Number of psychiatric patients suffering from marijuana use appears to be increasing after decriminalization, Thai psychiatric hospital reports

[webfact]

PHOTO: Prachachat

 

By Nop Meechukhun

Nakhon Sawan – The Nakhon Sawan Rajanagarindra Psychiatric Hospital revealed on Friday, September 23rd, that an increasing number of psychiatric patients had been admitted due to recreational cannabis use after the plant was decriminalized in Thailand on June 9th.

Deputy Director Manthana Kittiphirachon told reporters that the hospital has mostly treated patients with mental illness. However, more and more patients who are addicted to drugs and substances are recently seeking treatment at the hospital.

 

Most of the drug-addicted patients are found with the use of cannabis. They have increased from only 122 cases in all of 2021 to 103 cases within eight months of January – August 2022.

 

Full story: https://thepattayanews.com/2022/09/25/number-of-psychiatric-patients-suffering-from-marijuana-use-appears-to-be-increasing-after-decriminalization-thai-psychiatric-hospital-reports/

 

-- © Copyright The Pattaya News 2022-09-26

 

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[alyx]

Does that mean that people are being admitted in psychiatric wards because they are using marijuana ??? ????

 

Kind of far farfetched, isn't ?  Surely that would have made the headlines in the rest of the world....years ago, if marijuana was that dangerous

 

Or maybe, maybe, nowadays, these patients declare they are using marijuana whereas a few months ago they would have ended in a court, if they had done so at the time

 

Statistics, statistics...

 

Flabbergasted

[MrMuddle]

More ridiculous claims from people who should know better. One has to wonder if they aren't being "subsidised" to make these wild assertions.

[jacko45k]

1 hour ago, alyx said:

Kind of far farfetched, isn't ?  Surely that would have made the headlines in the rest of the world....years ago, if marijuana was that dangerous

It happened in countries where psychiatric health issues were not so obvious, USA, Canada etc. 

[Skeptic7]

They need to legalize 'shrooms ???? to treat them! 

[2baht]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

Most of the drug-addicted patients are found with the use of cannabis.

What a crock of digested waste! More likely suffering mental health issues as an effect of the policies of the current authoritarian administration!

[sammieuk1]

Umm I wonder what that could be? vaping fits the bill????

[Orinoco]

Sounds like a bit of Bs to me.

Most likely had issues way before smoking any pot.

 

https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/b61d1fa3-799f-4a5e-a559-f37de1130dfc

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Orinoco]

Think  many people have serious psychiatric issues in Thailand.

and the love of play acting is strong here.

Just one example below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaNNkNzqurc

 

And one, for fans of the Power Ranger impressionists.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xhv3LJ-JoZk

 

[josephbloggs]

Why do they keep printing this kind of nonsense, right wing propaganda?  It seems we have one a day.  We get one of these and a Thaksin article daily.  "Thaksin says something".  "Thaksin eats food".  "Marijuana kills you".  "Marijuana gives you schizophrenia".

"They have increased from only 122 cases in all of 2021 to 103 cases within eight months of January – August 2022."

Extrapolating that gives 154 cases for the year, an increase of just 34 people.  In an entire year.  In an entire country of 69 million people.  And there is no proof of causation.  These extra 34 people have mental illness because of marijuana??  I don't think so.  

And even if they did, think of the millions of marijuana users nationwide.  Again, 34 people.  With absolutely no proof of causation, at all.

The last paragraph in the article says it all:

"“Therefore, it is important to remind patients that those who are suffering with certain diseases, especially psychiatric disorders such as depression, bipolar disorder, substance-related psychosis, and schizophrenia, that they are not suitable for cannabis use because it will affect their symptoms in the long run,” the doctor stressed."

Well, yeah, duh!  Just like schizophrenics shouldn't get drunk.

What a pointless, ridiculous article.  I wonder what the motivation of publishing it is, it is a waste of internet space.

[jaywalker2]

Just the fact that he used the word "addicted" in relation to marijuana shows it's not qualified for his position. And 103 patients? Ludicrous.

[redwood1]

And what chance some were meth users too? If you take meth you almost for sure smoke weed...

[BostonRob2]

Reading this nonsense I went completely bonkers. Mind you I had just enjoyed my first Gorilla Glue of the day.

 

????

 

Rooster

[jingjai9]

How well developed is the institution of psychiatrics in Thailand? How long has this area of study been available here? How many years have psychiatrists and psychologists been in practice? 

 

[KhunLA]

122 / 12 = 10.169

103 / 8 = 12.75

Stop the presses ????

 

So on the admission form, since a bit schizo, should I admit to using YaBa and be paranoid of jail sentence or should I admit to using ganja and nothing to worry about.

[KhunLA]

7 minutes ago, redwood1 said:

And what chance some were meth users too? If you take meth you almost for sure smoke weed...

Not really, as all the speed freaks I knew didn't smoke much.

[Colabamumbai]

50 year smoker. Suffer delusions of grandeur. 

[jacko45k]

1 hour ago, jaywalker2 said:

Just the fact that he used the word "addicted" in relation to marijuana shows it's not qualified for his position. And 103 patients? Ludicrous.

I have heard the word used in relation to marijuana before by people who know very well.... but they added it does not produce chemical dependency, like nicotine, but more a social/mental addiction....a form of dependence. Not sure how you see that, but as I am not a user I am not really qualified to know. 

