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Warning: drug use can make politicians look incredibly stupid
For some reason, they think that being mealy-mouthed about their student experiences will make them more popular
7-23-'07 | The Independent | by Janet Street-Porter

When politicians talk about drugs, they adopt a weird language that for the life of me I just can't fathom. It's about as commonplace as Urdu in the Highlands – and certainly not how you or I would describe a couple of puffs on a spliff a decade ago. As Gordon Brown contemplates reclassifying cannabis from category C to B, making penalties for its possession and use far tougher, a whole gang of former potheads in his Cabinet have decided to come clean about their drug-using years.

All these "revelations" only reinforce my long-held belief that most politicians do not inhabit the real world. They honestly believe that we'll be impressed by the self-serving bilge that issues from their mouths. When this newspaper originally campaigned to legalise cannabis, most MPs denied that they'd every used drugs; statistically, we know that they were lying. If a journalist dared to ask an MP about drugs as thousands of our teenagers participated in the E culture of the late 1980s and early 90s, all they got was "no comment".

After Leah Betts's death, MPs were quick to condemn Ecstasy – even though, when averaged out, far fewer people have died from hallucinogenic drugs in the UK than from alcohol or drunk driving. Bill Clinton famously admitted to smoking dope, but he didn't inhale! Among the readers of this newspaper, I would be very surprised if I could find more than one in 1,000 who had smoked dope but deliberately never inhaled. Never inhaling is something that only politicians do, not ordinary members of the human race.

Have you noticed how politicians never enjoy drugs either? Now, you might have had a bad trip on acid or an E; you might have smoked a spliff so strong you had to sit down for a couple of hours. You might have eaten a hash cookie and turned into a giggling idiot for six hours. But nine times out of 10, people who take drugs actually enjoy the result – that's why they've taken them in the first place. It's only politicians who take drugs so as not to enjoy them – funny, that.

Our new Home Secretary is no different – she smoked dope at Oxford in the 1980s – but she's "not proud" of having done so. Ruth Kelly did too, but soon realised it was "foolish" and stopped. John Hutton and Andy Burnham dabbled with pot "briefly". Hazel Blears had a puff or two, but "it didn't work". Are we meant to applaud these eight Cabinet members who are so forthright and honest about their former drug use? And what about the others who refused to comment? Perhaps they are following the example of David Cameron, who has said that politicians are "entitled to a private life" after persistent allegations that he had dabbled with drugs at Eton and Oxford.

The Tories who have owned up to drug-taking all follow the traditional "no fun" line: Oliver Letwin was tricked into it by friends who "put dope in his pipe"! David Willetts has owned up to "two puffs", as has Francis Maude. The only politician who has ever said she smoked dope and enjoyed it was the late, great Mo Mowlam, who clearly inhabited an honesty zone few of her party members feel able to occupy.

I happen to agree with Mr Cameron that all politicians are entitled to a private life. I concur with the vast majority of senior police officers, who do not want cannabis reclassified as it will confuse the public and waste even more of their time filling up jail cells with people who shouldn't be there. But there must be a way that the group of people we have elected to run our country can at least stop being so mealy-mouthed about soft drugs. A lot of drugs are pretty inoffensive – puffing on a joint isn't a criminal offence or something that will scar you for life. It is perfectly possible to be the Home Secretary and not have to express "regret" about something nine out of 10 students were doing while you were at university. At this rate, the chances of having a sensible debate about legalising any drugs in Britain is zero.

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Victor_vicious

THe cops need to force them all to take a drug test. Bet that would change thier tune. I only smoked it for (fill in the blank ) years, but I didn't like it??VV

t-1000

what a bunch of bullshitters