article_snippet: Inhaling deeply, Former BBC royal correspondent tries cannabis as part of a TV experiment examining the effects of types of the drug on the brain.
article_snippet: Matthew Parris take two sorts of cannabis – hash and high-strength skunk – plus a placebo.
article_snippet: Mary Brett, chairman of campaign group Cannabis Skunk Sense, said: ‘Skunk is a dreadful drug and it is very irresponsible to have a show with such biased experts.
article_snippet: ’ Snow, 67, who was given a brain scan after trying a dreadful drug, said: ‘I’ve worked in war zones, but I’ve never been as overwhelmingly frightened as I was when I was in the MRI scanner after taking skunk.
article_snippet: I was when I was in the MRI scanner after taking skunk again.
article_snippet: The scientific experiment, which has been approved by the Home Office, is being documented to try and demonstrate the effects potent 'skunk' cannabis has on the brain.
article_snippet: Skunk is a potent form of cannabis that now dominates 80 per cent of the British market.
article_snippet: Anyone seeing the video of Jon Snow taking "skunk" in this ethically approved six-month cannabis trial at UCL will understand the potentially negative effects of the drug.'
article_snippet: The purpose of this ethically approved six-month cannabis trial at UCL was to show how skunk - the most common form of cannabis now sold on the streets - affects the brain and behaviour compared to weaker forms of cannabis.
article_snippet: So the idea of taking skunk didn't frighten me
article_snippet: and I was intrigued to see how the idea of taking skunk differed from the weaker cannabis I used to smoke.
article_snippet: and I would be given skunk, low potency hash and a placebo.
article_snippet: When I arrived for my final trial, I was convinced I'd had the placebo and the cannabis...so this time it would be skunk.