300 spice and weed smokers go to hospital
EFFECTS OF USING DRUGS
SMOKERS of spice and cannabis were admitted to hospitals in Huddersfield and Halifax hundreds of times last year suffering ill-effects from the drugs.
According to NHS Digital, there were 175 cannabis or spice-related hospital admissions in the Greater Huddersfield Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) area, which includes Huddersfield Royal Infirmary, last year.
And there were 135 admissions in Calderdale CCG, which includes Calderdale Royal Infirmary, in the same period.
Spice and cannabis users were admitted suffering adverse effects or mental health problems as a result of smoking the powerful hallucinogens.
The figures were lower than two years ago when there were an estimated 360 cases. It is, however, still more than three times higher than the 86 cases recorded in 2010/11.
Figures include secondary diagnoses where cannabinoids weren’t the main reason for the admission but were still a factor.
Across England as a whole, people were admitted to hospital 33,364 times last year because of cannabinoids.
That’s up by 6% on the figure for 2017/18 - and is the highest figure recorded since at least 2007/08, when only 5,934 cases were recorded.
The figure has increased every year since then.
The NHS said that apparent increases in activity may be due to improved recording of diagnosis or procedure information.
Peter Reynolds, president of CLEAR Cannabis Law Reform, made a distinction between naturallygrown cannabis and synthesised spice.
He said: “The figures don’t differentiate between cannabis and synthetic cannabinoids - in other words spice. As we all know, the harms and incidents around spice are massive compared to cannabis.
“It’s actually dozens of highlydangerous toxic drugs which can cause severe health problems - which cannabis simply doesn’t.
“The only reason that spice has become popular is because when it was initially available it wasn’t illegal, and cannabis was.
“The root cause of all of this is the prohibition of cannabis. Our insane drugs policy that takes a substance 114 times less dangerous than alcohol, criminalises people who use it, and funds a six-billion pound criminal market from which all sorts of other consequential much nastier harms flow.
“I’m not saying cannabis is harmless - certainly children shouldn’t be using it - however the difference between having three pints a night or a bit of cannabis is the difference between tiddlywinks and base jumping.”