- Feb 5, 2002
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Strange…
So now we learn that a film showing the singer Bob Marley amid swirling clouds of cannabis smoke is fine for 12-year-olds, while poor old Mary Poppins - once a ‘U’ feature that anyone could watch - has now been upped to ‘Parental Guidance’, thanks to a racial reference that hardly anyone under the age 90 will even get.
Well, this is taking the wrong thing seriously, while treating a serious matter too lightly. Whenever anyone tells me marijuana is just a soft drug and nothing to worry about, I think of the grimmest and most wretched part of a big London prison I once visited.
It is the place where the mentally ill prisoners are kept. This twilight corridor is the dismal destination of many who were beguiled into thinking that dope is just a trivial pursuit, a bit of a laugh. It is completely empty of any kind of hope. The people here are so unwell that they ought to be in hospitals but there are no beds available, so they are incarcerated instead.
I was shown this wretched corner once at a major London jail. The inmates were dosed with powerful antipsychotics to keep them placid. In one of their cells, I noticed that the occupant had glued to his wall a large poster of Bob Marley, adorned with the symbol of the drug he did so much to popularise, the unmistakable spiky silhouette of the marijuana plant.
I remember how angry this made me. This was a prison, for the punishment of crime, and possession of cannabis is a serious crime. And much of the mental illness we now see in this country affects long-term users of this drug.
This is not just some theory. Sir Robin Murray, professor of psychiatric research at King’s College Hospital in London, concluded after a major study: ‘It is now well known that use of cannabis increases the risk of psychosis.’
His research suggested that ‘we could prevent almost one quarter of cases of psychosis if no-one smoked high potency cannabis. This could save young patients a lot of suffering and the NHS a lot of money.’
Mary Poppins - once a feature that anyone could watch - has now been upped to Parental Guidance,thanks to a racial reference that hardly anyone under the age 90 will even get
Continued below.
www.dailymail.co.uk
So now we learn that a film showing the singer Bob Marley amid swirling clouds of cannabis smoke is fine for 12-year-olds, while poor old Mary Poppins - once a ‘U’ feature that anyone could watch - has now been upped to ‘Parental Guidance’, thanks to a racial reference that hardly anyone under the age 90 will even get.
Well, this is taking the wrong thing seriously, while treating a serious matter too lightly. Whenever anyone tells me marijuana is just a soft drug and nothing to worry about, I think of the grimmest and most wretched part of a big London prison I once visited.
It is the place where the mentally ill prisoners are kept. This twilight corridor is the dismal destination of many who were beguiled into thinking that dope is just a trivial pursuit, a bit of a laugh. It is completely empty of any kind of hope. The people here are so unwell that they ought to be in hospitals but there are no beds available, so they are incarcerated instead.
I was shown this wretched corner once at a major London jail. The inmates were dosed with powerful antipsychotics to keep them placid. In one of their cells, I noticed that the occupant had glued to his wall a large poster of Bob Marley, adorned with the symbol of the drug he did so much to popularise, the unmistakable spiky silhouette of the marijuana plant.
I remember how angry this made me. This was a prison, for the punishment of crime, and possession of cannabis is a serious crime. And much of the mental illness we now see in this country affects long-term users of this drug.
This is not just some theory. Sir Robin Murray, professor of psychiatric research at King’s College Hospital in London, concluded after a major study: ‘It is now well known that use of cannabis increases the risk of psychosis.’
His research suggested that ‘we could prevent almost one quarter of cases of psychosis if no-one smoked high potency cannabis. This could save young patients a lot of suffering and the NHS a lot of money.’
Mary Poppins - once a feature that anyone could watch - has now been upped to Parental Guidance,thanks to a racial reference that hardly anyone under the age 90 will even get
Continued below.
PETER HITCHENS: Kids can watch Marley smoke drugs while Poppins is PG
Now we learn that a film showing Bob Marley amid swirling clouds of cannabis smoke is fine for 12-year-olds while Mary Poppins has been upped to a 'PG' from a 'U'. This is taking the wrong thing seriously.
