Stoned yet again: the geriatrics who refuse to grow up

[...] Recently, Paul McCartney told Rolling Stone that, aged 69, he had decided to give up cannabis. The reasons he gave for his conversion to abstinence were unintentionally revealing, not only of him, but of our increasingly immature and self-centred, that is to say adolescent, world-view.

The slowly ageing idol said that it was finally time to give up smoking cannabis because he now had a “sense of responsibility” towards his eight-year-old daughter. He added, “When you’re bringing up a youngster, your sense of responsibility does kick in, if you’re lucky, at some point.”

This statement was very revealing – far more revealing than it was probably intended to be – because it constituted an admission that smoking cannabis was an act of irresponsibility. There is, of course, a time and place for irresponsibility in a man’s life, namely adolescence, but 69 is a little late in the day to grow out of it. Read more