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Cannabis: the ‘gateway to hell’ for adolescents and youth
View(s):Spotlighting the severe impact of cannabis use on mental and physical health, a Psychiatrist stresses why there should be no large-scale cultivations
By Kumudini Hettiarachchi
To grow or not to grow on a large scale – this is the decision that Sri Lanka has to make with regard to cannabis (Cannabis sativa), taking into account science-based evidence.
Whatever name such as marijuana, ganja, pot, hashish or hash oil it may be called, the Sri Lanka College of Psychiatrists is adamant that cannabis should not be grown on a large scale in the country as its ill-effects far outweigh any small beneficial effects.
When taking into account the three major aspects of mental and physical health and economic benefit, scientific research clearly indicates that the negatives far outweigh the benefits, underscores college representative, Prof. Amila Isuru who is Professor in Psychiatry, Head of Department at the Faculty of Medicine and Allied Sciences of the Rajarata University.
Assuring that he is heavily backed by evidence, he says that when a person uses cannabis, he/she when compared to a non-user, has a 3-6 times higher risk of developing severe mental illness needing lifelong treatment.
These mental issues, among the first 10 most-disabling diseases in the world, include schizophrenia (which affects how a person thinks, feels and behaves, sometimes resulting in hallucinations, delusions and disorganized thinking and behaviour); bipolar disorder (which has major swings in mood, energy levels and behaviour, with manic episodes); and cannabis-induced psychosis (loss of contact with reality) and cognition (intellectual) impairment, he says.
In evidence of an increase in schizophrenia with cannabis use, he cites the 2025 JAMA Network Open journal’s ‘original investigation’ on substance use and addiction titled: ‘Changes in Incident Schizophrenia Diagnoses Associated With Cannabis Use Disorder After Cannabis Legalization’.
It states: “In this cohort study of individuals aged 14 to 65 years in Ontario, Canada, the proportion of incident cases of schizophrenia associated with cannabis use disorder (CUD) almost tripled during a period of substantial liberalization of cannabis policy. Ongoing research is indicated to understand the long-term associations of cannabis policy with the prevalence of psychotic disorders. ”
Underscoring that cannabis use leads to higher rates of suicides, Prof. Isuru says that there is also strong evidence pointing towards an increase in violence many times over due to the use of this substances as well as a rise in the crime rate in a given community due to the same cause. This was so in the recent past when Canada legalized the use of cannabis. A basic principle in criminology is the implementation of public health interventions to reduce cannabis use to bring down the crime rate.
The most dangerous impact of cannabis is that it acts as the “gateway to hell”, particularly with younger generations who after initially using cannabis later move onto more dangerous and nastier substances such as ice (crystal methamphetamine), heroin and cocaine, he says while also detailing the impact on brain development if cannabis is used by adolescents and youth (15-23 years).
This psychiatrist points out that while it increases the risk of mental illness, it compromises and impairs cognitive faculties including analytical power and rational thinking. Then the country would have a future generation with “disabled minds” and university teachers are seeing this quite often where some undergraduates find it difficult to follow lectures and leave the course prematurely due to this reason.
“The tragedy is that such intellectual impairment is not reversible. However much there is treatment, it does not come back to normal,” he laments.
Referring to the adverse impact of cannabis use on physical health, he points out that they are similar to those of tobacco use – cancer, heart disease, stroke and lung dysfunction including Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD).
With regard to arguments that cannabis is good for the treatment of some illnesses, Prof. Isuru says that it contains a complex mixture of chemicals but the most well known are cannabinoids, which include tetrahydrocannabinol (THC – the psychoactive component) and cannabidiol (CBD). It is the extracted CBD which is used as a painkiller, for seizures and to minimize the side-effects of chemotherapy such as nausea. However, it should be kept in mind that CBD is not first-line (preferred) treatment and there are many other options.
On accruing economic benefits by selling large cannabis stocks to the world, he says if the authorities are thinking of making huge amounts of money by exploiting the tiny medicinal value of CBD, that market is already saturated.
The “unseen hand” behind the promotion of cannabis is the tobacco industry, warns Prof. Isuru as their profits with their own product is dropping drastically due to high taxation and people being aware and conscious of the ill-effects of tobacco. The industry is pushing cannabis use as a form of recreation which once a person gets hooked would lead him/her to tobacco.
Therefore, it is very clear whether Sri Lanka should grow cannabis on a large scale or not. It should not have large-scale cultivations because the ill-effects far outweigh the tiny benefits, he adds.
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