‘Cannabis psychosis destroyed my son’s mind’
by The Daily Telegraph, London, UK –
Sadiq Khan wants to decriminalise the Class-B drug, but families and doctors warn that smoking it is ‘playing Russian roulette with your brain’. By Gwyneth Rees
For retired charity director Terry Hammond, 78, the issue of cannabis-induced psychosis has come to dominate his life. About 25 years ago, his teenage son Steven, now 42, began smoking skunk – a highly potent strain of the drug – at friends’ houses, without his parents knowing.
For retired charity director Terry Hammond, 78, the issue of cannabis-induced psychosis has come to dominate his life. About 25 years ago, his teenage son Steven, now 42, began smoking skunk – a highly potent strain of the drug – at friends’ houses, without his parents knowing.
“He was like so many young boys,” recalls Hammond from his home in Leicestershire. “He was bingeing on it in secret and thought it would be fine.” But around six months later, in the autumn of 1999, Steven suddenly became paranoid. “We were watching the BBC news, and he turned to me and accused me of ringing them. He was convinced the presenters were talking about him.”
The psychosis didn’t stop there. “He began to think aliens had taken over everybody,” adds Hammond. “Then he began mumbling in an incomprehensible language, shouting at the walls and locking himself in his room. He was a boy gripped by absolute fear and terror, and his beautiful mind had just been destroyed.”
The psychosis didn’t stop there. “He began to think aliens had taken over everybody,” adds Hammond. “Then he began mumbling in an incomprehensible language, shouting at the walls and locking himself in his room. He was a boy gripped by absolute fear and terror, and his beautiful mind had just been destroyed.”
At 21, and with no family history of mental health problems, Steven was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia – psychosis that continues indefinitely. He spent three months in the department of psychiatry at the Royal South Hants Hospital in Southampton, where he was put on the antipsychotic drug Olanzapine and given talking therapy. But even now – two decades on – Steven, who lives in a studio flat in his parents’ garden, is still affected by his early drug use.
At 21, and with no family history of mental health problems, Steven was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia – psychosis that continues indefinitely. He spent three months in the department of psychiatry at the Royal South Hants Hospital in Southampton, where he was put on the antipsychotic drug Olanzapine and given talking therapy. But even now – two decades on – Steven, who lives in a studio flat in his parents’ garden, is still affected by his early drug use.
At 21, and with no family history of mental health problems, Steven was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia – psychosis that continues indefinitely. He spent three months in the department of psychiatry at the Royal South Hants Hospital in Southampton, where he was put on the antipsychotic drug Olanzapine and given talking therapy. But even now – two decades on – Steven, who lives in a studio flat in his parents’ garden, is still affected by his early drug use.
“He cannot work and struggles socially,” says Hammond, who has Steven’s permission to share his story and has also written a book, Gone to Pot, to help others in similar circumstances. “He is still on antipsychotic drugs but continues to hear voices, although he now has the skills to rationalise them.
“He cannot work and struggles socially,” says Hammond, who has Steven’s permission to share his story and has also written a book, Gone to Pot, to help others in similar circumstances. “He is still on antipsychotic drugs but continues to hear voices, although he now has the skills to rationalise them.
“It has completely ruined his life, and as parents we have had to suffer the bereavement of losing our son. Fundamentally, it has damaged his brain for good. Young people need to know smoking cannabis is playing Russian roulette with brain damage.”
It is a harrowing story. But the issue of how to tackle the growing problem of ever-more potent cannabis on our streets divides those in power. Sir Sadiq Khan, London’s mayor, has backed a report by the London Drugs Commission stating that possession of small amounts of cannabis should be decriminalised. He said there was a “compelling, evidencebased case” for decriminalisation.
It is a harrowing story. But the issue of how to tackle the growing problem of ever-more potent cannabis on our streets divides those in power. Sir Sadiq Khan, London’s mayor, has backed a report by the London Drugs Commission stating that possession of small amounts of cannabis should be decriminalised. He said there was a “compelling, evidencebased case” for decriminalisation.
