No one was surprised upon reading a recent piece from the Boston Globe asserting that former Florida governor Jeb Bush was a stoner while attending prep school during the 1960s. During his interview, Bush said, “I drank alcohol and I smoked marijuana when I was at Andover. It was pretty common.”
However, the nonchalant nature of his statement has stuck in the crawl of Republican Senator Rand Paul, who has since lashed out against the potential 2016 presidential contender for being a hypocrite. Paul argues that while Bush clearly understands that marijuana is not the plague on society, as it is often portrayed, he still supports antiquated drug policies that continue to put people in prison over its possession.
The hypocrisy is, ‘Hey I did it and it’s okay for me because I was rich and at an elite school but if you’re poor and black or brown and live in a poor section of one of our big cities, we’re going to put you in jail and throw away the key,’” Paul told The Hill.
The Kentucky senator, who has not openly admitted to using marijuana, himself, but recently told The Associated Press that he “wasn’t a choir boy” when asked about his college drug use, said Bush has not considered that his marijuana consumption could have ended his political career before it ever got started. Yet, he still supports laws that continue to ruin opportunities for American citizens every day. “Had he been caught at Andover, he’d have never been governor, he’d probably never have a chance to run for the presidency,” said Paul.
The claims in the latest article were not the first time Jeb Bush admitted to using marijuana. He first mentioned his teenage experimentation with the leaf in 1994, during his bid for governor, and then again in 1998, when he called it a “stupid thing to do” and “wrong.”
Interestingly, however, other interviews for The Globe piece indicates that Bush was probably more than just an occasional toker. Peter Tibbetts, a former classmate, said that the first time he got really high was in “Jeb’s room,” and in addition to Bush turning him on to Steppenwolf’s “Magic Carpet Ride,” he also attempted to give him pointers on how to better his buzz.
“Please bear in mind that I was seeking the hash,” said Tibbetts. “It wasn’t as if he was a dealer, though he did suggest I take up cigarettes so that I could hold my hits better, after that first joint.”
