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Which 2016 Candidates Have Smoked Weed Before? These Potential Presidents Have Puffed More Pot Than You May Think
Drug laws have always been a political issue, and now that recreational marijuana is legal in Oregon, voters are probably wondering which of the 2016 candidates have smoked weed before. The long fought War On Drugs is starting to soften when it comes to marijuana, and politicians are help paving the way.
It has been well document that President Obama smoked pot in his youth. Though he said he views it as a bad habit, he told the New Yorker that he doesn't "think it is more dangerous than alcohol.” In 1992, President Bill Clinton became the first sitting president to admit to using marijuana. "I experimented once or twice. I didn't like it. I didn't inhale, and I never tried it again," he famously said.
As marijuana use is becoming more popular and socially accepted, guess which presidential hopefuls have owned up to using the drug recreationally.
Jeb Bush
So far it doesn’t seem like Bush gets fired up about much of anything, including drug laws. ”I drank alcohol and I smoked marijuana when I was at Andover [prep school],” Bush told the Boston Globe. “It was pretty common.”
A former classmate backed up Bush’s statement, adding that he and Bush would smoke in the woods near the school as well as Bush’s dorm room. “He had a portable stereo with removable speakers,” the classmate said. “He put on Steppenwolf for me.”
Ted Cruz
Although Ted Cruz hasn’t officially fessed up to smoking pot, one of his staffers did it for him during an interview with the Daily Mail. “Teenagers are often known for their lack of judgment, and Sen. Cruz was no exception,” the spokesman said. “When he was a teenager, he foolishly experimented with marijuana. It was a mistake, and he’s never tried it since.”
His staff later confirmed this.
Rand Paul
Rand Paul’s past drug usage was made public during his 2010 senatorial campaign when a friend said “Randy smoked pot.” Since then, Paul has dodged the question directly, though his answer seems pretty clear.
“Let’s just say I wasn’t a choir boy when I was in college and that I can recognize that kids make mistakes,” Paul told the Washington Times. “And I can say that I made mistakes when I was a kid.”
Marco Rubio
Although Marco Rubio has been pretty hazy on whether or not he has smoked pot, it seems pretty likely that he has.
“If I tell you that I haven’t, you won’t believe me. And if I tell you that I did, then kids will look up to me and say, ‘Well, I can smoke marijuana because look how he made it. He did alright so I guess I can do it too,” Rubio said during an interview with The Hill.
“And the bottom line is that it is a substance that alters your mind,” Rubio said. “Now when I was 17 and 18 and 16, I made dumb decisions as is. I didn’t need the help of marijuana or alcohol to further that.”
Methinks the senator doth protest too much.
Bernie Sanders
Okay, not much of a surprise here. The Vermont senator, who is a self-avowed democratic socialist, was a vocal anti-war and pro-civil rights activist when he was younger. He also didn’t shy away from the pot question, but in typical Sanders’ fashion was quite blunt (hah) about his answer.
”My hair was long, but not long for the times,” Sanders told New York magazine while claiming he wasn’t a hippie. “I smoked marijuana but was never part of the drug culture. That wasn’t me.”
