8 pot users on the presidential campaign trail (and why it matters)

A marijuana grow operation in Colorado. (AP file photo)

The musclebound lobbying group Marijuana Policy Project has updated its annual list of 50 Most Influential Marijuana Consumers. President Obama is still No. 1. This year’s No. 2 is a composite, “2016 Presidential Hopefuls.”

By Rodger Jones

MPP breaks down the White House candidates this way:

At least eight (and as many as 17) of the 23 major-party presidential hopefuls have said or strongly indicated that they have consumed marijuana: Jeb Bush, Lincoln Chafee, Ted Cruz, George Pataki, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, Bernie Sanders, and Rick Santorum.

Nine others do not appear to have said whether they have consumed marijuana, and they did not respond to inquiries from MPP: Joe Biden, Ben Carson, Carly Fiorina, Jim Gilmore, Lindsey Graham, John Kasich, Bobby Jindal, Martin O’Malley, and Jim Webb.

Only six candidates have said they never used marijuana: Hillary Clinton, Chris Christie, Mike Huckabee, Rick Perry, Donald Trump, and Scott Walker.

Being a Clinton, Hillary has the inevitable credibility problem here. When she said this in a CNN interview last year …

“I didn’t do it when I was young, I’m not going to start now.”

… the operative question becomes: What’s her definition of “it”?
And why does a candidate’s position on illegal drugs matter? Because marijuana remains a Schedule One drug, under the federal classification system.

That means the DEA or other federal law-enforcement agencies can bust and prosecute growers, sellers and possessors in any of the nearly two dozen states that have legalized all use or just medicinal use of marijuana. The Obama administration has generally chosen not to, but the next occupant of the White House may not show that same tolerance.
You’d think that Hillary might tack close to where Obama has been on the subject, but she’s hedged her positions. Waiting for more research is a position you could take indefinitely.

What’s interesting is that some GOP presidential candidates sound nothing like Republicans of old on what used to be a law-and-order issue. Rand Paul has raised money from the marijuana industry. Texans Rick Perry and Ted Cruz have talked about giving states the leeway to pursue their own paths on the subject. That’s an anti-Washington line of reasoning that may play well with the tea party.

The hard ass in the GOP fold is the one you’d expect — the ex-federal prosecutor, Chris Christie. He’s said he’d give no quarter to pot users or sellers. From a Fox News interview last month:

“If you’re getting high in Colorado today, enjoy it,” Christie warned. “As of January 2017, I will enforce the federal laws.”

Those kinds of comments might cost Christie some votes, were he to hang in the race. But he surely figures that his tough-on-pot position plays into the tough-guy profile he cultivates.
It’s certainly bucking the trend, with polls showing a strong majority of Americans favoring legalization. At the same time, new surveys done the key early states of Iowa and New Hampshire find strong GOP  interest in ending pot prohibition. Very interesting.