--- title: The Next President May Not Have Tried Marijuana description: Several of the 2016 contenders haven't tried marijuana or won't say, a shift from the last three presidents. canonical: https://time.com/3633921/president-marijuana-hillary-rubio-rand/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-12-15T19:45:34.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-13T21:42:00.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: The Next President May Not Have Tried Pot og:description: Several of the 2016 contenders haven't tried marijuana or won't say, a shift from the last three presidents. og:url: https://time.com/3633921/president-marijuana-hillary-rubio-rand/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta0b20682314e5ea9/6987681ee53aba96544d5d6f/marijuana-pot-weed.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: File picture shows marijuana plants at a indoor cultivation in Montevideo og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Next President May Not Have Tried Pot twitter:description: Several of the 2016 contenders haven't tried marijuana or won't say, a shift from the last three presidents. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta0b20682314e5ea9/6987681ee53aba96544d5d6f/marijuana-pot-weed.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Next President May Not Have Tried Pot > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=83bf3233-b9b9-426c-aa99-9943ab8d643e&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Inside A Christian Pot Shop [Watch (HLS stream): Inside A Christian Pot Shop](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/vz4fpqkC.m3u8) (5:22)  _Published 2014-04-03. Bryan and Lanette Davies run a Christian medical marijuana dispensary in Sacramento. After God told Bryan to open a cannabis shop, the couple say they have been doing God's work in providing natural care to the sick._ by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Updated: Dec 13, 2023 9:42 PM UTCPublished: Dec 15, 2014 7:45 PM UTC  Marijuana plants are seen at a indoor cultivation. Marijuana plants are seen at a indoor cultivation. Andres Stapff—Reuters by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Updated: Dec 13, 2023 9:42 PM UTCPublished: Dec 15, 2014 7:45 PM UTC When the next president is sworn in, it will have been nearly a quarter-century since the United States was led by someone who has never tried marijuana. Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama all used pot when they were younger. (To varying degrees: Clinton [famously said he didn’t inhale](http://swampland.time.com/2013/12/03/clinton-i-never-denied-smoking-pot/), Bush [never publicly admitted it](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A40508-2005Feb20.html) while Obama has been [fairly open](http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/24/world/americas/24iht-dems.3272493.html) about his years [in the Choom Gang](http://swampland.time.com/2012/05/25/audacity-of-dope-tales-of-a-toking-teenage-obama/).) But several of the leading contenders to move into the Oval Office in 2017 say they’ve never tried it or won’t say whether they have. And their language indicates they think that’s exactly how it should be, thank you very much. When asked at a CNN town hall if she would ever try marijuana, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said “absolutely not,” adding [“I didn’t do it when I was young, I’m not going to start now.”](http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/16/politics/hillary-clinton-marijuana/) Asked by talk-show host Jimmy Kimmel if he’d ever smoked pot, Texas Gov. Rick Perry answered [“No, thank God!”](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/12/rick-perry-jimmy-kimmel%5Fn%5F4945101.html) Faced with the same question, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio asked people to think of the children: [“If I tell you that I haven’t, you won’t believe me. If I tell you that I did, then kids will look up to me and say, ‘Well, I can smoke marijuana, because look how he made it.'”](http://www.nationaljournal.com/next-america/education/has-marco-rubio-smoked-pot-20140210) Even among those who have admitted trying it, the tone is similarly harsh. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who admitted experimenting with marijuana as a teen-ager when he first ran for governor in 1994, was harshly self-critical. “It was a stupid thing to do, and it was wrong,” he said in 1998. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz one-upped even those words, when a spokesperson [told The Daily Mail](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2938198/Top-Republican-contender-Ted-Cruz-foolishly-experimented-marijuana-campaign-admits-Bush-confesses-high-school-pot-use.html) that as a teen-ager Cruz “foolishly experimented with marijuana. It was a mistake, and he’s never tried it since.” Less harsh but still regretful was Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, who can’t exactly deny his past use. ([See: Aqua Buddha.](http://newsfeed.time.com/2010/08/10/rand-pauls-wild-student-days/)) [“Let’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,”](http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/dec/6/rand-paul-says-he-smoked-marijuana-i-made-mistakes/) Paul said in a radio interview earlier this month. ### See the 2016 Candidates Looking Very Presidential  Sen. Ted Cruz is surrounded by stars and stripes at the 2014 Values Voter Summit in Washington, D.C. on September 26, 2014. Mark Peterson—Redux  Hillary Clinton Hillary Clinton gazes pensively into the distance at Iowa Senator Tom Harken'a annual Steak Fry in Indianola, Iowa on September 14, 2014. Brooks Kraft—Corbis for TIME  Jeb Bush Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush flashes a power watch before giving his keynote address at the National Summit on Education Reform in Washington on Nov. 20, 2014. Susan Walsh—AP  Bernie Sanders waves to supporters after officially announcing his candidacy for the U.S. presidency during an event at Waterfront Park in Burlington, Vermont, on