Cannabis made my son hang himself

Cannabis made my son hang himself
By Kerry McQueeney, Croydon Guardian
June 24, 2006

A heartbroken father believes cannabis drove his son to take his own life.

Gregory Thibeault told the Croydon Guardian his son Geoffrey's long-term habit triggered mental health problems which led the 34-year-old dad-of-three hanging himself.

Speaking from his home in Sandpiper Lane, Selsdon, Gregory said he hoped his son's story would encourage others to give the drug up.

He said: "There's a lot of talk about cannabis being a soft' drug, but I believe it can trigger things in certain people and I believe this is what happened in Geoff's case.

"I am absolutely convinced that cannabis altered something in his mind and nobody is going to tell me any different. I believe cannabis was ultimately responsible for his death."

An inquest into Geoffrey's death at Croydon Coroner's Court heard how the painter and decorator's GP urged him to give up cannabis on March 24 after he complained of paranoia, believing his telephone was bugged and that he was being monitored by police.

But on April 16, Gregory called police to his son's home in Milton Road, Croydon, after he failed to turn up to a family lunch.

Gregory added: "We were all sitting in the restaurant waiting for him. When he didn't turn up I knew something was wrong.

"He'd told me the day before that he would eventually kill himself and I asked him not to do that to us."

Police broke into the property, which had been barricaded from the inside, and found Geoffrey hanging from the staircase.

The hearing heard officers found cash left neatly piled on top of the washing machine as well as a note asking for forgiveness for what he had done.

[/b]A postmortem showed no trace of cannabis in Geoffrey's system at the time of his death.[/b]

Gregory added: "Geoff had smoked cannabis since his early 20s. The ironic thing was that at the time of his death he was off the stuff. But I guess by then it was too late, the damage had already been done.

"Geoffrey was separated from the mother of his children but he was a happy-go-lucky guy. Cannabis changed him.

"The week before his death he had been on holiday with us and he seemed happier. But he was obsessed with this idea that his phone and ours were being tapped and that people were watching him. He was due to see a doctor about his state of mind."

Recording an open verdict last Thursday, coroner Dr Roy Palmer said he couldn't be sure Geoffrey was mentally capable of forming the necessary intention to kill himself.

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Gregory added: "Geoff had smoked cannabis since his early 20s. The ironic thing was that at the time of his death he was off the stuff. But I guess by then it was too late, the damage had already been done.

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maybe he should have stayed on to utilize its antidepressant value

^Not necessarily. I know when I was abusing cannabis, it seemed to make my depression worse after the initial high wore-off, and especially when I didn't have any... I would almost be in tears if I couldn't get my hands on any.

Cannabis is a strange drug. For some people it can be completely harmless, but with those who have a predisposition, or family history of schizophrenia and/or depression, or actually, any mental illnesses for that matter, they should steer clear.

I'm not trying to demonize Cannabis in any way here. But, I do believe by some people it is taken too lightly in how it has the potential to change people.
I've seen it change people for the worse, while others it has changed for the better.
But, I have tried many different drugs, including Heroin and meth and never experienced any addiction, or as many problems Cannabis caused me while I was using it.

I suppose, what it comes down to, is that many different drugs affect different individuals in many different ways.

of course it was the pot and not other mental problems 8( thats why he killed himself when he was no longer using

i can't believe these stories even get in the news.. the entire story is based around the parent's opinion that is based on nothing but his own speculation. I mean is this really news? Do we need an article on everyone's opinion of everything? I think this guy is a dumbass and so is the reporter.. where's my article?

fruitfly said:

"I am absolutely convinced that cannabis altered something in his mind and nobody is going to tell me any different. I believe cannabis was ultimately responsible for his death."

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that right there sums up the whole thing. easier to blame a drug then to admit you failed him as a family, right?

i had a friend who pretty much lost it because of cannabis and MDMA. I agree that cannabis is considered harmless by a lot of people but it isn't. Maybe legalisation and education could help people understand this.

