THE EFFECTS OF CANNABIS ON VULNERABLE YOUNG MINDS CAN NO LONGER BE IGNORED

The Drug Has Always Had the Potential to Be Dangerous

If there is one issue that impinges hugely on mental health, and yet
which society in general has been so relaxed about, it is cannabis.
Drugs, bullying and thieving have been my three biggest campaigns as
a headmaster, but drugs - and cannabis in particular - weigh heaviest with me.

Throughout my own childhood and adult life, the drug has been so
freely available, yet the line from society on it has been so soft. I
have seen the damage done. Among my own friends, I saw it destroy
life, induce depression and trigger suicide. It has been as
ubiquitous as it has been sneakily and subtly toxic. I have never
met, nor heard of anyone, who has "graduated" to hard drugs who did
not begin by smoking joints.

Several people who were at school with me are now doing mundane jobs
because, at the very moment their careers most needed serious
attention, they were puffing gaily away.

You never meet anyone who says they can't handle cannabis with
impunity. "It's safe, isn't it?" they always said. Well, it's not.
Particularly not for adolescents of a certain mental and emotional
outlook. It starts to insinuate itself into young people's lives at
the very moment when they are most vulnerable to having their minds
unbalanced, and psychosis induced. Some recover. Some do not. I doubt
if anyone reading this article does not know of some young person
whose life has been tipped, temporarily or permanently, into
depression or even insanity, by experience with this drug.

The research evidence is now far clearer than it was even five years
ago. Some people have genes that predispose them towards being
affected badly by the chemicals in cannabis. This newspaper has
retracted its support for legalisation because cannabis in its
"skunk" variant has become much stronger. Skunk certainly is more
sinister and disturbing than earlier forms of the drug, but I think
that the drug always has had the potential to be dangerous and damaging.

As a teacher, you know when young people are becoming users. They
don't think that you do, but you do. You can see it in their eyes,
their secret language and their retreat into inner worlds. One reason
I have always loathed cannabis is it makes people so boring. Not
boring to themselves maybe, but boring to others. The drug induces
apathy, self-centredness and a lack of engagement with others and the
world at large. It is the very opposite of what true life is all about.

The evidence suggests that the use of skunk is growing in schools,
and that those high on the drug have been responsible for some
horrific acts of violence. Teachers have to manage with enough bad
behaviour from children without having to cope with children out of
control because they're high on drugs.

Schools have three main responses. Education is the first but also
perhaps the least reliable. Teachers can show pupils videos and
discuss the dangers. Some outstanding individuals visit schools -
parents who have lost children, brothers and sisters who have lost
siblings, even reformed drug addicts. They can powerfully influence
young people. But it is often those who most need to hear the message
who are somehow missing from the lecture, or are not listening.

Punishment is the second method. I have never believed in giving
children who bring drugs on to school premises a second chance. It
means that, for some, to be "busted" for drugs is a badge of honour.
This strong line might seem heartless, but it has saved many more
pupils than it has damaged. Random drug testing and sniffer dogs are
other devices. Nothing is ruled out in the interests of protecting
those in my charge.

By far the best method, however, is to teach young people how to
live. The "well-being" lessons which we have introduced at
Wellington, and which are now spreading across the country, are
designed to help young people realise that if they look after their
bodies properly, they do not need to resort to drugs. What is the
point of schools if they do not help children to learn how to live
their lives to the full, how to enjoy themselves and be happy, and
how to live intelligently? Drugs are not intelligent living. Alcohol
is part of intelligent life for many, and with older school children
the art is to help them to realise that drink, properly used, can be
a significant enhancement to life. With drugs, there is no half-way
position. Everyone - government, the media and schools - needs to
give the same message: "No."