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UK: John Woodhouse TV Review: Drugs Live: Cannabis On Trial – C4
The Sentinel, Stoke-on-Trent Wednesday 04 Mar 2015 LAST year, cannabis was smoked by two million people in the UK, more if you count MPs. It’s the most commonly used relaxant. Horlicks being second. Cannabis has always had something of a cool image. In the showbiz world you’re no-one if you haven’t toked on a reefer. They’ve all tried it - John Lennon, Keith Moon, Zippy. In modern times, however, cannabis has become much more potent. ‘Skunk’, which dominates 80% of the British market, is far more addictive than other forms, said to provoke paranoid episodes, psychotic symptoms, and memory loss. Whether it would have been so popular if called ‘ferret’ is unsure. Channel 4’s experiment saw three notables take skunk and assess it’s after effects. Sadly the Queen and Prince Philip weren’t among them. Former royal correspondent Jennie Bond, however, was. Look out for Nicholas Witchell following in her footsteps, rolling a spliff as he awaits Kate Middleton’s baby. Bond appeared to have embraced the experience. “It was a very floaty feeling,” she said. Similar to being kicked off the royal train. “Nothing made me feel uncomfortable,” she added. “The fact that I was perhaps hallucinating slightly was quite nice really.” Certainly it’s the preferred state to be in when watching most things she’s in. Jon Snow, however, had found the experience rather more disturbing. “I’ve worked in war zones,” he said, recalling the time he reported on half-term in Wolverhampton, “but I’ve never been as overwhelmingly frightened as I was when I was in the MRI scanner after taking skunk. I would never do it again.” If they’re going to put people stoned into MRI scanners, they should at least play them an album by Donovan. Putting the ordeal into some kind of context, Snow added “I’m someone who worked for three years in a drug dependency day centre”. Which is a funny way of describing the newsroom at Channel 4. Political columnist Matthew Parris had approached the trial with an open mind. “I thought ‘what the heck, this could be interesting’,” he admitted, leaving himself open to a follow-up documentary on colonic irrigation. “I’m 65,” he continued, “I’ve lived a vivid life, taken risks with my reputation, and lost all desire to ride side saddle into the sunset with my dignity intact.” He’s a shoo-in for the next series of I’m A Celebrity. The chances of Parris returning to cannabis appeared slim. “Smoking skunk wasn’t cool,” he reflected. “It was just horrible. I felt stoned and stupid. The very smell now repels me.” Better hold his nose walking past the smoking shelter outside the Lib Dem Party Conference. Next week on Channel 4: Fiona Bruce does ketamine. http://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/John-Woodhouse-TV-Preview-Drugs-Live-Cannabis/story-26104919-detail/story.html
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