Sheila as a cannabinoid killer

[Erik Narramore]

I would say a high proportion of mass killers are on cannabis.

Sheila did aver to John Morgan and a friend of his in mid-July 1985 that she had not taken any drugs since she started on her psychotropic medication.  Note, though, that the reason John and Michael asked Sheila if she was taking drugs was because her appearance, demeanour and mannerisms suggested the possibility.  No doubt we are supposed to assume that Sheila was telling the truth and it was her medication that caused the problems and not illicit drugs.

In fact, Sheila was probably lying.  One only has to consider the post-mortem toxicology test results.  Significantly, Michael was about to open a shop and Sheila was looking for work, so the suspicion has to be that she was trying to not to give the impression that she was a cannabis user and that her issues were more strictly 'medical'.

Turning to the consultant, Dr. Ferguson, he claimed that cannabis would not have had any significant psychopharmacological effect, but he was a psychiatrist, not a clinical pharmacologist or psychopharmacologist.  He was not an expert in the matter he was giving an opinion on, and this is a point that the defence should have pursued - in my strictly layman's opinion.

I also suspect there was a massive mess concerning Sheila that was going to come to light with her parents, and may already have done, but which is either unknown to everybody else, or has been covered-up.  I'm not going to spell out what my suspicions about her are.  Maybe that's for another time.

[Erik Narramore]

It is well-known in everyday life that cannabis causes violence, though officially science currently only recognises this as a correlation.  I also suspect cannabis may have greater addictive qualities than is acknowledged.

It is quite possible that the White House Farm tragedy was a cannabinoid crime: consider that both Jeremy and Sheila were regular cannabis users, though Sheila was also a hard drugs user.  According to ITV, ergo according to Colin Caffell and Carol Ann Lee, she was snorting it up her nose!

Qs. Where did Sheila get the money from for cocaine, or even cannabis?  Did Freddie give her it?  Was there a quid pro quo with someone or some people?  Can Dr. Ferguson's opinion on the effects of cannabis and other drugs be relied on given that he was a general psychiatrist, not an expert in drugs and drug pathologies?

[Erik Narramore]

I will accept that, as he was a private doctor, he will have treated the sons and daughters of wealthy people and will have seen patients with drug habits, but he could not comment on this in any expert capacity.  He could offer the jury an informed view based on his own practice, but unless he could show some grasp of the subject based on academic or professional interest, it is unlikely this could be relied on.

As part of his training as a psychiatrist, he would have studied pharmacology, but only at a level necessary to acquaint himself with the essentials of the subject necessary for a psychiatrist to prescribe and dispense psychotropics and other drugs and medicines.  He would not, for instance, have had any grasp of longitudinal trends in the interaction between psychotropics and cannabinoids.

He could have said something like: 'In my clinical experience, I have treated certain patients over a number of years who I knew or suspected were involved in cannabis while they were also prescribed psychotropics.  This was against my strong advice to them as their psychiatrist.  I observed no adverse effects nonetheless.'

But if you stop and think about, how does he even know this?  He can't.  He has no controlled data, he just has anecdotes.

And on that subject, why would Sheila be telling people that she hasn't taken cannabis or other drugs since she started a psychotropic regimen?  It was a lie, I think for the purpose of impressing John Morgan's friend, but why would it even occur to her to lie like that?  It's likely to be because Dr. Ferguson did indeed warn her against the use of cannabis due to her treatment.

I'm not casting aspersions on Dr. Ferguson, let me emphasise.  He was clearly a very caring and conscientious doctor, as is evidenced by the fact that the Bambers chose him consistently for the care of Sheila.

[Erik Narramore]

For anybody who is interested:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20073570/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7084484/

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/183929

https://vermontdailychronicle.com/2021/04/08/marijuana-abuse-common-thread-in-mass-killings/

https://www.columbiapsychiatry.org/sites/default/files/media/documents/2021-02/psychotic-symptoms-in-mass-shootings-v-mass-murders-not-involving-firearms-findings-from-the-columbia-mass-murder-database.pdf

This lengthy and detailed article in the British Journal of Psychiatry makes the point that cannabis is not a 'harmless' drug, as many claim:

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/the-british-journal-of-psychiatry/article/pharmacology-and-effects-of-cannabis-a-brief-review/82B02735F420CB287DCC80843FC34AE1#

If you would care to google 'mass killers and cannabis' and 'mass killers and marijuana', you will find further information.  [Cannabis and marijuana are not technically the same thing, but marijuana has slipped into becoming the Americanism for cannabis generally].

There is an opposing argument, of course.  Just to pre-empt some points:

I am aware that there is no single type of 'cannabis' preparation.  In fact, the strength and effect of cannabis can vary greatly depending on the preparation and quality of it.

While all cannabis is psychoactive, some cannabis strains are mild and preparations need not contain strong psychoactive compounds.

A related issue is whether Sheila's cannabis use was a causal factor in her schizophrenia.  She has got it from somewhere.  What we know about the Jays, her natural family, indicates it might not have been genetic.