Mother whose daughter died aged 15 after taking ecstasy calls for drugs to be legalised

A bereaved mother whose daughter died after taking ecstasy has called for drugs to be legalised. Anne-Marie Cockburn's daughter Martha Fernback was 15-years-old when she died on July 20 last year after swallowing half a gram of MDMA powder (ecstasy).

Her mother, Anne-Marie Cockburn, has suggested that the criminalisation of drugs contributed to her daughter's death.

At her daughter's inquest in Oxford, Anne-Marie called on senior politicians to consider fundamental reform of UK drug policy.

Martha, from the Summertown area of Oxford, suffered a cardiac arrest last July at the city's Hinksey Park after taking 0.5mg of MDMA, or ecstasy.

The drug the 15-year-old GCSE student took turned out to be 91% pure, compared to the average street-level purity of 58%, Oxfordshire Coroner's Court heard.Martha died at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford on July 20, only a couple of hours after taking around half a gram of the drug.

Oxfordshire coroner Darren Salter recorded a conclusion of accidental death.

As a legacy of Martha’s death, Anne-Marie set up a website to encourage others to become involved in safeguarding the lives of young people