Can pot cause hallucinations? Report of officers who allegedly ate edibles fuels debate

Questions about edible pot were begging for answerson Mondayafter CBC Toronto learnedthattwo Torontoofficers were suspended after allegedly ingestingmarijuana edibles, hallucinatingand callingfor help while on duty.

The two officers, who both work at 13 Division,were on dutynot far from the station atEglintonAvenue West and Allen Roadwhen they allegedly ingested pot edibles late Sunday.

Police sources toldCBCTorontothe officers began complaining of "hallucinations"and one made a call for an officer needing assistance. Both officers were found in a police vehicle and later treated in hospital.

That incident has fuelleddebate about whethermarijuana can actually cause hallucinations.

• Toronto police who allegedly ate pot edibles on duty called for help after 'hallucinations'

Ryan Vandrey, associate professor of psychiatry and behaviouralsciences at Johns Hopkins Medicinein Baltimore,says there havebeen very clear demonstrations and scientific studies proving it does.

"Folks tend to be more prone to have hallucinations if they have a family history of psychosis, but there have been cases, even one recently in my laboratory, where somebody without a family history of psychosis has had hallucinations following acute dosing with cannabis," he said.

People tend to believe that edibles are more potent, says Vandrey. He argues that is a misconception.

"It comes from the fact that people have a tendency to eat more than they would smoke or vaporize," he asserted.

The main difference is in thetiming, he says.

"When you eat it, it usuallytakes a lot longer for the effects to have an onset and the effects last longer."

Vandrey also said there are individual differences in both the type and magnitude of drug effects with any drug. Cannabis is no different, he says.

"You are more apt to laughter and feeling giddy; in some cases you can become anxious or paranoid. Hallucinations in particularly high doses are a possibility," he explained.

But Christopher Blue, aWindsor, Ont., doctor,says cannabis in its raw formdoes not cause hallucination.

He concedes, however, that there is a possibilityillegal cannabiscould be laced withhallucinogens.

"They often use cutting agents in it like salvia, or K2, or spice," which canhave hallucinatory effects, oftenblamed oncannabis, he said.

Salvia is a psychedelic plant, while spice andK2 are synthetic cannabis compounds.

While Blue stressesthat in the purest form, cannabis is nothallucinogenic, he says certain strains of cannabis canimpair cognition and judgment.

In an interview withCBCRadio'sMetro Morning onTuesday, Coun.ShelleyCarroll of theToronto Police Services Board said the news of the incident involving the two officers was troubling.

"These are officers who should be trained such that they know how dangerous these things are because they do deal with people who have over-imbibed when they have a prescription for edibles," she added.

Carroll said the side effects thatthe officers experienced are the very reason why the federal government is moving in stages and hesitating to make edibles widely legal at this point, other than by strict prescription.

CBCNews has learned that oneof the officers under investigation isConst.VittorioDominelli, but has not confirmed the name of hispartner.