Sir, – Further to “Citizens’ assembly set to call for liberalisation of drugs laws” (News, October 1st) and recent correspondence (Letters, October 4th), the European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Drugs (2019) reported that while almost one in 10 students in Ireland had used cannabis in the previous 30 days with a mean starting age of 15, almost a third said there was no risk in trying cannabis.
What does the evidence say about the effects of cannabis on mental health, particularly among young people?
A report from the College of Psychiatrists in Ireland states that cannabis can both precipitate new mental illness and exacerbate pre-existing mental illness and risk, with a three-fold to four-fold increased risk of acute psychosis.
Early cannabis use and high-potency cannabis increases the risk of progression to a long-term chronic psychotic disorder such as schizophrenia or a major depressive disorder. Young cannabis users are at higher risk of anxiety disorders and chronic cannabis users more likely to report suicidal thoughts than non-cannabis users.
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There is mounting evidence of the potential for cannabis use to impact on both brain development and mental health, with children and young adults particularly vulnerable.
Added to that there is increasing awareness of the potential for long-term impact on foetal brains while still in the womb.
At a time of increasing levels of mental illness among young people in Ireland and a critical lack of capacity within mental health treatment services, the Citizens’ Assembly on Drugs Use is an opportunity to widen the debate from repeated discussion around legalisation to the prioritisation of evidence-based interventions to support prevention and treatment in an Irish setting.
Increasing the awareness of risks to mental health and brain development among young people would be a good place to start. – Yours, etc,
Dr CATHERINE CONLON,
Ballintemple,
Cork.
Sir, – We currently have two forms of legal drug, alcohol and tobacco, both of which already cause a great deal of harm to society and on which the health agencies spend quite a bit of money to discourage, simply because of the harm they do, even though they are legal.
The health service is full of people sick and dying from the existing legal drugs and that’s why there are such restrictions, even on these relatively “soft” legal drugs.
Why would we add more problem substances to the existing problems?
Legalisation will inevitably increase both use and the harm associated.
It is well known that cannabis can cause a great deal of harm, especially to young minds, increasing paranoia and psychosis.
Heroin and cocaine are highly addictive and can rapidly destroy the body’s ability to produce its own “feel good” endorphins, leading to an ever increasing dependence on the substance just to function, as well as destroying the body itself as usage increases.
Even if legalisation made these substances as cheap as chips, do we really think it’s a good idea for someone to be using drugs they didn’t actually need in the first place, just so they can feel normal, when not using them at all means that they will feel normal anyway?
Society regulates lots of activities because they are bad for society and to protect the vulnerable as best it can.
Nobody actually needs cannabis, cocaine, heroin or party pills.
Drugs can cause a great deal of harm to some of those who use them and cost a huge amount of time and money to the health services, fixing problems which are totally avoidable by the simple expedient of not using drugs.
If anybody wants a “feel-good” rush, start taking exercise, maybe get involved in organised sport or at least your own outdoor activity like hill walking, running, cycling, etc, and enjoy the natural buzz you can get from a bit of exercise, and it’s actually good for you as well.
You also won’t be supporting criminal organisations which list intimidation, slavery, fear, sexual violence and murder among their working methods.
Think of Mexico, for example, and the huge amount of people being murdered, tortured and beheaded by drugs gangs and next time you’re thinking of taking illegal drugs, ask yourself, do I really want to support that?
Maybe, instead of legalising these more dangerous drugs, it is time society moved more against illegal drug users, as without a market for these drugs, it would lessen the incentive to supply and the violence and criminality associated with that.
Being forced, upon an initial civil conviction, to do community service in drug rehab clinics, to see the harm illegal drugs can do to some people, might encourage people not to use illegal drugs again.
Should that fail, after perhaps two appearances in court for illegal drug use, then the move to criminal conviction with its associated problems of being unable to travel to many countries and the use of fines linked to income might further encourage individuals not to engage in illegal drug taking.
The greater needs of society outweigh the whims of a few. – Yours, etc,
DAVID DORAN,
Bagenalstown,
Co Carlow.