A MUM from Bournemouth is believed to have become the first woman in Britain to die directly from cannabis poisoning.

Gemma Moss, a 31-year-old churchgoer who lived in Boscombe, collapsed on her bedroom floor after smoking a cannabis cigarette.

Miss Moss’ death was registered as cannabis toxicity and the coroner has recorded a verdict of death by cannabis abuse.

The devout Christian had frequently used cannabis, but had stopped for two years before her death in October.

She started using it again to help her sleep after becoming depressed and anxious due to breaking up with her boyfriend.

The Bournemouth inquest heard that Miss Moss smoked half a joint a night to help get her to sleep.

Her friend, Zara Hill, said they smoked about £20 worth of cannabis together in the week before her death.

On the night of October 28 Miss Moss, who had two sons, Tyler, 15, and Tessiah, eight, and a daughter, went to bed after rolling a joint.

She was found unresponsive the following morning by Chloe Wilkinson, the girlfriend of Miss Moss’ teenage son.

She called an ambulance to the flat in Boscombe, but Miss Moss was pronounced dead at the scene.

Dr Kudair Hussein, a pathologist, told the hearing: “The physical examination and the examination of various organs including the heart and the liver showed no abnormality that could account for her death.

“The level of canabinoids in the blood were 0.1 to 0.15 milligrams per litre, this is considered as moderate to heavy cannabis use.

“I looked through literature and it’s well known that cannabis is of very low toxicity.

“But there are reports which say cannabis can be considered as a cause of death because it can induce a cardiac arrest.”

Coroner Sheriff Payne asked Dr Hussein: “You are satisfied it was the affects of cannabis that caused her death.”

Dr Hussain replied: “Yes sir.”

The inquest heard Miss Moss grew up in London but moved to Bournemouth about five years ago.

She regularly attended the evangelical Citygate Church and was baptised there last year.

Her mother, Kim Furness, told the inquest: “She was really honest about cannabis because from where we come from it’s normal to smoke cannabis. She was trying to stop again.”

In recording a verdict that Miss Moss died from drug abuse, Mr Payne said: “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.”

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.

“I think she came from a difficult background but she I think she was clean to a large degree in terms of drugs.

“She is very much missed and her death was a real shock to us.”

David Raynes, of the National Drug Prevention Alliance, said: “It is extremely rare and unusual for a coroner to rule death from cannabis abuse.

“In 40 years I have never come across deaths from cannabis alone. There have been cases where it has been combined with other drugs or alcohol.

“It has often been said that cannabis doesn't cause death. Users usually pass out before they can take enough cannabis to kill them.

“This case serves as a warning that cannabis can cause immense harm.”