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.