Researchers have warned that cannabis use for pain relief increases the risk of paranoia.
In a collaborative project between the University of Bath and King’s College London, researchers highlighted the dangers of using the illegal class B drug, and how the level of the psychoactive component in cannabis is on the rise.
Despite this, there has been a recent push from the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, for the Government to decriminalise the possession of cannabis.
Ongoing trend
In one of studies analysing survey results from ‘Canabis&Me’, entitled ‘Are reasons for first using cannabis associated with subsequent cannabis consumption (standard THC units) and psychopathology?’, academics concluded: “Initiating cannabis use for self-medication is associated with higher average THC consumption, and increased anxiety, depression and paranoia.”
Based on survey results from 3,389 past and present cannabis users, the paper suggested: “Given the ongoing trend towards legalisation of cannabis for both recreational and medicinal purposes, particular attention should be given to those who report self-medicating from either psychological or physical distress.”
It noted that the average age people first used cannabis was 16.7 years old, and that half of those surveyed reported daily use of the drug.
Significant risks
Professor Tom Freeman, senior author on the study and Director of the Addiction and Mental Health Group at the University of Bath, explained: “A key finding of our study is that people who first used cannabis to manage anxiety or depression, or because a family member was using it, showed higher levels of cannabis use overall.”
King’s College Professor Marta Di Forti noted: “Our findings show that while some individuals turn to cannabis as a way of coping with pain or trauma, this may carry significant risks for their mental health and wellbeing. Policymakers should consider these risks carefully when debating legalisation.”
King’s Dr Emily Finch, Chair of the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ addiction faculty, said: “Cannabis is the most widely used illicit substance in the UK, and around a third of people who use cannabis develop a problem with the drug at some point during their lives.”
She added: “Daily users of high-potency cannabis are nearly five times more likely to develop a psychotic disorder than people who have never used cannabis, with adolescents at particular risk.”
Dr Finch urged the UK Government to provide “early treatment to the increasing number of children and young people struggling with substance misuse”.
‘Russian roulette’
Retired charity director Terry Hammond recently spoke of his son’s devastating decline into psychosis following cannabis use, and urged people to wake up to the danger of the increasingly ‘popular’ drug.
He recalled how his teenage son Steven started smoking skunk — a highly potent strain of cannabis — secretly at a friend’s house. Just six months in, Steven became suddenly paranoid. “He was a boy gripped by absolute fear and terror,” Terry recalled, “his beautiful mind had just been destroyed.”
Now, 25 years on, following therapy and medical treatment, Terry described how his son still suffers from the effects of his early drug use: “Fundamentally, it has damaged his brain for good. Young people need to know smoking cannabis is playing Russian roulette with brain damage.”
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