CANNABIS: Devastating official figures reveal true toll on nation’s mental health

125,000 hospital admissions caused by drug in just f ive years. So much for all the propaganda that it’s harmless

THE devastating effect of cannabis on Britain’s mental health can be revealed today – more than 125,000 hospitalisations in the past five years.

As campaigners call for the drug’s legalisation, shocking figures obtained by The Mail on Sunday show that 15,000 of those cases involved teenagers, some of whom were taken to A&E departments suffering serious psychosis.

Analysis carried out by NHS officials for this paper has also indicated that children below the age of ten have been admitted to hospital after taking the powerful and addictive substance.

Some people hooked on the drug have taken their own lives after suffering hallucinations and many more are now unable to lead normal lives, according to doctors.

In Scotland, the number of cannabis-related hospital admissions rose by 70 per cent in five years from 702 to 1,193. Annually, the number of hospitalisations in England has leapt by more than 50 per cent since 2013 – from 19,765 to 31,130.

The dramatic rise across the UK has coincided with an increasingly liberal approach to policing the Class

‘They start using it at 13, and at 16 or 17 severe behavioural problems kick in’

B drug in many parts of the country. In Durham, police now turn a blind eye to possession and even small-scale cultivation.

Last week the Royal College of Psychiatrists announced it was setting up a panel to consider backing legalisation of cannabis, arguing that could be a way to control its growing strength.

But evidence from the US, where nine states have legalised recreational use, shows that is not happening. In Colorado and Washington State, for example, the average strength is going up. And since it was legalised in Colorado in 2014, cannabis-related trips to emergency rooms by teenagers have almost tripled, according to an academic report.

Evidence is also building that regularly smoking cannabis during one’s teens can affect brain development – shrinking the hippocampus, which is essential for memory and regulating emotions.

Last night Tory MP for South Thanet Craig Mackinlay said the figures were a stark wake-up call to those considering legalisation.

‘Far too few people are aware of the severe mental health problems cannabis can cause, particularly on younger, developing brains,’ he said. ‘Caving in to populist demands to legalise a harmful drug is not the way to deal with preventing its normalisation and use. I fear the fallout would put unbearable pressure on our already struggling youth mental health services.’

Douglas Ross, Tory MP for Moray, said: ‘Young people, in particular, experimenting with cannabis are sometimes unaware of the overwhelming effects of the drug which can lead to overdose or injury.

‘Government needs to reiterate the message that illegal drugs are inherently dangerous and unpredictable.’

Around 2.4 million people in Britain smoke cannabis, including a million 16- 24-year-olds. While rates are little changed over the last decade, there are signs teens are starting to use it more. Stronger strains of cannabis have been grown over the years – a key reason why more people are ending up in hospital, say doctors.

Powerful varieties known as skunk now account for 94 per cent of cannabis consumed in Britain, according to recent research.

It contains at least four times as much of the main psychoactive compound tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) as previously dominant types of cannabis. THC is strongly liked to increased risk of psychosis.

Yet there is a growing perception among youngsters that cannabis is harmless. Experts say many interpret the Government’s decision to let doctors prescribe cannabisbased medicines as a green light to smoke it, even though the two have hugely different health effects.

Addiction specialist Dr Cyrus Abbasian said: ‘The main reason we are seeing more cannabisrelated hospital admissions is its increasing strength.’

In some areas cannabis strength has increased tenfold since the 1990s, from 2 to 20 per cent THC, he added.

Former mental health nurse Ian Hamilton, a lecturer at York University, said people were increasingly ending up in A&E with ‘absolutely terrifying’ cannabisinduced psychotic episodes, as they had no idea how much THC they were ingesting.

Consultant psychologist Matthew Gaskell, of Leeds and York Partnership NHS Trust, said stronger cannabis was leading to ‘more cannabis dependence in addiction services and great difficulty stopping’ among regular users.

Samantha Murphy of Gladstones Clinic, a private addiction service which treats publicly funded patients, said: ‘We’ve had a huge increase in the last year of patients under 18 with cannabis problems.

‘A typical patient will start using it at school at 13, and at 16 or 17 serious behavioural problems will kick in. Most are boys. They lose their motivation for school and sports, and start becoming aggressive. Some smash their homes up.

‘Parents call up distraught, saying they can’t control them. The problem is huge.’