NOVA SCOTIA POLITICIAN ADMITS DRUG USE

Education Minister, fearing innuendo, goes public and says she kicked habit
20 years ago

Halifax -- Nova Scotia's new Education Minister, Jane Purves, tried
yesterday to leap ahead of a looming controversy over her past by bluntly
acknowledging that she was a drug addict in the 1970s.

An emotional Ms. Purves told reporters that she was an intravenous drug user
for seven years in the 1970s, lost custody of her son when he was four years
old and was convicted of possession of marijuana. She also found out last
year that she had contracted hepatitis C as a result of drug use.

Ms. Purves, 50, said she considered the matters to be private but decided to
make them public in a statement yesterday after she was asked about her past
drug use by a reporter for The Daily News. The Halifax newspaper is the
rival to the Chronicle-Herald and Mail Star papers where Ms. Purves was
managing editor for 11 years.

"During my teens and 20s I became seriously involved with drugs. Initially I
experimented with so-called soft drugs. However, this progressed to hard
drugs and I became addicted," she said. "I sought professional help and,
with the support of my family and friends, was able to recover. I have been
free of the addiction for more than 20 years."

Ms. Purves would not identify the drugs she used, except to say that they
were taken intravenously.

"I didn't particularly want to talk about this. I don't enjoy revisiting it.
I don't think it's relevant to my abilities as an MLA or a cabinet minister.
But I did not want to be destroyed by innuendo, so once asked I decided it
was better to tell the truth."

She added that she hopes the voters will judge her from her conduct in
office. "People should be candid and people have to talk about these kind of
things."

Ms. Purves was supported by Premier John Hamm, who said her experiences
should be an inspiration to anyone seeking rehabilitation from drug use.

Dr. Hamm said he was aware of what he termed Ms. Purves's "past problems"
when she decided to run for the Halifax Citadel seat.

"Her desire to contribute in a meaningful way to her province was strong
enough that she was willing to risk, and now endure, an invasion of her
privacy. That speaks to her outstanding character," Dr. Hamm said.

During the campaign leading up to the July 27 election, Ms. Purves, who was
making her first run for public office, acknowledged that she had been
convicted of marijuana possession two decades ago.

Yesterday, she said she intends to stay on as Minister of Education and is
willing to talk about drugs with school children.

"It would be difficult to find anyone who is more antidrug than I am," she
said.

Although Ms. Purves refused to discuss her health, people infected with the
hepatitis C virus can show no symptoms. Others are too ill to work and will
require liver transplants. Symptoms can vary from fatigue and dizziness to
severe depression.

Since becoming minister she has been faced with tough and emotional issues
surrounding the amalgamation of schools and busing of students. As well as
holding the Education portfolio, she is responsible for the Advisory Council
on the Status of Women, the Technology and Science Secretariat, the Sport
and Recreation Commission and the Nova Scotia Boxing Authority.

NDP Leader Robert Chisholm said Ms. Purves should be judged on how well she
performs as a minister, not on her past.

In the final days of the campaign, Mr. Chisholm had to deal with media
reports that he had been convicted of impaired driving when he was 19. He
acknowledged that while he told his party about the incident he did not
discuss it with a reporter who asked him whether he had ever been convicted
of a crime.

During her career as a journalist, Ms. Purves was news editor and a reporter
at the Chronicle Herald and before that, co-host of a talk show on CBC-TV.
She was also a board member of The Canadian Press and a member of the board
of governors of the National Newspaper Awards.

Professor Agar Adamson, a political scientist at Acadia University, said
that Ms. Purves did the right thing in bringing forward her past.

"I think you're far better off if you've got a skeleton in your closet to
just say so before some journalist brings it out," he said.

Prof. Adamson said the case also raises the issue of how far the media
should go in divulging a politician's past.

Brian Bridgeo, a member of the Home and School association at Yarmouth
Memorial High School, said Ms. Purves's past drug involvement has no bearing
on what she does as Education Minister.

"We all can change and become better members of society," said Mr. Bridgeo,
who has three children in the school system and has been involved in school
advisory councils for several years.