Posted on 03/25/2007 10:52:32 AM PDT by ccmay
The most toxic recreational drugs, such as GHB (gamma-hydroxybutyrate) and heroin, have a lethal dose less than 10 times their typical effective dose. The largest cluster of substances has a lethal dose that is 10 to 20 times the effective dose: These include cocaine, MDMA (methylenedioxymethamphetamine, often called "ecstasy") and alcohol. A less toxic group of substances, requiring 20 to 80 times the effective dose to cause death, include Rohypnol (flunitrazepam or "roofies") and mescaline (peyote cactus). The least physiologically toxic substances, those requiring 100 to 1,000 times the effective dose to cause death, include psilocybin mushrooms and marijuana, when ingested. I've found no published cases in the English language that document deaths from smoked marijuana, so the actual lethal dose is a mystery. My surmise is that smoking marijuana is more risky than eating it but still safer than getting drunk.
Alcohol thus ranks at the dangerous end of the toxicity spectrum. So despite the fact that about 75 percent of all adults in the United States enjoy an occasional drink, it must be remembered that alcohol is quite toxic. Indeed, if alcohol were a newly formulated beverage, its high toxicity and addiction potential would surely prevent it from being marketed as a food or drug. This conclusion runs counter to the common view that one's own use of alcohol is harmless.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanscientist.org ...
I cannot understand what must be going on in the mind of someone who uses alcohol yet supports marijuana prohibition. Probably the ethanol has addled his brain.
-ccm
Don't eat nutmeg! It's more toxic than GHB
The chart is interesting. However, I question the LD50 of nitrous oxide. I checked the source and it is based on liters of nitrous. Actually, the drug is administered in terms of a percentage of gas that is actually delivered. An effective dose is about 40%. A potentially lethal dose is over about 85%. The point is nitrous can be a very dangerous drug.
Marijuana by its self is not nearly as lethal as other drugs. But its like the munchies that will like kill you man!
All those 7-11 burritos and Doritos and pork rinds will get ya. Those trans-fats, like they will kill you dude.
And what about a Starbucks double espresso vanilla latte with whole milk and whip and a sprinkle of nutmeg on top? And what about Ben and Jerrys Chubby Hubby ice cream?
[This message sponsored by the National Eggnog Association.]
lol
Dude, you're totally bogarting the eggnog.
pitiful......
studies like these are meaningless...similar to the stats thrown around for man made global warming.....
I don't get the global warming connection.
The chart presented the LD50 of several drugs. This is the margin of safety. Unlike global warming, it can be determined in a laboratory and it can be verified by repeated studies. The LD50 is only a number. The place of a drug in society is very much more complicated.
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