If I had a nickel for every time someone has told me that dope is harmless, I would be living on the Queen Mary, tied to the quay here in Paradise. I have heard so many assurances that weed should be legalized because it is so good and can do no harm.
Some contend that smoking it is riskless - "cannabis smoking doesn’t 'impair lung function” and even “increase(s) lung capacity.'” WebMD says that "marijuana smoke has many of the same harmful substances as tobacco and often more of them." Some researchers have noted decreased lung function in marijuana smokers. Who is right?
More broadly, overdose has been a problem with other substances. The stories have been noted here time and again. We have been focused on prescription opioids, Fentanyl, and even Nitazenes. See Nitazenes are Worse (June 2024), and the posts cited there. That post noted that 2023 brought some decrease in deaths, only 107,543 overdose deaths. Only.
The Center for Disease Control (CDC) reported in February 2025 that the figures for 2024 are more encouraging. They believe we may see a 24% decline for 2024 (this is based on "provisional data," and if it is confirmed, this will be great news indeed. Perhaps we could get our annual overdose deaths lower than the annual Russian war dead in Ukraine (45,287 in 2024)?
The overall numbers are important, but there is more to unpack on the National Vital Statistics site. No matter how you unpack it, drug overdose currently kills about twice as many people as the war in Ukraine kills Russians. Sobering. See Desensitized to Death (August 2020). To make it clearer, our American drug deaths each year are more than we lost in the entire Vietnam conflict, over 20 years. Sobering indeed.
But the dope proponents persist in their mantra of safety. They proclaim that marijuana cannot harm, and that it never has. That said, a kid in Colorado ate a cookie that did not agree with him. New Testing for Marijuana (April 2016), See also Edibles and Illness (November 2023).
In Fort Smith Arkansas, a couple will soon be tried for child endangerment. Their toddler was hospitalized after an alleged THC overdose. In fairness, THC can come from various sources, pot is only one. The child reportedly suffered "acute respiratory failure and secondary THC poisoning due to overdosing on THC." The "unresponsive toddler was flown to Arkansas Children's hospital." Four of five children in that home "Tested positive for THC."
Perhaps the fans of pot and other THC sources can assuage their conscience with singularity. This is but one child. So, much like the cookie discussed above, perhaps we can just look the other way and pretend that examples are rare?
Some public health officials have warned that "overdose is real." An Ohio student overdosed on THC last October. Two Middle Schoolers in Jacksonville last November. A man in the drug capital of "anything goes" overdosed on THC in January. A Pennsylvania toddler did in January. A young child in Georgia did in April. An Indiana student did in April. A student who thought they were using THC actually got hospitalized for Fentanyl recently.
The examples were not hard to find. In fact, there are many instances in which dope and derivatives poison people. There are significant overdose statistics. The decriminalized pot is just another path to problems for people and society.
Why is this coming to light now? There was a long period when little, if any, testing or research was done on dope. There was little reason to study something that was (is) patently illegal. I have said it time and again, it is still illegal. But the states decided not to prosecute people for having or using, and the federal government has stood by.
The substances are all around us, in weed, edibles, and cocktails. You can obtain illegal weed and derivatives through the mail or a the mall. It has quickly become ubiquitous.
Will the innocent continue to encounter it? Almost inevitably. Will research catch up and answer the questions about potential harms to the lungs or more? Time will tell. Will pot ever go away? That is clearly a no, but it may find a path to taxation like tobacco before it. Those who sell it may find their fortunes similar to big tobacco, but not today.
