Top ten U.S. politicians who’ve puffed ganja

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Tom Tancredo doesn’t want to hit your doobie.

Recently Colorado Republican firebrand politician (and onetime presidential candidate) Tom Tancredo made headlines for agreeing to smoke marijuana on camera with a Florida-based filmmaker if Colorado’s Amendment 64 was passed. Well, the bill was approved but Tancredo apparently had no intention of following through with his agreement. He says his wife told him that it might be a bad influence on their grandchildren and he has since declined the filmmaker’s offer.

It’s too bad. Not only for Tancredo’s own well-being (the dude clearly needs a joint), but also for his place in history. He could have easily joined the ranks of the top ten politicians who’ve smoked pot, as compiled by our sister paper, the Denver Westword.


Number 10: George W. Bush

George W. Bush.

Bush 43 finishes tenth because he’s never confirmed that he smoked weed. But there’s evidence to suggest he did in this excerpt from a 2005 BBC article:

Mr Bush has spoken frequently about a drink problem in his youth, which ended with an apparent religious awakening at the age of 40, but he has never admitted taking illegal drugs.
On the tape, however, the future president discusses his refusal to answer questions about whether he took marijuana.
“I wouldn’t answer the marijuana question,” he says.
“You know why? ‘Cause I don’t want some little kid doing what I tried.”
He feared that any such admission might affect his standing if he won the presidency.
“You gotta understand, I want to be president, I want to lead,” he tells Mr Wead.
“Do you want your little kid to say ‘Hey daddy, President Bush tried marijuana, I think I will’?”

Number 9: Michael Bloomberg

Michael Bloomberg.

The New York City mayor and current warrior in favor of gun control has a marijuana past that exists on a couple of levels, as is clear in this excerpt from his Wikipedia page.

Bloomberg supports the strict drug laws of New York City. He has stated that he smoked marijuana in the past, and was quoted in a 2001 interview as saying “You bet I did. I enjoyed it.” This led to a reported $500,000 advertising campaign by NORML, featuring his image and the quote. Bloomberg stated in a 2002 interview that he regrets the remark and does not believe that marijuana should be decriminalized.

Click over to Westword.com for the rest of the post and the number one political puffer.

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