Seven ministers admit to having smoked cannabis

A STRING of British Government ministers yesterday followed Home Secretary Jacqui Smith in admitting they used cannabis in their youth.

A total of seven Cabinet ministers, including Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling, confirmed they used the illegal drug as students. And two more ministers at the Home Office also said they tried it at university.

The admissions came after Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s announcement of a review of the classification of cannabis, which may reverse the 2004 decision to downgrade it from a class B drug to the less serious class C.