Garrett pressured to take drug test Both singers say comment "was a joke" FEDERAL Labor MP Peter Garrett is under pressure to take a drug test following claims by Silverchair frontman Daniel Johns that the two smoked joints with U2 lead singer Bono in Sydney. During a radio interview with Triple J yesterday, Johns described how he and singer wife Natalie Imbruglia had been invited, along with the former Midnight Oil frontman, to a house rented by Bono while he was in Sydney in November. It was really one of the most surreal moments of my life, Johns said.
It was me and Natalie and Peter Garrett and Bono laying on Bono's bed smoking joints, listening to Young Modern demos. Hours later - after being contacted by Mr Garrett's office - Johns issued a lengthy statement describing that claim as a stupid and saying I really should just shut up and stick to singing. (Bono and Mr Garrett) are both known to be very anti-drugs, so that's why I assumed everybody would know I was joking when I made that comment, he said.
I was fortunate enough to get to play them some of my demos but I swear no joints were involved. I guess I felt like a bit of a namedropper mentioning them on the radio, so that's why I added a silly throwaway joke. A spokeswoman for Mr Garrett yesterday said: We confirm Daniel Johns' statement saying that it was a joke.
Kate Pasterfield later quoted her boss Mr Garrett as saying: I tried a bit of dope in my 20s but I haven't since. Mr Garrett has been reluctant to discuss whether he has any experience with drugs, refusing to address the issue in a 2004 interview. That's a part of my life which is closed, he told 3AW.
Anti-drugs campaigner Tony Wood, whose daughter Anna died of an ecstasy overdose in 1995, said Mr Garrett could prove his innocence by being tested for marijuana. He also called for the introduction of random drug tests at all levels of government. These people are our leading figures, he said.
If they're going into Parliament and they're stoned, how can they be making decisions on our behalf? It's about time we got out and started getting tough on them. Drug prevention groups slammed Johns' comments as irresponsible.
Family Drug Support founder Tony Trimingham, whose son Damien died of a heroin overdose in 1997, said Johns' remarks did more harm than good. He might see it as a joke, but he should realise that he is a role model and what people like him say influences young people, Mr Trimingham said. The whole point is, whether it's happened or not, it's the public raising of the act that's irresponsible, as far as I'm concerned.
Peter Garrett should be saying something along the lines of what I'm saying, I would have thought, given that he's now in a position of huge responsibility. With The Daily Telegraph and Herald Sun (What is this?) Post to del.
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au is not responsible for the content for external internet sites Federal Labor MP Peter Garrett is under pressure to take a drug test after Silverchair frontman Daniel Johns said the two smoked joints with U2 lead singer Bono at a rented house in Sydney.
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