Words:^ CarenClark,^ IanMacEwanPhotos:Alamy,BBC,GettyC
annabis has been linked with the
mental-health disorder psychosis, but, in
its medicinal form, the drug has been a
lifesaver for seven-year-old Alfie Dingley.
The British youngster, who suffers from a
potentially fatal form of epilepsy, is one of the
people A&E doctor Javid Abdelmoneim meets
as he sets out to discover how cannabis
affects our brains and bodies.Vital research
Alfie was treated with cannabis
oil in Holland, and the results of
the treatment were impressive.
‘He started to get better and
the seizures stopped,’ says
his mother, Hannah, who
successfully campaigned
for UK law on medicinal
cannabis to be changed.To check out the other side of the story,
Javid visits King’s College Hospital in London,
where research is being carried out into links
between cannabis and mental-health issues.
He learns that smoking skunk – a high-
strength variety of the drug – daily increases
the risk of developing psychosis fivefold.
‘It’s the high concentration of the
psychoactive THC chemical [in
skunk] that’s causing the increased
risk,’ the medic explains.
Javid also meets stroke victim
Carly, the first British patient to be
prescribed cannabis flowers.
‘This research is vital if we are
to discover whether cannabis will
help or harm patients,’ he says.
‘But the potential is exciting!’ QCannabis–a wonder drug?
What are the pros and cons of
recreational and medicinal cannabis?
Family... Below left:
Paul aged five with his
parents. Below: Paul’s
grandfather James27
Battles and
BANJOS!
NEW (^) FACTUAL
Cannabis: Miracle Medicine
or Dangerous Drug?
Wednesday, 9pm BBC2
H
e’s used to thinking on
his feet after almost
30 years on Have I
Got News For You? but Paul
Merton was taken aback by
what he uncovered about his
ancestry in this week’s Who
Do You Think You Are?
Paul travelled to Ireland to
trace the life of his maternal
grandfather James Power,
who died when Paul’s mother,
Mary Ann, was a baby.
He discovered that James
fought for the British Army
during the 1916 Easter Rising
- an insurrection by Irish
republicans to end British rule
in Ireland. But he was amazed
that James later joined the
battle for Irish independence.
‘He’d been in the horrific
position of having to fire on
his own countrymen,’ he says.
Paul was also shocked that
a family story about James
drowning at sea was incorrect.
‘I don’t want to give anything
away, but the real story about
his death was a surprise,’ he
says. ‘I’m the first member
of the family who knows the
truth. My mother would have
been pleased to know his
final resting place.’Entertainers
On Paul’s paternal side,
he investigated his
great-great grandmother,
Caroline Plunkett, a singer
who was sent to prison
at the age of 14 for an
incident involving an
assault with a banjo!
‘There was no evidence,’
says Paul. ‘In prison they
weren’t allowed to speak toanybody. When you’re 14,
that would be something
you’d never forget.’
But Paul was thrilled that
entertaining runs in the
family, as he learns that
Caroline’s husband, William
Simmonds, and his father,
William, were also musicians.
‘It went back a long way,’
Paul says. ‘It’s good to know
that I’m a performer now
and people I’m related to
were doing the same sort
of thing!’ QFACTUAL
Who Do You
Think You Are?
Wednesday, 9pm BBC1Comedian Paul Merton finds surprises in his family tree...
Medicinal cannabis...
Alfie’s parents Drew
and Hannah pushed
for a law change