Former Tory MP Matthew Parris has joined news anchor Jon Snow and former BBC royal correspondent Jennie Bond in using “skunk” cannabis for a Channel 4 show examining the effects of the drug on the brain following claims it can cause psychosis.
The three will be seen inhaling the powerful drug in Drugs Live: Cannabis on Trial to be broadcast next month.
Snow described the experience as more terrifying than a war zone, while Parris, a former Tory MP and writer for the Times and Spectator, said he “felt stoned and stupid”.
It followed research that suggested smoking powerful skunk cannabis triples the risk of suffering a serious psychotic episode.
Parris said: “When I was approached to take part in the trial I thought ‘What the heck? This could be interesting’.
“I’m 65, I’ve lived a vivid life, taken risks with my reputation and lost all desire to ride sidesaddle into the sunset with my dignity intact. Smoking skunk wasn’t cool. It was just horrible, I felt stoned and stupid. The very smell now repels me.”
They were part of a six-month trial at University College London, being majority funded by Channel 4, looking at the effects on the brain of two different forms of cannabis, skunk and hash, compared to a placebo.
Snow said: “I’ve worked in war zones, 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.
“I can fully believe this week’s figures that tell us that 25% of all psychosis treated in Britain is associated with smoking skunk. I had no idea it could be so powerful and terrifyingly mind altering. And I am someone who worked for three years in a drug dependents day centre.
“If many who smoke this stuff had ever seen the physical effects on the brain as displayed through the MRI scanner, they would make a more informed judgement as to what they were doing.”
Snow presented Channel 4’s previous drugs experiment, Drugs Live: the Ecstasy Trial, in 2012.
Although the three celebrity volunteers’ experience was pre-recorded, another volunteer will be live in the studio taking a controlled dose during the programme on 3 March.
Former government drugs adviser, Professor David Nutt of Imperial College London, will also feature in the programme.
Last year cannabis was smoked by 2 million people in the UK, making it the most commonly used illicit drug. An estimated third of 16- to 24-year- olds have tried it at least once.
Psychopharmacologist Professor Val Curran, who designed the latest Channel 4 trial, said: “This is a hugely exciting and important research project which will show how ‘skunk’ and ‘hash’ can produce different effects on the human brain, mind and behaviour.
“My research group were concerned that cannabis addiction in the UK has increased over recent years alongside the increased market dominance of skunk. I hope this new programme will scientifically inform those who use, have used or are thinking of using this drug about the diverse effects of different types of cannabis.”
