Home Secretary Jacqui Smith has decided that candour is the best policy by admitting she smoked cannabis “a few times” while at university more than 25 years ago. She said she was wrong to have tried the drug.
As minister in charge of the police Smith is about to launch a consultation on whether the penalties for use and possession of the drug should be tightened.
She says it is only recently that concerns have risen about the damaging effects on mental health that can be caused by stronger strains of cannabis — “skunk” — now available.
Other politicians have been less candid when asked about their student days.
Conservative leader David Cameron refused to comment on reports about youthful drugs use, saying he was entitled to keep his past private.
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton tried the drug at university but famously didn’t inhale.
Should Smith be congratulated for coming clean about a minor misdemeanour committed a long time ago? Or does her admission compromise her position as Home Secretary less than a month since she was appointed?
What do you think?
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5 comments so far
Jacqui Smith should resign without doubt. She has comprosmised her position by admitting to smoking cannabis. Her comment that she has smoked cannabis a few times is questionable; she has probably understated the situation to protect herself, as others in public life have done, because it questions her character and veracity for public office. The majority of the population has not smoked cannabis, so she cannot therefore be an imparial judge on the decision to reclassify cannabis.
- Posted by Ron DaviesIt is a media absurdity to suggest that Jacqui Smith should resign because she smoked cannabis 25 years ago.
- Posted by ron cantby all means pillory the government over the Iraq debacle, but there’s no need to manufacture daft stories.
God knows we all have skeletons in the cupboard so lets not look down on someone who has publicly admitted it. Jacqui Smith is in the public eye so ok feel free to judge her if you so wish. I myself wish her well and feel that she should be allowed to put her best foot forward and show us what she can do.
- Posted by Peter SchwarzOMG she smoked pot. Big bloody deal… i have heard it all now, should she resign? Come on if that’s the case, the whole government would have to go for starting a pointless war. The rate this world is coming to maybe a hit now and again would ease he pain of what we see everyday we turn on TV and see more and more troops dying, and more and more politicians confessing to one nighters with hookers.
- Posted by rachel charlesPeople change over time. What she did 25 years ago as a student should have no bearing on her current job as a politician.
- Posted by Dave T