Pubdate: Tue, 01 Feb 2005
Source: Daily Telegraph (UK)
Copyright: 2005 Telegraph Group Limited
Contact:  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/114
Author: Lila Das Gupta
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?207 (Cannabis - United Kingdom)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

WHAT'S WRONG WITH A JOINT?

It is not just drop-outs who smoke cannabis - responsible and
hard-working parents do, too, says Lila Das Gupta

The news, reported in The Daily Telegraph last week, that Patricia
Tabram, a 66-year-old grandmother, faces jail for possessing cannabis
with intent to supply (mainly other pensioners) may have brought a
tut-tut from some quarters, but it evoked howls of laughter from others.

For the latter, the title of Tabram's proposed book, Grandma Eats
Cannabis, sounded as if it came straight out of Reefer Madness, the
1936 film intended as a propaganda tool against marijuana, which
showed such hysterical behaviour from those who took the drug that it
had the opposite effect, becoming a cult classic among stoned students.

Many people who have been to college or university in the past 30
years will have taken drugs there at some point. Twenty years ago and
beyond, the drug of choice would most likely have been dope - either
resin or grass. The communal setting of halls of residence or group
houses lent itself to the sharing of drugs.

Then, after starting jobs, most grew out of the habit; when they
started to have children and found themselves staying at home more,
they gravitated towards wine as their favourite poison. But some
carried on and are now raising children while continuing to take drugs.

"I don't see much difference between smoking a joint and drinking
wine," says Suzanna, 40, who is the head of marketing at a very large
and well-respected company in the Home Counties. Her two teenage
daughters are doing well in their private school.

She regularly works stressful 12-hour days and says that smoking dope
is a good antidote to her busy schedule. "Does it compromise my role
as a mother? Of course not. Does it affect my work? Quite the reverse.
I feel relaxed by it, it helps me unwind and it's better for you than
a cigarette. It's quite nice before sex, too."

For some time, Suzanna was anxious about her drug-taking. "I used to
keep it quite secret from work. Then I went to a sales conference and,
in the evening, we had a social. I saw a few people huddled in the
corner and went over to see what they were doing. They were rolling a
joint and my boss was there, too. I stopped worrying after that. "

Another mother I know, Kitty, is in her early thirties, has three
children and stays at home to look after them. Her husband "does
something in the City", so the couple can afford a full-time nanny and
a cleaner. Kitty has the kind of grooming and exercise routine most
women could only dream of - her sleek looks and figure are a testament
to all the hard work. She admits she's pampered but she says she takes
her job as a mother seriously.

She cancels our interview as it's proving too difficult to meet
between running the children to a music class and netball practice. On
the phone, she has enough time to tell me that she loves smoking dope.
"You've got to have something to relieve the boredom," she says. "It's
important to have a bit of fun in life." Kitty says she is religious
about homework, getting children bathed, reading stories and cooking
supper for her husband, but when everyone's been taken care of, she
likes to go out with friends, smoke dope and get away from domestic
life.

Some mothers have kept the habit up even longer. Rosemary, who's 46,
runs the personnel department of a company that employs more than
10,000 people. With her husband, Tom, she lives in a beautiful village
in a property they worked hard to restore. It has all the ingredients
of a classic country house - wellies in the hall, stone floors, Farrow
and Ball colours throughout and a grand piano in the huge sitting
room. Several cars are parked across the drive, including the
obligatory Land-Rover.

When Rosemary's children were young, she worked part-time so that she
could be with them more often. When they moved to secondary school,
she went full-time and was quickly promoted to her current job. Tom is
a company director who works 12-hour days and flies to America at
least once a month on business. Despite their tight schedules, both
have served on the PTA and the parish council. Neither has given up
the college habit of settling back with a spliff on the sofa.

They have yet to confront the dilemma of what to tell the children,
but feel it creeping up. "Morally, I feel on tenuous ground," Rosemary
says. "I don't think that, to the extent I use it, dope is bad, but
because it's illegal, it comes to me through an illegal network."

Like other mothers I have spoken to, she does not feel she has
compromised her children's welfare or her ability to look after them.
Tom agrees. "The big question I ask of myself and my employees is: are
you capable of doing your job? Or, in this case, are you capable of
looking after your children? It could be that you've stayed up too
late surfing the net or had too much to drink the night before - it's
all the same if you can't get the job done."

As for the law on smoking cannabis, he says: "It seems to me the law
is only there for people who can't set boundaries for
themselves."

If these parents are not concerned about the health risks to
themselves, what of the risks to their children if they start to take
drugs? Suzanna's husband Robert, a scientist, clearly feels
uncomfortable about what to tell his daughters. "There is some
research coming out from the United States that points to possible
schizophrenia. It's possible that dope does affect the young adult
brain more than the older brain."

Tom is aware of the research but says more information is needed on
the medium- and long-term effects of dope. "There will come a point
where [the children] have to make rational decisions for themselves.
I'd rather they took their own journey. I would like them to be savvy
enough to make their own decisions."

This quiet equanimity is not shared by Martin Stephen, High Master of
St Paul's, the private boys' school in London - nor by the Department
of Health, which is to review studies linking cannabis use to mental
health problems. "I'm increasingly concerned about marijuana," Stephen
says. "It's convenient for any head to pretend that cannabis is
unimportant.

"The medical evidence - particularly from the United States - suggests
that the long-term effects of cannabis are unpleasant, to say the
least. Fourteen-to 16-year-olds are being exposed to increased
strengths of cannabis. It has an effect on drive, motivation and
concentration. It is a 'ruiner' of young men."

He takes a dim view of parents who use drugs and does not accept that
such parents might also be "responsible" parents. "One of the problems
is that we are sending out mixed signals - when we see famous rock
stars being invited to No 10, who everyone knows are taking drugs, it
does send out a mixed message. We damn them with one hand but validate
with the other.

"We need to look at the role models we promote - we certainly haven't
got our act together on that score."
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MAP posted-by: Derek