Girl, 16, hanged herself after mother was told of cannabis use

[size=+1]Girl, 16, hanged herself after mother was told of cannabis use[/size]
A 16-year-old girl committed suicide after a mental health unit accidentally sent a letter to her mother revealing she used cannabis, an inquest heard.

Tasmin Dalton, from Eastleigh, Hampshire, was found hanging in woodland near her home on July 12.

The previous month a “clerical error” meant that a copy of a letter to Tasmin’s GP was sent to her mother, Tracey Smith, mentioning the drug use.

The inquest in Winchester heard that there had been “chaos in the back office” of the child and adolescent mental health unit that Tasmin visited.

Tasmin, an intensely private person who had suffered from mental health problems for several years, later accused the unit of “betraying” her.

In May, she visited Moira Bingham, a mental health specialist, who spoke about sending her mother a copy of a letter, the contents of which they would discuss at her next appointment.

Mrs Bingham said she was prepared to omit a reference to Tasmin’s cannabis use, if that was what she wanted. But in the meantime, the letter was sent out in error — the result of staff shortages and an inexperienced typist, the hearing was told. Mrs Bingham told the hearing: “She [Tasmin] had a very, very strong reaction. She was very angry. Very angry with me.’’

After her mother received the letter, Tasmin wrote to Mrs Bingham saying: “I was told everything said was strictly confidential and my mum would not be told. I’m appalled you have betrayed me.” She then broke off contact with the unit.


Full article: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukn...lf-after-mother-was-told-of-cannabis-use.html

Sue sue sue.....

That's horrible. So many lives torn by IGNORANCE. And some morons will tell that cannabis killed the poor girl, you'll see!

Very sad. I'd sue them the fuck out, but unfortunately no money can bring her back...

InhaleDeep said:

Very sad. I'd sue them the fuck out, but unfortunately no money can bring her back...

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sad but 100% true.

This is ridiculous, growing up, my grandmother had extreme reactions to cannabis for absolutely no reason and it messed with my head quite a bit. Parents should learn to be more understanding of their children as a whole.

This poor girl. I'm not even sure what to say, but my heart sank upon reading this...

That is really sad... poor girl.

I hate to say but this sort of things go on all the time at these 'mental health units'. I needed a letter from one for my university and asked them not to mention any drugs/alcohol abuse and they said they wouldn't - However I was told by staff at the university they now knew all about it!

Yea parents finding out about drug use at that age can really mess with a kid. I had problems like that when i was young. Parents being overly conservative and it got me kicked out of my house and school and very nearly made me do some bad things. I think at that age kids are trying to figure out who they are what they wanna do and shit and I dont think her parents knowing (she used cannabis) would help her at all. Maybe when shes older and more comfortable with it. Still a fucking tragedy. Do they have HIPAA laws in the UK?

If the war on drugs didn't create / propagate such intense, biased reactions when some people think about a limited sub-set of drugs, we wouldn't have to deal with people like that so often.
If cannabis were seen as "lighter" than alcohol - which it surely is - things would go down very differently in many thousands of households across the world.
Blame Harry Ainslinger - and the public today that permits the government to continue such propaganda - rather than the plant, which doesn't kill people.

I know it's tragic and the war on drugs is bad etcetc.

But am I the only one who thinks over reaction much? I Know your teens are hard and you deal with some emotional bullshit. But seriously? If it wasn't this it would have been her weight/lovelife/something else minor that pushed her over the edge.

HORRIBLE HORRIBLE HORRIBLE.
Ah well, these things happen...

Newbierock said:

I know it's tragic and the war on drugs is bad etcetc.

But am I the only one who thinks over reaction much? I Know your teens are hard and you deal with some emotional bullshit. But seriously? If it wasn't this it would have been her weight/lovelife/something else minor that pushed her over the edge.

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There certainly needs to be more information given before we can make any clear distinctions. It's a flimsy article, and the journalists responsible for its conception are swine.

Be that as it may, another sensationalist blow towards our personal freedoms.

Poor girl, sue sue sue, that's really stupid, the privacy is no longer there.

That happened pretty close to where i grew up, it does sounds as though the headline has been made perfect for tabloids

I highly doubt that cannabis had anything really to do with the death, is just an easy way to make a front page story out of what would normally be found in the obituaries

I doubt that the letter was sent as a clerical error- and I have no idea how UK law works, but in the US I'm pretty sure a civil action would be settled and not even see the inside of a court room.
I didn't feel this article was pressing the issue about cannabis being in Tasmin’s [the girl's] body before her death. If the girl was 16 and at a mental health clinic- it's safe to say there were other factors, such as a stressed family relation. I'd blame so many other things before her drug habit.

She was 16, therefore Doctor-patient confidentiality applies to her. They should never have sent out the letter. If she was under 16, then they would have had a legal obligation to inform her parents.

Wow what a downer of a story.

winning the war on peop...drugs one ruined life at a time...in this case two ruined lives. Thoughts to the families...