Question: how come people die from drugs

Ross King answered on 9 Nov 2015:

People can die from drugs for many different reasons. What’s important to understand is that any chemical or medicine we put inside our body that has an effect on us can be called a drug. So, people can die from all drugs and not just drugs of abuse.

About 500 years ago, a man called Paracelsus said that “the dose makes the poison” and I think this is a great point. What Paracelsus meant was that many things can be harmful to us and might even cause us to die, it just depends on how much is taken. For example, I could become very ill if I drank too much coffee, even though I would need to drink lots and lots of it. Caffeine found in coffee is a drug because it acts on our bodies to give an effect, like increased heart rate and (sometimes!) increased concentration. The amount of coffee we usually drink is very very safe.

People can die from illegal drugs because what the amount they have taken is too much for their bodies to handle. Some drugs, for instance, can reduce activity in the brain. The brain is important for controlling how fast our heart beats or how often we take a breath, so reducing activity here can be very dangerous – many people die from their heart and lungs not working.