Downing Street Says

» Thursday, July 19, 2007

Drugs

Asked if the Prime Minister was entirely relaxed that at least 5 members of his Cabinet and 3 members of the Government had admitted to using drugs, the Prime Minister’s Spokesman (PMS) said that he was. It was a personal matter for the Ministers concerned, as the PMS had said this morning.

Asked if this would send out a difficult signal that all three of the Home Office Ministers had admitted to having smoked cannabis, the PMS replied that Jacqui Smith had made her position clear this morning. She regretted the action that she took 25 years ago as a student and that her priority for now was to put in place measures to bring cannabis use down; to help the rehabilitation programmes for those people who were affected by drugs use and other action the Government had taken as part of its drugs strategy.

Asked if the Prime Minister would be relaxed if any of his Cabinet admitted to having taken stronger drugs, the PMS replied that the question was a hypothetical one.

Asked if the Prime Minister was aware if every member of the Cabinet had or had not indulged in drugs, the PMS replied that there was not a questionnaire on this.

Asked again if the Prime Minister was aware, the PMS repeated that there was not a questionnaire. In terms of whether this information was disclosed, this was a matter for individual Ministers concerned. In terms of the statements that had been made today, the Prime Minister was quite relaxed about the position.

Asked if the Prime Minister expected Ministers to tell him if they had taken drugs, the PMS said that the Prime Minister would feel that this was a personal matter for them.

Asked if the Prime Minister had been told first before it went public as a matter of courtesy, the PMS said that he did not want to get into internal discussions.

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Drugs

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