Pubdate: Sun, 14 Jan 2007
Source: Mirror, The (UK)
Copyright: 2007 The Mirror
Contact:  http://www.mirror.co.uk/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1161
Author: Lara Gould, TV Reporter
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?207 (Cannabis - United Kingdom)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine)

DRUG TAUNTS FOR TORY ANN

TORY battleaxe Ann Widdecombe was offered a cannabis joint and had her
car pelted with eggs after moving on to a tough estate for a new TV
investigation.

The outspoken MP, 59, spent a week living on the Andover estate in
Islington, North London, and the Myatt's Field estate in Brixton,
South London, to assess the effects of anti-social behaviour.

But within hours of her arrival she was openly offered drugs by a gang
of youths smoking in a doorway.

The former prisons minister, who has demanded a zero-tolerance policy
towards cannabis, declined the offer.

But she went on to warn the gang of the dangers of drug use adding:
"It addles your brain that stuff."

In the two-part documentary, Ann Widdecombe Versus The Hoodies, on
ITV1 tomorrow and next Friday, she was also shown confronting a crack
cocaine addict during a police raid and was told to "f* off" after
approaching another hooded gang.

Her car windscreen was covered in smashed eggshells as she left the
Andover estate, while a gang on the South London estate threw a
firework at her.

She said: "This is what people on this estate have to put up with
every day. I suppose I should be grateful it's on the car and not on
me." 
- ---
MAP posted-by: Richard Lake