Alcohol poisoning kills 6 people a day

[Warren Stupidity]

By the end of today, an average of six people will have died from alcohol poisoning, and it's a "surprising group" that's dying more than any other, according to new research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

That adds up to an average of 2,221 people in the United States -- a conservative estimate, according to the CDC — dying annually, making it one of the leading preventable causes of death. The numbers come from death certificate data collected from 2010 to 2012.
...
In what the CDC said was a surprise, it found that white men between the ages of 35 and 64 are dying most often from alcohol poisoning. That demographic accounts for 76% of the deaths.
http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/07/health/alcohol-poisoning-deaths/

Marijuana poisoning kills 0 people a day.

By the end of today, an average of zero people will have died from marijuana poisoning, and it's a "surprising group" that's dying more than any other, according to new research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

That adds up to an average of 0 people in the United States -- a conservative estimate, according to the CDC — dying annually, making it not one of the leading preventable causes of death. The numbers come from death certificate data collected from 2010 to 2012.
...
In what the CDC said was a surprise, it found that white men between the ages of 35 and 64 are dying most often from marijuana poisoning. That demographic accounts for 100% of the deaths.

[RKP5637]

1. But pot is a serious health risk, because the gov. says so!

[Fred Sanders]

2. Alcohol is a drug that kills brain cells, impairs memory and judgment, causes coma and death and is sold at

at your friendly neighborhood grocery store and pot is not because......

The folks need their drugs.

[Lithos]

3. Marijuana kills...

Marijuana smoke does possess many of the same carcinogens as tobacco and has been shown to aggravate lung cells and airways just like tobacco smoke and evidence does show that it seems to also cause lung cancer. It also has been linked to a rise in several other forms of cancer.

And like alcohol, it does impair the ability to operate machinery or drive a car and has been linked to many fatalities as a result.

So, while you can't "binge" on marijuana, it is not as harmless as people make it out to be. Does it have a place in the pharmacopeia? Yes, it does. Taken in moderation and appropriately, it has many good effects. However, it is not the end all or be all of recreational things nor is it the medical wonder people make it out to be.

Note: I personally agree with Colorado's laws and do think it should be decriminalized for adult use.

L-

[tritsofme]

4. That might be true...if you choose to smoke it.

Many people these days use methods that do not involve combustion.

[Lithos]

10. Correct

I do not partake, but from my reading, the better method would be vaporization followed by eating. Eating has the drawback of being harder to self-regulate and has resulted in people overdosing themselves.

[Mariana]

13. What, exactly, constitutes an overdose of marijuana?

How does one determine there's been an overdose? What are the health problems associated with such an overdose?

The word "overdose" implies there's some danger - as in the article in the OP, which discusses people who die as a result of alcohol overdose. Similarly, an overdose of Tylenol can cause liver failure and death.

I'm seriously asking, because I don't know.

[SomethingFishy]

15. It's different for every person.

Some people will get paranoid for a couple hours, most will just fall asleep... There is no real "danger"... at all.

[Lithos]

20. Not quite

It can lead to catatonia for a few who take a bit. Yes, you will recover from it, provided you don't do something like drive a car, etc.

L-q

[SomethingFishy]

24. Not quite what?

Not quite different for every person? Not quite right about the dosages?

What you call "catatonia" I call stoned, and if you aren't a pot smoker and smoke and try to drive or operate heavy equipment, then you are a moron and it's certainly not the fault of the drug.
Kind of like a DUI, they don't arrest the bottle.

You aren't a pot smoker, I have been smoking for 35 years, I have first hand experience and would say that I probably know more about it than you do.

[SomethingFishy]

14. The "overdose" problem has been solved in Colorado

unless you are too stupid to read like that moron from the Washington Post...

The doses are set and written on the package and the people who work the stores are very knowledgable.


Oh and it has not been proven that Marijuana "kills", some studies show that it is beneficial to the user.

You can't compare cigarettes which have at least 70 added chemicals to Marijuana.

[Warren Stupidity]

5. Acute alcohol poisoning.

The stats cited are independent of the mortality associated with chronic alcohol use, with other alcohol related problems like drunk driving. Pot again simply is not a public health issue of any importance.

[Warpy]

26. Well, apart from the carnage inflicted by stupid laws

enforced by the DEA and local cops, it's not terribly harmful.

I see a lot of light switch thinking in this thread, people trying to conflate "less harmful" into "harmless," which it is not.

I was a little surprised by the alcohol poisoning stats until I thought about them. The cases we hear about are the frat boys playing macho drinking games and the kids turning 21 who are bullied into trying the 21 drink thing. If they are lucky, they make it to dialysis. If not, they make it to the evening news.

Serious alcoholics over 35 are unremarkable unless they get behind the wheel of a car and slaughter a whole family on the way home from the packy or bar. Otherwise, the COD is only released to the family who are stuck trying to make sense of where he got the money and why he couldn't stop in time.

The only nasty macho game I saw around pot was shotgunning. There was only so much even the most macho male with normal lung capacity could inhale from a bong. I have seen overindulgers in near catatonia but even that is self limiting and protective--there was no way they'd make it to the front door, let alone behind the wheel of a car.

Comparing a need for dialysis to the need for a quiet recovery over several hours that generally includes sleep should tell people all they need to know about "less harmful."

Nothing is completely safe, not even water.

