Coroner warns of cannabis link

Families are being urged to look for signs of depression and cannabis use among their loved ones after a surge in the number of Bay of Plenty people killing themselves with the drug in their blood.

The warning from Tauranga psychologist Hans Laven comes as the city's coroner and a police prosecutor voice concerns about the trend.

All three suicide cases before the Coroner's Court last month tested positive for cannabis use, and there was at least one case in each of two earlier sittings.

Tauranga Coroner Michael Cooney believed "virtually all" of the 13 suicides dealt with at his court this year had involved cannabis - although no blood test was ordered in at least five of those cases.

Mr Cooney said that, contrary to the stereotype that young males were the group most at risk of suicide, he was dealing with cases where victims were aged between 17 and 60.

Cannabis was often seen as relatively harmless drug but Mr Cooney said its involvement in so many suicides showed it was not as innocuous as people thought.

"The evidence we are seeing suggests that regular use of cannabis is probably more harmful than some people consider."

He said society should be very cautious about any moves to legalise cannabis before more research into its effects had been done.

Some of the people who committed suicide had a history of poor mental health as well as cannabis use, and it was not clear whether the drug was a symptom or a cause.

Mr Cooney said the issue of suicide was often avoided but it could not be ignored.

This year alone, five times as many Western Bay people have killed themselves as have died in car crashes.

The police prosecutor in charge of Western Bay inquests, Sergeant Wayne Hunter, said there was a "disturbing trend" of people using cannabis before committing suicide.

"A year ago you would hardly ever see cannabis on the reports but it seems to be happening a lot lately."

The National Organisation for the Reform of Marijuana Laws said it was unfair to link cannabis use to suicide. It said there would be times when people smoked tobacco or drank coffee before killing themselves but no one suggested that tobacco or coffee caused the suicide.

- NZPA