A Thai man cut off his penis with a pair of scissors during a frightening cannabis-induced psychotic episode.
The life-changing injury occurred after the unidentified 23-year-old smoked 2g of marijuana – the equivalent of six joints – in two bong rips.
Prior to his self-amputation, the man had quit using cannabis use for three months after being a frequent user for two years.
Two hours after smoking the drug for the first time in months, he began to have a painful erection unrelated to any sexual stimulation, which can be a side-effect of smoking cannabis.
During his hallucination, the man grew paranoid that the head of his penis looked ‘distorted’ while examining himself to identify the source of the pain.
In an attempt to eradicate the problem, the man decided to use a pair of scissors to ‘trim’ the skin of his penis before amputating it completely, leaving a 2cm stump and a 5cm laceration in his scrotum.
Incredibly, the man then waited two hours before seeking attention from medics at a hospital in the city of Chiang Mai, after the bleeding failed to stop.
Doctors briefly considered reattaching the man’s penis, but it was found to be too fragile and contaminated with ants.
And the psychosis was so intense he experienced visual and auditory hallucinations for about two weeks during his recovery.
The harrowing tale was revealed in a medical case report by the doctors who treated him.
It comes just weeks after Thailand effectively decriminalised cannabis.Detailing the case in the Journal of Medical Case Reports, Dr Theerapon Tangsuwanaruk said medics briefly considered reattaching the severed penis.
However, he said the man’s penis was too severely damaged and a possible infection risk for this to go ahead.
‘The distal penis was deemed too dirty and fragile for reconstruction,’ he said.
‘The amputated distal part of the penis was contaminated with ants and had fragile dorsal veins.’
After surgery to clean the wound and stop the bleeding, the man was interviewed by a psychiatrist.
Urine tests taken from the man confirmed the presence of THC, the psychoactive chemical in cannabis responsible for giving people the sensation of feeling ‘high’.
The psychiatrist found the man was suffering from both visual and auditory hallucinations, such as seeing shadows move and hearing animal noises like birds chirping and insects buzzing.
He was also found to be coherent but, delusional, with a restricted emotional range.
However, professionals deemed that he was not suicidal and diagnosed him as having suffered from substance-induced psychotic disorder.
After a two-week stay in hospital the man was able to urinate while seated and reported that the hallucinations had ceased.