#EtonMess: David Cameron says he used drugs in school, triggering Brexit jibes

Former UK Prime Minister David Cameron has admitted being “off his head” on drugs while studying at the prestigious Eton College, prompting social media users to ask if that’s why he thought the Brexit referendum was a good idea.

Cameron revealed his drug-taking pastimes in the poshest way possible: By explaining in his soon-to-be released memoir that he and two school friends would hire a rowing boat to go to a small island on the River Thames, where they would then proceed to “roll up” and “spend a summer’s afternoon getting gently off our heads.” 

In an extract published in The Times, Cameron revealed that he was eventually caught, and described being summoned to the headmaster’s office as “the worst moment of my life” at the time. Despite seven other boys being expelled for buying the drugs, young Cameron was merely fined, grounded, and stripped of privileges.

It didn’t take long for social media to become awash in Brexit analogies as Twitter users claimed the drugs anecdote helped them to finally understand Cameron’s rationale for holding a referendum on the UK’s EU membership, spawning the entire Brexit fiasco that followed and that still plagues his successors.

Smoking dope in school or college is certainly not an avant-garde experience – a point made by critics who took to Twitter to accuse the politician of trying to appear more relatable. Others pointed out his hypocrisy in having used drugs recreationally, but standing over hardline anti-drugs policies.

Like this story? Share it with a friend!