YOUNG GORE SMOKED MARIJUANA REGULARLY, SAYS FORMER FRIEND

BOTH Democratic presidential candidates suffered setbacks yesterday
when Bill Bradley was forced to admit further heart problems and
Vice-President Al Gore was accused of having covered up a marijuana
habit.

On the campaign trail in Iowa, Mr Bradley, a former professional
basketball player, told reporters he had suffered from instances of an
irregular heartbeat four times since his condition was first revealed
six weeks ago.

"It's just the nature of the particular situation that, time to time,
it [his heart] spins out," he said, denying the recurrence of the
problem had anything to do with the increased intensity of the
campaign in the build-up to the Iowa caucuses on Monday.

Mr Bradley's rival faced allegations that he had lied about the extent
and period of his previous drug use. John Warnecke, a former close
friend, told an internet magazine: "Al Gore and I smoked regularly, as
buddies. Marijuana, hash.

"I was his regular supplier. I didn't deal dope, I just gave it to
him. We smoked more than once, more than a few times, we smoked a lot.
We smoked in his car, in his house, we smoked in his parents' house,
in my house... we smoked on weekends."

Although Mr Gore had previously admitted smoking marijuana
occasionally until he was 24, Mr Warnecke claimed the vice-president
took the drug regularly up to the week he first ran for Congress in
1976 at the age of 28.

While disclosures of past marijuana use are no longer in themselves
damaging for Democratic presidential candidates, the claims have
prompted allegations of lying and hypocrisy that could harm Mr Gore's
campaign. Mr Gore is leading Mr Bradley by 60 points to 27, according
to a national opinion poll . The vice-president leads by 54 to 33
points in Iowa, the state where the first presidential nomination
contest will be held.

Bradley aides tried to play down the importance of their candidate's
heart condition. But the health of presidential candidates is always
subject to intense scrutiny because of the stresses that life in the
White House bring. Whereas most voters, left to the privacy of the
ballot box, are unlikely to linger on relatively trivial matters, the
imminence of the Iowa caucuses makes the timing of this health scare
particularly bad for Mr Bradley.

Caucus voters gather in small groups and debate the minutiae of each
candidate's campaign and personality. In such a forum, the issue of
health is much more likely to influence a voter's mind, according to
political analysts.

Mr Bradley issued a medical report after the initial incident of
irregular heartbeat which said he was in very good health. It was
ironic that, of all the candidates for the presidency, the only one
who made his living as a professional sportsman should be the first to
face serious questions about his health.