This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/uk_politics/6905886.stm
The article has changed 11 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 2 | Version 3 |
|---|---|
| Home secretary: I smoked cannabis | Home secretary: I smoked cannabis |
| (10 minutes later) | |
| Home Secretary Jacqui Smith has said she smoked cannabis while she was at Oxford University in the 1980s. | Home Secretary Jacqui Smith has said she smoked cannabis while she was at Oxford University in the 1980s. |
| Ms Smith, 44, became home secretary in Gordon Brown's Cabinet last month. | Ms Smith, 44, became home secretary in Gordon Brown's Cabinet last month. |
| Her disclosure came the day after Mr Brown said she would head a review of UK drugs strategy - including whether to toughen the cannabis laws. | Her disclosure came the day after Mr Brown said she would head a review of UK drugs strategy - including whether to toughen the cannabis laws. |
| "I did break the law... I was wrong... drugs are wrong... I want to focus on what I can do in the future, not what I did 25 years ago," Ms Smith said. | "I did break the law... I was wrong... drugs are wrong... I want to focus on what I can do in the future, not what I did 25 years ago," Ms Smith said. |
| A number of senior politicians have admitted smoking cannabis in their youth - including at least one of her predecessors as home secretary, Charles Clarke. | A number of senior politicians have admitted smoking cannabis in their youth - including at least one of her predecessors as home secretary, Charles Clarke. |
| Mental health 'dangers' | |
| Ms Smith told BBC Radio 5 Live she had smoked cannabis "just a few times" and she had "not particularly" enjoyed it. | |
| She said that over the past 25 years the dangers of drug use had become clearer. | |
| These included the mental health dangers of cannabis use and the increasing strength of the drug. | |
| She said she had been wrong to break the law and wanted to focus on stopping other people doing what she had done. | |
| She said the government had more people in drug treatment and was tackling drug-related crime. |