KEY TALKS DRUGS BUT PM DUCKS ISSUE

Unlike British Conservative leader David Cameron, the New Zealand
National Party leader is happy to answer questions about which drugs,
if any, he has taken.

"Never ever taken any illegal drugs or ever smoked any drugs," he told
the Herald emphatically yesterday.

Asked if he was certain of his memory, the 45-year-old said:
"Absolutely. Never ever touched anything like that. I've never smoked
anything in my life."

Mr Cameron has provided a leadership role model for Mr Key, but any
parallels end with the drugs issue.

Mr Cameron has been dogged by drug stories in the past two weeks and
has refused to confirm or deny that he took not only marijuana, but
also other drugs.

A yet-to-be published biography on Mr Cameron claims he smoked
marijuana when he was at Eton. The MP has said he made mistakes when
he was young and is entitled to his privacy.

But the cannabis story has revived rumours that Mr Cameron has used
harder drugs such as cocaine, a class-A drug.

The Independent on Sunday ran a story headlined "Cannabis, cocaine and
the court of Cameron" detailing how the question of drug use was
avoided in the Tory leadership contest in 2005.

The Herald also asked Prime Minister Helen Clark if she had smoked
cannabis or taken harder drugs.

A spokesman said she did not respond to such questions as a matter of
principle "otherwise where does it end?"

In a televised debate during the 1999 campaign she had said: "Look, I
attended university in the late 1960s. It would be foolish for any
politician or indeed person around those circles in those days to deny
that they ever saw it."