The 19-year-old got the cookie from one of his friends

Jul 24, 2015 13:28 GMT  ·  By

Earlier this year, in March, a teenager in Colorado passed away after eating a marijuana cookie, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reveals in a new report. 

The 19-year-old, whose identity was not made public, got the cookie from one of his friends. Shortly after consuming it, he turned aggressive and started having trouble speaking.

Minutes later, the teenager jumped off a balcony on the 4th floor of his building. He died on impact as a result of extensive injuries to his internal organs and his head.

The teenager was “marijuana-naïve,” officials say 

The marijuana cookie that the 19-year-old man ate before jumping to his death contained a total of 65 milligrams of the active ingredient THC (tetrahydrocannabinol).

The teenager was not supposed to consume it whole, but instead divide it into 6 pieces and eat just one. He did that a first, but when he didn't feel any different, he ate the rest.

Having consumed 6 times the recommended dose of THC, the young man started behaving erratically and ultimately killed himself. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, marijuana intoxication was the chief contributing factor to his death.

“The autopsy, performed 29 hours after time of death, found marijuana intoxication as a chief contributing factor,” reads the report detailing this case.

Furthermore, “According to the police report, the decedent had been marijuana-naïve, with no known history of alcohol abuse, illicit drug use, or mental illness.”

People are unaware of the risks of marijuana consumption

It was back in 2012 that the recreational use of marijuana was made legal in the state of Colorado, with those over the age of 21 being allowed to use the drug.

However, it looks like people still need to be educated about the risks of marijuana consumption and especially the risk of becoming intoxicated with THC.

When marijuana is ingested, it takes 1 to 2 hours for blood levels of THC to peak. In turn, smoking the drug means reaching peak blood levels of THC in merely 5 to 10 minutes.

For this very simple reason, people who don't have all that much experience with the drug can end up ingesting too much THC for their own good without even realizing that they are putting themselves at risk.

True, current legislation says edible marijuana products must not contain more than 10 mg of THC or at least mention that this is the recommended serving. Still, it looks like further efforts to educate the public would come in handy.