Weed warning: Report calls for clear pot product labelling after Colorado marijuana death

A teenager in Colorado leaped to his death after consuming a marijuana cookie containing six times the recommended amount of the drug.

A study published in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention focuses on the death of a 19-year-old man from Wyoming who consumed the cookie on a visit to Colorado, where recreational marijuana use was legalised in 2012, and recommends clearer labelling for edible recreational products containing the drug.

The cookie was bought from a store, with instructions given by the store assistant to divide it into six pieces, each of which contained approximately 10mg of THC, marijuana's psychoactive component.

However, after consuming a piece and not feeling any effects up to an hour later, the teenager consumed the rest of the cookie. In the following hours, the man's speech became erratic and his behaviour became hostile, according to the report.

About two-and-a-half hours after consuming the rest of the cookie, the man leapt to his death from a balcony on the fourth storey of a building.

Coroners determined that the man's death in March 2014 was a result of marijuana intoxication, and the report states that "this case illustrates a potential danger associated with recreational edible marijuana use".

Marijuana in edible form causes a high that typically lasts one to two hours after it is consumed, rather than the relatively immediate high caused when the drug is smoked. This can lead to users consuming greater amounts in order to get a high, as they may initially believe the drug is not working.

The report's authors recommend that as other US states move towards legalising marijuana, they should follow Colorado's lead in restricting edible products to 10mg of THC, or clearly labelling each portion containing 10mg of THC.

The researchers concluded that there is a need for "improved public health messaging to reduce the risk for overconsumption of THC".

In January, Washington DC followed Colorado, Washington State and Alaska in legalising the recreational use of the drug for those over 21 years of age.