BBC Reporter Smokes Marijuana to Enhance Story – Offbeat
The BBC, … is trading “reality television” for method journalism in a new program scheduled to air later this year on BBC3.The investigative report, aimed at 16- to 34-year-olds, examines the controversial subject of recreational and medicinal marijuana use. In addition to relying on studies and interviews, the show’s host, Nicky Taylor, takes a more Hunter S. Thompson approach and tries the drugs herself. With cameras rolling, she goes on a “fact-finding” …trip to Amsterdam and also participates in a study at the Institute of Psychiatry at King’s College London, where she is injected with THC — the active ingredient in cannabis — as part of medical study.
Thus far the BBC is standing by the show, issuing a statement that reads in part: “Nicky Taylor is a critically acclaimed journalist whose approach involves becoming fully immersed in her subject…. [She] takes a small amount of the drug over a very short period of time … in order to fully understand the effects of drugs on her body and reflect on this for the benefits of the audience.”
But not everyone is cool with Nicky’s stoner vision. Marjorie Wallace, the chief executive of Sane, a mental health charity, is quoted in the Telegraph saying: “It is difficult to see what can be learnt from this experiment. Cannabis affects no two individuals in the same way.” Additionally, members of Parliament have reportedly raised the question of whether the show might actually encourage viewers, or even less “acclaimed” writers, to experiment.
What a novel idea… that you might get someone to actually try marijuana before offering opinions on it. Everyone knows that Nicky Taylor’s health isn’t in jeopardy; marijuana’s relative safety has been known for years, it’s not going to kill her or make her go “schizo”.
As for leading more people to try marijuana, that would be bad how, exactly? Despite the numerous studies and evidence that show liberalizing cannabis laws doesn’t lead to greater use of cannabis; despite the fact that since California’s Prop 215 legalized medical marijuana in the state in 1996 we’ve seen teen use rates of marijuana drop; and despite the fact that the Netherlands, which is more tolerant of marijuana use, has lower marijuana usage rates than the United States — despite all that, even if it did make more people try marijuana, so what?
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I have been smoking cannabis for 5 years now and have also never had a case of psychosis.
Sure, panic attacks happen to everyone. But becoming psychotic is no where near that common. If it was, would so many people keep smoking it? No.
I have been smoking cannabis for 26 years and have not suffered the effects this lady has. Cannabis use and its effects on people are obviously very individual things, as I know loads of people who smoke cannabis in a safe home enviroment with no ill effects such as miss Taylor experienced. I would imagine she experienced what she did because she went straight to the best strains and overdosed her system with it. The study undertaken by this lady in no way reflects the average user.