Edmonton man gets prison for killing mother while in cannabis psychosis

EDMONTON — An Edmonton man who doctors say was in a cannabis-induced psychosis when he killed his mother has been sentenced to three years and nine months in prison.

Jason Glenn Dickout pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the stabbing death of 53-year-old Kathy Dickout in 2017.

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Because of time he has already spent in custody, he has 10 months left to serve, followed by three years of probation.

Court heard Dickout, who was 30 at the time, had smoked dried marijuana with his sister while visiting their parents for Easter.

He later began screaming and exhibiting erratic and anxious behaviour, so his sister gave him some cannabis oil to try to calm him down.

His sister later called 911 and told the operator Dickout had stabbed their mother repeatedly and that he was screaming "like a crazy person."

When officers arrived, they found Dickout naked below the waist and his mother in a pool of blood in the kitchen.

"Please forgive me," Dickout tearfully told the court. "I apologize for all the unbearable pain, grief and sorrow I caused.

"It's something I live with all the time, it's not something that just goes away."

Court documents show that two doctors who assessed him believed he was experiencing an acute cannabis-induced psychosis at the time of the killing.

Defence lawyer Graham Johnson told court that the his client had "consumed a small amount of a cannabis product, which is generally considered to be safe, and tripped him into an extreme psychosis."

The Crown agreed that if Dickout hadn't taken cannabis, it's unlikely he would have killed his mother. (CTV Edmonton)

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Feb. 12, 2020.

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