Warning of psychosis caused by synthetic drug use after son slashes father

Nghe An: Bank deputy manager arrested for stabbing father to death

(Baonghean.vn) - Returning home in an abnormal state, Tuan took a knife and broke into the house, stabbing his father to death, seriously injuring his mother and younger sister.

Fake illusion, real pain

Public opinion is still in shock after the news that in Xuan Son hamlet, Nghi Thach commune, suspect Truong Manh Tuan (born 1987) used a knife to slash family members right at home. As a result, Tuan's father died on the spot, his mother and pregnant sister were seriously injured.

After committing the crime, Truong Manh Tuan drove his car in a state of panic to escape. According to initial information, the patient had previously shown unusual symptoms, suspected of using stimulants, and could not control his behavior, which led to the heartbreaking incident mentioned above.

Previously, on November 21, 2018, Le Ngoc Ha (born in 1985, residing in block 11, Hong Son ward, Vinh city) carried his son LNHĐ (born in 2017) to a family's boarding house on Nguyen Thuc Tu street, in Tan Hoa block, Vinh Tan ward to look for his wife, because 3 days ago, Ha's wife left home due to family conflicts.

Ha hugged her son on the roof before throwing him down onto the corrugated iron roof. Photo archive

At this boarding house area, Ha could not find his wife. Because he had used crystal meth, Ha was upset and carried D to the roof of the boarding house, then walked past many other adjacent roofs, screaming as he walked. At the same time, Ha held D's hands and feet and swung them back and forth in the air many times and also held scissors to threaten to attack the child, threatening to throw the victim to the ground.

Just at the beginning of 2018, on March 5, netizens were shocked to see singer Chau Viet Cuong and his friends having fun and using synthetic drugs at an apartment on Nguyen Van Ngoc Street (Cong Vi Ward, Ba Dinh District).

At 8am that same day, Cuong had hallucinations, thinking that his 20-year-old friend was possessed by a ghost, so he hugged her tightly and stuffed garlic into her mouth, causing her to suffocate and die. The police later conducted a forensic examination and discovered that more than 30 garlic cloves had blocked her airway.

Unforeseen consequences

Usually, people who use crystal meth, marijuana in particular, or stimulants on the banned list have many reasons to justify their behavior such as liking the strange feeling, reducing stress, pressure from friends, escaping sadness, self-pity, asserting themselves, helping them stay alert and active, finding joy, or simply to show off to friends.

There are many types of drugs today. If classified by origin, there are 3 types: natural drugs (opium, marijuana, cocaine, ...); semi-synthetic drugs (heroin, morphine, ...) and synthetic drugs (crystal meth, ecstasy, weed, ...).

The specific effects of stimulants on the user's body are that when used in low doses, it will increase heart rate, breathing rate, blood pressure and body temperature, sweating, dilated pupils, dry mouth, and loss of appetite.

High doses of amphetamines cause all of the above symptoms to become exaggerated and result in the user becoming talkative, aggressive, reckless, sleepless, and unable to reason about his or her actions.

Synthetic drug users often cannot control their behavior.

In particular, young people today abuse a lot of synthetic drugs. Unlike natural drugs, where addicts fall into a "high" state and look for a quiet place to feel, synthetic drug users fall into a "flying" state. Synthetic drug users are strongly stimulated and look for a bustling, fun place.

Referring to the harmful effects of stimulants in the banned list, Dr. Phan Kim Thin - Director of Nghe An Mental Hospital said: "People who use stimulants in general or synthetic drugs (weed, crystal meth, etc.) in particular will fall into late psychosis syndrome. This causes users to have paranoia and emotional disorders (feeling of being persecuted, being chased, etc.). Although these stimulants will be eliminated through urine every day, the after-effects will last at least 3 months depending on the person."

Regarding the incident that occurred in Nghi Loc, after being arrested, Truong Manh Tuan had a negative drug test result. However, he confessed that a few days before, he had used marijuana during a party with friends. Although the stimulant had been eliminated, the emotional disturbance and psychosis still lasted for several days, leading to his inability to control his behavior and the heartbreaking incident mentioned above.

“If the use of stimulants in general or synthetic drugs in particular for a long time has a profound impact on the cerebral cortex nerve cells, causing brain pathways and gray matter to degenerate, then it is very difficult to restore the brain to normal,” Dr. Thin added.

Drug addiction is also the main factor causing young people to break the law. According to researchers, the use of drugs and stimulants will directly affect the brain and nervous system, leading to psychosis, insomnia, and hallucinations.

The user is always worried and afraid of being chased and beaten, so he has many uncontrollable actions such as screaming, climbing, chasing, and threatening to kill relatives...

In recent years, drug and stimulant users have caused many serious crimes. Drug addiction is very difficult or impossible to quit. Therefore, the number of drug addicts is still increasing rapidly.

Raising drug awareness among youth

According to Dr. Phan Kim Thin - Director of Nghe An Mental Hospital, in recent years, the number of patients in the mental hospital has increased in the stimulant addiction department. While in other departments, the majority are elderly, in this department, most are under 40 years old, even including school-age students. The mental manifestations of patients in the addiction department are increasingly strange, even bizarre, and difficult to explain.

For young people, most of them lack knowledge and incorrect perception of the harmful effects of drugs. Worryingly, a number of young people do not have a correct understanding of the dangers of synthetic drugs, considering them as non-addictive drugs, leading to an increase in the number of users. This is very dangerous and needs to be warned to the whole society. If there is no good propaganda and education, the young generation can easily go down the path of addiction.

Images of some types of American grass commonly used by young people today.

In order to protect young people from stimulants and synthetic drugs, in addition to the responsibility of the police force, local Party committees, authorities, organizations and unions need to step up propaganda work, raise vigilance, and actively denounce crimes among the masses; and competent authorities should further tighten the management of cultural service and accommodation service establishments in the area, especially the issuance of business licenses.

Along with that, the police force focuses on investigation and situation monitoring in areas with many hotels, motels, karaoke bars, etc.; strengthens management and inspection of business lines with conditions on security and order, etc. Thereby, promptly detecting and handling criminal activities and social evils such as gambling, drugs, and prostitution.

An Quynh