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Everything You Need to Know About Marijuana Poisoning

Marijuana poisoning may lead to "scromiting."

Over the last several years, emergency rooms have seen a significant increase in the number of emergency room visits due to marijuana poisoning. These numbers have gone up since California legalized marijuana and more adults are trying the previously illegal substance for the first time.

Many first-time marijuana users tend to overdose on edibles. The California Department of Public Health established a legal dosage of marijuana as 10 milligrams of THC. This is roughly equivalent to one marijuana gummy or edible. A bag of edibles typically contains 100 milligrams, leading to confusion amongst first time users.

The problem for first-time users is that they take a bite and then don’t feel anything, so they continue to consume edibles. This can eventually lead to a trip to the emergency room with marijuana poisoning.

Although limits have been for edibles, there are no limits for smoking marijuana. Marijuana products that are inhaled typically contain around 25 to 30 percent THC. Waxes can have a very high limit of 90 percent THC, making them more dangerous.

Medical research isn’t currently available on the potency of marijuana products that are currently available. Studies are often conducted at much lower rates of THC so that the studies are ethical but difficult to translate into real-world effects.

Mankind Dispensary in Mira Mesa offers a pamphlet with advice designed for first-time users. Above all else, the dispensary recommends that you start slowly with edibles because you can’t un-eat something you’ve eaten, but you can eat more.

The pamphlet recommends buying products from a licensed dispensary so that you are more likely to get the dose advertised and that the products are more regulated.

Typical emergency room visits as a result of marijuana poisoning include bumps and bruises from falls as well as “scromiting,” or screaming and vomiting.

[Image via Shutterstock]

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