Recently, the mainstream media released a story on a lethal drug trial that occurred in France. The story suggested that a cannabis-laced painkiller was the culprit, but now the French Health Minister is setting the record straight.
Contents
DID POT REALLY KILL SOMEONE?
The answer, in a word, is no. Testing of the drug had not taken place before media outlets flocked to the story, which AFP (an important French news network) claimed came from a valid source. The story featured a drug trial gone awry, a drug in which the primary ingredient was cannabis. However, those claims have been found to be untrue.
While the drug trial did feature a substance that affected the endocannibanoid system, the same system affected by cannabis, that does not mean that marijuana was actually in the drug. A number of substances can affect the system and some could be much more harmful than cannabis.
WHAT REALLY HAPPENED?
Biotrial of Rennes, France, had been carrying out studies for the Portuguese pharmaceutical company, Bial. Out of the ninety volunteers, six were hospitalized. Out of those six men, one was brain-dead.
The drug in question was reportedly given in varying doses and said to contain cannabis. While it was given in varying doses, it did not contain marijuana product at all.
The French Health Minister confirmed that no cannabis was present in the substance taken by the patients during the drug trial.
There is no cure for the drug’s adverse effects to date.
HAS CANNABIS KILLED ANYONE IN THE PAST?
Marijuana’s current death toll is zero. Nobody has died from the use of cannabis in the past and it is not likely to happen in the foreseeable future, either.
The endocannabinoid system is meant for cannabis, and other substances that affect it can negatively affect the human body. The drug trial in France is an example of that.