The apparent heroin overdose death of actor Philip Seymour Hoffman already has become a hockey puck in the war over the war on drugs. During a House subcommittee hearing on federal marijuana policy Tuesday, critics of the war on drugs hammered a White House drug official for putting too much emphasis on marijuana when Washington instead should focus on dangerous drugs that actually kill users.
“What is more dangerous and addictive,” Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., asked the White House’s deputy director of drug control policy, Michael Botticelli, methamphetamine and cocaine or marijuana?
“I think that conversation minimizes the harm,” Botticelli sort of answered.
“How many people die from marijuana overdoses every year?” Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., inquired.
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9 comments:
The answer to the "how many people have died" from marijuana last year is quite unlike the answer to how many people died from alcohol, or cigarettes.
The answer? ZERO. IN THE HISTORY OF MANKIND, not one person has EVER overdosed on marijuana, even the most potent pot that has EVER been produced. Stop with the hysteria. It's pot, not LSD. There are NO hallucinations, you don't talk to imaginary friends or animals, and you don't beat your kids to death. Unlike alcoholics. If you don't like marijuana, don't smoke it, just as you do with bourbon or cigars. Just don't force YOUR fear and ignorance on others.
While no one has overdosed on marijuana, there have been a number of what are referred to as "sudden deaths" attributed to it. This is being attributed to the high levels of THC (M's active ingredient.) Marijuana up though the 90's only contained 0.5%. Now it's 5%. This coupled with the mode of inhalation (a 2/3's larger puff than a cigarette, 1/3 more inhalation and holding down the smoke 4 times longer is causing respiratory and heart failure which have led to a number of deaths.
3:13 5%? Keep going... there are strains reaching 20%+. Wait, were are my cheetos?
I don't know why they keep saying he died of an overdose of heroin, is a regular dose OK to do? Plain and simple heroin killed him.
3:13 you're still smoking mexican schwag. My marijuana tests at over 20% THC, and when you use a vaporizer, you don't inhale all that plant matter.
3:13....what medical journal are you making this stuff up from? I GUARANTEE that no one has had a "sudden death" from marijuana. Did you also believe that pot could turn you into a werewolf, too? the anti-pot forces are counting on people like you who will believe ANYTHING, like a "number of deaths" (no SPECIFIC number or any exact locations, of course) have occurred from marijuana use. Plus your use of statistics is misleading. THC content has nothing to do with "respiratory failure".
Bottom line, If I want pot today, I need to go to the heroin/ cocaine store. If he's out of pot, I buy a second alternative, after all, I'm there at the store with money and want to get high.
That's the ONLY reason it's called a "Gateway Drug".
If it was legal to grow and own, one would never find the need to go to the "store".
I don't know! every time I watch that government produced film reefer madness it scares the bejesus out of me! I don't want to start banging on the piano and turn into frakenstein!
wow, most still have antiquated myths about pot on here and make up new ones.
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