Day or night, you won't miss a story with the Liverpool Echo newsletter Sign me up now Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

Drug dealers are hooking cannabis users to their ‘products’ by lacing them with highly addictive heroin, diazepam and methadone.

And now cannabis has overtaken alcohol as the drug that is gripping hold of teens and putting their mental health at risk, a Sunday ECHO investigation reveals.

Now the rising use of super strength cannabis, commonly known as skunk, is causing unknown damage, experts fear.

Specialist Dr Faizal Mohammed, clinical director for Mersey Care NHS Trust’s addiction service, says most young people turning to addiction services for help now come to them for cannabis problems rather than alcohol – so much so that they had to adapt what they do to help them.

And we have spoken to one recovered addict, who is still close to the drugs scene on Merseyside, who revealed how the hard drugs are sprayed onto cannabis leaves to create a ‘hit’ that users will become desperate to repeat.

He told us the kids taking the drugs ‘wouldn’t even know what they were smoking.’

Dr Mohammed told the Sunday ECHO: “We are increasingly seeing more patients report to us with cannabis. If you look at national trends, the numbers of people with crack cocaine and heroin there has been a decline, for cannabis there has been an increase.”

He said figures suggest in the 16 to 24 age group, cannabis is the most commonly used drug rather than alcohol, saying: “Those people coming to our services for treatment in that age group, 60% are coming for cannabis and related issues, 40% are coming for alcohol. Cannabis seems to be the main drug.

“About one in ten experience unpleasant effects of cannabis when using it. If someone takes a large amount of cannabis they could end up with racing heart, paranoia – where they think someone is following them, hallucinations, seeing, hearing things. I would say the increase in numbers coming to us has happened in the last two to three years.”

And he added that “skunk” – man manufactured using artificial intensive growth methods such as hydroponics – was causing the biggest worry among health professionals.

He said this breed of cannabis contains more Tetrahydro-cannabinol (THC) – the mind altering ingredient that gives cannabis its potency. But little is known of how damaging it is.

Dr Mohammed, who has been a consultant in Liverpool for five years, said: “10 years ago most of the cannabis that was used had a small amount of THC, skunk has more THC – the harmful element.

“There is a clear association between cannabis and psychosis (abnormal condition of the mind), maybe a causal link. Whether it can cause psychosis is not entirely clear, but there is some link with depression and anxiety.

“Those who are vulnerable or have a family history of mental illness are vulnerable and that group should be careful using any amount of cannabis.”

The Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) , which was launched on Merseyside in 2000, is also worried about the growth of skunk cannabis. They run a helpline open 5pm-midnight, seven days a week, every day of the year, where men can talk to someone on a whole range of issues from suicide, substance misuse, depression, illness, bereavement and more.

Simon Howes, Merseyside CALMzone Co-ordinator, said: " When we talk to people who use a lot of cannabis or skunk, the general themes are that it's not the quality it was, it causes more side affects and they feel it is having a negative effect either on their mood now or they have noticed it having an effect on their mental health in later life.

"Each person’s experiences can be different, but from our experience people may be experiencing increased anxiety, depression, difficulty managing anger, paranoia, panic attacks or difficulty with their short term memory. Often callers have used cannabis to try and manage their stress or cope with the difficulties they are facing in life, but it may actually end up adding to their problems and making it harder to cope."

David’s warning after 20 years of drugs hell

A victim of laced cannabis has revealed how he spend 20 years fighting a desperate drug habit.

David, who has now managed to get clean, warns that diazepam and methadone can be sprayed on to cannabis with users absolutely clueless as to what they are smoking.

The 32-year-old, who did not want to be identified, said: “These kids of the new generation are in an even worse place than we were. Now they spray it with methadone, diazepam. They put fibreglass, sand and saw dust in to weight it. The diazepam gives you a buzz but when you stop taking it, you get mad panic attacks and it’s a scary place to be.

“They’ll put heroin in it which shows how determined they are to keep people on the end of the line.

Far from being a ‘soft’ drug, David calls cannabis “psychosis in a cigarette”.

He said: “ If you had 1,000 criminals, 850 would say cannabis is where it all started, especially in this city. Cannabis is everywhere. To look at cannabis as harmless is delusional. Certain parts of this city are run by drugs. No matter where you go, you can get it. Ask kids on the corners, they’ll know where – one of them might even be selling it.”

David went from cannabis use at 13 to heroin, crack and cocaine in later years, but he counts cannabis as being the most dangerous.

“The most violent drug is crack but the most dangerous is cannabis, because you’ve still got an alertness and as soon as you run out of it, you think in your head ‘I’ll do anything to get it’.”

David was convicted for a number of crimes all committed as a result of needing a cannabis high. One of the worst, he said, was breaking into a home shared by nurses.

Ashamed, he said: “I knew it was wrong at the time, these are people who heal the sick, but I wanted money for cannabis.”

His life was turned around by Mersey Care NHS Trust who has been helping him overcome addiction, he urges others to get help.

Where to go to get help

Mersey Care has an ‘open door’ policy to help people get drug and alcohol treatment. Anyone can contact or walk into its Drug and Alcohol Recovery Team at 3 to 5 Rodney Street in Liverpool city centre, or the Brook Place community drugs team in Tuebrook, where they will be seen by a drugs worker that day and supported into a treatment plan. The service also takes referrals from GPs and other health and social care professionals. Call 0151 234 5800 for more about the service or contact the CALM helpline: 0800 58 58 58.

More Liverpool news

Thousands of love rats from across Merseyside are using a controversial website to seek affairs , the Sunday ECHO can reveal

Police were called to reports of a “triple stabbing” in Liverpool

A Mersey motorist had a lucky escape after his new BMW X5 burst into flames at 70mph on the M57

Tributes have been pouring in to “passionate and committed” cyclist Terry Brown who was killed in a hit and run near the Merseyside-Cheshire border

A 15-year-old boy was wrestled to the ground by police and sprayed with tear gas as horrified shoppers looked on, a court heard - watch the shocking CCTV here

Everton FC have made a "bit of progress" and are "putting together the financial jigsaw" to move to a new stadium , according to senior advisor Sir Terry Leahy

Read our review from one of the gigs of the year: Prince at the Manchester Academy