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Malala Says First Cannabis Use at Oxford Unlocked Trauma From 2012 Shooting

Her interviews ahead of an October 21 memoir describe a mental-health collapse that led her to seek therapy.

Overview

  • She recounts experiencing vivid flashbacks of the attack after trying a bong for the first time during her studies at Oxford.
  • After leaving a campus shed at Lady Margaret Hall, she blacked out, was carried to her room by a friend, and relived images of the gun, blood, and the ambulance.
  • She describes weeks of anxiety, sleeplessness, and panic attacks before therapy helped her process buried memories and university pressures.
  • She says she is prepared for criticism over the drug admission, particularly in Pakistan where some detractors have long questioned her account of the shooting.
  • In the new book and interviews, she criticizes Joe Biden, Boris Johnson, Emmanuel Macron, and Justin Trudeau for not answering her 2021 evacuation pleas, while crediting Erna Solberg, Hillary Clinton, and Lolwah al-Khater with assisting.