5 ms·

Thanks for explaining They mentioned cocaine, I never realized you could die by cocaine? What is LD50 of cocaine in street units, say "lines"? Why are some pe

Thanks for explaining They mentioned cocaine, I never realized you could die by cocaine? What is LD50 of cocaine in street units, say "lines"? Why are some people in coma declared dead and others kept alive? Have people ever "recovered" from coma? Is it a question of permission from next of kin to keep the patient alive? Or does it boil down to a financial question?

Hextinium 8y ago
LD50 for cocaine in mice is 94 mg/kg and a line is 35 - 100 mg according to wikipedia. So a large line per kilogram will probably kill you.
- DoctorOetker 8y ago
  I can't imagine myself being able to continue preparing lines of cocaine and inhaling them for ~7.5 grams on end!? thats 75 of the larger lines or ~214 of the smaller kind of lines. I could try my best but I am pretty sure I would simply fail to sniff 75 average lines. It seems impossible to succeed.
  - Hextinium 8y ago
    That is if you are doing lines, if injected or smoked the chance of OD is higher but remember that is LD50 you can still die at much lower doses.
roguecoder 8y ago
"Coma" can mean a wide variety of things, and a persistent vegetative state still isn't considered "dead", as was the case here. Judgement of death relies on specific tests that establish the absence of cerebral and brainstem functions. See, for example: http://n.neurology.org/content/neurology/45/5/1012.full.pdf http://n.neurology.org/content/neurology/45/5/1012.full.pdf When the brain stops functioning systems such as electrolyte balance and internal temperature control often go as well, and we don't know yet how to keep bodies without brain function functional for extended periods of time (as opposed to comas where the patient's brain can still control autonomic processes.) In cases where a patient isn't dead, they or their health care proxy have the right to turn down treatments, including those necessary for life. Not everyone wants to be kept alive in a persistent vegetative state, even if they are not dead, and for plenty of reasons other than the cost.

Hextinium 8y ago

LD50 for cocaine in mice is 94 mg/kg and a line is 35 - 100 mg according to wikipedia. So a large line per kilogram will probably kill you.

DoctorOetker 8y ago
I can't imagine myself being able to continue preparing lines of cocaine and inhaling them for ~7.5 grams on end!? thats 75 of the larger lines or ~214 of the smaller kind of lines. I could try my best but I am pretty sure I would simply fail to sniff 75 average lines. It seems impossible to succeed.
- Hextinium 8y ago
  That is if you are doing lines, if injected or smoked the chance of OD is higher but remember that is LD50 you can still die at much lower doses.

roguecoder 8y ago

"Coma" can mean a wide variety of things, and a persistent vegetative state still isn't considered "dead", as was the case here. Judgement of death relies on specific tests that establish the absence of cerebral and brainstem functions. See, for example: http://n.neurology.org/content/neurology/45/5/1012.full.pdf http://n.neurology.org/content/neurology/45/5/1012.full.pdf When the brain stops functioning systems such as electrolyte balance and internal temperature control often go as well, and we don't know yet how to keep bodies without brain function functional for extended periods of time (as opposed to comas where the patient's brain can still control autonomic processes.) In cases where a patient isn't dead, they or their health care proxy have the right to turn down treatments, including those necessary for life. Not everyone wants to be kept alive in a persistent vegetative state, even if they are not dead, and for plenty of reasons other than the cost.