Drug Overdose Limits: How Much Is Too Much?

Abuse of alcohol and medication, as well as illegal drugs, takes a huge toll on life in many places around the world, including in the United States. In 2014, about 88,000 people died in the U.S. from alcohol-related causes and alcohol misuse problems cost the country almost $250 billion in 2010. Overdose of prescription drugs alone killed over 25,000 people in 2014, and at least as many people died from illegal drugs, such as heroin and cocaine in the same year.

As the numbers of alcohol- and prescription drug-related deaths make clear, the amount of substance consumed has a large role to play in its being lethal or not. And a lot of people don’t always know how much is too much. Even if you knew the absolute amount in, say ounces, how much does it translate to in actual units consumed?

Yellowbrick, a psychiatric and trauma treatment facility in Chicago, put together a helpful database that breaks the numbers down for a large variety of legal and illegal substances. Exact amounts can vary somewhat between individuals (based on a number of factors), so the numbers below should be taken only as an indication of the absolute maximum, and you would do well to stay well below them.

Alcohol becomes toxic at 30 standard drinks, while coffee does that at 50 cups. Tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC — the active ingredient in marijuana — can become lethal if you smoke something upward of 1,700 joints. Pills containing acetaminophen (Tylenol) or alprazolam (Xanax) can kill with about 40 tablets.

Dramamine, used to prevent motion sickness, can cause an overdose at just over 30 pills, while codeine and Vicodin reach that stage at about half that number. Some other legally available drugs are far more lethal: less than three pills of Oxycontin, less than four teaspoons of DXM-only “Maximum Strength” syrup and a pinch of salt of Fentanyl will lead to an overdose.

When it comes to illegal drugs, overdose from MDMA can occur at about 14 pills, from cocaine at about 20 lines, ketamine at about 1.5 vials and with methamphetamine at about 10 dosages. The amount of heroin that can lead to an overdose can vary very vastly, but Yellowbrick put the number at 200 milligrams, about the same amount as that for morphine.

However, the drug that seemed the hardest to kill yourself with was LSD, or acid, of which about 3,500 hits would add up to an overdose. In contrast, just a little more than a grain of sand of elephant tranquilizer is enough to be lethal.