Ryan admits he smoked cannabis

HIS nomination for the presidency has not even been confirmed, but Green Party TD Eamon Ryan’s tentative bid for the Áras may have already gone up in smoke after he admitted to having used cannabis.

He also indicated that while he was against full legalisation of the drug, there were circumstances where it should be allowed.

His comments last night drew criticism from one leading anti-drugs campaigner, who labelled them “glib,” “badly informed” and “ill-judged.”

Deputy Ryan was coming towards the end of an otherwise routine interview on his candidacy on RTÉ Radio’s Marian Finucane Show when the subject arose.

Asked if he thought cannabis should be legalised, he replied: “It’s a complicated one. In a short answer, not full and free supply, no. In my mind, you have to be very careful.”

He then admitted he had smoked cannabis himself in the past, before being asked if it had been “a happy experience.”

“Oh, well, yeah,” he replied. “The difficulty is I think it can be very attra...” He didn’t finish that thought, however, instead saying: “The concern I have is that...it can have repercussions in terms of psychiatric illnesses.”

Deputy Ryan said that, unlike former US president Bill Clinton, he had inhaled when smoking cannabis, but would not take the drug in the Áras if he were elected.

But Gráinne Kenny, president of the Europe Against Drugs movement, was scathing of the TD’s responses.

“This is an individual who is running for the highest office in the land,” she said, “and he should be very clear on the fact that drugs are illegal in this country.

“What people do in their past life is history. I don’t believe in looking under anybody’s bed. But if you go into public office, then you have to take a look at yourself.

“And if, for instance, it is all right for our politicians to say: ‘Ah well, I’ve used in the past and it was very nice’, then is it all right for a guard to smoke drugs? Is it all right for nurses to smoke drugs? Doctors?”

Asked what Deputy Ryan’s response should have been, Ms Kenny said: “He should have answered very clearly and honestly: ‘Yes, I did in the past, but I do not anymore and I absolutely support the fact that drugs are dangerous and they are not legal.’

“What happens in the past is nobody’s business, but when they go into public office, they have to be very clear on the law.”

She dismissed the idea that the controversy would damage his presidential prospects, however.

“People are asking now: ‘Will this damage his chances?’ But the truth is he hasn’t a snowball’s chance in hell of being elected.”

Deputy Ryan will find out tomorrow whether the Green Party will ratify his presidential bid when its national council meets in Clonakilty. He would then require 20 Oireachtas signatures to secure an election nomination.