Young children with mental health issues could be treated with medicinal cannabis

CHILDREN as young as twelve suffering anxiety and severe mental health issues could be treated with medicinal cannabis as part of a world first study.

EXCLUSIVE

CHILDREN as young as twelve suffering anxiety and severe mental health issues could be treated with medicinal cannabis, as part of a world first study by former Australian of The Year, psychiatrist Patrick McGorry.

Professor McGorry has received private philanthropic funding through the Lambert Initiative to start medicinal cannabis trials in mentally ill young people aged 12-25 through Headspace centres from June.

Patients with anxiety and depression who have had trouble with traditional therapies will receive two to four powder capsules daily of cannabidiol, a nonpsychoactive component of cannabis. Those taking part will receive the medication for twelve weeks to see the impact of the drug on their condition. If successful patients could receive access to the drug longer term.

Professor McGorry’s study will be the first in the world to look at the use of cannabidiol in youth.

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Former Australian of the Year Professor Patrick McGorry.

Previous studies in Europe have shown cannabidiol to be effective in adults for treating anxiety and depression and well-tolerated across a wide dose range. The drug interacts with receptors in the brain to regulate fear and anxiety-related behaviours.

Studies in mice suggest that cannabidiol is non-toxic, doesn’t impact appetite or affect blood pressure, body temperature, motor functions or psychological functions.

Professor McGorry said alternative medications to antidepressants were desperately needed.

“We know that in at least 50 per cent of cases where young people are prescribed antidepressants that they don’t actually work,” Professor McGorry told News Corp Australia.

“We need to get innovative and look at alternative therapies to help reduce this burden that is growing among our youth.”

Professor McGorry said cannabis was understandably controversial, but that cannabidiol was the “safest part of medicinal cannabis”.

“Also it’s important to remember that this wouldn’t be the first line of treatment,” he said.

“It would be for people who haven’t had success with traditional therapies.”

Paul Amminger, senior research Fellow at Orygen, the premier national research centre for youth mental health, is conducting the study with Professor McGorry and said if successful the treatment would help thousands of anxiety sufferers.

“This is not a small number of people,” he said.

Mr Amminger said the pilot study would commence in June with a larger research project planned following initial results.

The study will face an internal ethics committee, with it to be presented to a federal ethics committee later this month.

Youth anxiety is a growing issue in Australia with statistics showing 15.4 per of Australian young people (16 years to 24 years) have experienced anxiety in the last 12 months.

Hannah Cheers, 23, has suffered anxiety since the age of 19.

Hannah Cheers, 23 from Campsie suffers from anxiety and says she would like to see the condition treated with medical cannabis.

At its worst it was crippling. Hannah said that she trialled antidepressants several times but they left her with side effects that “wasn’t worth it”.

Ms Cheers, a Sydney-based musician, said she would be open to trialling cannabidiol if it made her anxiety better.

“At the moment I feel I’ve got things under control but I would definitely be open to it if it helped,” she said.

She said the stigma around cannabis was “rubbish”.

“I think that whole stigma is rubbish and people need to make decisions for themselves and their condition,” Ms Cheers said.

“I don’t think it should be anyone else’s business if it’s not hurting people.”