Flanagan admits taking class-A drugs in past

Independent TD Luke “Ming” Flanagan has admitted taking cocaine and acid in the past. He described the experience in mainly negative terms but said the Government should decriminalise some class-A drugs.

Long a champion of the legalisation of cannabis, Mr Flanagan told the Irish Mail on Sunday he had experimented with other drugs and said they would be better tackled through harm reduction and pragmatism than prohibition.

“I didn’t like my experience when I tried cocaine on about two, I think maybe two occasions, maybe three occasions,” he said. “I never really liked it. Never saw what it was about.

“I found acid disconcerting. Acid, magic mushrooms and psychedelic drugs are drugs that people underestimate at their peril. I think there is a general underestimation of how scary and dangerous they can potentially be to some people.”

There was no response last night from Minister for Justice Alan Shatter to Mr Flanagan’s remarks. Mr Flanagan said later a person with a colourful past should not be stopped from entering the Dáil. When Mr Flanagan’s remarks were read to anti-drugs campaigner Fr Peter McVerry, he noted that the TD had said he had a bad experience. “If somebody is saying they are damaging then I would have no problem with that,” Fr McVerry said.