Mum of 3 is the first woman in Britain to die of cannabis poisoning
A YOUNG mother of three died after she was poisoned by the cannabis she smoked to help her get to sleep.
Gemma Moss, 31, was killed by the level of the drug in her blood, an inquest heard.
The regular churchgoer, who was found dead in her bedroom, is thought to be the first woman in Britain known to have died directly from cannabis poisoning. Her death was caused by cannabis toxicity, and a coroner recorded a verdict of death by cannabis abuse.
The inquest was told that Miss Moss smoked half a joint a night to help her sleep.
The devout Christian had been a frequent user but stopped for two years before her death last October.
Her family say she started using the drug again to help her sleep after becoming depressed when
‘Moderate to heavy levels’
she split up with her boyfriend. A female friend told police Miss Moss smoked as much as £60 worth of the drug a week, although her family disputed this.
On the night of October 28 last year Miss Moss, who had two sons, Tyler, 15, and Tessiah, eight, and a daughter who lives abroad, went to bed after rolling a joint.
She was found the following morning by Tyler’s girlfriend who called an ambulance to the flat in Bournemouth. Miss Moss was pronounced dead at the scene.
Half a joint was found underneath her body and a wrapper containing brown and green leaves of the class B drug was discovered in her handbag.
A post mortem examination revealed that there were no obvious signs of abnormality in Miss Moss’s body. Pathologist Dr Kudair Hussein told the inquest in Bournemouth there were ‘moderate to heavy’ levels of cannabisrelated chemicals in her blood.
Bournemouth coroner Mr Sheriff Payne asked Dr Hussein: ‘You are satisfied it was the effects of cannabis that caused her death?’ Dr Hussein replied: ‘Yes sir.’
In 2004 a 36-year-old man from Pembrokeshire became the first known person in the UK to die from cannabis toxicity.
A spokesman for the National Drug Prevention Alliance, David Raynes, said: ‘It is extremely rare and unusual for a coroner to rule death from cannabis abuse.
‘This case serves as a warning that cannabis can cause immense harm. Cannabis is known to increase heart rate and blood pressure. Cannabis these days is designed to be much stronger to meet demand of users who want a stronger hit.’
Miss Moss regularly attended the evangelical Citygate Church in Bournemouth and was baptised there last year.
Her mother, Kim Furness, told the inquest her daughter struggled to sleep and had admitted that she had started smoking a ‘small amount’ of cannabis at night.
Miss Furness said: ‘It was one half of a joint to get to sleep. She never smoked in the day. She was really honest about cannabis. She was trying to stop again. She wasn’t excessively smoking.’ In recording a verdict that Miss Moss died from drug abuse, Mr Payne said: ‘Gemma had been a long-term user of cannabis.
‘She suffered from depression and was on prescription drugs to try and deal with that although it would not appear she was taking them at the time of her death.
‘She usually used it (cannabis) in the evenings to try and help her to get to sleep and did not use it in the daytime.
‘The post mortem could find no natural cause for her death with the balance of probability that it is more likely than not that she died from the effects of cannabis.’
Carolyn Stuart, a coroner’s officer, said: ‘It is very rare to have cannabis toxicity as a cause of death. She was a healthy 31year-old woman who had nothing wrong with her.’
Russell White, a leader at the Citygate Church, said: ‘Gemma was a good mother and brought up her children mainly on her own.
‘She was full of fun and loved life and loved coming to church. She was a committed member of the church and brought her children along. She is very much missed and her death was a real shock to us.’
Miss Moss lived with her sons but it is believed her daughter lives with her father in Jamaica.