[420 Girl]

Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan should not be judged for his youthful dalliance with marijuana, federal Opposition Leader Dr Brendan Nelson says. If anyone had made "stupid decisions" when they were younger, then that's their choice, the non-smoking Dr Nelson said .

"They're decisions Mr Swan presumably made in his earlier life," Dr Nelson told reporters in Sydney on Sunday. "I don't think there should be any judgment should be passed upon them. "If Mr Swan or anybody else chose to smoke marijuana in their earlier lives, then that's their business."

When asked if he had ever smoked marijuana Dr Nelson said: "No I haven't." "One of the things I've spent all life fighting against is smoking in any form." He said the a key point was to educate our youth about the dangers of binge drinking, smoking and stop them from using illicit drugs.

Earlier on Sunday, Mr Swan said despite his drug use and pre-marital sex in his younger days, it was not a "Mick Jagger experience". Mr Swan has told News Ltd he smoked marijuana in his student days, had a little-known earlier marriage and his second wife was pregnant when they were wed.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said no government minister was a "paragon of moral virtue". "I don't think anyone in this government has ever pretended to be some sort of paragon of moral virtue, least of all, yours truly," Mr Rudd told reporters in Brisbane.

"It was a long time ago, as Wayne said what needs to be said about that, and about the importance of drugs ... and I'll leave it at that."

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