A close example from Britain is the case of Portugal, which experienced a massive increase in cannabis-induced psychosis after it decriminalized the drug in 2001.
Robin Murray, drug expert, and professor of psychiatric research at the Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, warned that many of today’s parents do not take seriously enough that their children are marijuana users. During an interview, he detailed a series of terrible effects suffered by his psychiatric patients, most of whom arrive at the institute after the effects generated by consuming the drug.
Murray, the director of a clinic dedicated to treating psychosis cases, said that at least a third of these are caused by cannabis consumption, reported the DailyMail.
Most of the patients are young people, often minors, who usually present with symptoms of debilitating paranoia and hallucinations.
The expert’s warning statements come just as London is close to relaxing laws on drug use and possession as many countries and states in the United States are doing, following generally irresponsible progressive policies that do not consider the dangers of drugs and the effects they can create in young people and adolescents.
A close example from Britain is the case of Portugal, which experienced a massive increase in cannabis-induced psychosis after it decriminalized the drug in 2001.
Robin, during an interview with the Times media outlet, said:
“I think we’re now 100 percent sure that cannabis is one of the causes of a schizophrenia-like psychosis,” adding, “If we could abolish the consumption of skunk, we would have 30 percent less patients [in south London] and we might make a better job of looking after the patients we have.”
The latter he said about an earlier comment in the interview, in which he explained that many patients with psychosis due to marijuana use are somehow overstretching the institutions’ limits of care, resulting in the care of the rest of the patients often being flawed.
From King’s College, Robin supervised research that was later published in the journal The Lancet Psychiatry, which highlights that a person who consumes highly concentrated marijuana is five times more likely to develop psychosis than those who do not.
In short, cases of psychosis in London could be reduced by up to 30 percent if marijuana were taken off the streets, the report concludes.
Robin spoke out against policies to relax restrictions on the consumption and carrying of drugs, especially if they are implemented without first establishing a real education plan that includes a warning about the effects of the drug on the behavior of users, and the irreparable damage it causes to the brain.
He also warned about the traffic accidents that people under the influence of drugs generate.
“‘But we need also to track road traffic accidents, street violence and visits to A&E departments for cannabis problems,” Robin said.
As legislation increases worldwide to legalize the use and trade of drugs such as cannabis, new scientific studies are also emerging that contradict the arguments used to implement these regulations.
As an example, last year, one of the developed peer-reviewed studies of this type published by the Canadian Medical Association Journal shows that young adults who consume cannabis have twice the risk of suffering a heart attack than non-consumers.
Following the recent legalization of Cannabis in Canada and its decriminalization in some areas of the United States, there was an increase in the availability and social acceptance of the drug, leading to a rise in the use of the drug, primarily among young adults.
This new study only reinforces the results of previous studies.
Tags: Cannabis Decriminalization Marijuana New Drug Trends Research Study
