Re: MAPS: question: ed50 & LD50

[Anthony Kroposky <kroposky@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I am not a chemist but I believe that ED50 and LD50 stand for "Effective
Dose"  and "Lethal Dose" in 50% of the test subjects, usually for a given
species.  Meaning the ED50 is the minimum dose required that will cause
the desired effect in 50% of test subjects, and the LD50 is the minimum
Lethal Dose required to kill 50% of the test subjects for a given sample. 
Someone correct me if i am wrong (again i am not a chemist)  but those two
numbers are taken together to form a ratio, meaning that if the ED50 of
something is 5 grams, and the LD50 of something is 50 grams, is 5:50, or
1:10.  That, incidentally is the accepted ED/LD ratio for alcohol i
believe - if it takes 5 shots of Stoli to get drunk, it would take only 50
to kill you.  i believe that the ed/ld ratio for marijuana is estimated at
about 1:10,000.  It has never been established i believe. So if it takes 5
hits to get you high, it is estimated it would take 50,000 to kill you. 
Citing this ratio is why many proponents of drug legalization claim that
marijuana (or at least THC) is so safe.  Again these numbers are only
averages. There are at least as many subjects who are killed by more of a
given substance, and as many by less.  So this is not to be confused with
minimum doses. 

I Hope that clears things up a little.


Tony
jeff wrote:

> hello
>
> i'm a first year college student in canada and i was wondering about
> ed50 and ld50.  what exactly is meant by 50% effect?  why do these
> statistics mean something (as opposed to say ld74.3 etc)?
>
> thanx in advance.
>
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--
Anthony Kroposky
kroposky@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
121 Osceola Ave
Middlesex, NJ
08846

God said E=1/2mv2 - Ze2/r and there was light!



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