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