‘Highly unlikely some TDs haven’t taken drugs’
The Independent TD hit back at suggestions he was sending out the wrong message to young people by saying he was being more honest than his colleagues who are not being truthful.
“If people want people in the Dáil who have never done anything like I have done, well, then you’re not going to get many people in the Dáil.
“Now, there are plenty of people in the Dáil who won’t admit it, but sorry if the truth hurts,” he told RTÉ.
Pressed on whether he was saying fellow TDs were taking drugs, Mr Flanagan said: “It would be highly unlikely that they wouldn’t have at some stage.”
The TD was reacting to criticism after he revealed the full extent of his drug use in the past.
Mr Flanagan said football clubs sponsored by alcohol products were sending out a much more harmful message to young people than he was.
Controversy was sparked after Mr Flanagan said he took cocaine on “two or three” occasions and described his acid trip as the “scariest experience”.
The TD, who supports the decriminalisation of class A drugs along the lines of the system which has been operating in Portugal, said he did not have a problem with his children smoking cannabis when they turn 18.
The Roscommon-South Leitrim TD says he first started smoking cannabis as a 19-year-old after having suicidal thoughts as a teenager.
Mr Flanagan — who was arrested 16 times in a two-year period when he was a leading activist in the legalise cannabis campaign — has four convictions for drug offences.
He used his experience to warn people off LSD. “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 for some people.
“I didn’t like my experience when I tried cocaine on about two, I think maybe two occasions, maybe three occasions. I never really liked it. Never saw what it was about.
“The simple fact is, acid would definitely be the most intense drug that I have ever taken in my life and definitely the scariest experience. I would say to people, steer clear of it,” he told the Irish Mail On Sunday. “The reality is I do not use illegal drugs in Ireland any more,” he said, stating he makes a number of trips to the Netherlands each year.
He rejected claims that cannabis is a “gateway drug” that can lead to dependence on harder substances.
The TD said society had a double standard when it came to drugs like alcohol and cannabis.
