Sen. Marco Rubio declined to answer a question about his past experiences with marijuana, calling the issue “irrelevant.”
He described the question of whether he’s ever experimented with pot as a no-win for him, and said, “at this point it’s irrelevant,” The Hill reported.
“If I tell you that I haven’t, you won’t believe me. And if I tell you 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,’” he said during a question and answer event in Florida, according to The Hill. “And the bottom line is that it is a substance that alters your mind. 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.”
He also warned about the lasting consequences of getting caught using drugs. Employers, he said, won’t always disregard a drug conviction, and neither would some colleges, especially those that teach law.
Mr. Rubio entered the marijuana legalization debate when he called it hypocritical for Democrats to both support easier access to pot but also cheer drug store chain CVS’s decision to stop selling tobacco products.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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