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Book review: Fia: Sapere Aude (2324-GZW2225) Cannabis (seeing through the smoke)
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Book review written during Fia Week/Sapere Aude. Rated Good 4/5.
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---PhiA 2.5: Sapere
Aude
BOOK REVIEW
Cannabis, Seeing through the smoke, David Nutt 2022
, The book
In “Cannabis: Seeing through the smoke” (2022) David Nutt, a psychiatrist and professor in
neuropsychopharmacology, writes about the complex web of cannabis, involving science,
politics, myths, and historical context. The cover of the book says Professor David Nutt. I
find it somewhat unusual to feature a title, perhaps this was done to exude authority and to
make his expertise within the field known.
Nutt addresses a broad audience with this book. It appeals to those with an interest in
cannabis and its medicinal use, healthcare professionals, parents who may be concerned
about their children’s cannabis consumption, and anyone seeking more knowledge about the
topic, regardless of their motivations. I would describe the genre of the book as a scientific,
but it has some aspects of a self-help book as well. A variation of materials are used to get
Nutt’s point across, including research studies, literature, personal experiences and even
experiences of other people. The book consists of four sections, dividing the different topics
regarding cannabis, which makes it easier to navigate through the book. However, in my
opinion, the author tends to linger excessively on his own anecdotes, which makes some
chapters feel long-winded and tedious to get through.
The first section is called “The cannabis story”. He starts this section talking about the
history of cannabis as well as its history in the UK. He mentions that medicinal cannabis got
banned in the UK under the Misuse of Drugs Act in 1971, even though it had been used
thousands of years for its medicinal properties. He mentions this many times, which I think
he does to illustrate how unjustified its prohibition is.
The subtitle “Seeing through the smoke”, doesn’t give away much about the book at
first glance. However, upon reading the book and especially this first section, it became clear
to me that it refers to debunking the propaganda spread by politicians who portray cannabis
as more harmful than it truly is. Nutt mentions how political figures exploit propaganda
surrounding cannabis to gather support from certain media. He often mentions how
politicians use sensationalized claims about the dangers of cannabis to appeal votes and to
justify its prohibition. Since 1970 there were many attempts to reclassify cannabis to make it
somewhat less prohibited, but this was without any success. Nutt mentions his own research
about cannabis and its harms during his time as an advisor to the UK government on drugs in
the early 2000’s. He says that during this time politicians have shown that ‘science should be
on tap, not on top’ meaning that science was never a dominant force in shaping policy
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