DOSE:	10 mg	oral	Loratadine
	repeated	oral	Cannabis	(tincture)

BODY WEIGHT:

115 lb

Substance: home made cannabis alcohol tincture. Dosage level uncertain

Setting: small music festival, camping
Subject: 30-something female, very experienced user of smoked and oral cannabis
Other drugs consumed: Loratidine for allergies- 10mg
empty stomach: no

Cannabis is legal where I live, and I was spending the weekend at an outdoor camping music festival with some friends. In attendance was a person who gifted me a sample of home made cannabis tincture which I happily consumed. I believe there may have been a mis-communication about how much I was supposed to consume, or the tincture was much stronger than was realized because it turns out, I took way too much. And I later found out that this particular batch of tincture had been made 2 years ago, and apparently gets stronger the longer it sits.

Experience with Cannabis: I have taken cannabis in the form of smoked buds, wax/dabs, hash, cannabis oil, store-bought edibles, homemade edibles, and store-bought tincture from a dispensary. I have never had a negative or difficult experience with cannabis in the 15+ years of my relationship with this plant. The closest to a difficult experience I can remember is combining it with alcohol and passing out, waking up to a nasty hangover. Even with oral cannabis, in the past I had taken a little too much and just gotten “couch-locked” and fallen asleep early. However, I have also never used home made tincture until this day. My previous tincture experience was pleasant, and the recommended dosage had been fairly high- about 30-40 drops. I had taken this amount frequently and had good experiences; I remember that tincture being not very strong.

Ok back to the story: About 7pm Saturday evening I was gifted the tincture and took a small sip. A few minutes later I noticed a pleasant feeling and waited about 20 minutes. Again I took a sip and felt a buzz. I asked my friend who made the tincture, how much to take? I was told that I was given a dose, plus a little extra to share. The mg dosage was not known (WARNING!) (Because of legalization, I know my oral cannabis dose limit which is about 2 standard-dose dispensary edibles, or 30 mg. That dose will put me to sleep so I assumed half would be just right. In hindsight I should not have consumed this unknown dosage. ) I decided I would take half of it just to be safe. It tasted like weed, had a strong smell, and a burn of alcohol, kind of like Fernet Branca. For the next 3 hours, I enjoyed the music, walked around the festival, and chatted with people. I felt pleasant and was experiencing insights, lots of “big picture” thoughts and realizations about life. This is nice! I'm buzzed and outside and my mind is clear and I'm having a good time. About 2 hours in I felt a drop like I sunk down into the earth. It felt good. Maybe it is kicking in? It didn't last long. I took another sip. I thought- ok, this is mild and I just take a small sip, get a little buzz for about 30 minutes, then I take a sip to keep it going. I can handle this. I still have ¾ of my “dose” left so I think I am safe.

11pm: I feel high and happy. I think I may have taken another sip here but I don't exactly recall. I crawl in my tent and snuggle down into my sleeping bag. My partner is outside and a few minutes later he crawls into the tent with me. I'm in a spaceship. I giggle, “welcome to my spaceship!” We laugh a bit and he lays down with me. Then the spins start. I am really in a spaceship hurtling through space, spinning out of the gravitational pull of the earth. I focus on the round zipper tent door and the glow of the red lantern hanging from the ceiling. I'm falling backwards, spinning, starting to get dizzy. I try to breathe through it. Now I'm shaking- full body convulsions starting with my legs and radiating throughout my body. Do I need to go dance? Does my body need to move? No, I'm so tired and tripping pretty hard now. This happens to me sometimes when I take mushrooms so I didn't immediately panic. But it was actually pretty frightening. I kept breathing, counting my in-breath/out-breath, telling my muscles to relax. My partner noticed I was shaking and helped me focus on my breath and hugged me.

I tell myself, you can't overdose on weed. You won't stop breathing. Just don't fight it. The shaking is really freaking me out and I say this out loud. Eventually I figure out how to relax the large muscle groups (thank you, regular yoga practice!) and the shaking slows down and then becomes less noticeable. I try to sleep but am in this half-tripping/ dizzy, paralyzed state and I have no idea if I actually slept or not.

It is now getting light inside the tent. I try to sit up but am so dizzy that this is literally impossible. I feel very sick and nauseated. I'm going to throw up but I can't move. I have to pee but I can't move. It's at least 6am because the sun's coming up. I am tripping and sick and delirious and semi-paralyzed. Passing thoughts of brain damage and seizures float around in my head, but I'm too sick to care. I tell my partner I feel very sick. He finds a first-aid person from the festival who helps me out of the tent so I can crawl into the bushes to pee. I tell her I had some cannabis tincture last night and she does not seem concerned. She helps me pee and get back to my tent. Reminds me to drink water. Gives me some Benadryl which I don't take. I am too sick to feel embarrassed. I throw up into the grass. I feel a little better and crawl back into the tent to try and sleep.

12pm: The sun is fully up and it's getting hot inside the tent. I am able to crawl outside on my own to pee, and then I throw up again. A friend texts me and returning the text is like trying to program a rocket ship. I am exhausted and go back to sleep.

When I wake up again, it's maybe 2 or 3pm and I feel super- stoned. No longer sick but completely non-functional. I use the solar shower at camp, eat a power bar (it tastes disgusting and it's hard to swallow, but I know my body needs food), and feel like I am coming back to normal. The nausea and dizziness are gone but for the next 24 hours I feel like I have an ecstasy hangover.

Once I am safely back at home I find the cup of leftover tincture and it is enough to fill 2 small tincture bottles. I don't think I will be taking any more of this any time soon.

Exp Year: 2016	ExpID: 109008
Gender: Female
Age at time of experience: 35
Published: Aug 14, 2016	Views: 11,344
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Cannabis (1) : Festival / Lg. Crowd (24), Overdose (29), What Was in That? (26), Difficult Experiences (5), General (1)