420 Girl – JoAnna McKee

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Joanna McKee poses for a portrait, Wednesday, June, 27, 2007, in Seattle. McKee has been using marijuana to relieve the pain caused by her back and leg problems. This fall, Washington state public servants will convene a series of meetings to answer the question: how much marijuana constitutes a two-month supply? The meetings are part of a serious attempt to shore up Washington's medical marijuana law, currently considered one of the weaker laws among 13 different states with medical marijuana protections. (AP Photo/Andrei Pungovschi)

Marijuana does not cause overdose deaths. The number of people in hospital emergency rooms who say they have used marijuana has increased. On this basis, the visit may be recorded as marijuana related even if marijuana had nothing to do with the medical condition precipitating the hospital visit. Many more teenagers use marijuana than use drugs such as heroin and cocaine. As a result, when teenagers visit hospital emergency rooms, they report marijuana much more frequently than they report heroin or cocaine. In the large majority of cases when marijuana is mentioned, other drugs are mentioned as well. In 1994, fewer than 2 percent of drug related emergency room visits involved the use of marijuana alone. – JoAnna McKee pictured