Posted by David Stephens on July 06, 1998 at 11:41:00:
In Reply to: You've got my vote posted by rpcman on July 05, 1998 at 17:35:26:
I understand the LD (Leathal Dose, the amount required to cause death) of Pot is astronomically high (it generally isn't possible to take enough to die from). While the LD of alcohol is quite low--something like 10x the ED (Effective Dose, the amount required to get a buzz).
Here's a section from the Hemp FAQ (obviously a biased source, but it's a start).
4) Don't people die from smoking pot?
Nobody has ever overdosed. For any given substance, there are bound to be some people who have allergic reactions. With marijuana this is extremely rare, but it could happen with anything from apples to pop-tarts. Not one death has ever been directly linked to marijuana itself. In contrast, many legal drugs cause hundreds to hundreds of thousands of deaths per year, foremost among them are alcohol, nicotine, valium, aspirin, and caffiene. The biggest danger with marijuana is that it is illegal, and someone may mix it with another drug like PCP.
Marijuana is so safe that it would be almost impossible to overdose on it. Doctors determine how safe a drug is by measuring how much it takes to kill a person (they call this the LD50) and comparing it to the amount of the drug which is usually taken (ED50). This makes marijuana hundreds of times safer than alcohol, tobacco, or caffiene. According to a DEA Judge ``marijuana is the safest therapeutically active substance known to mankind.''