Documentary Review: BBC's Should I Smoke Dope?

Today MJO reviews BBC Three's documentary "Should I Smoke Dope?" The episode is part of a series hosted by Nicky Taylor in which she acts as a human guinea pig; in other episodes she has tried binge drinking or gone under the knife for cosmetic surgery in order to see what the effects on her body were. Overall, while we at MJO did not find the documentary to be that informative, it was quite funny watching the middle-aged, ditzy Taylor smoking marijuana. Whether that is worth an hour of your time we'll leave up to you to decide.

The basic premise of the show has Taylor taking up marijuana smoking for a month while she examines the cannabis sub-culture. It starts off with Taylor in her home country, Great Britain preparing for her experiment. First, she visits a doctor that appears quite horrified at the prospect of Taylor taking up marijuana smoking even for an intermediate period of time and tells her that she shouldn't do it. Then, she talks to a British barrister who informs her that yes, marijuana is still illegal in England. With the preliminary background information in hand, Taylor sets off for Amsterdam, the mecca of marijuana, to learn about smoking firsthand.

In order to fully immerse herself in the marijuana culture, Taylor agrees to work behind the counter at one of Amsterdam’s most famous coffee shops, the Dampkring. After learning Taylor has no experience with marijuana, the hesitant shop owner recommends a Jamaican strain, something she assures Taylor is very light and suitable for beginners. Taylor seems earnest enough and listens while the owner doles out well considered advice - after two puffs rest for 10 minutes to see how the green affects this first time smoker. Simple enough advice, but after taking two puffs and not feeling an immediate effect, Taylor takes it upon herself to smoke nearly the entire joint in ten minutes. Inevitably, and to the amusement of the viewer, Taylor becomes overcome with a paranoid panic attack as a result of her "newbie" mistake. The next morning shows Taylor in dire need of a good facial and a couple of muscle relaxants.

Day two of Taylor's marijuana project is less dramatic but no less entertaining: the haphazard journalist returns to the coffee shop and manages to lend a helping hand as a hostess behind the counter without any major mishaps. Her second smoking experience involved a gentle strain of hashish. The hash suits Taylor much better than the Jamaican marijuana, and there are several scenes showing Taylor giggly. energetic, and downright loopy; she can barely manage her next interview at The Hash, Marihuana, and Hemp Museum without cracking up at the sight of guinea pig bedding made from hemp.

The rest of the documentary mostly abandons scenes of Taylor's reactions to smoking and instead explores several different medical facets of marijuana, mostly in England. One of the more entertaining scenes involves Taylor and a driver’s ed instructor contrasting the effects of intoxication from marijuana and alcohol. Their scientific testing consisted of Taylor, either stoned or drunk, trying to achieve a high speed in the test car and then swerving successfully away from a row of baby dolls. When stoned, Taylor drove overly cautious and was unable to drive faster than a blue-haired lady from Ft. Lauderdale. On the other hand, after downing a bottle of wine before taking the driver's seat, Taylor drove incredibly fast and ran over one of the baby dolls, popping off its little baby head to great visual effect. Not satisfied in letting flattened baby doll be the sole barometer of driving competence, Taylor actually offers a real number: statistically, in England, marijuana doubles the likelihood of accidents, while booze increases it six times.

Taylor wraps up her piece with a look into the link between psychosis and marijuana use. Volunteering, again, to be a guinea pig Taylor undergoes an experiment that evaluates her reactions on a written questionnaire under the influence of pure THC versus THC mixed with cannabinoids, which is the naturally occurring form found in marijuana plants. The THC/cannabinoid mixture leaves Taylor giggly, elated, and just plain comical. However, the pure THC creates a paranoid, somewhat depressed Taylor that the evaluating psychiatric later labels as ballpark schizophrenic. The documentary also points out that while naturally grown marijuana has a 3% to 5% THC content, the newer homegrown genetically-modified versions approach as much as 15% THC. Perhaps Taylor's implication is that things are best left the way nature intended.

Finally, the documentary ends somewhat ambivalently; beyond displaying Taylor as a paranoid schizo or a giggly wacko, the report neither makes it a mission to extol or demonize marijuana use. Predictably, Taylor concludes by stating she would rather stick to her preference of drug: booze. Well enough.

Special thanks to Yellowcake and Shakagirl for contributing to this review.