Teenager’s death prompts warning about cannabis use
A coroner has warned of the increased risk of mental health problems and suicidal ideation linked with cannabis use by teenagers following the death of a 14-year-old boy.
Coroner Mary-Anne Borrowdale released her findings to Stuff with the hope of encouraging those who care for teenagers who use cannabis to make themselves aware of the risks and of ways to reduce that use.
The 14-year-old, whose name is suppressed, died in 2019. He had attempted suicide twice in the previous 18 months.
When he was about 4, the boy was referred for paediatric and psychiatric assessment over behavioural concerns, and suspicions of foetal alcohol syndrome and ADHD. It found him to be a ‘‘normal, energetic young boy’’.
In 2013, a further psychiatric assessment following disruptiveness at school found he was inattentive, hyperactive and impulsive. Records suggested the boy was a ‘‘fairly straightforward kid’’ until about 2016, when he became increasingly moody and defiant.
He was never formally diagnosed with a disability or mental health condition but received regular counselling.
On the day of his death, he had a half-day at school, so decided to stay home. That afternoon his girlfriend told him in a series of text messages that she did not feel in a position to continue their relationship. The teen twice texted he was going to kill himself.
She asked him not to do ‘‘anything stupid’’. About an hour later his adoptive mother asked if he would like to go into town with her. Upset, he told her he did not. She left him in his bedroom.
While she was out she was contacted by one of his friends who was worried he might hurt himself. She immediately returned home where she found the teen dead. Police noted a smell of cannabis in a shed at the property, while in his bedroom were various cannabis-related items.
The mother told police she was aware he smoked cannabis and she had told him she preferred he did so in their shed, rather than out on the street. There was no evidence as to the frequency of his cannabis use. Clinicians who treated the boy noted his birth mother had experienced difficulties with cannabis and alcohol.
The coroner said there was no
evidence the teen’s mental health support providers were addressing his use of cannabis.
A risk management form from 2016 recorded him saying he did not use alcohol or drugs.
Borrowdale said the young teen was experiencing ‘‘several stressors in his life’’, including difficulties with his schoolwork, and with his whānau and other relationships.
The coroner said it appeared from the teen’s medical records he received ‘‘appropriate and supportive’’ mental health care and counselling following his first suicide attempt, and over the following 18 months until his death.
‘‘[He] was a young teenager who had a history of experiencing moderate depression, with feelings of intense isolation and sadness.
‘‘[He] was known to smoke cannabis with some regularity and he had smoked cannabis immediately prior to his death.’’
Borrowdale cited research, including a 2011 study in New Zealand, that reported nearly 80% of young people had used cannabis before the age of 21. While it was not possible to detail what causative effect or contribution the teen’s cannabis use made to his suicide, the coroner said there was evidence that cannabis use by teenagers was associated with ‘‘an increased risk’’.
An American paper that looked at people aged 18 to 35, between 2008 and 2019, found cannabis use was associated with increased risks of suicide, suicide planning and suicide attempts. A 2014 analysis of adolescent studies reported a ‘‘direct relation’’ between cannabis use and suicidal ideation.
‘‘Adolescents who were daily cannabis users before age 17 years old had odds of suicide attempt that were seven times higher than for those young people who had never used cannabis,’’ the coroner said. ‘‘Those who used cannabis weekly or more were four times more likely to attempt suicide.
‘‘Those who used cannabis monthly or more were over twice as likely to attempt suicide.’’
Borrowdale said the studies were a ‘‘vital contribution to suicide prevention efforts’’. ‘‘We cannot know what contribution [the teen’s] cannabis use may have made to his mental health or his suicide. But on the basis of these studies ... I am not prepared to assume [his] cannabis use played no part at all in his tragic death.’’