A mum has sparked a parenting debate after admitting she let her daughter smoke weed before her English GCSE to help with her imagination.
In a post online, the mum said she allowed her daughter to puff on 'a tiny bit of weed' before the all-important exam.
According to Stoke on Trent Live, the unnamed mum said: "When I asked her why she was doing it right before her English Language exam, she said, 'It gives me more imagination when I'm writing essays I have to make up.'
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"My daughter chose to smoke it. She doesn't touch it anymore. She just used it as a relaxant to get her through her GSCEs and she did really well with her results.
"It's up to her to learn from her own choices in life. If I'd have banned her from smoking it every now and then, she would have only done it behind my back as every teenager would do.
"I've always had a 'be open and honest' approach with my daughter and it's worked well.
"She hides no secrets from me and her friends, male and female, see me as a surrogate mum and talk to me about their issues and problems. I can't see that as bad parenting."
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As well as defending her approach, the mum went on to claim that her daughter's weed smoking may have reduced her chances of getting a number of illnesses.
She said: "On the plus side my daughter smoking a tiny amount of weed every now and again, also means that the chances of her getting cancer have probably halved already.
"Doing drugs is a no-no but taking a couple of drags of weed when weed itself isn't chemically manufactured, and is a plant, is not particularly a big deal.
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"Weed is a cure for cancer and helps with various other ailments such as arthritis, dementia, Parkinson's disease, MS, and lots of others."
However - somewhat predictably - not everyone agreed with the mum's parenting methods.
One person said: "So you found it OK for your child to smoke drugs when taking their GCSEs. WOW!!! Shame on you. You're supposed to be the parent."
Another added: "You have the right to bring your child or children up how you see fit. But to let them think it's OK to do drugs, sorry, but for me as a mum-of-three that's a big no-no.
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"I'm very strict with my kids and they would never ever keep anything from me. Why? Because they know I will find out and when I do then there is consequence and they lose everything."
But the mum did have some defenders in the Stoke on Trent online community.
One person said: "Go you!!! I think you sound like a great mum. My mum was just like you and we have a great relationship.
"Rather than lie to her, she knows everything, unlike my friends who had parents that would be stuck up telling their kids what's right and what's wrong yet contradicting their actions some way or another! Ignore these muppets!"
Featured Image Credit: PATopics: Interesting, Drugs, Community