Medicinal Cannabis Induced Psychosis & Medical Negligence NSW
If you searched for information about medicinal cannabis induced psychosis, something serious has likely happened.
You may have started medicinal cannabis to treat pain, anxiety, insomnia, or another condition. You trusted the prescription. You expected relief.
Instead, you or someone you love experienced paranoia, hallucinations, severe anxiety, mania, suicidal thoughts, or psychiatric hospital admission.
The most frightening part is this: you may never have had psychosis before.
Many people do not realise that when medicinal cannabis causes psychiatric harm, the issue may not just be the reaction itself.
It may be whether proper medical care occurred before the prescription was written.
And in some cases, it did not.
Delayed recognition and over-prescribing: A growing pattern in medicinal cannabis induced psychosis
Across Australia, prescriptions for medicinal cannabis have increased rapidly. Many clinics now prescribe high-THC products through telehealth. Consultations may last only minutes.
But medicinal cannabis is not harmless.
High-THC products can trigger:
- Acute psychosis
- Severe anxiety and panic
- Mania or mood instability
- Hallucinations
- Paranoia
- Suicidal thoughts
- Cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome
- Hospital admission
The Medical Board of Australia has issued guidance because emergency departments report increasing presentations of cannabis-induced psychosis.
External source: https://www.medicalboard.gov.au
People who experience medicinal cannabis induced psychosis often describe the same sequence:
- They sought help for a physical or mental health condition
- They received THC-dominant cannabis
- No detailed psychiatric screening occurred
- Doses increased quickly
- Symptoms escalated
- Crisis followed
By the time a psychiatrist becomes involved, the damage may already be significant.
This pattern is not rare.
And it is not always acceptable medical practice.
Why medicinal cannabis induced psychosis matters legally
From a medical perspective, cannabis affects the brain in complex ways.
From a legal perspective, the question is simpler.
The law asks:
Would a reasonable doctor have screened properly for psychiatric risk before prescribing high-THC cannabis?
Would a reasonable doctor have warned about psychosis risk?
Would a reasonable doctor have escalated or stopped treatment when red flags appeared?
Medical negligence does not require perfection.
It requires reasonable care.
If a patient has:
- A history of anxiety
- A history of depression
- Bipolar disorder
- Family history of psychosis
- Substance misuse history
Then prescribing high-THC cannabis without careful assessment may fall below the accepted standard of care.
The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists has publicly cautioned about THC use in people with psychiatric vulnerability.
External source: https://www.ranzcp.org
If screening did not occur, or if warning signs were ignored, legal responsibility may arise.
When medicinal cannabis induced psychosis becomes the injury
Psychosis is not a mild side effect.
Psychosis can cause:
- Loss of touch with reality
- Delusions
- Hearing voices
- Severe fear
- Loss of employment
- Breakdown of relationships
- Psychiatric hospital admission
- Ongoing need for antipsychotic medication
In some cases, psychosis does not fully resolve.
Earlier intervention does not need to guarantee prevention.
Legally, it only needs to show that:
Earlier assessment or safer prescribing would likely have led to a materially better outcome.
For example:
- A doctor could have prescribed CBD-dominant products instead of high THC
- A doctor could have refused prescribing due to psychiatric history
- A doctor could have reduced dose when early symptoms appeared
- A doctor could have referred to psychiatry sooner
If earlier steps would probably have prevented or reduced psychiatric harm, causation may be established.
When medicinal cannabis induced psychosis may amount to medical negligence
You may have a viable claim if:
- You repeatedly reported worsening anxiety or paranoia
- You had no prior psychosis before cannabis treatment
- Your doctor did not take a detailed psychiatric history
- Telehealth prescribing occurred without proper review
- Dose escalated quickly
- Early warning signs were ignored
- You required hospital admission
- You developed ongoing psychiatric illness
- Suicide risk emerged
The issue is not whether cannabis can cause psychosis.
The issue is whether reasonable precautions were taken.
The Civil Liability Act 2002 (NSW) sets the framework for medical negligence claims in NSW.
External source: https://legislation.nsw.gov.au
What compensation can cover in medicinal cannabis induced psychosis claims
Compensation exists to account for harm caused by avoidable medical error.
It does not punish doctors.
It restores loss.
Depending on severity, damages may include:
- Pain and suffering
- Psychiatric injury
- Hospital costs
- Medication expenses
- Ongoing therapy
- Loss of income
- Reduced earning capacity
- Care and assistance needs
- Superannuation loss
In serious psychiatric injury cases, compensation can range from:
- $50,000 – $150,000 for temporary but significant psychiatric harm
- $150,000 – $500,000 for moderate to severe long-term psychiatric injury
- $500,000+ where permanent disability or loss of earning capacity occurs
Compensation in NSW is calculated under structured categories, including:
- Non-economic loss (pain and suffering)
- Past and future economic loss
- Past and future medical expenses
- Care needs
- Psychological injury
You can read more about how compensation works here:
Internal link: https://reframelegal.com.au/medical-negligence-compensation-nsw/
The key legal question remains:
Would proper screening and safer prescribing likely have prevented or reduced this psychiatric harm?
You do not need certainty to seek clarity
People who receive appropriate care rarely question whether they should seek legal advice.
That question arises when something feels deeply wrong.
Seeking advice does not mean starting litigation.
It means understanding:
- Whether screening occurred
- Whether warning occurred
- Whether monitoring occurred
- Whether safer alternatives existed
- Whether red flags were ignored
Many clients simply want answers.
They want to know if what happened could have been avoided.
If medicinal cannabis induced psychosis has changed your life
If you or a family member developed psychosis after prescribed medicinal cannabis, and the outcome included hospitalisation, long-term psychiatric illness, or suicide risk, the issue may not only be the medication.
It may be a failure to screen, warn, or act in time.
That failure may give rise to a claim.
Confidential medical negligence assessment
If you want to understand whether medicinal cannabis induced psychosis caused avoidable harm in your case, a confidential assessment can clarify your legal position and options.
About the lawyer behind this article
This article is written by Dr Rosemary Listing, a lawyer with a PhD in medical negligence and extensive experience in claims arising from failure to investigate, failure to warn, and inappropriate prescribing.
She has acted for many individuals whose psychiatric symptoms were not properly assessed before treatment decisions were made.
She understands that medicinal cannabis induced psychosis can cause profound disruption — including hospital admission, loss of work, and long-term medication dependence.
Many of the people she assists are not seeking to blame a doctor.
They are seeking clarity.
Her role is to assess the medical care against the legal standard that applied at the time and explain whether that standard was met.