30 July 2007 - Virgin tycoon Sir Richard Branson has revealed that he has taken drugs with his son.

The extrovert billionaire says he smoked cannabis with model son Sam, now 21, during a surfing holiday in Australia.

Sir Richard, 57, "I went with my son on his gap year. We had some nights where we laughed our heads off for eight hours."

"I don't think smoking the occasional spliff is all that wrong. I'd rather my son did it in front of me than behind closed doors."

In the interview with Piers Morgan for GQ magazine, the entrepreneur also admitted trying cocaine and ecstasy.

He said: "I took ecstasy once. But it didn't have a massive effect on me". Of cocaine, he said: "I suspect I've tried it, yes."

The businessman, reportedly worth £5 billion, claims Rolling Stone Keith Richards was the "first person to teach me to roll a joint".

He said he had not tried super-strong "skunk" cannabis but insisted cannabis was okay "in moderation."

But he added: "I think that skunk is far too strong and dangerous and it should be banned."

But anti-drug campaigners have blasted Branson's drug-taking as "highly irresponsible".

Peter Stoker, director of the National Drug Prevention Alliance, said: "Richard Branson as a parent should know better than to take health-endangering drugs with his child.

source: Dailymail.co.uk