See my column in the Bermuda Sun on Friday for a different take on this.
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Is it a fair question to ask whether the Opposition leader, Marc Bean, should resign for admitting that he gave his three year old daughter marijuana, even if he thought it was in the child’s best interests?
Is this a good example to follow? Is it the image the PLP wants to foster? Is this a vote winner?
I am sure the PLP and its supporters will pillory me for asking these questions, accusing me of being rabidly anti-PLP and try to tarnish me with the ex-RG brush etc etc. (Been there, done that.)
But as a parent, I have to pose these questions and ask if he is Premier I could support.
As an after thought: I wonder how people are viewing Bermuda right now? We’ve just had a Premier resign amid the ‘Jetgate’ furore and now we have this. Another world indeed………….
Update: I had this response from Patrick Caton: “As long as the child is healthy it is of no consequence to anyone else. Let him parent as he wishes.”
And this from Jonathan Starling: “I think, from a sense of optics, it doesn’t look good, no. But it’s largely a non-issue to me. I support full (regulated) legalisation of marijuana in general and medical marijuana too. As far as I am aware THC is not water soluble in that form, so I have no concerns about neurological issues of a possible hallucinogen. Questionable, perhaps, bad optics, sure, but largely a non-issue to me.”
* By the way, here is a recipe for ganga tea: http://forum.grasscity.com/recreational-marijuana-use/156095-ganja-tea-recipe.html
Looks like Starling, in his never ending attempts to always defend the PLP, got it wrong!
Um, who’s defending the PLP? And what, exactly, did I get wrong?
THC isn’t water soluble – you need to add alcohol or lipids for that, and you don’t necessarily need the THC for marijuana to have medicinal benefits. That’s just one component of marijuana, albeit perhaps the most potent.
My point was that lots of MPs that day were giving personal testimonials, and the Premier’s undermining the entire cannabis reform debate at the very beginning were much more problematic to me than Mr Bean’s testimonial. But that I think Mr Bean should have realised how the media and anti-PLP’ers would react and how the story would be about ganja tea rather than substantial discussion on cannabis reform.
So please elaborate on your comment.