Rampage killings have become commonplace throughout the Western world, and the normalisation of mind-altering drugs is to blame, acclaimed broadcaster Peter Hitchens argued on the latest episode of the Mail’s Alas Vine & Hitchens podcast.

Responding to events in Liverpool on Monday, where a 53-year-old man allegedly high on drugs drove his car into a group of celebrating football fans, Hitchens said more must be done to restrict access to substances with the potential to cause ‘madness’.

A rampage killing is a specific type of mass murder where an individual kills several innocent people in a relatively short period of time.

‘It is common now, in almost every major society in the world, that we get rampage killings’, Hitchens said.

‘It is incessant. It happens all the time. It never used to happen – and I think I know why. What has fundamentally changed since the 1950s and 60s?

Peter Hitchens: ‘There is a reluctance to admit any connection between the use of marijuana and insane violence.’ Listen here

‘Crazy individuals are quite uncommon. Usually, madness is connected to some form of brain injury, which is either caused by serious head trauma or a disease. Or a third thing, drugs.

‘Anders Brevik was a steroid user. The man who went wild in several Mosques in New Zealand was also on steroids.

‘Drugs like steroids, SSRIs, antidepressants, and marijuana are often in the recent backstories of people who do these things. It’s very hard to find these things out because the authorities aren’t interested.

‘There’s a huge reluctance in our society to admit that there is a correlation between these things and drugs. There is an immense marijuana lobby – the other drugs have their lobbies as well.

‘Particularly, there is a reluctance to admit any connection between the use of marijuana and insane violence.’

Metanalyses conducted in America have shown a tenuous link between cannabis use and the propensity to commit violent crimes.

However, other studies conducted in the wake of legalisation in certain US states have shown the opposite – with violence decreasing where dispensaries open.

Mail columnist Sarah Vine disagreed with her co-host, arguing that psychotic people often seek out drugs and it is not the substances themselves that account for the perpetuator’s underlying mental illness.

She also emphasised that the prohibition of drugs like cannabis creates a black market actively incentivised to sell a more potent product.

Metanalyses conducted in America have shown a tenuous link between cannabis use and the propensity to commit violent crimes

However, other studies conducted in the wake of legalisation in certain US states have shown the opposite – with violence decreasing where dispensaries open

Peter Hitchens: ‘We must have it on our statute books that you are punished for possession.’   Listen here

However, Vine concurred that the power of cannabis to stir mental illness has been downplayed in wider society.

‘People think that because cannabis isn’t chemically addictive, it isn’t dangerous’, Vine began.

‘But it is highly psychologically addictive – I have friends that were heavy smokers that when they tried to quit, they went mad.’

Hitchens compared the light policing of cannabis in the West to countries like South Korea, Japan, and China, making the point that Asia sees very few of these rampage-style killings.

He argued: ‘In South Korea, these things just do not happen because the possession of marijuana is still considered a crime.

‘Asian governments have rejected the propaganda – if you’re a public figure and you’re caught with it, you do not merely go to jail, you are discredited.

‘You are out of public life forever because it is seen as a shameful thing to do, as it ought to be.

‘The people that promote it should also face shame because they are ruining lives. It is not a victimless crime – the family of a person who becomes permanently ill because of marijuana use is a family full of grief for the next 40 years.

‘It ought to be punished – we must have it on our statute books that you are punished for possession.’

To watch the full contentious debate, search for Alas Vine & Hitchens now, wherever you get your podcasts.