Plainsman1963

Cannabis caused fatal 'stroke' for 23-year old man
07-12-06 | ICSurreyonline | Adrian Pearson

[News Note: Anybody notice a lot of reefer madness coming from across the pond, lately?]

CANNABIS abuse led to the death of a popular sales manager, an inquest heard.

Paul Dumville, known as Paul Kite, of Pound Hill, died after collapsing during a night out in London on May 26.

The 23-year-old had been complaining of headaches for more than a month and on the night he died he had left a nightclub to get some air. Friends found him collapsed on the floor suffering from a fit.

His father Neil Stovell and Paul's girlfriend Emily Lewis listened as Dr Colin Hunter-Craig described to the inquest on Thursday afternoon the cause of death.

He said: "He died of a brain haemorrhage due to cannabis abuse."

"He was a fit and healthy 23-year-old with no hardening of the arteries of the brain."

"In the back of the brain he had a haemorrhage which caused swelling of the brain, but there was no sign of any defects there."

"The cause of death was a haemorrhage due to cannabis abuse."

"We don't understand why it causes this, it just does. It takes about a month for THC (the psychoactive ingredient of cannabis) to build up in that part of the body."

"This is incredibly rare in young people,but in old people we would recognise this as a stroke."

"The fact that people say they only take cannabis every so often does not mean it should be recommended."

West Sussex coroner Dr David Skipp asked Dr Hunter-Craig to explain why the build up would effect Mr Dumville but not other users.

"There is a lot we don't know about this," he said.

"It is rather like running across a deserted country road with your eyes shut. Most of the time you get away with it but I still wouldn't recommend it."

The coroner said: "This may not have been a natural cause but I'm not prepared to say that it was definitely due to cannabis.

"I'm going to record a narrative verdict, and the fact is that Paul Dumville died of a cerebral haemorrhage augmented by the use of cannabis."

Mr Stovell described his son as a hard working young man who was trying to get his new promotions company, Oops, off the ground.

He said: "He was a lovely 23-year-old with lots of friends who liked to go out an enjoy himself.

"He was suffering headaches a lot and we don't know if he went to the doctor about them."