There's One Amazing Thing About This Lawsuit Over A Drug Overdose

The victim is alive and well.

The news: Colorado resident Jordan Coombs (pictured above) claims that he overdosed on marijuana, which has never killed anyone, or even caused anything worse than a panic attack.

Coombs consumed chocolates at a Denver County Fair booth which caused him to become extremely ill and projectile vomit in his car. He had to go to the hospital where emergency personnel treated him and found THC in his system.  

The Denver County Fair, which took place from August 1st through 3rd, was supposed to be a cannabis-free event because public consumption of cannabis is still illegal in Colorado. Still, they had a section called the Pot Pavilion where marijuana companies promoted their wares without the presence of actual pot. A booth operated by a company called LivWell distributed what they claimed to be a non-cannabis version of their Full Melt chocolate bar. Based on their assurance that the chocolate did not contain THC, Coombs ate several squares and went on his way. Moments later, his wife was driving him to the hospital and he was barfing uncontrollably in the back.

Massive overdose. If these chocolates were the real deal, then Coombs was really, really high. Full Melt chocolate bars consist of 10 squares, each of which is packed with 10 milligrams of THC. According to Colorado’s new regulations on edibles, this is the maximum amount allowed in a serving. The lawsuit says that Coombs consumed “several” squares of chocolate. That means that, if the activated Full Melt squares were as potent as the dispensary-bought variety, he consumed more than 40 miligrams of THC. That is a hell of a lot. If Coombs is inexperienced with cannabis, that would likely be enough to make him dizzy, panicked, and nauseous, as he reported.

Coombs is the lead plaintiff on the class action lawsuit filed against LivWell’s parent company, Beyond Broadway, and two other fair attendees that became sick from the same chocolates may join his cause. The suit is seeking restitution for Coombs having a becoming ill, incurring a medical bill at the hospital, and of course “Plaintiff’s vehicle was damaged by Plaintiff’s vomit requiring professional cleaning.”

That’s the worst it can do. This was likely some awful mix-up on the part of LivWell, but what we can take away from this travesty is that even a massive overdose of cannabis will not kill you. While it may freak you out significantly, it won’t have any lasting effects on your body or mind. Yet, cannabis is still classified with the likes of heroin by the federal government, even though heroin overdoses tend to have a slightly more dramatic outcome. Jordan Coombs took four times the recommended dosage of cannabis and all he had to deal with was some puking and a short trip to the hospital. All in all, weed’s not the worst thing to OD on.