Cannabis puts 27,000 people a year in hospital: Rise in admissions could be due to increase in use of super-strength ‘skunk’, warns MP
- There were 27,501 admissions linked to cannabis in England in 2016/17, a 15 per cent rise in just two years from 23,866 in 2014/15
- Medical journal The Lancet takes unprecedented step of branding cannabis a ‘huge risk to health’
Tens of thousands of people are ending up in hospital with cannabis-related health problems, official figures have revealed.
There were 27,501 admissions linked to cannabis in England in 2016/17, a 15 per cent rise in just two years from 23,866 in 2014/15.
Labour MP Jeff Smith, who requested the figures on cannabis-related hospitalisations, said the large increase was ‘a concern’.
The influential medical journal The Lancet has just taken the unprecedented step of branding cannabis a ‘huge risk to health’.
The journal was reflecting on results from the 2018 Global Drug Survey, which asked 130,000 people in 44 nations about their use of drugs. The Lancet said: ‘Globally, cannabis is still the top illicit drug used and, with the concurrent use of tobacco, remains a huge health risk.’