Super-strength skunk could be to blame for spike in lung and heart problems among women over 40, finds research

Super-strength skunk could be to blame for a spike in lung and heart problems among cannabis smoking women over 40, new report has found

Researchers at the University of York found there has been a steep increase in cannabis users over the age of 40.

Their findings demonstrate has been a 118 per cent rise among those in that age bracket going to specialist drug treatment services and citing cannabis as their primary health concern.

The research also found there had been a 95 per cent increase in women stretching across all age groups going to treatment centres in the last decade.

This is substantially higher than a 72 per cent increase in men presenting to treatment centres in the past 10 years.

The new research found it was possible a mix of tobacco use and high potency cannabis could have contributed to the rise in the number of users aged of 40 getting health problems such as respiratory and cardiovascular diseases.

Nevertheless, it currently remains unclear what factors are contributing to the increase in women of a variety of ages developing cannabis-related health problems.

Researchers argue it is important treatment services adopt new methods to lend assistance to women seeking help for treatment. They said this needs to look at ways to adapt to the challenges of childcare.

They also say the findings demonstrated the notion cannabis is predominantly the drug of choice for young men – who later go on to develop health problems – might no longer be the reality.

Ian Hamilton, from the University of York’s Department of Health Sciences, said: “Research earlier this year showed that the UK street market for cannabis is increasingly dominated by very high potency varieties of the drug. In some cases, resin can be nearly three times stronger than drugs on the street in 2005.

“Long-term cannabis users, who are aged 40 or older, therefore, have been used to lower potency cannabis in the past, which can now no longer be sourced. Turning to higher potency cannabis could increase the likelihood of them developing health problems.

“If we also consider that cannabis users are often also smokers, and this age group will have been smoking for longer than younger drug users, then we can start to see how this rise in cannabis-related health issues has occurred.

“Add to this the fact that drug-users over the age of 40 may have dependent family members and other significant financial responsibilities, we can see that there might be more urgency for this age-group to seek medical help compared to some younger cannabis users.”

While cannabis remains the most popular illicit drug in Britain, the number of people using it had has reduced over the last 10 years – falling from two million to 1.4 million.

Mr Hamilton said: “The most significant step forward to supporting cannabis users over the age of 40 is offering smoking cessation advice, which traditionally specialist drug treatment services haven't done as it is generally seen as a lesser problem compared to other drugs.

“The combination of tobacco and cannabis use, however, exacerbates health issues, and if we can tackle both ends of the addictive behaviour – smoking and cannabis use – then we have a better chance of reducing drug-related health problems overall.”

In February, a report found the UK cannabis market was dominated by high-potency “skunk” and weaker varieties of the drug have been pushed out.

The study, conducted by King’s College London researchers, found high-potency varieties constituted 94 per cent of police seizures in 2016.

The piece of research is the first comprehensive, wide-ranging survey of cannabis strength published in Britain for almost 10 years.

Researchers examined almost 1,000 police seizures of cannabis from London, Kent, Derbyshire, Merseyside and Sussex – areas which were last investigated in 2005 and 2008.

In 2016, 94 per cent of police seizures were high-potency sinsemilla – colloquially referred to as “skunk” – compared to 85 per cent in 2008 and just 51 per cent in 2005.

Max Daly, a drug expert, said he was not remotely surprised the research found high-strength ”skunk” dominates the UK market.

“Cannabis users, growers, dealers, drug workers, police I’ve talked to have been saying the market has been dominated by strong weed for the last decade. This is backed up by research, forensics, experts, academics”, the author of Narcomania: How Britain got hooked on drugs with Steve Sampson told The Independent at the time.