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Astonishing photographs today showed George Michael openly smoking a cannabis joint during a television interview.
The 43-year-old star, who has twice been cautioned for possessing the drug after being found slumped in his car, lit up backstage in Madrid and defended his use of it.
Michael said of his fondness for cannabis, which is still illegal in Britain: “This is the only drug I’ve ever thought worth taking …
“This stuff keeps me sane and happy. I could write without it … if I were sane and happy. I’d say it’s a great drug – but obviously it’s not very healthy. You can’t afford to smoke it if you’ve got anything to do.”
But during the in-depth TV interview, to be screened on the South Bank Show on 31 October, Michael said cannabis was “very good for creative people”.
However, he added a note of caution, stating: “It can be a terrible, terrible drug.”
“You’ve got to be in the right position to take it. You’ve got to have achieved most of your ambitions because it chills you out to such a degree that you could lose your ambitions.”
He said: ” There’s not another drug in my life that I’m glad I took, but grass.
The interview was filmed over the past two months.
At the start of the programmea message is flashed on screen, reading: “George Michael wishes to inform viewers that the has never tested positive for drink or drugs whilst driving.”
As well as referring to the most recent incident this is also a reference to an incident in February, when he was cautioned when found asleep at the wheel of his car near Hyde Park.
Of this Michael tells interviewer Melvyn Bragg: “The public think I’m a man on the brink of a breakdown because I fell asleep in my car, I hit a parked car and because I cruise as a gay man.” But he insisted that far from losing control of his life he “feels good”. “I’m happy with the music I’m making and I ‘ m still loaded,” he added.
I dont think there’s much wrong with Cannabis if taken in moderation.
I’ve never really got into it myself though, apart from a few Joint’s in my teens. Much prefer the old Booze.
The press and public are only making a big deal out of this because of George Michael’s celebrity status, I know a few people who smoke cannabis and they are decent people. The drug really isn’t as bad as some people make out.
One of Britain’s foremost authorities on psychosis..Robin Murray..Head of The Institute of Psychiatry..has said that cannabis use is the leading problem facing the country’s mental health services. Inner-city psychiatric services are nearing crisis point with up to eighty percent of all new psychotic cases having a history of cannabis use. Recent research has shown that people who use cannabis in their teens are seven times more likely to develop psychosis..delusional episodes..and manic-depression. This is backed by Swedish research studies which show that teen users of cannabis..are six times more likely to develop schizophrenia before the age of twenty-six.
No experts in psychosis were on the committee that advised the government prior to the downgrading of cannabis to class C. However.. a government spokesman explained that the downgrading had been in order to differentiate between cannabis and more ‘serious’ drugs like crack, ecstacy and cocaine. There are calls to urgently reassess this downgrading.
On a personal level..I know the tremendous damage that cannabis caused me..way back when. I had horrendous psychotic episodes and paranoia which triggered-off the panic attacks and anxiety which have dogged me all my life. Within my circle of friends..there are those who still use cannabis..they insist it doesn’t do them any harm…the rest of us remember how they used to be..and shake our heads sadly.
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