Jacob Redmond
Well-Known Member
Jeb Bush, the newest front-runner among Republicans seeking their party's 2016 presidential nomination, smoked marijuana in high school — an activity he describes as 'pretty common' at the tony Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts.
He told The Boston Globe in an interview published ahead of Sunday's edition that 'I drank alcohol and I smoked marijuana when I was at Andover.'
Both activities were strictly forbidden at the time — and still are — and could have gotten him expelled.
But 'it was pretty common,' he insisted.
News reports of Jeb's past pot smoking date back to at least 1998, but his frank admission is new.
It's common for presidential hopefuls to 'dump' unflattering news about themselves early in election cycles, in the hope that it will be considered 'old news' by the time heir opponents gear up opposition-research activities.
The St. Petersburg Times in Bush's home state of Florida profiled him in October 1998 when he was the state's commerce secretary.
'The academics and the competitiveness' at Andover 'jolted him,' the Times reported. 'He nearly flunked his first year.'
'He began to experiment with drugs, smoking marijuana on more than one occasion and drinking alcohol.'
Bush all but admitted the reporting was spot-on at the time.
'I still adhere to the belief that there should be a statute of limitations on behavior,' he said. 'There's got to be some tolerance for our imperfections. I'm imperfect. I was more imperfect when I was young.'
Five years later, when he was nearing the end of his first term as Florida's governor, the Washington Post treated Bush's marijuana-smoking days as anything but a bombshell.
'Jeb struggled with his course work' at Andover, the Post reported in February 2003. He 'missed Texas and experimented with marijuana.'
Former Preident George H.W. Bush, Jeb's father, wrote in 1971 that 'Jebby is going to need some help I am sure.'
'He is a free and independent spirit and I don't want him to get totally out of touch with the family.'
The idea of an American president with THC in his history is nothing new.
President Barack Obama famously smoked weed in his youth as part of a group of friends he affectionately called the 'Choom Gang.'
Bill Clinton, asked about his pot-smoking past during the 1992 presdiential campaign, admitted that 'when I was in England, I experimented with marijuana a time or two, and I didn't like it. I didn't inhale and never tried it again.'
The late Christopher Hitchens, who attended Oxford University with Clinton during the future president's Rhodes Scholar year, claimed later that Clinton was partial to pot brownies instead.
Obama, by contrast, made no bones about enjoying a good toke.
'When I was a kid, I inhaled, frequently,' he said in 2008. 'That was the point.'
President George W. Bush, Jeb's older brother, reportedly experimented with cocaine during his youth.
He never explicitly admitted smoking marijuana, although he hinted at it in discussions with his biographer Douglas Wead.
'I wouldn't answer the marijuana questions,' the 43rd president recalled. 'You know why? Because I don't want some little kid doing what I tried.'
President John F. Kennedy tried marijuana for chronic back pain, according to the book 'John F. Kennedy: A Biography,' which drew its account from former Washington Post executive Jim Truitt.
'On the evening of July 16, 1962, according to Jim Truitt, Kennedy and Mary Meyer smoked marijuana together.'
Meyer was reportedly one of Kennedy's mistresses.
'The president smoked three of the six joints Mary brought to him,' according to the book. 'At first he felt no effects. Then he closed his eyes and refused a fourth joint. "Suppose the Russians did something now," he said.'
Several of America's founding fathers smoked the drug, according to a pot-advocacy magazine.
In the late eighteenth and early ninetenth centuries, the hemp plant that yields marijuana was grown widely in the New World for non-recreational purposes including fibers and oil.
George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison all cultivated hemp.
Madison, revered as the 'Father of the Constitution,' credited some of his ideas to mental clarity brought on by smoking hemp.
Presidents Zachary Taylor and Andrew Jackson both wrote letters that mentioned smoking marijuana with American troops during their time in battle.
James Monroe openly smoked hashish during his years as U.S. Ambassador to France and, according to one biographer, kept up the habit until he died at age 73.
And Thomas Jefferson, one magazine claims, smuggled hemp seeds from China that were 'known for their potency.'
