Braddon MP Craig Garland charged after testing positive for marijuana
EXCLUSIVE.
BRADDON independent MP Craig Garland has been charged by police after testing positive for marijuana while driving.
The 60-year-old said he was pulled up by police in the North West at the weekend and was surprised the drug was still in his system from the night before.
"I’ve been smoking marijuana for a long time to manage pain from injuries,’" Mr Garland said.
"I admit I was surprised it was still in my system.
"It was an oversight on my part."
He said he used THC to managed the pain he had as a result of a previous broken leg and ankle, plus arthritis. He said screws and plates had been used to help repair the damage.
He has also been charged with having a quantity of a controlled substance in his vehicle.
"It's for personal use, I had a tobacco pouch in my car and it contained a fraction of a gram of marijuana,’’ he said.
He hoped there could be more debate within the community about the benefits of marijuana for pain relief.
"Not long ago the view on it was it was a terrible drug,’’ Mr Garland said.
"But more and more people are now accessing it and using it and I hope maybe there is a debate without the stigma.
"If that happens one good thing will come out of this.
"I’m not holier than thou, I’m just an ordinary fisherman who’s now in Parliament.
"This needs to be readily available without the stigma.’’
Mr Garland will have the charges read in the Burnie Magistrates Court at a date to be fixed.
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Garland case
There are a lot of people out there in this same boat .. people who been using cannabis for yonks for medical conditions without a script or permission from a gov bureaucrat. Maybe he needs to use his place in parliament to do something about cannabis law reform in Tassie. If he had a script he would have been waived on .. such hypocrisy !
Legalising cannabis
We’re being forced to buy legal medical cannabis via a doctor, rather than be allowed to grow our own. And the majority of legal weed is imported from Canada where it’s all grown indoors and nothings organic. Shameful behaviour from the AMA who still says there’s no evidence it’s a good medicine for anything. Meanwhile the overworked police are like Big Pharma’s private army fighting the impossible to win drug war. We all know drug use is really a health issue, don’t we?