Opposition Leader Marc Bean “absolutely” stands by his backing of cannabis tea as a medicine, including using it to treat his own daughter’s asthma.

Asked about the risk of administering psychoactive substances to children, Mr Bean told The Royal Gazette that the drug didn’t carry that risk when consumed in tea.

“THC is not dissolvable in water,” he said. “Its consumption in terms of smoking the psychoactive component — that’s to be used by a mature mind.”

He added: “Young people should not be consuming marijuana in that fashion — of course not.”

His daughter, Shaehlay Saltus, said she stood by her father’s decision.

The Progressive Labour Party head, who spoke during Friday’s session of the House of Assembly as MPs debated the findings of the Cannabis Reform Collective, said he made no bones about his own personal experience with the drug.

“I was a Rastaman, full fledged — I lit the chalice,” Mr Bean said.

He had no comment on whether he continues to use cannabis, but said of his detractors: “They don’t know. I’m not saying it disrespectfully; they just don’t know. I’m coming from living experience.”

Although he spoke broadly on the issue of cannabis during Friday’s debate, Mr Bean’s comments drew particular flak when it came to his daughter.

Telling MPs that his child had suffered severely from asthma, the Warwick South Central MP continued: “The first opportunity I had my daughter, who’s now going 20 years old, the first opportunity I had her in my care and custody I went and made her a big cup of ganja tea. At two-and-a-half, three years old.”

He claimed she was cured of the illness. Children’s advocate Sheelagh Cooper subsequently expressed “shock”, and Liz Boden of the asthma charity Open Airways responded that there was no known cure for asthma.

Ms Boden said a doctor should be consulted before trying “alternative remedies”, or before giving up prescribed medicine.

Unfazed, Mr Bean responded: “Being a responsible parent isn’t actually taking the advice of another person but finding the knowledge for yourself, especially when it pertains to your child’s health.”

He added: “Some people will be naturally concerned because it’s such a serious statement.

“But we have others within the One Bermuda Alliance who looks at it as an opportunity to deflect from 15 months of dishonesty with the country.

“If that’s how me being honest and frank to the people of this country is seen, then so be it. But I take full responsibility for my children’s health — not as a politician but as a parent.”

Mr Bean continued: “I gave cannabis to her 17 years ago in the form of tea. I have also, to give other examples, given it to my father, and to someone with a heroin problem, as I said in the House of Assembly.

“If you’re talking about drugs and the effects of real drugs, there’s nothing worse than heroin.

“While some people will say that marijuana is a gateway drug, it’s more of a getaway drug. It allows us to get away from harmful drugs.”

Asked what had inspired him to brew cannabis tea, he said: “It’s common throughout the world. If you look around the world you will find traditional healthcare and medicines that are 4,000 years old, like traditional Chinese medicine or Indian Ayurvedic medicine.

“The use of herbal remedies, across a broad spectrum of herbs, has been around for millennia. What this is going to raise, and I welcome it, is an overall discussion of healthcare in the country.”

Ms Saltus said she’d received a few jokes after her father’s remarks, which had taken her by surprise.

“I got a message from my uncle in that morning calling me ganja baby,” she said. “Not a lot of people know I’m Marc Bean’s daughter.”

Ms Saltus can’t remember suffering from asthma but confirmed it had been serious: “I was always in the hospital hooked up to ventilators. Apparently my dad gave me this tea, and the rest is history.”

She said she didn’t think a single cup of the brew would have cured her, adding: “It can always come back.

“To say it cured me is a little far off, but to say it helped me drastically would be better.”

She said she was given the tea in Bermuda. “My dad is Rasta; a lot of people don’t know that. He may not look the part today but he’s still like that in his heart.

“Growing up, we always had tofu and vegetables and chamomile tea. He would never give us any sugary drinks. He was healthy, and that’s a good thing.”

Dismissing online criticism of her father as “politics”, she said: “I believe, being Bermudian, that Bermudians like to feed off drama. That’s a known.”

Asked if she would take cannabis tea now or administer it to a child, Ms Saltus said: “It’s nothing I do.

“I don’t partake of anything that has to do with so-called ganja, and I would not give anybody anything that I don’t eat or drink.”

She added: “Sometimes the medicines don’t work. If you feel that tea from lemon grass or from ganja is going to help, just learn to take it responsibly.

“I’m not saying ‘do it’, because it’s illegal, but if you have a child suffering as badly as I was, by all means look into it.”