Implementation of the 2013 Psychoactive Substances Act and mental health harms from synthetic cannabinoids

Use of synthetic cannabinoids is associated with a range of mental health harms. The 2013 Psychoactive Substances Act (PSA) was intended to limit retail availability of synthetic cannabinoids which had acceptable safety profiles. We evaluated numbers and clinical characteristics of patients presenting with mental health harms associated with use of synthetic cannabinoids for three months before and after implementation of the PSA on 18July 2013.

Retrospective audit of case notes of patients presenting to an emergency psychiatric service (EPS) in Dunedin.

In the three months post-PSA, there was a 42% reduction in EPS contacts and 52% reduction in patient presentations, compared with the three months pre-PSA. Patient demographics (predominantly young males with prior contact with mental health services), presenting symptoms (mood and psychotic symptoms and suicidality), and management and disposition were identical in both periods.

The decrease in mental health harms, as measured by frequency of EPS contacts, appeared to be due to reduced retail availability of synthetic cannabinoids rather that reduced toxicity of available products.