Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35946604›Full record

ArticleJournal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England)2022

Can cannabis kill? Characteristics of deaths following cannabis use in England (1998-2020).

Kirsten L Rock, Amir Englund, Stephen Morley, Kathleen Rice, Caroline S Copeland

Open access · hybridAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England), 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
16citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
4.4field-weighted citation impact, top 5% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

16 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 27 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Drug poisonings following bariatric surgery: Case series report.British journal of clinical pharmacology · 2026
    Article
  5. Review
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Infant Death due to Cannabis Ingestion.Drug testing and analysis · 2025
    Article
  10. Article
  11. Review
  12. Cannabis, cannabinoids and health: a review of evidence on risks and medical benefits.European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience · 2025
    Review
  13. Emergency Department Patients Presenting after Oral versus Inhaled Cannabinoid use: A Retrospective Analysis.Journal of medical toxicology : official journal of the American College of Medical Toxicology · 2025
    Article
  14. Article
  15. Review
  16. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Kirsten L RockCentre for Pharmaceutical Medicine Research, Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, King's College London, London, UK.
Amir EnglundDepartment of Addictions, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
Stephen MorleyToxicology Unit, Leicester Royal Infirmary, Leicester, UK.ORCID 0000-0001-9715-8936
Kathleen RiceToxicology Unit, Leicester Royal Infirmary, Leicester, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-5328-5295
Caroline S CopelandCentre for Pharmaceutical Medicine Research, Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, King's College London, London, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-4462-1402
King's College London · GBLeicester Royal Infirmary · GB

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundCannabis is the most widely used illegal drug but is rarely considered a causal factor in death.

aimsThis study aimed to understand trends in deaths in England where cannabinoids were detected at post-mortem, and to evaluate the clinical utility of post-mortem cannabinoid concentrations in coronial investigations.

methodsDeaths with cannabinoid detections reported to the National Programme on Substance Abuse Deaths (NPSAD) were extracted and analysed.

resultsFrom 1998 to 2011, on average 7% of all cases reported to NPSAD had a cannabinoid detected (

conclusionsRisk of death due to cannabis toxicity is negligible. However, cannabis can prove fatal in circumstances with risk of traumatic physical injury, or in individuals with cardiac pathophysiologies. These indirect harms need careful consideration and further study to better elucidate the role cannabis plays in drug-related mortality. Furthermore, the relevance of cannabinoid quantifications in determining cause of death in coronial investigations is limited.

Indexed as

CannabinoidsCannabisHallucinogensAnalgesicsCannabinoid Receptor AgonistsDronabinolHumansPsychotropic DrugsAnalgesicsCannabinoid Receptor AgonistsCannabinoidsDronabinolHallucinogensPsychotropic DrugscannabinoidsCannabisdrug-related deathTHCtoxicityΔ9-tetrahydrocannabinol

Identifiers

PMID35946604
PMCPMC9716494
OpenAlexW4297830666

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.