This father is just looking for some closeur. No one can say for sure that cannabis played a part in his sons suicide.

Exactly, this man is using weed as a scapegoat instead of coming to the realization his son was a deeply disturbed man with some strong emotional problems. You can't really blame him, but from the outside looking in its pretty apparent it played little to no goddamn role.

I like the way all the cannabis smokers jump to its defence.

Simple as this, drugs effect people different and it could have been sorely the pot alone that drove him to kill himself.

SIMPLE AS THAT.

People like him should never have smoked in the first place.

Originally posted by Diacetylus

Cannabis is a strange drug. For some people it can be completely harmless, but with those who have a predisposition, or family history of schizophrenia and/or depression, or actually, any mental illnesses for that matter, they should steer clear.

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This is true, cannabis may not have been what drove this man to kill himself, but it very well may have triggered his emotional problems. Cannabis has been shown to trigger schizophrenia in those that are at risk for developing it. I am not schizophrenic, but when I used pot, I had no ill effects until around my early 20's and then I began developing schizophrenic symptoms only while high. I promptly stopped using and all symptoms went away. Everybody reacts differently to any drug, especially if there is a history or predisposition to mental disorders.

[edited for spelling]

QuestionEverything said:

This is true, cannabis may not have been what drove this man to kill himself, but it very well may have triggered his emotional problems. Cannabis has been shown to trigger schizophrenia in those that are at risk for developing it. I am not schizophrenic, but when I used pot, I had no ill effects until around my early 20's and then I began developing schizophrenic symptoms only while high. I promptly stopped using and all symptoms went away. Everybody reacts differently to any drug, especially if there is a history or predisposition to mental disorders.

[edited for spelling]

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Same thing happend to my friend... SAME EXACT THING. Its weird cuz I thought no one was like that. He would smoke and get SO paranoid and freak out. One time actually went to the hospital. (dumb I know)

Diacetylus said:

^Not necessarily. I know when I was abusing cannabis, it seemed to make my depression worse after the initial high wore-off, and especially when I didn't have any... I would almost be in tears if I couldn't get my hands on any.

Cannabis is a strange drug. For some people it can be completely harmless, but with those who have a predisposition, or family history of schizophrenia and/or depression, or actually, any mental illnesses for that matter, they should steer clear.

I'm not trying to demonize Cannabis in any way here. But, I do believe by some people it is taken too lightly in how it has the potential to change people.
I've seen it change people for the worse, while others it has changed for the better.
But, I have tried many different drugs, including Heroin and meth and never experienced any addiction, or as many problems Cannabis caused me while I was using it.

I suppose, what it comes down to, is that many different drugs affect different individuals in many different ways.

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i agree. some people seem to be able to smoke all the time and be relatively functional, but i have also seen other people who have been completely fucked up after they started smoking weed (myself being one of them...once i stopped, i returned to my normal state of functioning and, as diacetylus said, i can use most other drugs without having such strong negative effects on my life.) i get annoyed at this prevailing opinion that weed is this safe, harmless drug...sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't.

that being said, i don't think you can ever blame a drug for a death in such a conclusive way...even an overdose bc in that case the person still makes the choice to use the drug.

Yes Cannabis can affect different people in different ways.

The point here is, where is the actual proof that Cannabis was the cause of his death?

As said above, it is purely the opinion and speculation of the father.
No facts whatsoever.
So why is it news?
Oh wait, most news isn't facts anyways.

thats really sad. poor family.

i have to agree, weed is not as "soft" as its made out to be.

No drug is a "soft" drug. All drugs carry some form hazardous potential that should not be ignored and needs to be adressed to minimize the possibility of harm.

It is not reasonable to blame solely cannabis, but it is not reasonable to disregard the possibility that it had some negative effect either.

I'd be curious to see a comparison of suicide rates for users vs non users. It would also be interesting to know a little more background on this guy. I know I've heard that some groups(what comes to mind is NYC cops) are more likely to commit suicide.

