SOUTHAMPTON MP John Denham has admitted smoking cannabis when he was a student.

Mr Denham made the dramatic confession to the Daily Echo just hours after the Home Secretary revealed she too had used the drug in her youth.

His announcement yesterday brought the total number of British ministers who have now admitted taking the drug to eight, including new Chancellor Alistair Darling and transport secretary Ruth Kelly.

Mr Denham's admission is likely to be received with special interest because of his involvement in the Government's initial decision to reclassify cannabis when he was a Home Office Minister.

In 2004 the drug was downgraded from Class B, which includes drugs like amphetamines, to Class C alongside substances like anabolic steroids, making it a largely non-arrestable offence.

The admissions came after Prime Minister Gordon Brown's announcement on Wednesday of a review of the classification of cannabis, which may reverse the 2004 decision to downgrade it from a class B drug to the less serious class C.

Mr Brown's spokesman said the Prime Minister - who has denied ever using illicit substances - was ''quite relaxed'' about his Cabinet colleagues' admissions of past indiscretions.

A spokesman said: "There is no No 10 edict on this one way or another. The Prime Minister thinks this is a matter for individual ministers to decide how to answer these questions.

''He has no issue with how (Ms Smith) dealt with this question.'' The review launched by Mr Brown will be the second rethink of the controversial decision to make cannabis possession a largely non-arrestable offence, signalling the possible reintroduction of tougher penalties for cannabis smokers.

The drug's downgrading placed it alongside certain prescription tranquillisers and body-building steroids.

Just two years after it last looked at the issue, the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) will now review reports the danger from cannabis is increasing because stronger strains such as ''skunk'' are more widely available.

There are fears that more potent forms of cannabis have harsher side-effects, particularly on mental health.