Athens prosecutors have ordered a preliminary criminal examination into Yanis Varoufakis’ remarks about using ecstasy in 1989, amid concerns over potential drug incitement or promotion.
Varoufakis, 62, spoke about his experience on a podcast two days ago, recalling taking ecstasy in Sydney at age 28 and dancing for 16 hours.
“It was an awesome experience, I don’t know what they gave me, I had a headache and never took again,” he said.
The Drugs Division of the Greek Police submitted the video for investigation.
The former Finance Minister and MeRA25 general secretary later addressed the controversy in an OPEN TV interview, emphasising his opposition to addiction: “The problem with drugs is addiction… I only took ecstasy once, weed is different… When you tell the truth, children listen to you.”
Varoufakis also criticised government officials, including Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis and Minister of Citizen Protection Takis Chrysochoides, accusing them of hypocrisy in their public response.
In a social media post, he wrote: “The young people heard me talk about the major problem that is addiction… They despise the hypocrites who tear their clothes to shreds that they are waging a ‘war’ on drugs while their policies keep the youth captive to drug traffickers.”
Varoufakis reiterated that his comments were meant to educate young people on the dangers of addiction, not to promote drug use, and accused the government of prioritising political optics over effective drug policies.
Source: Keep Talking Greece
