Make no mistake about it, weed is not all fun and games

Jul 26, 2015 19:06 GMT  ·  By

Earlier this week, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a report detailing the death of a 19-year-old in Colorado who jumped from the fourth floor of his building after having consumed a marijuana cookie. 

The cookie contained 65 milligrams of THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), which is the active ingredient in marijuana. The teenager was supposed to consume merely a sixth of it but ate it all when, after taking just one bite, he failed to feel any difference.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report concerning this young man’s death lists intoxication with THC as the chief contributing factor to his death, which is a fancy way of saying that the marijuana cookie inadvertently killed this teenager.

Even though the report only states that the cookie contributed to the 19-year-old’s death and makes no mention of THC as the direct cause of death - au contraire, it says trauma from the fall was what killed the teen - some folks did not take lightly to it.

In fact, they seemed quite outraged that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had dared link marijuana consumption to an obvious suicide case. After all, the young man jumped to his death. What’s there left to discuss?

Plenty, actually 

Admittedly, there are perks to smoking marijuana or consuming it in some other form. We, humans, first became acquainted with it millennia ago - there is evidence of marijuana consumption as early as 3,000 BC - and we still haven’t given it up, so there must be something to it.

Medicinal properties and use in religious practices aside, marijuana is also consumed by some purely for recreation. That’s because, once in the body, it stimulates the brain and triggers the production of dopamine, a chemical that in turn induces feelings of euphoria.

Marijuana users also speak of perceiving colors as more vivid and noises as louder than they really are. Then there’s intense relaxation and a deeper awareness of the self and the world. So, yes, there are some perfectly good reasons folks turn to marijuana for recreation.

Even so, this does not change the fact that marijuana consumption is not all fun and games. It can trigger hallucinations, panic, anxiety or paranoia, up heart rate, affect concentration, and make people lose interest in their day-to-day life and in dealing with their problems.

OK, what’s the point?

Too many marijuana proponents have a tendency to describe it as some sort of a miracle weed that can cure all kinds of ailments and help people make peace with the world and themselves. While this might be the case for some, it’s not true for all.

Bad trips can happen and they can have the worst of outcomes, as proven by the death of the 19-year-old in Colorado. This young man was simply looking to have a good time. Unaware of how marijuana works, however, he had too much of it and it all went downhill from there.

Even the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention admits that it was all just a case of ignorance and describes the teen as “marijuana naïve.” So what should we take from this occurrence? That, if we make marijuana legal for recreational purposes, we'd better make sure people are aware of the potential negative effects of this drug.

After all, we’ve made it a habit of telling folks times and times again to drink responsibly. Perhaps it wouldn’t be such a bad thing to also remind them to get high responsibly.