A Greens MP who has openly admitted taking drugs has called on the NSW premier to “stop her moral crusade” against pill testing before another young person dies from music festival overdose.
In an op-ed written for the Sydney Morning Herald, Upper House MP Cate Faehrmann admits to taking “MDMA in my 20s and occasionally through my 30s and 40s".
“I’ve made the difficult decision to become the first Australian MP to publicly admit to having taken MDMA,” she tweeted.
“I know journalists, tradies, lawyers, public servants, doctors, police, and yes, politicians (most well into their forties) who have done the same.”
Greens MP Cate Faehrmann has taken aim at the NSW government's stance on pill testing. Source: AAP
Speaking to SBS News, Ms Faehrmann said the "just say no" approach to drugs from the NSW government and police was obviously not working.
"I'm here admitting that when I was in my 20s, I was one of the young people who went to dance parties and took MDMA - the "just say no messages" were around then and I, like many people, ignored them," she told SBS News.
"It's obvious young people are still ignoring those messages - look at the facts, that messaging has failed, we need to be honest about that and have an honest conversation about drugs."
She said recent figures suggested about one in three people aged between 20 and 29 had taken drugs at least once, despite government and police messaging.
She urged Premier Gladys Berejiklian to give the greenlight to pill testing as a hazard reduction measure.
"I would say, Gladys, please stop your moral crusade and listen to the facts, look at the evidence," she said.
Ms Berejiklian has repeatedly ruled out pill testing, saying it would give a "green light" to young people to take illegal substances.
The 48-year-old MP’s comments come in the midst of what could be a crucial moment for pill testing.
Five young people died during the 2018-19 summer Christmas/New Year festival season, reigniting calls for pill testing.
Meanwhile, on Monday, at least six crossbench Victorian MPs are expected to call on Premier Daniel Andrews to reverse his decision to rule out trialing pill testing.
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