The killing of a university lecturer was the result of a cannabis-induced psychotic rage, a court has been told.
Femi Nandap has been given an indefinite hospital order after he stabbed Dr Jeroen Ensink to death last December.
A consultant forensic psychiatrist at high-security psychiatric hospital Broadmoor indicated that the student’s drug use had triggered the psychosis.
’Psychotic disorder’
Nandap admitted to manslaughter by diminished responsibility as he was deemed to be suffering from mental illness.
The 23-year-old began smoking cannabis heavily while living in the United States.
When asked about the potential consequences of Nandap’s cannabis consumption, psychiatrist Dr Samrat Sengupta said cannabis generally gives rise to “two forms of psychotic disorder”.
’Enduring illness’
The doctor continued: “One is relatively relievable by withdrawing the substance. The second is much more dangerous, which triggers an enduring psychotic illness.”
“In my view, he has developed the latter type.”
When he is eventually discharged at the end of his hospital order, Nandap could be deported to Nigeria.
’Devastating effects’
Sarah Vine, a columnist at the Daily Mail, responded to the case by warning of the effects of cannabis.
She said: “It’s time, surely, that we acknowledged this drug is not the harmless narcotic supporters claim it is, and instead accepted the mountain of evidence that it is a powerful psychoactive substance which can have devastating effects on the mental health of users”.
Last year, researchers at King’s College London found that smokers of a potent cannabis known as ‘skunk’ are three times more likely to develop psychosis than non-smokers.
’Skunk’
People who smoke skunk daily were also found to be five times more likely to develop the condition.
The findings prompted comments which compared smoking cannabis with playing “Russian roulette with your mental health”.