Sen. Ted Cruz’s team admitted the tea party Texan smoked marijuana when he was a teen — but never since. And he’s hardly the only top-ranking politico, Republican or Democrat, to confess to the drug use in recent days.
“Teenagers are often known for their lack of judgment, and Sen. Cruz was no exception,” one of Mr. Cruz’s campaign spokesman told The Daily Mail. “When he was a teenager, he foolishly experimented with marijuana. It was a mistake, and he’s never tried it since.”
But as The Hill found, he’s in high-ranking company, it seems.
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush just admitted smoking pot while at prep school.
“I drank alcohol, and I smoked marijuana when I was at Andover,” Mr. Bush told The Boston Globe. “It was pretty common.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders, the self-declared socialist from Vermont, said he has smoked it, but he was never a hippie.
“My hair was long, but not long for the times,” he said in a recent interview with New York magazine. “I smoked marijuana but was never part of the drug culture. That wasn’t me.”
Sen. Rand Paul won’t say if he’s smoked weed — but a frat friend from Baylor University said this, when asked in 2010: “Randy smoked pot,” The Hill reported, quoting William John Green.
Sen. Marco Rubio has dodged the question; Gov. Chris Christie tweeted “The answer is no,” in answer to a 2012 query about his marijuana use, The Hill reported.
Former neurosurgeon Ben Carson hasn’t clarified his use or non-use, but has warned against its legalization as a “gateway drug,” The Hill reported. Former Gov. Mike Huckabee and former Gov. Rick Perry both denied use, The Hill reported. And former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton?
“I didn’t do it when I was young,” she told CNN a year ago. “I’m not going to start now.”
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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