FEW of us can imagine the heartbreak that the mother of Martha Fernback is still going through three months after her death.

Anne-Marie Cockburn has been frank about the agony she has endured.

But her message today about drugs and the need to stay off them resonates.

An inquest will confirm what led to Martha’s death, but police say she took what she thought was Ecstasy.

Her mother’s point about drugs, however, is more nuanced.

Clearly, she says, people should stay off them.

But there should also be more education, she argues, for those who will inevitably take them.

This is treading into territory that makes the Government and other law-makers uncomfortable.

They know the reality is that people do take drugs and it often goes unnoticed by police.

The war on drugs, many experts argue, will never be won. Still, these are political arguments.

For Ms Cockburn, what is done now to tackle drugs or manage the situation more effectively may well help others.

It will do nothing to bring her daughter back, but if one life is saved as a result of her speaking out, that will be a tremendous achievement.