Скачать или смотреть Psychology of a Cannabis Party, Dover, Kent, UK

I live in Robsons Yard where for a couple of months now a minor drama has been playing out in which a group of teenagers have been smoking cannabis on the communal stairs leading up to my flat.

One of the agencies I've spoken to said that this problem is widespread in other blocks of flats in the Tower Hamlets area (and, I should imagine, probably in other parts of town, too!)

In the commentary I state that smoking cannabis is both anti-social behaviour and against the law, neither of which reflect my perspective.

I had spoken to the teenagers as a group on two previous occasions but it was during a third occasion that took place on February the 13th, when I addressed one girl in particular, that my interest was piqued.

The brief conversation took place at 2.40 in the morning, in sub-zero temperatures, and it was quite clear that this girl had chosen to be there because it was a safe place where her considerable "inner demons" could be kept in check, a continuous process aided by the effects of smoking cannabis.

What struck me was that the girl hadn't given up on herself, despite her substantial psychological history, and how responsive she would be to any approach showing awareness of that history without her having to articulate it.

My knowledge of the agencies who might be legally responsible for such a person would indicate that the necessary expertise is sadly lacking.

A potential tragedy in the making - so many people in Dover have hardened the surface fear of their psychological history, and in so doing, made the permanent internal transformation from victim to predator by creating a "weapon" with which to damage and distress others, not least their own children.

And not just their own children: if a "legitimate" reason arises, and they feel they can get away with it, they will prey on other people's children, too.

And not just "original size" children, either: they will also target grown-up children, and through the mechanism of gossip, pass these older victims around from one to another.

And so the cycle of abuse from generation to generation continues...

(As someone who repairs rather than inflicts psychological damage, I am occasionally accosted by a total stranger in the street who is intent on proudly revealing their corrupt capability to damage babies. Their intent is to intimidate.)