Home secretary 'smoked cannabis and it was wrong'

[Marcus Marulus]

Home secretary 'smoked cannabis and it was wrong'

David Batty and agencies
Thursday July 19, 2007
Guardian Unlimited

The home secretary, Jacqui Smith, admitted today that she smoked cannabis when she was at university.

Ms Smith was asked the question on GMTV while discussing the prime minister's announcement yesterday of a review into whether the drug should be reinstated to class B after it was downgraded to class C three years ago.

She said: "I have. I did when I was at university. I think it was wrong that I smoked it when I did. I have not done for 25 years."



Jacqui Smith said her cannabis use 25 years ago only meant she was a 'human being'.

The home secretary is due to formally announce the review today as part of a wide-ranging drugs inquiry that in part reflects concern about skunk, a stronger form of cannabis being blamed for an increase in mental health disorders.


"I share other people's concerns about the effect that cannabis has on young people and mental health problems," Ms Smith told the programme.
"So, actually I think in some ways I have learnt my lesson and I have a responsibility as home secretary now to make sure we put in place the laws and the support and information to make sure we carry on bringing cannabis use down, which we are doing."

Ms Smith said she did not think people would consider her unfit for the job of home secretary as a result of her admission. "On the whole I think people think human beings should do jobs like this. I am not proud about it, I did the wrong thing.

"One of the things about being a politician is that you are often criticised for not knowing what's going on. I hope that my experiences in my life have actually helped me understand that I do want crime tackled."
Appearing later on Sky News, Ms Smith insisted she had only ever used cannabis. She said: "I have never taken any other drugs."
Asked if Gordon Brown was aware of her cannabis use when he offered her the job of home secretary, she said: "The PM did not ask me but I was asked this morning and I answered the question."

If cannabis were returned to class B, anyone in possession of the drug would again be liable for arrest. It was downgraded in 2004 while David Blunkett was home secretary. Since then, concerns have grown among doctors and MPs that its classification does not reflect the health dangers it poses.

Ms Smith told Sky News: "I do think there are lots of people who share my concerns that what we have seen in recent years is an increase in the strength of some forms of cannabis.

"We have seen clear evidence of the link to mental health problems and it is right that we should now look at whether or not cannabis should be reclassified from C to B to send out a strong message about its use, to build on the progress we have already seen in actually cutting the use of cannabis and the sort of crime related to wider drug use."

Last year, a report from the government's advisory council on misuse of drugs found enough scientific evidence to suggest a causal link between cannabis use and long-term psychotic symptoms, but said the risks were not serious enough to warrant a class B rating.

The Conservatives welcomed the review, announced a week after their own policy group on social breakdown recommended reclassification. But the charity Drugscope warned that another change of classification would only confuse young people. Police chiefs, who pressed for the original downgrade because they said arrests for possession were taking up too much of officers' time, were also cautious.

[source]