failure, unnecessarily raising your heart rate with a large dose of cannabis edibles is not recommended.

But say you do. And then you have a heart attack and you die. Was it poor heart health that killed you or THC?

It’s similar to how the corporate state counted COVID deaths in 2020-21. If you died in a car accident but tested positive for COVID, that was a COVID death.

If a four-year-old consumes an entire jar of cannabis gummies, their small, developing heart may not survive the shock to the system.

Can this be called a THC overdose? What about a child allergic to peanuts? We can say that the peanuts killed him, but wasn’t the child’s physiological state the ultimate cause?

Peanuts, like cannabis, are approximate causes.

Can you overdose on CBD?

Assuming a toddler ate more THC than the average adult can handle, then yes. In this case, an overdose is possible since cannabis can have deadly effects on a developing heart.

This is no different than with alcohol or detergents. There are thousands of household items that can kill a child.

But what about adults with poor hearts? Hundreds of millions of people were tricked into trying an experimental vaccine. The consequences were negative effects on the heart.

So now we have former healthy adults who are developing heart problems. THC, especially smoking THC, can have a negative impact on overall cardiovascular health.

So what can these connoisseurs do?

Take CBD, of course.

CBD modulates the effects of THC in the brain. But it also reduces inflammation and oxidative stress, which reduces heart disease.

Clinical studies looking at daily CBD use and cardiovascular health do not exist. But then again, neither does the link between THC and heart attacks.

Most cannabis studies are observational. And those concerned with heart health fail to take into account that cannabis users sometimes also smoke cigarettes or drink high fructose corn syrup.

And there’s far more evidence that these latter two are heart-damaging than cannabis.

Can you overdose on THC?

Can you overdose on THC? You can undoubtedly take enough to make you uncomfortable.

But can you die from too much THC?

Not if you are a healthy adult. One of the side effects of THC is an increased heart rate. If you have a weak or developing heart, too much THC can cause a problem.

But so far, these cannabis studies are observational. They do not conclusively prove that THC or any phytocannabinoid can cause an increased risk of heart attack or death.