Sajid Javid has said that class A drug users should think about the lives "destroyed along the way" as Michael Gove battles the fallout from the revelation he took cocaine.
Mr Javid who is one of 11 hoping to succeed Theresa May, said it was not for him to "pass judgement" on Mr Gove when asked about his colleague's drug use.
But the Home Secretary slammed those who take class A substances without thinking of the "lives that are destroyed along the way".
Speaking more generally he said: "anyone that takes class A drugs needs to think about that supply chain that comes, let's say, from Colombia to Chelsea and the number of lives that are destroyed along the way.
He told Sky's Sophy Ridge: "Anyone who takes drugs need to think about how they are not just hurting themselves but how they are destroying so many countless lives on the way.
"There are people who have their organic food, they boast about buying fair trade, they talk about climate change and at the same time, come Friday or Saturday night they're all doing drugs and they should think about the impact they're having - especially on children with the rise in county gangs.
"The horrific abuse of young children I've seen as Home Secretary of young children who have been trafficked into this trade.
"So people should be thinking about the impact they're having on others."
Michael Gove has apologised for taking cocaine while working as a journalist.
The Home Secretary said he himself had never taken drugs after a slew of revelations about the Tory leadership candidates.
Dominic Raab has previously admitted smoking cannabis, Rory Stewart has apologised for smoking opium at a wedding in Iran 15 years ago and Jeremy Hunt told the Times he had drunk a cannabis lassi while backpacking through India.
In an appearance on Have I Got News For You in 2005, Mr Johnson admitted being given cocaine but suggested he had not actually taken it, saying: "I think I was once given cocaine but I sneezed and so it did not go up my nose. In fact, I may have been doing icing sugar."
