A grieving mum’s fear for others
A MOTHEr whose daughter killed herself after suffering from cannabis-induced psychosis fears the potent strains of the drug sold on Instagram will cause ‘many more’ youngsters to die.
Kerry Head said ‘beautiful, bright and fun’ Emily rowling became increasingly paranoid after starting to take the drug as a teenager.
Six years later, in 2019, she was found dead outside a car park in Nottingham.
The 23-year-old had suffered a psychotic episode that evening and thought she was Mary Magdalene.
Mrs Head, 51, said her daughter would be alive today had it not been for cannabis and warned about the false sense of security around the drug.
‘Cannabis is so destructive. Smoking it can lead to psychosis. Once you are in psychosis you have lost touch with reality. ‘Why would you risk that?’ Her daughter would spend all her cash on cannabis leading to bouts of heavy smoking that would worsen her psychosis. It was only when she had run out of money and unable to buy the drug that her mother could see an improvement in her mental health.
‘But when the money came in, the cycle started all over again,’ Mrs Head added. ‘Her paranoia became so severe that she once threw out all of the food we had bought her. She thought we were trying to poison her.’
Emily did not buy cannabis online, but Mrs Head, a mortgage broker from Ockbrook, Derbyshire, is concerned for other parents now that the drug is on sale on Instagram.
‘Instagram sales could really exacerbate the risk, because children are buying stronger stuff and it’s also more readily available, she said.
‘Instagram should not be allowing dealers to advertise cannabis on their site.’