“It Gave me the Giggles!” Mary Byrne Admits to Smoking Cannabis

While most celebrities are generally quite hush-hush about any misdemeanours in their past, Ireland’s own Mary Byrne has opened up and admitted that she has gotten high on cannabis in the past.

Speaking on TV3’s Midday yesterday, the singer from Ballyfermot in Dublin revealed that she “enjoyed” her experiences with the drug because it gave her the giggles.

“I have tried cannabis, a long time ago. I enjoyed what it did to me. I got the giggles out of it – but that doesn’t happen,” said Mary.

“What happens with cannabis is, like every other drug, is the giggles and that good feeling goes away and depression and mood swings set in and I think it’s wrong,” she added.

Mary, who rose to fame after appearing on reality TV talent show The X-Factor, sparked off a debate about whether or not pot should be legalised. Mary’s comments about the drug came shortly after fresh calls were made for the drug to be made legal.

Mary Byrne said only people with serious illness should be given the drug.

However, Mary made her stance on the issue clear by stating that she thinks the drug should only be administered to patients who are suffering from a serious illness.

“As regards legalising it for the likes of illnesses like cancer patients or Aids patients or arthritis, MS, I think it should be legalised for that – not legalised to be sold over the counter but legalised for that,” said Mary.

“If you go to a doctor and you are genuinely, and I’m talking you have to go through everything to get this, then yes, because it does relax you and it does make you feel very, very good. Rather than taking morphine,” she added.

Mary also said that she believes there are safer ways to get the benefits of the drug other than smoking it.

“The thing about cannabis is it can be cooked in a cake so it doesn’t have to be smoked. It can be actually eaten and it gives the safe effect,” she said.

The singer said that she was strongly against allowing young people to smoke cannabis, mainly because she has seen the effects it can have on a young person.

“I know somebody close to me and I’ve seen the whole personality of this person change,” said Mary.

“A wonderful child, and when the person is taking this and you meet them, just their whole persona has changed. When they are off it for a few days, the old person comes back,” she added.

Talk about the legalisation of cannabis is currently everywhere, after Independent TD Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan renewed his calls to the government to legalise the drug.

“There’s a need for greater regulation and this would be easier to conduct if we legalise cannabis. If you look at Amsterdam, for example, people under the age of 18 cannot buy it without presenting ID,” said Mr Flanagan recently.