Alex Berenson is a former reporter for The New York Times, for which he covered subjects ranging from Iraq to Hurricane Katrina to the drug industry. His newest book, “Tell Your Children: The Truth About Marijuana, Mental Illness, and Violence,” is the culmination of his conclusions on the latter, contextualized with research pulled from multiple disciplines. But while his research seems thorough, and he has clearly made up his own mind, the book itself leaves a lot to be desired for such a controversial topic.
In “Tell Your Children,” Berenson argues that the correlation between marijuana and mental illness is too strong to be deemed a coincidence, and that the violence that stems from those who have mental illnesses is too significant a problem to be ignored. He is not talking solely about cannabis-induced psychosis — though he does discuss that phenomenon — but rather cases of people diagnosed with mental illnesses who have shown a habit or dependency on marijuana. He begins his book by going through historical examples of how people in different countries have written about strange behaviors that seemed to stem from use of cannabis, including Mexico, India, and Britain. The second chunk of the book documents various studies that have been done on this correlation, and the final third is comprised mostly of anecdotes from families who have had to deal with violence surrounding mentally ill loved ones and their relationships to drugs.
Throughout the book, Berenson brings up a few good points. It is true that the general public doesn’t know much about the differences between THC, CBD, and cannabis, and thus can often be mislead by oversimplified media that also fails to make those important distinctions. It is also true that the marijuana lobby has, in many ways, co-opted messages of activists who point out that people of color are disproportionately arrested and jailed for possession. Lobbyists fighting for legalization often center arguments made by prison reform activists who touch on this issue, making it difficult for those who don’t agree with legalization to argue against it without risking sounding callous. But Berenson frames this as shrewd misdirection on the part of the legalization lobbyists, failing to recognize that there is room and need for both discussions.
While it’s true that popular cultural depictions of weed — especially aimed at teenagers — often skate over the correlation between cannabis and mental illness, talking about mental illnesses itself requires a sensitivity and thoughtfulness that is absent here. Yes, his primary focus here is a link between drugs and mental illness, but the way he writes about the latter feels startlingly unsympathetic; he frequently uses a cavalier or flippant tone that doesn’t seem warranted or earned. His use of traumatic accounts of violence suffered by various families feels clinical and cold in its attempt to shock the reader.
The book is full of unnecessary drama starting from the epigraph: “The loveliest trick of the Devil is to persuade you that he does not exist,” to the ending: “Open your eyes. See the truth. Tell your children.” But despite the title, Berenson offers no discussions for parents to actually have with their children. Perhaps instead of telling children from a young age to stay away from any and all drugs because they are dangerous (which, for kids who start smoking pot and find they like it, may feel enough like a lie that it’ll breed resentment or distrust) we should be encouraging people to have an open and honest conversation about family histories of mental illness, and how a correlation might be enough to recommend staying away from cannabis at least until an old enough age.
Upon finishing “Tell Your Children,” it became clear to me that a book like this — one that touches on the dangers of medical misinformation, offers a detailed analysis of media coverage of the legalization lobby, and the relationship between drugs, mental illness, and violence — is desperately needed. But this isn’t it.