[Scuba]

7. Source?

[Go Vols]

8. Here's one,there are more

The largest study of its kind has unexpectedly concluded that smoking marijuana, even regularly and heavily, does not lead to lung cancer.

The new findings "were against our expectations," said Donald Tashkin of the University of California at Los Angeles, a pulmonologist who has studied marijuana for 30 years.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/25/AR2006052501729.html

[Lithos]

9. Old and not definitive

Old study that lacked appropriate followup.

See also:

From 2013:
http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/08/01/heavy-marijuana-smoking-may-double-risk-of-lung-cancer-canadian-study-finds/#__federated=1

http://norml.org/component/zoo/category/cannabis-smoke-and-cancer-assessing-the-risk

http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/cancers-in-general/cancer-questions/does-smoking-cannabis-cause-cancer

One of the general notes is that the reason why they suspect they are not seeing a stronger link between marijuana smoking and lung cancer is that pure marijuana smokers (not those who also smoke tobacco) tend to not smoke as much volume as cigarettes.

[Go Vols]

11. You can find things online that suit both sides,

like most everything else.

http://blog.norml.org/2014/06/23/study-habitual-marijuana-smoking-not-associated-with-increased-risk-of-lung-cancer/

http://www.hightimes.com/read/study-smoking-marijuana-does-not-lead-lung-cancer

[Scuba]

12. Then there's this, from a somewhat respected source ...

[Warpy]

27. It's a question of scale

Cigarette smokers as a statistical whole tend to top out at 2 packs per day.

I have never seen even the most determined pot smoker try to smoke 40 joints a day.

[Lithos]

29. Very true

the question is one of scale and statistics...

Even 1/2 pack a day smokers can get cancer, albeit with much less odds than a two pack a day smokers.

My main point is simple, marijuana, may be harder to abuse than most things, but is not the perfect drug as there is no such thing.

[neverforget]

25. And the results of the jury (from this morning):

On Wed Jan 7, 2015, 07:28 AM an alert was sent on the following post:

Marijuana kills...
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=6051000

REASON FOR ALERT

This post is disruptive, hurtful, rude, insensitive, over-the-top, or otherwise inappropriate.

ALERTER'S COMMENTS

"Marijuana kills..."

Refer madness bullshit. Not appropriate for DU.

You served on a randomly-selected Jury of DU members which reviewed this post. The review was completed at Wed Jan 7, 2015, 07:34 AM, and the Jury voted 0-7 to LEAVE IT.

Juror #1 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: The post isn't inappropriate, rude or over the top. I don't agree that marijuana kills but the post doesn't meet the criteria for hiding it.
Juror #2 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: Good Lord this is someone's opinion on a hot topic. I don't think we need to start blasting out opinions on the Jury service.
Juror #3 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: Read the whole post; it is not singling out marijuana but just saying that it has dangers like alcohol, etc.
Juror #4 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: Better if the title had been "Marijuana can kill", but the content is not offensive or dhriottooi.

Juror #5 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: No explanation given
Juror #6 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: That's "Reefer Madness"...if you're going to smoke it at least learn to spell it. I disagree with this alert.
Juror #7 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: One person's opinion.

Thank you very much for participating in our Jury system, and we hope you will be able to participate again in the future.

[n2doc]

6. Mostly Middle-Aged Men Die of Alcohol Poisoning

The CDC has published a new study that takes an in-depth look at who exactly is dying from alcohol poisoning in America. The vital stats:

2,200 Americans per year die of alcohol poisoning, about six per day.
68% of those who die are white.
Three quarters of those who die are men.
One third of those who die are between the ages of 45-54; three quarters of those who die are between the ages of 35-64.

So alcohol poisoning is definitively not a problem most deeply rooted in young college students.

http://gawker.com/mostly-middle-aged-men-die-of-alcohol-poisoning-1677960188?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+gawker%2Ffull+%28Gawker%29

[Mariana]

16. I wonder how many of them are suicides.

You'd expect people over 35 to know that it's very dangerous to drink down a whole bunch of booze. I expect some of them are doing it on purpose.

[markpkessinger]

18. I doubt people who are intent on killing themselves . . .

. . . would choose a method where the outcome is so uncertain, and where the amount needed to kill oneself can vary from one person to the next.

[seveneyes]

17. It's a romantic way to go really

Read some Kerouac and it put me on the tracks
To burn a little brighter now
Something about Roman candles fizzing out
Shine a little light on me now
Found a strange fascination with a liquid fixation
Alcohol can thrill me now
It's getting late in the game to show any pride or shame

[n2doc]

22. That was a hell of a band, back in the day

Saw that tour and the one before it. Great shows, and great song.

[seveneyes]

23. Hell yeah. Thoughtful, inspiring, harmonic and in tune with any thinking person

I think you know. Mostly Autumn, Ayreon (Arjen L.), Devin and all those in the past, Floyd, Dylan etc followed and lead the way.

Be well, be good and enjoy life while it lasts.

[pinboy3niner]

19. I think my bartender is trying to kill me

Keep that just between us, though. I don't want to make him mad.

[olddots]

21. okay who can honestly say

That they haven't been so stoned they felt like a pumpkin pie ?

Alcohol is poison where as pot is not .

[easychoice]

28. ME!!!

I was more like an unrecognizable glob.Of what? We don't know...