Home Secretary admits smoking cannabis

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith has admitted she smoked cannabis when she was at university.

Her Home Office colleague Tony McNulty has also confessed to using the drug 'once or twice'.

Ms Smith said: "I think it was wrong that I smoked it when I did. I have not done it for 25 years. I share other people's concerns about the effect that cannabis has on young people and mental health problems.

"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."

Asked how she felt about people who thought her admission might make her unfit to be Home Secretary, she said: "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..."

She later added: "I have never taken any other drugs."

Ms Smith said it was right to consider reclassifying cannabis from a Class C to a Class B drug.

And a recent opinion poll - carried out amid claims that Tory leader David Cameron used the drug at Eton - suggests it will do little to harm her reputation.

It found that 81 per cent of voters did not think it mattered, although 64 per cent said it would if "more serious" drugs were involved or use had continued into politicians' working lives.

Mr Cameron has consistently refused to confirm or deny the reports of his drug use as a teenager, insisting he is "entitled to a private past".

Backing calls for the drug's reclassification last week, he said new stronger variants were "completely different to..." before adding "I think I'll stop there."

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced that the Government is to consult on changing the classification of the drug.

Cannabis was classified as a class B drug until January 2004 when it was downgraded by former home secretary David Blunkett.

Ms Smith will publish a consultation document next week, reviewing drugs strategies.

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