Marijuana Victim’s Mom Speaks Out
by Sally Schindel, Arizona
Zero overdose deaths has been bugging me. I sent this Letter to the Editor today. They rarely publish my letters but perhaps some of you can pick up this issue in your work.
Let us define OVERDOSE.
Your 1-9-18 article about medical marijuana repeated an ofttimes misleading myth about there never having been an overdose death from marijuana.
Let us define “Overdose.” Overdose amounts are when a person’s metabolism cannot detoxify a drug fast enough to avoid unintended side effects. Too often that side effect is a death – by suicide, by accident, by murder, by child neglect.
Too often the supposed zero deaths from marijuana overdose are compared to the death tolls of alcohol and tobacco which include deaths by ALL the unintended consequences.
Please stop spreading the myth of zero deaths from marijuana overdose. It is simply NOT TRUE.
The websites MomsStrong.org and POPPOT.org tell the stories of numerous marijuana deaths caused by marijuana overdose, the unintended consequences of using the drug at toxic levels. They are factual stories from grieving families whose family members died as the consequence of marijuana overdose, use of the drug at a toxic level that did not avoid the unintended consequence of death.
My son defined his overdose in his suicide note: “Marijuana killed my soul + ruined my brain.”
Sally is a member of Moms Strong. She volunteers with a local coalition preventing and reducing the diseases of substance use disorders in her community. She speaks and writes to educate about the risks and harms of the drug marijuana.
