Grieving mum: This confirms all my fears
A RETIRED teacher whose son’s death was caused by mental illness brought on by cannabis said yesterday she felt ‘vindicated’ by the research.
Janie Hamilton, 67, has been convinced the drug can negatively impact the brain since her son James, who was a heavy user in his teens, developed psychosis and depression.
‘I welcome this research and I feel vindicated,’ she said.
‘It confirms what I have known all along – that cannabis does affect young people’s mental health.
‘It is true that some people will use it and get away with it. But when young people experiment with the drug, they won’t know until it’s too late whether it will affect them. They are playing Russian roulette with their mental health.’
Mrs Hamilton had no idea James was smoking cannabis until he was sectioned aged 20, and later diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.
He was in and out of mental health wards, suffering with both psychosis and depression, until he developed testicular cancer in his 30s. Because of his psychotic state of mind, he refused life-saving treatment and died at 36.