Marijuana link to stabbing murders
Mark Buttler
10 Jul 2006
HOMICIDE squad detectives are investigating whether a mix of marijuana and mental illness was a factor in four murders in the past month.
Two young men and a couple who left behind a young child were the victims of fatal stabbings in the space of nine days.
It is suspected psychosis brought on by marijuana may have been a factor.
Drug counsellors have warned super-potent, genetically modified dope grown in suburban houses is severely affecting some users.
There are strong concerns among senior police at the links between cannabis-induced psychosis and killings and other violent crimes.
Charges have been laid over each of last month's fatal stabbings.
The mother of one of the accused men recently told the Herald Sun her son suffered a mental illness and she had made calls to a number of help lines seeking aid.
A man in his 30s died from multiple stab wounds in Warrnambool in June. The Herald Sun has been told a relative of the man accused in that case was concerned by his behaviour and had unsuccessfully sought help.
Five days later another man, 28, was stabbed to death in the Geelong suburb of Waurn Ponds.
The lawyer for the alleged killer told a court his client needed psychiatric help and should be transferred to hospital as soon as possible.
It is believed psychosis exacerbated by marijuana use is a suspected factor in up to three other homicides in the past 12 months.
Mark Bailey, who shot dead traffic policeman and father Tony Clarke in April last year, had battled a cannabis addiction.
It is believed this may have been linked to the psychiatric problems of Bailey, who later turned the gun on himself.
Former prison officer Roderick Nigel Martin, 33, last year tried to secure an acquittal on a manslaughter charge on the basis he was suffering cannabinoid psychosis.
Martin drove a stolen tip truck into the vehicle of Raymond Turner, 66, on the Western Highway, allegedly in the belief aliens had invaded Earth.
Cannabinoid psychosis cannot be used as a defence in court cases because the condition is self-induced.
Marijuana hydroponically grown in houses has been blamed for a major surge in the drug's potency in the past decade.
A leading Melbourne drug counsellor said he was increasingly seeing the links between cannabis and violent crime.
Richard Smith of the Raymond Hader Clinic said the genetically modified marijuana of today was 10 times more potent than that of 20 years ago.
And it was turning many of the clients who came for his help into violent people, he said.
Mr Smith said heroin was once the drug that generated most of his work, but this had now switched to cannabis and amphetamines.
There appeared to be an unwillingness to accept marijuana was any more than a "soft" drug, he said.
"When people like me say it's dangerous, they think I'm a wowser," Mr Smith said.
"They don't realise I used to use heroin.
"Cannabis and amphetamines are the hardest drugs to detox off."
One police source said he had seen the tragic results of marijuana abuse.
He said three members of a group of six young men he dealt with had killed themselves in recent years. The officer said he believed their heavy use of cannabis was a factor.
It was revealed last year that hundreds of patients are being turned away as psychiatric units are swamped by young people in the throes of cannabis-induced psychosis.
ANYONE with personal problems can call Lifeline on 131 114; Victorian Statewide Suicide Helpline on 1300 651 251; or Mensline Australia on 1300 789 978.