But on July 7, Britain’s leading police chiefs rejected this and urged their officers to crack down on the drug. Last month, David Sidwick, the Conservative police and crime commissioner for Dorset, wrote a letter to the police minister Diana Johnson – signed by 13 other police and crime commissioners – calling cannabis a “chronically dangerous drug” that is as harmful as cocaine and crack.
Evidence shows that cannabisinduced psychosis has substantially increased in recent years. A 2019 study published in The Lancet by Prof Marta Di Forti shows that cannabis is responsible for 30 per cent of first-time psychosis cases in south London (it is 50 per cent in Amsterdam).
Evidence shows that cannabisinduced psychosis has substantially increased in recent years. A 2019 study published in The Lancet by Prof Marta Di Forti shows that cannabis is responsible for 30 per cent of first-time psychosis cases in south London (it is 50 per cent in Amsterdam).
Further research, not yet published, by Dr Diego Quattrone and Dr Robin Murray, professors of psychiatric research at King’s College London, reveals that cannabis-induced psychosis in the
‘In America, the THC content is so strong, you can go psychotic in one night’
UK is three times more common than in the 1960s. Their research suggests that 75 per cent of this increase is down to the use of skunk, which accounts for 94 per cent of cannabis on the UK market.
“Violence is also associated with psychosis, and of the psychotic people who go on to kill, 90 per cent are using either alcohol or cannabis,” says Murray.
More experts are now linking cannabis use to violence, which they attribute to a chemical component in the plant – tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) – which can trigger hallucinations and paranoid ideas in vulnerable individuals. Worryingly, THC levels in cannabis have been rising sharply. In the 1960s, THC levels in “weed” were around 3 per cent. Today, most UK cannabis has THC levels of 16 to 20 per cent. In Holland, the figure is between 30 and 40 per cent, and in California, where cannabis is legal, levels can reach 80 per cent.
“It is not easy to get psychosis,” says Murray. “Typically, someone may smoke skunk for five years before it kicks in. But in America, the THC is so strong, you can go psychotic in one night. It will hit those who already have a history of mental health problems the worst. We are braced for an epidemic of psychosis.”
Dr Niall Campbell, a consultant psychiatrist at the Roehampton Priory Clinic, believes looser cannabis regulation combined with increased potency have led to more patients suffering psychosis. “I don’t think this rise is that surprising given how easy skunk is to buy online, and how ubiquitous it has become,” he says.
“Psychosis often begins with young people smoking a few joints and feeling a bit paranoid. But if they don’t stop, over time they can reach a psychotic state which won’t go away, even if they stop smoking. Sadly, this psychosis may last a lifetime and once people are told that they can get very depressed or suicidal.”
“Psychosis often begins with young people smoking a few joints and feeling a bit paranoid. But if they don’t stop, over time they can reach a psychotic state which won’t go away, even if they stop smoking. Sadly, this psychosis may last a lifetime and once people are told that they can get very depressed or suicidal.”
Linsey Rafferty, 42, from Paisley near Glasgow, is one of those to have experienced damage firsthand. She had three short psychotic episodes over the decades she smoked, but in 2020, during the Covid lockdown, she suffered an extreme episode. “I was hearing things and writing all over the walls of my home,” she says. “I threw my phone away because I thought it had been tapped and was eating out of bins. It all made total sense to me at the time, and I can understand why people go violent.”
Linsey Rafferty, 42, from Paisley near Glasgow, is one of those to have experienced damage firsthand. She had three short psychotic episodes over the decades she smoked, but in 2020, during the Covid lockdown, she suffered an extreme episode. “I was hearing things and writing all over the walls of my home,” she says. “I threw my phone away because I thought it had been tapped and was eating out of bins. It all made total sense to me at the time, and I can understand why people go violent.”
Rafferty was sectioned and put on antipsychotics. Five years on, she has stopped smoking.
“When I stopped smoking, the psychosis went away,” she says. “But still, the episode was deep and long-lasting, and the scars haven’t gone. I never realised it could make me so vulnerable. I used to think drugs should be legalised, but not anymore.”