Drugs link to one in three teen suicides

DRUG taking – most often smoking cannabis – has been linked to nearly a third of suicides among young people.

Researchers found 29 per cent of those under 20 who killed themselves had taken illegal drugs at some point.

They also said that more than three-quarters of those who did so in the weeks before they died had used cannabis.

The findings of a Manchester University inquiry into young people and suicide add to growing evidence of links between cannabis and mental illness.

Researchers examined 145 suicides of people aged under 20 between January 2014 and April 2015, and concluded that apart from physical health conditions, drug taking was the factor they most commonly shared.

Conditions often found among young suicides include bad acne and asthma, both of which are likely to drive a sufferer towards social isolation.

The report said: ‘Several risk factors for suicide are common to all age groups – mental illness, self-harm, drug or alcohol misuse, social isolation.’

It added that 21 per cent of the suicides it studied were teenagers who had taken drugs in the three months before they died, 77 per cent of whom were known only to have used cannabis.

The study lays no blame for the deaths of the young people, making it unclear whether cannabis was a direct factor in their suicide or a symptom of unhappiness. However, it is considered as one of a number factors that may have contributed.

Professor Louis Appleby, director of Manchester’s National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness, said: ‘Suicide is a leading cause of death in young people and the impact on families is particularly traumatic.

‘We found the risk rose sharply from mid to late teens and the reasons appear to be complex. There are often family problems such as drug misuse or domestic violence and more recent stresses such as bullying or bereavement, leading to a final straw factor such as an exam or relationship breakdown.’

The study found drug abuse was most common among older teen suicides. Among these, 36 per cent had used drugs.

Worries about physical health were found in 36 per cent of all the deaths. Alcohol featured in 26 per cent of them, while 28 per cent had suffered a bereavement before they died. Just over one in five had been bullied and academic pressures at school or college were present in 27 per cent of cases.

Evidence of a connection between cannabis and poor mental health has been piling up over the past decade.

Kathy Gyngell, research fellow at the Centre for Policy Studies think-tank, said: ‘Cannabis is associated with poor mental health and psychosis and if you use cannabis your risk of suicide goes up.

‘If you already have mental health problems and you start using cannabis, the risk is higher. The most vulnerable people are the most likely to be badly damaged if they are exposed to cannabis.’

Studies have also shown that modern super-strength strains of cannabis such as ‘skunk’ pose higher risks.

The Psychoactive Substances Act came into force at midnight last night, making so-called ‘legal highs’ illegal.

It made it an offence to produce, supply, and import or export any substance intended for human consumption that is capable of producing a psychoactive effect.

The new act excludes legitimate substances such as food, alcohol, tobacco, nicotine, caffeine and medical products from the scope of the offence, as well as controlled drugs, which continue to be regulated by the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971.

‘Poor mental health’