Working in the California weed world means that I spend my time around farmers, business owners, sales reps, dispensary heads, and marijuana users who will all justify their beloved plant with the same closing argument: “No one ever overdosed and died from cannabis.”

I always took this statement as fact. I never heard of anyone going to some fancy rehab for marijuana abuse. Had anyone on A&E’s Intervention been addicted to weed alone? Nope. It only existed as a cute little sidebar to severe alcohol or crack habits. But we’ve all heard the stories: Some friend of a friend smoked too much weed and tripped so hard he drove his car into the neighbor’s front porch and killed the family dog.

Every drug has a therapeutic index — the ratio between toxic and therapeutic... Read More