We really can't be sure if cannabis contributed to this tragedy or not, but in defense of pot I'd like to say this. I honestly believe that marijuana, has not only made my life better, I think it has probably saved my life. I am an addict. The definition of addict I am going by is what I remember from some NA meetings, being that drugs/alcohol make your or someone elses life unmanagable. I like lots of different drugs, but the only one that has ever made my life unmanagable is alcohol( realized this in NA). I have found, if I have marijuana as an alternative to alcohol, I WILL NOT DRINK. The only time I drink is when I am deprived of pot for an extended period of time. Not only am I fully functional on pot, I am happier, a better person, and a more involved family man, but I am more motivated to exercise, eat right, and make decent moral decisions. Some may say this is all in my head and I guess I'd have to agree, but so is my addiction. Actually, my pot use has probably saved more lives than my own, when you consider how likely it is that I will attempt to drive home in a total blackout(I can't tell you how many times this has happened to me).

I smoke weed a lot, and have for years (since I was 15) and I know it has fucked me in many ways. It has also possibly created a massive balloon of depression and anxiety that might not have been there. But I'm willing to bet that these "dark sides" to life are always there... and people have been using countless scapegoats throughout the ages to blame for the downfall of humanity: Jews, drugs, aliens... gay people. Ultimately, nothing bad or good is ATTACHED to cannabis. It is a neutral object. Also, as some people here have said, even if it was the weed that made this guy crazy and depressed, he did choose to keep smoking it - and perhaps hated himself enough to use weed to inspire himself to suicide.

Although unfortunately, now I am worried about my cannabis habit.

Diacetylus said:

^Not necessarily. I know when I was abusing cannabis, it seemed to make my depression worse after the initial high wore-off, and especially when I didn't have any... I would almost be in tears if I couldn't get my hands on any.

Cannabis is a strange drug. For some people it can be completely harmless, but with those who have a predisposition, or family history of schizophrenia and/or depression, or actually, any mental illnesses for that matter, they should steer clear.

I'm not trying to demonize Cannabis in any way here. But, I do believe by some people it is taken too lightly in how it has the potential to change people.
I've seen it change people for the worse, while others it has changed for the better.

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I'm going to agree with you here 100%.

Now that I'm older, I can definitely see a difference between people who smoke marijuana regularly and those who don't. In my opinion, most people who use it regularly seem "out there". And there are some people I am hardly even acquainted with anymore who still smoke regularly and it's just obviously not doing anything good for them and they seem to have all sorts of personal issues that I believe ultimately stem back to their use of the drug.

This is not to say, however, that I don't know people who use it infrequently who are absolutely fine, though.

In my own experience, even smoking infrequently had a detrimental effect on my mental health over time. Over the past few years, I've ended up smoking two or three times year when it's around and I've totally forgotten what it's like. I almost always end up getting insanely paranoid and more or less have a "bad trip" and bug out for a few days afterwards.

And as much as drug users make a joke out of the anti-marijuana ads that highlight the difference in potency of marijuana from now versus what was going around several years ago - I really have to agree that it does make a big difference. When I was in high school, I smoked shwag and mid grades. It was virtually impossible to get high grade stuff at the time. And now that all I ever encounter is high grade stuff... well, now when I smoke it's really a bad time for me. Seriously, it was to the point where when I was a junkie I said on more than one occassion that "I'll inject a gram of dope no problem, but there's no way I'll do bong hits of kind bud - it's too much for me to handle. Nodding off is one thing, being stoned like that is another".

On that note, I want to agree in particular with Diacetylus' point that some people do seem to take marijuana too lightly or portray it as being much more benign than it may really be.

Also, I can't help but notice that in the midst of all this, people are continually thinking of death as a "bad" thing. Which I think it isn't; it's beautiful, and I think that maybe this guy just got tired of conscious life like the rest of us, and wanted to reach the "next step". Or maybe I'm nuts...no, I'll just call myself a Buddhist