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File image: An employee holds up cannabis in a laboratory at a herbal medicines manufacturer.
The University of Pretoria’s Professor Olalekan Ayo-Yusuf says that cannabis-related psychiatric problems among adolescents have more than doubled since 2017.
He says this is in light of the decriminalisation of cannabis and the massive surge in vaping in South Africa.
“An increasing number of people started associating vaping and nicotine with mental health disorders. The hypothesis is that people are self-medicating with nicotine as they get into this mental health disorder. However, there’s also what we call the reverse hypothesis or reverse gateway – so, where you have traditionally people who will start with illegal substances like nicotine or smoking and then they move towards what’s not legal.”
Ayo-Yusuf says it appears that those with mental health disorders are susceptible to try drugs. He says the risk is that a mental health patient can default on treatment or suffer a relapse.
PODCAST | Professor Olalekan Ayo-Yusuf’s full interview:
