Dangers of smoking cannabis highlighted by students » Local Government » 24dash.com

Young people in Kensington and Chelsea have been highlighting the dangers of smoking marijuana by taking part in the Cannabis Action Group’s Media Challenge.

The groups of students, aged 11 to 18, were given £500 to produce and present their own piece of work that could be delivered to other young people around the borough.

The youngsters were given free rein over what form their piece of work would take with the results including films, posters, t-shirts and even music.

Two groups from Holland Park School took part, along with pupils who attend the Latimer Education Centre, an 18-year-old receiving support from the Resettlement and Aftercare Provision Team and youngsters from the Somali Mothers and Children Organisation.

All groups presented their projects at a prize-giving ceremony at Kensington Town Hall last night.

The winning project came from a five-strong team of 12 to 13-year-olds from Holland Park who produced posters.

The colourful posters show clowns with ‘Smart Circus’ at the top - but with the word ‘Stupid’ written in graffiti over the word ‘Smart’. They also included the slogan ‘roll up, roll up - for panic, confusion, paranoia…’

Runner up was Andreas Rodriguez, an 18-year-old receiving support from the Resettlement and Aftercare Provision team, who recorded a rap song on CD called ‘Mary Jane’ - slang for cannabis. The track combined cutting-edge urban dance music with rapid-fire witty lyrics.

The Latimer Education Centre produced a film entitled ‘Just Don’t Do It’. The film began with actors being interviewed about smoking cannabis and ended with the shooting of a cannabis smoker. The film was also edited and converted into a format to be sent by text to mobile phones.

The Somali Mothers and Children Organisation also produced a DVD entitled ‘Spit On Cannabis’. It showed youngsters acting tough and putting pressure onto a friend who refused to smoke. In a row over drugs a smoker’s innocent friend gets stabbed.

A second team from Holland Park School produced a T-shirt with ‘Say No To Dro’ on the front and hard-hitting words on the reverse including ‘Brain Damage, Paranoia, Prison.’

The winners received £100 each in Red Letter Days vouchers for fun activity days out. The runner up received £75 in vouchers.

Among the judges, which included graphic and multi-media design mature students, was Councillor Shireen Ritchie, Cabinet Member for Family and Children’s Services.

Councillor Ritchie said: “We received a wide variety of entries and it is clear that the participants put a lot of energy and thought into these imaginative projects.

“It is extremely important to engage with young people when tackling such issues as cannabis. Hopefully this event will stimulate discussion amongst young people in the borough about the dangers of cannabis and the strong evidence that smoking the illegal drug can lead to serious mental illnesses.

“I think the poster is excellent - it’s a very good message. The last thing you want is to be made a fool of.”

Superintendent Mike Howard, Head of Partnerships and also chair of the Cannabis Action Group, acted as compere on the night.

He said: “An initial survey conducted last summer of 174 young people identified a lack of awareness of the issues surrounding cannabis use. The media challenge is the Cannabis Action Group’s response to this issue.

"We felt - who is better to speak to young people about the dangers and risk of cannabis than other young people. So the challenge for the young people was to devise a media presentation to confront the positive attitudes held by some regarding the use of cannabis.

“As chair of the group I am delighted with the response and would look to use some of the products to highlight the risks of using cannabis.”

The Cannabis Action Group was formed a year ago in response to the concerns by agencies over the perceived link between the use of cannabis and criminality.

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