UK opposition chief won't deny he smoked cannabis

LONDON, Feb 11 (Reuters) British opposition leader David Cameron today said he would not deny newspaper reports that he smoked cannabis when he was a pupil at one of the country's most exclusive schools 25 years ago.

''Like many people I did things when I was young that I shouldn't have done and that I regret,'' Cameron told reporters camped outside his Oxfordshire home.

''But I do believe that politicians are entitled to a past that is private and that remains private, so I won't be making any commentary on what's in the newspapers today,'' the Conservative Party leader said.

He said he was ''not issuing denials'' about the stories on the front pages of several national newspapers today.

Cameron, who has revived the Conservative Party's fortunes since becoming leader 14 months ago, narrowly avoided being expelled from Eton over a drug scandal when he was 15, the Mail today and The Independent today reported.

Seven pupils were thrown out of the school after boys were caught smoking cannabis, the newspapers said, quoting from a new biography of Cameron.

Cameron was called in by the headmaster who forced him to admit he had smoked the drug, the reports said.

Senior Conservatives rallied round their leader and said they did not think it would affect his political standing.

''This makes no difference to my view of him or I think the view of most people in the country,'' former party leader William Hague told the BBC.

''We all did things that we regret and it's one of those things I suppose. The real issue is the prevalence of drugs in today's society at a time when cannabis is a lot stronger than it was some years ago,'' he said.

Cameron, 40, has refashioned the Conservatives, traditionally free market and tough on law and order, into an environmentally friendly party that says it would protect the welfare state.

The Conservatives lead Prime Minister Tony Blair's Labour Party in the opinion polls. The next election is not expected until 2009.

Cameron has in the past refused to answer questions on whether he has taken drugs. The disclosure could give ammunition to right-wing Conservatives who think Cameron is too liberal.

Blair's government ruled in 2004 that possessing small amounts of cannabis should generally no longer lead to arrest.

Cameron said last month he might legalise cannabis for medical use if he became prime minister.

REUTERS SY MIR KP1714