Children as young as 12 can watch depictions of cannabis abuse on film amid a ‘softening’ of attitudes among the public, the UK’s film classification body will reveal today.
The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) said that depictions of cannabis use and solvent abuse will now be treated less strictly than before because audiences had become ‘more relaxed’ about it.
It said its own research, which helped shape the new guidelines, showed that ‘people are now slightly more accepting of cannabis misuse’ in the categories of 12 and 12A, than they used to be.
The BBFC said that people felt its current strict policy on classifying solvent abuse, often at 18, was ‘overly cautious’ and will now be treated ‘less restrictively’.
BBFC classifiers are now set to take a ‘less restrictive approach’ to showing the misuse of cannabis in the 12 and 12A cateogories, provided it is not ‘detailed, glamorised or frequent’.
Children as young as 12 can watch depictions of cannabis abuse on film amid a ‘softening’ of attitudes among the public, the UK’s film classification body will reveal today. Pictured is TED, a 2012 film, which is ratedRated R for crude and sexual content, pervasive language
The 2023 movie How to Have Sex is recommended for an age 15 rating
Bob Marley: One Love has a PG-13 rating as it is not suitable for children, with marijuana use and smoking throughout, some violence and brief strong language
Speaking exclusively to the Mail, the BBFC’s president and former BBC Breakfast presenter Natasha Kaplinsky, said the more relaxed approach on the use of cannabis had already been used in a recent classification decision.
She said the recent Bob Marley film called One Love, which features repeated cannabis use, would previously have been a ‘slam dunk 15’, but using its new research led to being given a 12A rating instead.
Ms Kaplinsky told the Mail there had been ‘little bit of a shift’ in its policy on drugs, with a ‘softening’ in people’s attitudes in some areas.
New guidelines are also set to toughen up the rules around violence, with higher ratings across all age classifications in this area, notably around ‘intense’ and ‘impactful’ scenes.
The BBFC’s president Natasha Kaplinsky said the more relaxed approach on the use of cannabis had already been used in a recent classification decision
The BBFC found people are now ‘more concerned’ about the portrayal of violence.
Today’s new classification guidelines will also see the BBFC take a ‘more cautious approach’ at classifying sex scenes after public concerns about the ‘detail, nudity and duration’ of sex scenes in 12s and 12As.
But the new guidelines will also reflect its research which found that it can be more ‘lenient’ towards ‘sex references’ when deciding between a 15 or 18 rating.
The organisation’s research, which surveyed 12,000 people, also showed that suicide and self-harm had become the second biggest area of concern for the public, putting it in front of sex, violence and drugs.
Sexual violence remains the biggest concern for the public.
The decision to relax the rules on the portrayal of drugs is likely to be the most controversial of the changes in the new guidelines, which formally take effect in May.