Video summary
Lorne gives a highly personal account of how smoking cannabis devastated his life.
He describes how what began as casual, one-off activity to meet new friends, eventually led to reliance, with severe social and psychological consequences.
Lorne was football mad, and at 17 had high hopes of becoming a professional. But starting at a new college meant he fell in with a different peer group and was eventually persuaded to try smoking cannabis.
He began to use the drug regularly and play truant. Soon he was thrown out of his family home and stopped playing football completely.
Finally, a serious car accident, and badly broken arm, persuaded him to change his life.
Lorne's story is interspersed with graphics, which explain in detail the chemical and biological processes that were taking place in his body as he was taking drugs.
The film also highlights key statistics in relation to young people's drug taking, confirming that only a very small minority of young people have ever tried them.
This clip is from the series Drugs: My Story.
Teacher Notes
The clip could spark discussions on drug use and the influence of peer pressure.
The first illegal drug Lorne used was cannabis, but what were the circumstances under which it happened?
Lorne talks about something called peer pressure. What is peer pressure and what impact did it have on Lorne?
If it was you what would you have done differently?
Lorne had a clear long term goal to be a professional footballer and he talks openly about the impact of smoking cannabis on his life. In groups of four or five, students can share with each other what their long term goals are, then discuss in what ways smoking, drinking alcohol, or using illegal drugs such as cannabis can affect their long term goals.
Students can be encouraged to share one thing they have learned from watching Lorne's clip or one thing they would do differently under the same circumstances.
This clip will be relevant for teaching the dangers of drug use in PSHE and Citizenship. This topic appears in OCR, Edexcel, AQA, WJEC KS4/GCSE in England and Wales, CCEA GCSE in Northern Ireland and SQA National 4/5 in Scotland._
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