The drug ecstasy could be used by war veterans to alleviate stress, says an Australian Democrats MP.
South Australian Democrat Sandra Kanck says the drug's key ingredient, methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), could be used to alleviate post-traumatic stress disorders.
"This is not a new idea, it is being trialled in the United States and Israel for war veterans and in Spain for rape victims," she said in a statement.
"It's not a frivolous idea.
"Studies by the Department of Veterans Affairs in 2003 and 2007 have shown that post-traumatic stress is a real issue for veterans of the Gulf and Vietnam wars.
"Veterans, like other Australians, are already being prescribed powerful drugs like highly addictive morphine for pain relief and benzodiazepines for post traumatic stress disorder - both are potentially addictive and dangerous drugs.
"Most drugs can be dangerous but if they are used in a controlled way they can be medically beneficial."
SA Veteran's Affairs Minister Michael Atkinson has dismissed Ms Kanck's suggestion the government should look at her proposal.
But Ms Kanck said: "If Michael Atkinson really cared about veterans he would look into any proposal that might help them and their families.
"He is either too superstitious to consider the science and the evidence or he is playing cynical politics."
In 2006, Ms Kanck was roundly criticised after telling parliament there was no evidence to suggest MDMA was dangerous.
She also said if she had a choice between attending a rave party or a hotel bar, she would "go to the rave party every time".
Ms Kanck also advocated giving MDMA to traumatised victims of the 2005 Eyre Peninsula bushfires, which killed nine people.
Ms Kanck, a member of SA's Legislative Council since 1993, said those comments were taken out of context and she had been talking of therapeutic use of MDMA, not the use of backyard-manufactured ecstasy.
