Cannabis and mental health

Question 1

Cannabis and mental health (I)

Answer 1

• Increase risk of psychosis
• A motivational syndrome:
  Lack of activity, inward-turning, avolition, apathy, incoherence, blunted affect, inability to concentrate and memory disturbance. Sometimes depending on when they started using cannabis, all these things can come back to normal, but depending on the time.
• Neuropsychological problems in chronic users, particularly in early users
• Dependency. Cannabis use disorder

Question 2

Cannabis and mental health (II)

Answer 2

• Therapeutic indication for cannabis or cannabinoids for mental health issues?
  If we are saying there are mechanisms linking mental health issues with cannabis, how come they are using cannabis to treat mental health issues?
• Studies on the effect of CBD and Nabilone on:
• PTSD
• Schizophrenia
• Social anxiety
  Theres strong evidence that says CBD helps with psychotic like symptoms triggered by THC
• However, questionable methodology and small samples
• Short- and long-term side effects?
• Interactions with other drugs?

Question 3

Legal status and current medical use

Answer 3

• From a traditional practice, to criminalization, to liberalisation?
• Safety- De criminalisation of cannabis increases safety as we know it will be high quality, however it increases use in general and also if there are children round thats a safety passer
• Taxes- tax payer money that comes from cannabis use is being reinvested on research into cannabis use. This research can make it even safer
• Thoughts on the ethical implications?

Question 4

Does the legal status vary around the world? + examples

Answer 4

Yes it does.

USA- 9 states
Cananda- legal
UK- illegal
Spain- Decriminalised (no longer considered crime)
Portugal- Decriminalised
Netherlands- Decriminalised
Uruguay- Decriminalised

Question 5

Legal status in the UK

Answer 5

• 6.5% people between 16 and 59 used cannabis in the previous year
• 15.8% between 16 and 24
• Illegal for recreational use
• Legal for medical purposes
• Children with epilepsy since 2018. Controversial!
• Chronic pain
• Spasticity caused by MS
• Nausea and vomiting caused by chemotherapy
• Cannabidiol?- what happens- in the UK there are a lot of places of cannabidiol- its kind of legal but you cannot sell it as a drug for medical purposes. These shops will be temporary because things are going to change in cannabis research.

Question 6

What was most harmful for mental and physical health?

Answer 6

Mental health- cannabis
Physical health- tobacco

Question 7

Yeah, but what do I do if my clients use cannabis?

Answer 7

• First of all, it is an illegal substance in the UK
• Except if it is prescribed
• Should I warn them about the potential harms?
• Should I refer them somewhere?
• Should I do something legally?