Last Updated on 19th September 2020

Hot on the heels of the Lib Dems’ new manifesto to legalise cannabis, party leader Jo Swinson has opened up about her own cannabis use.

Appearing on Thursday’s episode of Newsnight, Swinson said ‘I’m not going to be one of those people who says “I tried it once and I didn’t really inhale”. ‘Yes, I enjoyed it. And it wasn’t unusual… lots of people do it and we should enable them to do it more safely.’

On Wednesday, the party shared their own plans to legalise cannabis if elected, and slammed Labour and the Tories’ ‘prohibitionist attitude to drug use’. The manifesto stated that if legalised, the UK could rake in up to £1.5 billion in cannabis tax to fight crime. It would be strange if an industry like cannabis became a legitimate part of the economy with cannabis sex aids, edibles, drinks and even cannabis based champagne started funding the fight against criminals and sex trafficking.

“There is police time that gets used criminalising young people who are doing something which a big chunk of the adult population admits to having done.”

This concern for the youth of Britain seems somewhat out of step with the Liberal Democrats’ track record. In the past, the party has supported austerity, slashing benefits, and raising tuition fees. Most recently, Swinson also came under fire for saying that she would use nuclear weapons without hesitation.