Duke accused of spouting reckless ‘psychobabble’ and glorifying use of drugs

Campaigners join backlash at ‘dangerous’ admission of cocaine, cannabis and magic mushrooms in book

THE Duke of Sussex has been accused of glorifying drugs with dangerous “psychobabble” in his autobiography.

Prince Harry admits in his memoir, Spare, that he had taken cocaine, cannabis and magic mushrooms, and claimed psychedelic drugs had allowed him to see “the truth”.

However, he faced a backlash yesterday from MPS, a policing chief and a campaigner whose son was killed by drugs.

With the Government set to launch a fresh crackdown on middle-class users of “recreational” drugs, one minister said last night: “His comments are grossly irresponsible in that they seek to justify and promote drug use, are an embarrassment to himself and are, in parts, incoherent psychobabble.

“I hope and expect that people will simply ignore the nonsense he has come up with,” the minister added.

Another described the comments as “massively irresponsible”.

David Sidwick, the police and crime commissioner for Dorset, who has called for cannabis to be upgraded to a class A drug because of the health risks it poses, said the comments by the Duke of Sussex were “extremely unhelpful given the known harms of cannabis and emerging evidence of its links to psychosis and mental health [issues].

“As a role model, it is deeply disappointing [from the Duke] ... it is this tacit acknowledgement that drug use is OK – by people who should know better – which is part of the problem.”

Prince Harry wrote in his memoir that he took psychedelics both for fun and therapeutically over the years, smoking cannabis in his garden at Kensington Palace and while a schoolboy at Eton College.

Under their influence, he said he was able to see that there was “another world where the red mist didn’t exist”, claiming that drugs had helped him both escape from and “redefine” reality.

The Duke also revealed that after the drugs wore off, he was still able to see this other world that was “just as real and twice as beautiful”, reinforcing his belief that “this is not all there is”. “Only the truth existed,” he wrote. His comments dismayed Janie Hamilton, an anti-drugs campaigner whose son, James, died aged 36 after he refused to have chemotherapy for testicular cancer following years of battling mental illness, which his family said was a direct result of drug use.

His death was recorded as being partly caused by schizophrenia, which his family believes was triggered by his addiction to cannabis from the age of 14.

Mrs Hamilton said Duke’s comments were “reckless” because vulnerable young people might follow suit in the false belief that such drugs could treat depression – and wrongly assume they could, like him, avoid harm by taking them.

“My first thought was that impressionable youngsters would immediately start copying for the supposed thrill of the ‘trip’, and maybe others who are

‘As a role model, it is deeply disappointing. It is a tacit acknowledgement that drug use is OK’

‘These latest outpourings are potentially dangerous to young people. He needs to think long and hard’

experiencing deep pain might then consider doing the same as Prince Harry, to escape reality for a while. To them, he may appear unscathed from his experiences,” she said.

“It is reckless of him to broadcast his choices, as young people live in a copycat world on social media and are too young to discern what may be harmful. If a prince does it, why not them?”

Mrs Hamilton added: “The other aspect of Harry’s recklessness in relating what he tried, is that everyone is made differently.

“Some people get away with it completely, some people are mentally damaged but can still function, largely undetected that they have, in fact, been damaged. Others end up in mental hospitals for life. Sometimes the damage is not immediately apparent – cannabis is a slow burner.”

Tim Loughton, a former children’s minister and Conservative member of the Commons home affairs committee, said: “These latest outpourings are potentially dangerous to young people. He really does need to think long and hard about the impact he might have on impressionable young people.

“If he aspires to be a role model, this is exactly the wrong way to go about it.”

Lee Anderson, Conservative MP for Ashfield, said: “Every time I see him pop up, I think he has been on drugs.

“Who does this? Who tries to destroy a whole family and, at the same time, pretend he is reaching out and wants a reunion.

“Obviously, the drugs have not worked. They have had a detrimental effect on his ability to make proper decisions.

“He needs to shut up, apologise to his family and hope that one day, they will take him back in.

“He is not a good role model at all.”