Legalise Cannabis Party candidate for Warren-Blackwood backs reforms for mental health

A Pemberton psychotherapist has thrown his hat in the ring for a seat in the State Parliament table with the aim to legalise cannabis for mental health benefits.

Aaron Peet is making a tilt in the March 8 State election with the backing of the Legalise Cannabis Party, proposing cannabis reforms to aid “better treatment” for mental health patients.

He said he was inspired to run because he believed there were “many benefits that far outweigh just smoking a joint” which other politicians were not advocating for.

Mr Peet is a farmer and clinical psychotherapist in the Warren Blackwood region, and ran for the Senate in the last Federal election.

“My support behind it is for the benefits it can provide … it’s not just legalising a drug to let everyone get stoned,” he said.

“I’m not saying it’s a cure-all plant, because nothing will cure everything. That’s a fallacy, but the good it does way, way, way outweighs the negativities of it.”

Mr Peet said the LCP was not focused on taking away current medication options, but in providing a legal alternative to what was already out there.

“We will just say ‘look, you now have this option’ — you don’t have to worry about losing your house as a criminal. You don’t have to worry about buying something from a guy who might stab you on the street,” he said.

“You’re not going to get sued or fired from your job because you’ve got cannabis in your system when you do a drug test, you’re going to have these opportunities and these benefits.”

If elected, the party pledges to allow consumers and/or carers to grow cannabis in their gardens or indoors, with personal-use cannabis criminal records to be expunged, and new road rules to allow a defence for medicinal users.

“It’s a conversation I have on an almost daily basis. One by one, people are realising that this is actually a healthy, healing herb which can benefit our society immensely,” he said.

“I think people think that if we’re soft on drugs . . . we’ll lose votes. That’s probably the bottom line.”

A State Government spokesperson told the Times WA Labor remained committed to ensuring access to medicinal cannabis for people with medical needs.

“This includes enabling general practitioners to prescribe medicinal cannabis to patients,” the spokesperson said.

“There are no plans to legalise recreational cannabis.”