OLIVER STONE ON DRUG AND DRINK CHARGES

LOS ANGELES The award-winning film director Oliver Stone has been charged
with drink-driving and possession of cannabis after being arrested in
Beverly Hills.

Stone, who won Oscars for his films Platoon and Born on the Fourth of July,
was stopped in his black Ford Mustang shortly before midnight on Wednesday
night, accused of offences.

After being held overnight the director was released on $12,500 (pounds
7,800) bail. He made no comment about the arrest. He is due to appear in
Beverly Hills municipal court on July 16.

Los Angeles police are among the most active in the country in stopping
drivers for suspected offences. Those believed to be over the drink-drive
limit - about one small drink - are required to walk in a straight line on
the pavement, placing one foot directly in front of the other. Such sights
are common at night in the city.

Those convicted can be jailed for between two days and six months and fined
up to $1,000; they can lose their licence for six months, have their car
confiscated for 30 days, and possibly be made to attend a programme for
drunk drivers.

While cannabis use remains common in the city and the whiff of marijuana can
often be smelt on the beaches at the weekends, possession of even soft drugs
is treated as a serious offence.

Stone, an outspoken former Vietnam veteran, has been in the news recently
because of the debate about violence in films after the shooting at
Columbine high school in Colorado. His film Natural Born Killers deals with
the media's manipulation of violence.

The video of the film, starring Woody Harrelson and Juliette Lewis, was
withdrawn from the British market after the shooting in Dunblane.