I think I am the only member of parliament in Australia to acknowledge my recreational use of cannabis. In fact, I have enjoyed the many blessings that cannabis can bestow for a lot of my adult life and have not lost my mind or become a serial killer.

Indeed, I became a politician and some have even said I would not have been elected without it!

Fiona Patten has introduced a bill into the Victorian Parliament to allow for a consumption room pilot. Credit:James Brickwood

Jokes aside, I'm declaring my usage or non-usage of cannabis, just so everyone knows where I'm coming from. This debate would be far more informative if every journalist, every politician and every commentator on the subject of cannabis law reform did the same, instead of hiding their drug use, drug abuse or their non-use in the closet.

At the coming federal election, it is painfully clear now that none of the major parties want to see recreational cannabis legal in Australia. Neither Liberal, Labor nor the Greens has a policy that would in any way suggest they are looking at legalising Australia's most popular illicit drug in the near future.