Caffeine more addictive and toxic than cannabis. Henninger, Perrine, and Benowitz scales compare relative addictivity. Schedule 1 for cannabis is not only scientifically wrong in the extreme, it's also ridiculous. If cannabis deserves to be schedule 1, then why isn't caffeine schedule 1?
According to which US Government authority you want to believe, the lethal dose of marijuana is either about one-third your body weight or about 1,500 pounds -- consumed all at once.
Nov 14, 2012 "A high-caffeine energy drink, 5-Hour Energy, has been cited as possibly being involved in 13 deaths according to Food and Drug Administration." NY Times
Addictiveness potential
The Chemistry of Mind-Altering Drugs: History, Pharmacology, and Cultural Context, by Daniel M. Perrine, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Chemistry, Loyola College of Baltimore.
Toxicity:
Caffeine, six recorded deaths in the United States. (Maisto, Galizio, Connors, "Drug Use and Misuse", Harcourt Brace Jovanovich College Publishers, 1991, p.162)
Nov 14, 2012 "A high-caffeine energy drink, 5-Hour Energy, has been cited as possibly being involved in 13 deaths according to Food and Drug Administration." NY Times
"Though achieving lethal dose of caffeine would be difficult with regular coffee (80 cups or more is considered lethal to adult), it is easier to reach high doses with caffeine pills (or energy drinks), and the lethal dose can be lower in individuals whose ability to metabolize caffeine is impaired."
"John Jackson, 40, reportedly didn't know that each Hero Instant Energy Mint contained 80 mg of caffeine — the same as a can of Red Bull. The Birmingham painter and decorator bought a $6.40 tin of 12 tabs, which are sold alongside normal sweets and mints in shops across the country. He was found dead in his apartment on May 2 by his former partner. The Independent reports that 155 mg of caffeine -- almost twice the 79 mg level that has been known to previously cause death — was in his blood stream when he died." NY Daily News 10/14/2013
Cannabis
1. Cannabis "acute toxicity is low compared with that of any other drugs" (1977 Commission of the Australian Government, from Zimmer and Morgan, Marijuana Myths, Marijuana Facts, pp pre-1 and 150)
2. "In summary, enormous doses of Delta 9 THC, All THC and concentrated marihuana extract ingested by mouth were unable to produce death or organ pathology in large mammals but did produce fatalities in smaller rodents due to profound central nervous system depression.
The non-fatal consumption of 3000 mg/kg A THC by the dog and monkey would be comparable to a 154-pound human eating approximately 46 pounds (21 kilograms) of 1%-marihuana or 10 pounds of 5% hashish at one time. In addition, 92 mg/kg THC intravenously produced no fatalities in monkeys. These doses would be comparable to a 154-pound human smoking at one time almost three pounds (1.28 kg) of 1%-marihuana or 250,000 times the usual smoked dose and over a million times the minimal effective dose assuming 50% destruction of the THC by smoking.
Thus, evidence from animal studies and human case reports appears to indicate that the ratio of lethal dose to effective dose is quite large. This ratio is much more favorable than that of many other common psychoactive agents including alcohol and barbiturates (Phillips et al. 1971, Brill et al. 1970)."
According to which US Government authority you want to believe, the lethal dose of marijuana
is either about one-third your body weight or about 1,500 pounds -- consumed all at once.
According to which US Government authority you want to believe, the lethal dose of marijuana is either about one-third your body weight or about 1,500 pounds -- consumed all at once.
Nov 14, 2012 "A high-caffeine energy drink, 5-Hour Energy, has been cited as possibly being involved in 13 deaths according to Food and Drug Administration." NY Times
Addictiveness potential
The Chemistry of Mind-Altering Drugs: History, Pharmacology, and Cultural Context, by Daniel M. Perrine, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Chemistry, Loyola College of Baltimore.
Toxicity:
Caffeine, six recorded deaths in the United States. (Maisto, Galizio, Connors, "Drug Use and Misuse", Harcourt Brace Jovanovich College Publishers, 1991, p.162)
Nov 14, 2012 "A high-caffeine energy drink, 5-Hour Energy, has been cited as possibly being involved in 13 deaths according to Food and Drug Administration." NY Times
"Though achieving lethal dose of caffeine would be difficult with regular coffee (80 cups or more is considered lethal to adult), it is easier to reach high doses with caffeine pills (or energy drinks), and the lethal dose can be lower in individuals whose ability to metabolize caffeine is impaired."
"John Jackson, 40, reportedly didn't know that each Hero Instant Energy Mint contained 80 mg of caffeine — the same as a can of Red Bull. The Birmingham painter and decorator bought a $6.40 tin of 12 tabs, which are sold alongside normal sweets and mints in shops across the country. He was found dead in his apartment on May 2 by his former partner. The Independent reports that 155 mg of caffeine -- almost twice the 79 mg level that has been known to previously cause death — was in his blood stream when he died." NY Daily News 10/14/2013
Cannabis
1. Cannabis "acute toxicity is low compared with that of any other drugs" (1977 Commission of the Australian Government, from Zimmer and Morgan, Marijuana Myths, Marijuana Facts, pp pre-1 and 150)
2. "In summary, enormous doses of Delta 9 THC, All THC and concentrated marihuana extract ingested by mouth were unable to produce death or organ pathology in large mammals but did produce fatalities in smaller rodents due to profound central nervous system depression.
The non-fatal consumption of 3000 mg/kg A THC by the dog and monkey would be comparable to a 154-pound human eating approximately 46 pounds (21 kilograms) of 1%-marihuana or 10 pounds of 5% hashish at one time. In addition, 92 mg/kg THC intravenously produced no fatalities in monkeys. These doses would be comparable to a 154-pound human smoking at one time almost three pounds (1.28 kg) of 1%-marihuana or 250,000 times the usual smoked dose and over a million times the minimal effective dose assuming 50% destruction of the THC by smoking.
Thus, evidence from animal studies and human case reports appears to indicate that the ratio of lethal dose to effective dose is quite large. This ratio is much more favorable than that of many other common psychoactive agents including alcohol and barbiturates (Phillips et al. 1971, Brill et al. 1970)."
According to which US Government authority you want to believe, the lethal dose of marijuana
is either about one-third your body weight or about 1,500 pounds -- consumed all at once.
