Does Pot Kill Babies?
Medical doctors in Colorado claim that an infant boy who died in Colorado two years ago suffered from a marijuana overdose. The claim would make this the first known case of a marijuana overdose. But were the doctors rushing to conclusions?
It’s important to analyze the case because, if the marijuana overdose case can be proven, it would have important implications for the topic of marijuana legalization.
The U.S. federal government, many U.S. state governments, and several other countries’ governments are all moving quickly to legalize marijuana and other so-called light drugs. One of the arguments justifying their legalization has rested on the perception that marijuana and similar narcotics are generally safe.
The story of the infant’s death could alter that perception and the legal process to normalize marijuana in the United States and beyond. This would not happen without political consequences.
Two specialized poison control doctors were the ones to first claim that a marijuana overdose was responsible for killing the 11-month old infant. They have gone as far as documenting it in a a medical journal, Clinical Practice and Cases in Emergency Medicine. The publication of the results and the apparent certainty of the claim could not have gone unnoticed. (Source: “Colorado Doctors Claim First Marijuana Overdose Death,” 9News, November 17, 2017.)
A Big Debate over Cannabis Has Ensued
The subject has triggered a full-on medical dispute, pitting one set of doctors against another. The intensity of the debate is such, however, that it’s difficult to attribute certainty. There is certain veracity and conviction in the claim on the part of the scientists who made it, Drs. Thomas Nappe and Christopher Hoyte. Thus, it demands a scientific response.
Dr. Noah Kaufman, an emergency medicine specialist (also in Colorado), has rejected the claim vigorously. Therefore, it would be premature to confirm that marijuana overdoses can cause death. It would be wiser to hold a “Maybe” stance. Indeed, an overdose of anything, even chocolate, could cause illness and possibly death.
Still, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) claims that it has never recorded any deaths from cannabis overdoses. This is probably why so many are reluctant to agree with, or even consider the possibility of, the claim from Nappe and Hoyte.
The two doctors said that the parents brought the infant to the emergency room, saying that he had vomited. The parents also said that the baby had become “irritable” and then unresponsive. The baby eventually lost consciousness and his heart stopped. Following the death, physicians wrote that the baby’s blood and urine contained tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana.
The doctors had little else to explain the baby’s death and symptoms. Thus, they concluded that the baby absorbed a heavy amount of cannabis, aka marijuana or pot, very quickly. They said that the amount and speed of the intake (the overdose, per se) provoked myocarditis. This is a condition that produces the heart muscle inflammation that eventually causes it to stop.
This is how the doctors explained the baby’s death. The parents had admitted to using drugs, including marijuana, which only added to the doctors’ suspicions.
Should it be proven beyond doubt that a pot overdose caused the baby to die, the parents could face trial. However, the doctors said that the media has overblown the case.
One of the co-authors, Thomas Nappe, insisted that he makes no definitive claim about marijuana killing the child. The report’s co-author, Christopher Hoyte, suggested that there’s still room for skepticism over the marijuana claims: “We’re not saying definitively that marijuana caused the myocarditis. All we are saying is we didn’t find any other reasons.” (Source: “New details emerge in 11-month-old Colorado boy’s death linked to marijuana,” The Cannabist, November 20, 2017.)
What Does This Have to Do with Cannabis and Kids?
While doctors identify more potential causes for the baby’s death, the emerging cannabis industry will face some pressure. Frankly, it’s a wonder—considering the levels of food safety restrictions that basic and long-time legal products must endure—how cannabis could have escaped more scrutiny. This is especially so, given the new emerging business of edible cannabis.
As pot goes more mainstream, the risks that children can suffer as a result of secondhand smoke or the various marijuana-infused gummies, brownies, or chocolates—to mention some of the products—will prompt the demand for some more regulation. (Source: “Did a pot overdose kill a baby? Controversial paper on infant’s death raises questions,” National Post, November 20, 2017.)
The deadly contaminant is not necessarily the marijuana itself; it may have nothing to do with the aforementioned THC. The problem might be with how the weed was grown.
After all, children have suffered fatal illnesses after eating burgers at major food chains. The case of Jack in the Box restaurants comes to mind. In 1993, three kids died from an e-coli contamination after eating at a Jack in the Box. Some 500 people became sick in the northwestern United States because of the same outbreak. The meatpacking industry resisted demands that it test for E. coli in ground beef, but eventually it had to budge.
Marijuana is grown just as any other plant, fruit, or vegetable. It’s therefore subject to the same kind of contamination potential. It won’t necessarily be E. coli, but it could be a pesticide. Foodborne pathogens are many, and some—from e-coli to salmonella—have already found their way into marijuana edible products. If consumed, these could cause illness and death, just as could any other similarly contaminated edible item.
Finally, while there’s no doubt that the THC link to the child’s death should be pursued for further study as the cause of death, the Colorado baby was not the first case of a child going to the emergency room after a bad reaction to pot. A study of almost a thousand cases of children going to medical facilities after accidentally ingesting cannabis showed that, while they may have felt ill, none had died. (Source: Ibid.)
Thus, the most that doctors can say now is that marijuana may have caused the infant’s death in Colorado.