Unlike some politicians, Ashfield DeVent isn't afraid to admit he used to inhale when the spliff was passed around the room.

In fact during marijuana shortages in his younger days there was a time Mr. DeVent would chase half way across the Island on the off chance of getting a smoke.

But any Opposition politician who thinks introducing drug-testing for MPs would be a good way of getting him into trouble obviously doesn't know the Pembroke South East member very well at all.

Personal tragedies — with a loved one dying from AIDS and another seeing a hugely promising life descend into crime and prison — forced the Progressive Labour Party stalwart into a change of mindset long ago.

So while he believes some people may wrongly assume he's a smoker — due to his dreadlocked appearance and public comments over the decriminalisation of cannabis — in reality Mr. DeVent couldn't hold a higher disdain for drugs and their pushers.

Mr. DeVent has witnessed first-hand the escalation of drug abuse in the constituency he grew up in and now represents in the House of Assembly.

Back in the day, dealers would put their transactions on hold and hide their illegal substances behind their backs so they could say hello to Mr. DeVent's mother as she walked by. These days, they don't care who sees what they're doing.

The market has become so lucrative people are prepared to go to increasingly extreme lengths to get a piece of it, and when drugs are imported to Bermuda, so are guns.

Gunshots can often be heard in the Middletown, 42nd Street and St. Monica's Road area, with fugitive Omari Gordon — still at large nine days after allegedly firing at Police officers — the latest in a string of high-profile cases.

Mr. DeVent's contempt for pushers — equating them to his West African ancestors who sold their friends as slaves — is rooted in his own experience as a user who has seen close ones suffer through addiction.

"There would be times when there was a shortage," he said.

"The word would go out someone's going to have some at six o'clock at the Naval Field and everyone would go up there — and there wasn't any.

"And somebody would say there's some in Devonshire Rec so we'd go down there. I found myself chasing the next smoke.

"Imagine someone chasing that heroin that they absolutely must have, or a crack fix."

The ridiculousness of his fruitless treks to Somerset was one reason to give up as was the birth of his son, the cost and his health, but an overriding factor was watching others' struggles.

His 'boon coon buddy' and another friend — one a paint sprayer and the other a musician — both turned to drugs when the ultra conservative Bermudian way of life hampered their ability to express themselves.

One died after catching AIDS, while the other ended up in prison and getting integrated into the criminal community. That person is now turning his life around, according to Mr. DeVent.

Explaining how he kicked the habit himself, Mr. DeVent said: "I didn't want my son to see me indulging, so that pulled me back. The more I pulled back, the more I realised I could take it or leave it.

"My feeling towards those who are users is sympathy. For those in this period of time who don't know what heroin does to people, there are some who sell it to them and try to profit. They are the enemy."

He applauds Social Rehabilitation Minister Dale Butler's Mirrors programme and the recent drugs master plan, but says problems are now so severe a national brainstorming session — a Big Conversation on drugs — is the sensible way forward.

One suggestion would be a three-strikes-and-you're-in rule for people caught possessing small amounts of cannabis. According to Mr. DeVent this would mean that instead of being jailed, anyone committing three minor drug offences would automatically be placed on a drugs awareness course to learn about the pitfalls and physical effect of different substances.

Debate could also focus on how the Island's colonial history — and the way it has been and is policed — has contributed to drug use.

While drugs are an accepted way of life in some black areas and predominantly black sports events, Mr. DeVent says under colonial rule policing has been more thorough in white areas, thus ensuring such acceptance has never been allowed to set in.

"What would be allowed to happen in Middletown would not be allowed to happen in Tucker's Town," he said.

"What would be allowed to happen in Court Street would most definitely not be allowed to happen on Front Street.

"Drugs are most definitely allowed to be sold in my area, but when the drug dealer turns up in Front Street the Police are quick to stop the behaviour."

The United Bermuda Party has been calling for MPs to be drug tested to show they are clean and set an example to the public.

On this suggestion, Mr. DeVent said: "My last speech in the House was a cry more than anything to the Opposition, for everybody in the House to stop politicising the issue and let's be leaders, and put our heads together and really focus on solutions.

"This concept of drug testing. Many people view it as an invasion of privacy. I'm not sure. From my appearance alone, they might think that Ashfield's got the dreads, he's got to be smoking marijuana.

"I have been blunt and honest from when I was first elected. I have publicly admitted that I have smoked cannabis."

Bermuda has a massive task on its hands to reverse the trends of drug abuse, and for Mr. DeVent the key ingredient to make that change is courage.

"If you are really serious about making a change, you have to stop being fearful. You cannot make the change in a closet, in the dark," he said.

"Look in the mirror. Make this country a better place for the next generation. We cannot do it in fear."