Pubdate: Tue, 13 Feb 2007
Source: Wall Street Journal (US)
Page A25
Copyright: 2007 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.wsj.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/487
Author: Quentin Letts
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/David+Cameron
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?207 (Cannabis - United Kingdom)

PUFF PIECE

Britain's opposition leader is again facing claims that he took 
cannabis. Conservative David Cameron, an image-conscious dude, is 
doing little to discourage the story.

In a country where right-wingers have long been regarded as 
improbably square, "Cameron Smoked Pot!" headlines suit him fine. The 
claims appear in a coming biography -- the first work of its kind, 
for Mr. Cameron is only 40 and has led the previously puny opposition 
for barely a year. The book states that as a 15-year-old schoolboy he 
and some friends were pulled in by his headmaster and busted for 
dope. They were fined and "grounded" for two weeks (i.e. prevented 
from leaving the premises of their pukka boarding school, Eton 
College). The young shavers were also forced to write out reams of Latin verse.

This happened in 1982. Any teacher trying that Latin trick on pupils 
today could well face accusations of sadism.

The penalty paid by young Cameron was certainly harsher than the 
justice meted out to people caught smoking joints nowadays. Tony 
Blair's government has downgraded cannabis to a Class C drug. 
Possession of a spliff today is likely to earn, at most, a raised 
eyebrow from the constabulary.

Mr. Cameron has faced drug stories before.

When he was standing for the leadership of Margaret Thatcher's old 
party in late 2005, he was repeatedly asked if he had toked up in his 
past. A simple "no" would have killed the matter. He could even have 
followed the example of another Conservative parliamentarian, Boris 
Johnson, who exploded when it was suggested he had never dabbled in 
controlled substances as a lad. "An outrageous slur," cried 
flamboyant Mr. Johnson. "Of course I have taken drugs!" Mr. Cameron 
decided instead, with a coy smile, to argue that he was entitled to a 
private life before he entered politics.

Result: even more media speculation and some hysterical, flagellatory 
criticism by right-wing pundits.

The new biography's claims about Mr. Cameron offer more of the same. 
London newspapers were filled with black and white photographs of him 
as an extremely pretty schoolboy.

There was analysis of his moneyed circle of school friends.

The coverage emphasized his youth, glamour and good looks. Mr. 
Cameron is laid-back about all this not because he has recently 
inhaled from a fat joint -- we are assured he no longer indulges -- 
but partly because the moralistic Jonahs attacking him represent old 
Conservatism. They are everything that Mr. Cameron has been trying to 
change in his party.

It could have been worse for Mr. Cameron if the biography had exposed 
him as having been an ardent Thatcherite in his childhood.

Consider, too, the dour image of Gordon Brown, 55, the chancellor of 
the Exchequer who is expected to become prime minister this summer 
when Mr. Blair resigns.

If the next general election is a contest between Messrs. Brown and 
Cameron there is little doubt who will be seen as the sexier, the more daring.

Drugs may wreck some lives but there is at least one young man they 
could help to become prime minister of Great Britain. Mr. Letts is 
parliamentary sketch-writer for the Daily Mail of London.