Cannabis Candidate Gets the Weed Bug
A Rockingham-based politician has caught the weed bug so badly, he’s considering purchasing a car that he may never drive.
Legalise Cannabis Upper House candidate Dr Craig Buchanan has reached out to the owner of a classic VW Beatle advertised on the WA capital’s FB Marketplace, to ask if he can put a hold on the car until after the 8 March election.
“The Bug’s a beauty,” Dr Buchanan explained, “and if I’m lucky enough to win a seat in the Legislative Council next month, I really want the opportunity to paint it white with a big green cannabis leaf on the bonnet, and park it outside Parliament House every day!”
“Of course,” Dr Buchanan went on to say, “I wouldn’t be allowed to drive the car myself, given that I have a prescription from my doctor for medicinal cannabis.”
The law states that the mere presence of trace elements of cannabis in a persons system - metabolites that can be detected weeks after consumption - is enough for a person to lose their license, and potentially go to jail.
“I suppose I could hire a part-time driver. A ministerial car - the BMW Series 7 is popular, I’m told - will set you back at least a $100k, so at just over $8 grand, I’d be a damned sight less of a burden to the taxpayers than the benighted fools who make and maintain these unnecessary, harsh and unscientific laws.“
“They - the politicians and their laws alike - discriminate against patients who are perfectly capable behind the wheel,” Dr Buchanan concluded, “and it’s past time the law was amended to reflect that reality.”
Dr Buchanan has a medicinal cannabis prescription from his GP following cancer surgery, and is committed to updating the THC driving laws in Western Australia, to bring them into line with other Australian jurisdictions (including Victoria and Tasmania) where drivers have a defence in court if they test positive for trace metabolites from the THC in their medication, there was no evidence of impairment, and their prescription is valid.
Early indications are that the car owner, Mr Harry Hall, is happy to consider the delayed offer, saying “This is a cause that I feel I can get behind!”
Dr Craig Buchanan JP