Former cocaine user Michael Gove says taking drugs is a ‘mistake’
Michael Gove says his past has taught him that drug use is a ‘mistake’.
The Cabinet minister has previously confessed to taking cocaine on ‘several occasions’ early in his career.
On Sunday, he was challenged on if ministers who have used drugs in the past are ‘hypocrites’ for introducing a new ban on laughing gas.
But he insisted this wasn’t the case as he has ‘learned’ from his use of the Class A drug.
Speaking on Sky News’ Sophy Ridge On Sunday, he said: ‘No, I think it is because I have learned.’
Pressed on what he had learned, Mr Gove said: ‘That it is a mistake – worse than a mistake – to regard drug taking as somehow acceptable.’
During a 2019 leadership campaign, the housing secretary confirmed he had taken cocaine when he was a young journalist.
He admitted that he was ‘fortunate not to go to prison’ over it.
‘I’ve seen the damage that drugs do. I’ve seen it close-up and I’ve also seen it in the work that I’ve done as a politician’, he said.
‘And that’s why I deeply regret the mistake that I made.’
Speaking before losing the Tory leadership to Boris Johnson, he added: ‘It was 20 years ago and yes, it was a mistake. But I don’t believe that past mistakes disqualify you.’
His fresh comments come after he announced that the sale of laughing gas to the public will be banned as part of a wider crackdown on anti-social behaviour.
Mr Gove claimed the ‘scourge’ of nitrous oxide was turning public spaces into ‘drug-taking arenas’.
The ban comes despite an assessment by the independent Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) concluding it would be disproportionate to bring in an outright ban given the level of harm associated with nitrous oxide.
Mr Gove said: ‘I think any of us who have had the opportunity to walk through our parks in our major cities will have seen these little canisters, these silver canisters which are examples of people not only despoiling public spaces but also people taking a drug which can have a psychological and neurological affect and one that contributes to anti-social behaviour overall.’
He added that ministers have not yet decided at what drug classification level laughing gas would be set, only that the government wants sales ‘restricted for its appropriate purpose’.
Nitrous oxide is included as an anaesthetic in medical and dental contexts and as a gas for whipped cream.
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