[Tropposurfer]

As an actual expert in addiction;

• Folks having pre-existing (latent) comorbidity issues show marijuana use supports and promotes onset of apparent (obvious) metal health issues after they begin using marijuana.
• Data (collected over many decades now) across the world clearly shows very early i.e. (early teens or even younger) and continued use of marijuana (especially very high THC content hydroponic strains of the drug) appears to show clear, stark connections to marked increase to the risk of mental health issues in the 20's and early 30's e.g. early onset schizophrenia.
• If used early enough in childhood neo-cortex frontal lobe area brain development can be severely impaired e.g. the areas of the brain that deal with speech  can be so severely impacted that the patient can appear to be 'mentally deficient', and not just when that person is high and sedated by the drug.
• If you or anyone you know has any propensity to struggle coping in life, has other obsessive compulsive proclivities apart from e.g. gambling, alcohol, sex, or has suffered from sexual abuse or severe violence (especially) in early life then I would move cautiously when considering adding any or another drug to your system.
• I would certainly advise parents not to allow their developing-brain children anywhere near marijuana or alcohol.

[ezzra]

I guess that now the use marijuana have been decriminalised, i suppose that many people who never used now thinks that it is ok to use, and many of them new users don't know what to expect or should not use for a various of health reasons and this is how you get the explosion of cases where people needed Psychiatric care or attention...

[jonclark]

"They have increased from only 122 cases in all of 2021 to 103 cases within eight months of January – August 2022."

 

Right - so in 2021 according to the hospitals figures it was an approximate 10 a month admission rate (122/12). 

So far in 2022 it is a 13 per month admission rate. A rise of three all attributed to cannabis use and cannabis wasn't even decimalized for 6 of those 8 months as it was only decimalized in June. 

What was the admission rate for 2018, 2019 and 2020 - that might provide further context? 

 

I am surprised that this has been pinned on cannabis rather than the god awful economic situation, debt and stress caused by the past two year - obviously that had no impact whatsoever. 

 

If this is evidence then its basically nonsense.  

[rwill]

Reefer Madness!!!

[Doctor Tom]

A rather premature report.  Its far too early since decriminalization to come to any conclusions on mental health impacts in LOS.  I'm sure that there will be some, as it's an insidious drug and it can clearly be harmful for frequent users, but give it a good while before drawing any firm conclusions.  There are plenty of Worldwide studies that can be used as base data.   

[Baron Samedi]

No <deleted> !?

How weird is that ?

????????????

[Thingamabob]

Utterly ridiculous article. Even if the numbers quoted are true they are insignificant.

[spidermike007]

There are a few misconceptions here. First of all, cannabis is not addicting. It does create some psychological dependence, but that is not the same as an addiction, such as one has with more serious drugs such as opiates. Stopping the use of cannabis is relatively easy, and results on no physical withdrawal effects at all. 

 

Second, if someone is very weak, and already has some mental health issues, perhaps cannabis could exacerbate that. But, I seriously doubt it "creates" mental health issues of any sort, in most cases, for adults. Kids could be different. I stated using ganga at 13. But, it was nowhere near as powerful back then, as it is now. That is part of the issue. And @Tropposurfer accurately quoted, if someone is already susceptible, it may put them over the edge. It is likely not a good idea for someone who has significant pre-existing conditions to use very powerful strains of ganga. 

[Tropicalevo]

Maybe those smokers that are in denial (all of them?) should search

'mental health issues from smoking cannabis'

Many medical and government bodies are in agreement that there is a connection - especially in younger people. More studies are under way. Previous studies say that there is a connection

There are also studies re the long term affects on the lungs. These have never been looked into before because those that smoke it think that it is safe.

Sucking anything into your lungs is not safe! Tobacco is not the only killer.

 

[jaywalker2]

3 hours ago, jacko45k said:

I have heard the word used in relation to marijuana before by people who know very well.... but they added it does not produce chemical dependency, like nicotine, but more a social/mental addiction....a form of dependence. Not sure how you see that, but as I am not a user I am not really qualified to know. 

By that definition anything can be addictive, sex, video games, chocolate, yoga, etc. But the point is that marijuana does not create a physical dependency in the way that, say, that alcohol or opiates do. If they've seen only 103 patients, you have to figure that marijuana isn't the cause but the psychological state of the patients.

[jaywalker2]

6 minutes ago, Tropicalevo said:

Maybe those smokers that are in denial (all of them?) should search

'mental health issues from smoking cannabis'

Many medical and government bodies are in agreement that there is a connection - especially in younger people. More studies are under way. Previous studies say that there is a connection

There are also studies re the long term affects on the lungs. These have never been looked into before because those that smoke it think that it is safe.

Sucking anything into your lungs is not safe! Tobacco is not the only killer.

 

When people smoke tobacco, they're usually smoking 20 or 30 cigarettes a day or more. Marijuana users are more likely to smoke 1 or 2 joints if that. When marijuana was first liberalized here, I bought 10 grams and smoked nearly every day for a week. Then I stopped with no trouble at all. And I have no desire to continue smoking either.

[KhunLA]

4 minutes ago, Tropicalevo said:

Maybe those smokers that are in denial (all of them?) should search

'mental health issues from smoking cannabis'

 

Sucking anything into your lungs is not safe! Tobacco is not the only killer.

Maybe you non smoker, might listen a bit to us smokers.  Topic is mental effects from, and none for me, or anyone I know or have known.  That's a lot potheads.

 

Myself, use to habitually smoke morning, noon, night when younger.  Realizing 'smoking itself' is not healthy, slowed down, stopped, occasional, or anywhere in between.  As that's common sense.  'Smoking' anything is not healthy long term, and will eventually damage your lungs.

 

But smoking ganga is neither addicting, nor causes psychological problems IMHO, from over 50 yrs of experience smoking.  Lung are clean, as don't smoke enough to damage them.  Uncommon common sense.