Issues: Drugs

Cannabis Case Studies: Lucy's Story

Cannabis sparked a slide into depression for 17 year old Lucy.

Lucy from Surrey first tried smoking cannabis when she was 12 years old. 'I started using it with my mate, who was 11 at the time.' she says. 'I liked it straight away and I started smoking every day. I did that for three years.'

'I used to smoke first thing in the morning, at lunch time if I was in school, when I got home and then when I went out at night. I had to have a joint. If I didn't I got moody. If I was in school I had to leave to smoke.'

Lucy says her mum knew she was smoking the drug. 'It was a bit obvious,' she admits although she adds that her mum had no idea of how much she was smoking. Lucy also says her mum didn't try to make her quit. 'She would have done if it was another drug, but because it's cannabis, people don't seem to worry so much.'

But Lucy began to worry when she realised how much the drug was affecting her and she recently made the decision to stop taking it. She's now working with drugs education charity Hope UK to educate parents about drug use. She thinks people need to be warned about the mental impact of cannabis and says it made her depression much worse. 'You think cannabis will make it better, but after a bit you feel a lot worse. It can make you extremely paranoid and it affects your speech. I still can't say some words and I'm sure it's 'cos of smoking. People don't understand the depression side, how you can't concentrate - you literally can't do your work. They think it's harmless. It's not.'