Did Rand Paul Admit to Smoking weed?

High level Republican politicians generally aren’t known for their policy statements and interviews which revolve around themes of empathy and understanding. Even those who are considered to be “compassionate conservatives” haven’t made any resounding speeches as of late which evoke the same level of emotional resonance with voters on social issues, at least compared to their leftist counterparts. However, Rand Paul recently gave an interview in which he managed to do exactly that, and may have made an interesting admission.

During an interview with WHAS11’s Joe Arnold Paul discussed, among other things, the negative effects of the drug war, particularly on young people and the poor. Further, he also said that he wanted to reduce penalties for cannabis possession and that he doesn’t “want to put our kids in prison for it”. While not entirely concrete in his stance, Paul’s statements could be interpreted as an advocacy for at least marijuana decriminalization, although he quickly added that he did not want to be seen as “being this person advocating for drug use”.

Interestingly, when Paul was asked about whether or not he had smoked marijuana in college he responded cryptically with “[l]et’s just say I wasn’t a choir boy when I was in college and that I can recognize that kids make mistakes, and I can say that I made mistakes when I was a kid.” Now he did also state prior to this “I think drugs, marijuana included, aren’t good for you. I don’t want to be someone who is seen as being this person advocating for drug use.

I think they’re not a good idea.” But his “not a choir boy response is certainly interesting. Of course admitting to using cannabis, or other drugs, with the last few American presidents and presidential candidates hasn’t been all that unusual. For example, Bill Clinton dismissively admitted to smoking cannabis in the nineties, George W. Bush’s cocaine fueled college parties were common knowledge last decade, and Barack Obama has famously joked about his college cannabis use.

But the new conservatives of the Tea Party and weak libertarian bent, Ron Paul excluded, seem to have a neutral or negative reaction towards cannabis use and legalization, and few seem reticent to admit having ever used it. Of course Rand Paul seems to be straddling both sides of the fence on this issue and has, apparently, even admitted to, although not positively, using cannabis.

So with this tacit admission and relatively bold stance on drug policy could we see more Republicans changing their position on cannabis in the coming election? Maybe…or maybe not. Mainstream GOP members have committed to a hardline anti-marijuana stance, but given the fact they keep losing the typically pro-cannabis youth vote, they may change. Whatever the case this (kinda sort of) admission will make the coming primaries discussion on drug policy interesting.