A clinical audit of mental health patients having cannabis-related symptoms will begin shortly to get a better understanding of its impact.
The review comes as the island rolls towards a controversial reform of cannabis laws that will legalise personal use.
Psychiatrist Aloisia Camilleri told Times of Malta she will shortly embark on a thorough review of patients that have, over the past year, required treatment as a result of mental health problems believed to be the result of cannabis use.
The review will cover both patients receiving treatment at Mount Carmel Hospital as well as in community care.
Camilleri, a consultant psychiatry with a special interest in addiction, said the audit was common practice in the administration of healthcare and will be done in line with data privacy rules.
A preliminary review of admission figures indicates that one or two patients required treatment for cannabis induced psychosis at the state mental hospital every month.
Camilleri estimates that about the same number is also being treated within the community. The audit, she said, will paint a picture of the use of the substance, including seasonality, and the types of mental health problems it is linked to.
A first reading of the data collected so far indicates that, as is the case internationally, males under 30 are the most likely group to be impacted.
“Normally, patients present with psychosis or mania, or a combination of the two,” Camilleri said.
The audit comes as a legislative reform on cannabis use is being passed through parliament.
Under the proposed reform, cannabis will be legalised for personal use, with adults being able to possess up to seven grams of cannabis without the risk of arrest or confiscation.
The controversial reform bill will now move to the third and final stage in parliament for a final vote with no major amendments after calls for change were dismissed by the government.
It is expected to be formally enacted into law before parliament rises for a holiday recess next week.
The doctors’ association, on which Camilleri represents consultants, already came out against the reform when it was first announced earlier this year.
In May, the Medical Association of Malta said the proposals are “poorly thought out and presented without the input of health and social professionals who deal with the after-effects of cannabis use”.
Speaking ahead of the final vote on the proposed law, MAM president Martin Balzan said the association is expecting a spike in the number of people using the substance and, as a result, the number of people who require treatment.
Meanwhile, the government has strongly defended the new policy. Reforms Minister Owen Bonnici has said the government is not actively encouraging anyone to smoke cannabis.
“But if a person makes the decision to take cannabis, then we have to treat them like adults and provide a safe way to obtain it. We believe this is the best route to take rather than criminalising these people,” he told parliament last week.