BBC Focus - 09.2019

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AmyBarrett

EDITORIALASSISTANT

HORIZON: CANNABIS –

MIRACLE MEDICINE OR

DANGEROUS DRUG?

ON IPLAYER

Cannabis. One of the world’s oldest and most
controversial drugs. Even the word can
conjure up that unmistakable whi.
Components of cannabis include
tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which is
responsible for the high, and cannabidiol
(CBD), a non-psychoactive ingredient that’s
available as an oil in most pharmacies and
health food shops. But what does scientific
research say about the eects of cannabis on
our brains and our bodies?
In this Horizon programme, A&E doctor
Javid Abdelmoneim joins a research group
hoping to find an answer. Over a number of
weeks, Javid inhales – supervised, of
course – dierent quantities of THC
and CBD. Sometimes, he is relaxed and
good-humoured; other times, he becomes
anxious, paranoid and distrusting.
Tr av elling a cr o s s t he g lob e , t o coun t r ie s
where medicinal cannabis has been used for
decades, Javid meets patients whose lives
have been turned around by the drug. And
back in the UK, he is introduced to Alfie
Dingley. Last year, seven-year-old Alfie
received the first prescription of cannabis
oil in the country to treat his rare form
of epilepsy.
For Alfie and other patients, medicinal
cannabis has clearly had a positive eect on
their lives. But, Javid concludes, more
research is needed before it can be deemed
safe and prescribed routinely to people.

WHAT I’ M

WATCHING

THE FUTURE STARTS HERE

BY JOHN HIGGS

(£20, WEIDENFELD & NICOLSON)

Hey kids, I just want to say on

behalf of my generation, I’m sorry.

We Millennials, we tried, but it’s

time to pass the baton over to you

if we’re going to survive into the

next century. That’s the message I

get reading The Future Starts Here,

anyway. Through conversations

with some colourful characters, the history of

Star Trek, and the absolute destruction of

popular Generation X movie The Breakfast Club,

the book explains why those of us who grew up

in the 20th Century (myself included) have a

gloomy view of whatever will be.

Fortunately, all is not lost. As Higgs explains,

Generation Z – people like climate activist Greta

Alexander McNamara

ONLINE EDITOR

WHAT I’ M

READING

Thunberg (pictured below) or the survivors of

the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting –

have just the right stu to actually make the sort

of impact that could end climate change,

unemployment and gun violence.

It’s not pure science, more social history, but

as an exploration on how technology is changing

the way we interact with both the planet and the

people who live on it, this brilliantly wrien, and

exceptionally wiy book is diicult to put down.

Despite hammering home how wildly removed

I am from Gen Z, The Future Starts Here did fill

me with some optimism that maybe, things are

looking up.

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