Main content

The Fall of the House of Crosskill

Episode 4 of 5

Writer Colin Grant wonders how much cannabis was responsible for the tragic path trodden by a former ´óÏó´«Ã½ colleague, asking whether it can truly be labelled a 'gateway drug'.

Writer Colin Grant guides us through a nuanced story of cannabis use... and abuse.

As he states at the beginning of the series, Colin carries ‘no lawyer’s brief for marijuana’. In previous programmes, he has explored how it helped his epileptic brother and also how he believes it has provided a form of social service to subsistence communities. But in this essay, Colin explores one of the negative consequences; the role it might have played in the tragic demise of former editor and respected ´óÏó´«Ã½ World Service journalist, Hugh Crosskill.

With decriminalisation increasing and cannabis use continuing to grow globally, Colin feels it’s a story that may have implications for us all. The warning it carries is not perhaps the one we might expect, but one far more connected with the perils of how little we really know about the drug in its 21st-century form.

Producer: Kirsty Pope
A Far Shoreline production for ´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio 3

Available now

14 minutes

Last on

Thu 13 Jan 2022 22:45

Broadcast

  • Thu 13 Jan 2022 22:45

Death in Trieste

Death in Trieste

A 1760s murder still informs ideas about aesthetics, a certain sort of sex, and death.

Watch: My Deaf World

Watch: My Deaf World

Five compelling experiences of what it is like to be deaf in 21st-century Britain.

The Book that Changed Me

Five figures from the arts and science introduce books that changed their lives and work.

Download The Essay

Download The Essay

Download all the episodes from the series and listen at your leisure.

Podcast