Can Marijuana cause Death?

Marijuana does not cause death, it is true that it may have negative health effects, but has never been known to cause death. Many people smoke marijuana to be able to take in the THC and experience the different state it puts you in.

When marijuana is smoked in joints or bongs, the general properties of the smoke you are consuming can be harmful for your lungs. There are however much better and cleaner ways to be able to consume the THC without the bad smoke. You can resort to Vaporizers or even edibles. In a vaporizer, marijuana is heated rather then burned, and the consumer is able to intake the heated THC. In edibles THC oil is extracted from the marijuana and used to make brownies, cookies or any other edible item. For an individual to overdose on marijuana, they would have to consume an insanely large amount of it within a very short period of time, which is not feasible for any individual. 

For further statistics on causes of death the graph posted on this link. 

Cigarette smoking alone in Canada leads to about 37,000 annual deaths every year. 29% of these deaths are heart disease and stroke related, which is caused by cigarette smoking. Smoking cigarettes can also lead to many other diseases such as gum disease, lung and liver cancer, bladder issues, yellow teeth and many more. 

In Canada about 13.6% of our population consists of individuals within the age of 16-25, but this 13.6% of our population accounts for 33.4% of all impaired related traffic deaths. As mentioned in the Toronto Star, along with tobacco, alcohol has also become one of the leading health threats in Canada

When we compare the number of people that have been harmed from cigarettes and alcohol vs marijuana, the numbers are indeed shocking. With taking all the facts into consideration, it leaves me startled why the Government of Canada wouldn’t want to legalize marijuana not only for financial benefits, but also for the benefit for our society.

Sources:

1. http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/Causes_of_Death#sthash.sTShZqEy.dpbs
2. http://www.maine.gov/dps/bhs/impaired-driving/drugs.html
3. http://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/marijuana