News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Jeb Bush admits 'I smoked marijuana when I was at Andover' | Daily Mail Online
Author: David Martosko
Contact: sean.walsh@mailonline.com
Photo Credit: ANM News
Website: Home | Daily Mail Online
He told The Boston Globe in an interview published ahead of Sunday's edition that 'I drank alcohol and I smoked marijuana when I was at Andover.'
Both activities were strictly forbidden at the time — and still are — and could have gotten him expelled.
But 'it was pretty common,' he insisted.
News reports of Jeb's past pot smoking date back to at least 1998, but his frank admission is new.
It's common for presidential hopefuls to 'dump' unflattering news about themselves early in election cycles, in the hope that it will be considered 'old news' by the time heir opponents gear up opposition-research activities.
The St. Petersburg Times in Bush's home state of Florida profiled him in October 1998 when he was the state's commerce secretary.
'The academics and the competitiveness' at Andover 'jolted him,' the Times reported. 'He nearly flunked his first year.'
'He began to experiment with drugs, smoking marijuana on more than one occasion and drinking alcohol.'
Bush all but admitted the reporting was spot-on at the time.
'I still adhere to the belief that there should be a statute of limitations on behavior,' he said. 'There's got to be some tolerance for our imperfections. I'm imperfect. I was more imperfect when I was young.'
Five years later, when he was nearing the end of his first term as Florida's governor, the Washington Post treated Bush's marijuana-smoking days as anything but a bombshell.
'Jeb struggled with his course work' at Andover, the Post reported in February 2003. He 'missed Texas and experimented with marijuana.'
Former Preident George H.W. Bush, Jeb's father, wrote in 1971 that 'Jebby is going to need some help I am sure.'
'He is a free and independent spirit and I don't want him to get totally out of touch with the family.'
The idea of an American president with THC in his history is nothing new.
President Barack Obama famously smoked weed in his youth as part of a group of friends he affectionately called the 'Choom Gang.'
Bill Clinton, asked about his pot-smoking past during the 1992 presdiential campaign, admitted that 'when I was in England, I experimented with marijuana a time or two, and I didn't like it. I didn't inhale and never tried it again.'
The late Christopher Hitchens, who attended Oxford University with Clinton during the future president's Rhodes Scholar year, claimed later that Clinton was partial to pot brownies instead.
Obama, by contrast, made no bones about enjoying a good toke.
'When I was a kid, I inhaled, frequently,' he said in 2008. 'That was the point.'
President George W. Bush, Jeb's older brother, reportedly experimented with cocaine during his youth.
He never explicitly admitted smoking marijuana, although he hinted at it in discussions with his biographer Douglas Wead.
'I wouldn't answer the marijuana questions,' the 43rd president recalled. 'You know why? Because I don't want some little kid doing what I tried.'
President John F. Kennedy tried marijuana for chronic back pain, according to the book 'John F. Kennedy: A Biography,' which drew its account from former Washington Post executive Jim Truitt.
'On the evening of July 16, 1962, according to Jim Truitt, Kennedy and Mary Meyer smoked marijuana together.'
Meyer was reportedly one of Kennedy's mistresses.
'The president smoked three of the six joints Mary brought to him,' according to the book. 'At first he felt no effects. Then he closed his eyes and refused a fourth joint. "Suppose the Russians did something now," he said.'
Several of America's founding fathers smoked the drug, according to a pot-advocacy magazine.
In the late eighteenth and early ninetenth centuries, the hemp plant that yields marijuana was grown widely in the New World for non-recreational purposes including fibers and oil.
George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison all cultivated hemp.
Madison, revered as the 'Father of the Constitution,' credited some of his ideas to mental clarity brought on by smoking hemp.
Presidents Zachary Taylor and Andrew Jackson both wrote letters that mentioned smoking marijuana with American troops during their time in battle.
James Monroe openly smoked hashish during his years as U.S. Ambassador to France and, according to one biographer, kept up the habit until he died at age 73.
And Thomas Jefferson, one magazine claims, smuggled hemp seeds from China that were 'known for their potency.'
News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Jeb Bush admits 'I smoked marijuana when I was at Andover' | Daily Mail Online
Author: David Martosko
Contact: sean.walsh@mailonline.com
Photo Credit: ANM News
Website: Home | Daily Mail Online
