CHILDREN AGED NINE DAMAGED BY CANNABIS
Revealed: Shocking toll of young patients admitted to hospital with mental disorders
CHILDREN as young as nine are being admitted to hospital with severe disorders caused by cannabis, figures reveal.
More than 3,400 patients under the age of 19 were admitted last year because of mental and behavioural illnesses triggered by the drug. Doctors are seeing a ‘whole new generation’ with serious problems, who are increasingly buying cannabis via social media websites.
NHS figures show that admissions for disorders caused by the drug among under-19s have risen by 38 per cent since 2013/14, and by 10 per cent in the past year alone.
While boys account for the majority of cases, girls are catching up.
And the figures underestimate the scale of the problem because they count only those patients who were so unwell they were admitted on to a ward or specialist unit.
The revelations came as evidence mounts over the harm caused by
super- strong ‘ skunk’ forms of cannabis that are widely available in Britain.
last week a major study in the lancet Psychiatry journal revealed that potent forms of the drug increased the risk of psychotic disorders five-fold. a shocking 30 per cent of new cases of psychosis in london are linked to skunk cannabis, the king’s College london researchers found.
Experts – and teenagers themselves – say cannabis has become much more accessible in recent years through Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook.
Dealers are openly advertising on the websites. Many display photos of cannabis bagged up and ready to post.
Many children believe cannabis is safer than alcohol, as well as being easier to get because they don’t need ID to buy it.
Cannabis is linked to severe mental illnesses including psychosis, where patients have hallucinations and delusionary thoughts, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and anxiety attacks.
Paul North, who worked for drug treatment services in York and leeds and is now a director at independent think-tank Volteface, said: ‘The ease by which young people can get drugs has increased massively.
‘Social media is without doubt one of the most common ways to procure drugs. Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook – they are very easy to [use to] buy and sell drugs.
‘For the police, it’s an absolute nightmare’
There are loads of different accounts that you can start following which will constantly put drugs up for sale.
‘For the police, it’s an absolute nightmare and they just haven’t got the resources.
‘If you think about historically how kids got drugs in the 60s, 70s and 80s, you’ve got to hang around and find a drug dealer. You’ve got to go in a house and get to know them. What you can do now is just get them on Instagram and get them to post them to you or show up at your house.’
Dr Niall Campbell, a consultant psychiatrist at the Priory Hospital in london, which treats NHS patients, added: ‘We are seeing a whole new generation of teenagers, and those in their early 20s, being admitted as emergencies with paranoid psychoses linked to cannabis use.
‘They believe they are being watched, followed and listened to 24 hours a day by unknown pursuers who mean to harm or kill them. This can lead to violent, or sometimes suicidal, behaviour as they flee imagined pursuers.
‘There is this ongoing urban myth that smoking cannabis is harmless, and may be beneficial. Many people see cannabis as something that helps you chill – a drug that, unlike alcohol and cigarettes, might even be good for your mental health. Statistics tell the opposite.’
NHS Digital figures obtained by the Daily Mail show there were 3,414 admissions for mental and behavioural disorders caused by cannabis for the under-19s in 2017/18. This included two involving children aged nine or under.
Ian Hamilton, a senior lecturer in mental health services at the University of York, said: ‘No matter where you are... cannabis is much easier to access than alcohol.
‘The Home Office has legalised cannabis for medicinal use and that message has been quite verbal to young people. There’s a message that cannabis is benign and harmless.’
Dr Derek Tracy, a psychiatrist at Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust in south- east london, has started seeing more young people with cannabis-related problems over the past three or four years.
He said: ‘While most people still get cannabis from their friends, there’s been a move to social media platforms like Snapchat. I think it is changing the marketplace.’
The figures show that admissions for girls under 19 have risen by 43 per cent in the four years from 2014 to 2018, against a 34 per cent increase in boys. It comes amid a long-running debate over whether the Uk should legalise cannabis for recreational use, following Canada and some US states.
Supporters – including former Conservative leader William Hague, former lib Dems leader Nick Clegg and entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson – say the war on the drug has been ‘irreversibly lost’. But opponents, including NHS England head Simon Stevens, argue that legalising cannabis would increase the rates of serious mental illnesses.
Some critics say the drug has been decriminalised by stealth by the police, with the number of prosecutions for possession falling by a fifth in two years.
a Government spokesman said: ‘The Government continues to invest in programmes that have a positive impact on young people, giving them the confidence and resilience to resist drugs.’