Councilor to report drug using Irish politician to police

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Ireland's Parliament - Dail Eireann

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A Fianna Fail councilor is to complain to Irish police about the drug habits of new parliament member Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan, a self-confessed cannabis user.

Kilkenny man John Coonan has told the Irish Independent that he is concerned about Flanagan’s very public drug use.

Coonan was outraged when Kilkenny councilors voted that Flanagan’s drug use was his own business and decided to take the matter further.

Roscommon resident Flanagan has vowed to carry on growing and smoking cannabis despite his election to the new Irish parliament as an independent. 

A former psychiatric nurse, Coonan had demanded that Flanagan ‘should not be given special treatment’ and ‘should be dealt with for breaking the law’.

He is to write to the new Prime Minister Enda Kenny and the Irish police outlining his stance on Flanagan’s drug habit.

“I was gobsmacked that I didn’t get support. Everybody made the point that Ming is an able and articulate man. That is not the point,” said Coonan.

“Gerry Ryan was a fantastic broadcaster but, unfortunately, he is not with us anymore. I’m not comparing Ming to anybody but Gerry Ryan is an unfortunate case and point of what illegal drugs can do.”

Coonan told the Irish Independent that Flanagan is sending out the wrong message to Ireland’s youth.
“It would be remiss of me if I didn’t express, as a public representative and a retired clinical nurse manager, my concern about this,” he added.

“I know one of the most serious side effects of cannabis is depression. It is illegal for a reason. There are a lot of young people who I have seen suffer because of this drug. There’s no such thing as a harmless illegal drug.”

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