Many teenagers are confused by reclassification, some of them believing that it has now been legalised. In order to set them straight HIT was commissioned by the Home Office to produce cannabis information which would be credible to young people, and after much research they came up with the Know Cannabis campaign.
First they conducted a survey into teenagers’ attitudes to cannabis. They found that young people congratulated themselves on their choice of drug, believing it to be more natural and healthier than alcohol or chemicals. They felt it made them part of a club and they bonded better with people when using it. Music, art and conversation were all heightened and the rituals around rolling and smoking were seen as important and enjoyable. These attitudes and beliefs were consistent across all ages and levels of cannabis use.
Most teens were defensive about their use but when pressed said it could make them lethargic and underachieve, that they sometimes felt dependent upon it, there were worries about minor mental health issues, such as short-term memory loss, anxiety and paranoia, there were relationship issues at home or at work, respiratory problems and cost implications, with some spending up to £100 per week (the average was £50 per week). Overall though users felt the positive effects far outweighed the negative.
Users also said that any education about harm had to come from a credible source, ideally someone like Howard Marks. They said that credibility would be improved if information came through informal networks, that there shouldn’t be a prohibitionist agenda and that details were important – such as using a seven leaved plant.
As this information was for the Home Office politics played it’s part, and some of this vital advice had to be ignored in order not to antagonise media such as The Daily Mail. Unfortunately, this meant the message wasn’t believed. Most users felt the ‘Know Cannabis Campaign’ was just another attempt to get them to stop and so ignored the often useful advice it contained.
It is impossible to deliver the true facts about the harms cannabis can cause whilst cannabis is illegal. The people most at risk simply do not believe authority figures warning of the dangers. Only when cannabis is legalised will we have any hope of getting through.
Paul Dillon, from the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre in Australia confirmed this view. His focus is on educating young people in a country where cannabis is already very widely used and getting more so.
As with all researchers the first point with education is to work out where you’re starting from and a study was commissioned to discover attitudes both toward cannabis and cannabis education. Most people started using because of curiosity, a few because everyone else was doing it and about the same number because of peer pressure.
People used when they were stressed, when they needed to relax or when they felt a negative emotion. Some used when they felt happy or bored and about a tenth when they were socialising.
One question not asked in other studies is ‘what do you smoke?’. Most users were smoking what they called heads (we call it bud). This is a dramatic change from twenty years ago when bought cannabis was normally full of leaves rather than just the flowering tops.
In summary, the study found that users were smoking the stronger part of the drug, smoking in a more dangerous way (80% used a bong) and were starting earlier.
Most users got their drug information from friends or teachers. Teachers were seen as credible because they had experience of cannabis. But as soon as teachers claim to be experts their credibility drops.
Drug education stops at 13 in Australia, which is about the same time when people start experimenting. In order to be effective education should continue throughout the school life of the child. From the responses of the audience it seems that drug information in Britain is woefully inadequate when compared to Australia. Several educators said there was only one drug session in the entire curriculum.
