From: [K--MA--U] at [UGA.CC.UGA.EDU]
Newsgroups: alt.drugs
Subject: LD50's
Date: Wed, 15 Dec 93 01:26:55 EST

I noticed some folks wondering what the LD50 (the dose required to cause death
in 50% of subjects tested) for pot and various other drugs was. Below is the
list taken from _Marihuana Reconsidered_ by Lester Grinspoon, M.D. Note that
ED50 is the Effective Dose, or dose that produces a defined effect, in 50%
of the subjects tested, and TD50 is the Toxic Dose, or dose required to
produce toxicity in 50% of the subjects tested.
 
                    ED50           LD50       Safety Factor
------------------------------------------------------------
Secobarbital     100-300 mg    1,000-5,000 mg      3-50
Alcohol          0.05-0.1%       0.4-0.5%          4-10
THC              50 mcg/kg    2,160,000 mcg/kg    40,000
 
In other words, Secobarbital required 100mg before its effects are felt,
and a lethal dose is 1000 to 5000 mg. Thus, a dose which is only 3 to 50 times
that of the effective dose may prove fatal. Alcohol is measured in blood
alcohol level, and THC in micrograms per kilogram of body weight. Because there
has never been a death attributed to THC overdose, the data is extrapolated
from data on mice. (Data: Miuriya)