May 26, 2015. Win McNamee—Getty Images  Chris Christie New Jersey Governor Chris Christie strikes a presidential power stance at the ceremony for the opening of the 206 bypass in Hillsborough, New Jersey on October 28, 2013. Mark Peterson—Redux  Former Hewlett-Packard Co Chief Executive Officer Carly Fiorina listens to her introduction from the side of the stage at the Freedom Summit in Des Moines, Iowa on Jan. 24, 2015. Jim Young—Reuters  Rand Paul Sen. Rand Paul works a crowd during a campaign stop on October 24, 2014 in McDonough, Georgia. Jessica McGowan—Getty Images  Rick Perry Texas Gov. Rick Perry looks powerfully patriotic during the National Anthem before an NCAA college football game on Nov. 27, 2014, in College Station, Texas. David J. Phillip—AP  Bobby Jindal Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal looks to the future during The Family Leadership Summit on Aug. 9, 2014, in Ames, Iowa. Charlie Neibergall—AP  Martin O'Malley Maryland Governor Martin OíMalley ponders decorating ideas in front of his possible future home on CBS's Face the Nation on Feb. 23, 2014. Chris Usher—AP  Marco Rubio Sen. Marco Rubio looks determined the morning after the State of the Union address in Washington, D.C. on January 29, 2014. Melissa Golden—Redux  Ben CarsonBen Carson at the Conservative Political Action Committee annual conference on March 8, 2014. Susan Walsh—AP  Jim Webb Retiring Sen. Jim Webb imitates the presidential wave during a rally in Virginia Beach, Va. on Sept. 27, 2012. Steve Helber—AP  John Kasich Ohio Gov. John Kasich practices his presidential victory pose at the Ohio Republican Party celebration on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2014, in Columbus, Ohio. Tony Dejak—AP  Rick Santorum Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum looks resolute at CPAC, the Conservative Political Action Conference on March 7, 2014. Brooks Kraft—Corbis  Scott Walker Wisconsin Republican Gov. Scott Walker practices the presidential point on March 3, 2014 in Milwaukee. Jeffrey Phelps—AP  Mike Huckabee Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee fine-tunes his presidential oratory at the Conservative Political Action Committee annual conference in National Harbor, Md. on March 7, 2014. Susan Walsh—AP  Lincoln Chafee, Former Rhode Island Governor, poses for a selfie with a student after announcing he will seek the Democratic nomination for president in Arlington, Va. on June 3, 2015. Jonathan Ernst—Reuters  Lindsey Graham Lindsey Graham announced his plans to join the 2016 presidential race. Alex Wong—Getty Images  George Pataki Former New York governor George Pataki listens to a question at the First in the Nation Republican Leadership Conference in Nashua, New Hampshire, in this April 17, 2015 file photo. Brian Snyder—Reuters Does it matter whether the president has ever smoked pot? At a practical level, not really. A [2013 Gallup poll](http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/dec/6/rand-paul-says-he-smoked-marijuana-i-made-mistakes/) showed only 38 percent of Americans will admit to having tried marijuana, a rate that is relatively unchanged since the Reagan administration. Federal policy on marijuana is much more likely to be driven by the results of experiments with legalization in Washington state and Colorado, polls which show [a majority of Americans support legalization](http://www.gallup.com/poll/150149/Record-High-Americans-Favor-Legalizing-Marijuana.aspx) and politicians’ natural risk aversion than by their past personal use. Still, it’ll be interesting to note if the next president is the first one since 1993 to have never tried marijuana, even as the marijuana movement [has its first real momentum](a%20majority of Americans support legalization.) in decades. ## Transcript Good morning, Sacramento. This is Bryan Davies and Lanette Davies. [ INAUDIBLE ] I normally just pray, thank you lord, thank you lord, thank you lord. Thank you lord, for this chance. Thank you, lord, for everything. Thank you lord that it's a blessing that Lanette is. I have a fear of praying and asking for something. Since you're praying against his will, you're praying for evil. Well at this point in time I start praying, please help me, Lord. Help me, Lord. Tell me what to do. I need to get back in the business. I need to do something to be able to earn money. He said, open up a pot shop. And the Lord said, who are you not to do my will? [ MUSIC ] This has absolutely has been a ministry that has been ordained by God. So it is a christian dispensary, however, it is run by christians. Not all my employees are necessarily christian. It is not something that I require from them. Many people will stop because they are offended not by the marijuana but by the christianity. And it's a strangest thing. I was pissed that they open it up. It was not only embarrassing to me, it was this is, this is wrong, what are you doing? LIke I don't wanna be a part of it. When God told me to open up a cannabis shop, I go on the internet. [ SOUND ] They told us to target men between the ages of 20 and 30 years old because they'll spend the most on cannabis. We had a competitor, who used to have Bikini Wednesday. [ LAUGH ] Instead, I have a huge amount of elderly that are coming by and, you know, they've been taking handfuls, poundfuls of pharmaceuticals and getting sicker off of the pharmaceuticals! And they come over and say, do you have anything on this disease, or this disease. Or, are there any studies on this, and how do I get a cannabis recommendation? This has been, the whole time, has been an education process, so that people could take a look at a patient, and not see a stoner. Oh, you work there, that means that you get high all the time. It's like actually, no, we don't. We have people that come in here and they have cancer, and some of the people die. A lot of 'em were Christians and believers who were pissed at God. Yeah. So that's my whole Sunday Prayer started here. In the name of my lord, Jesus Christ, if any evil is in this room, may the lord rebuke it. I'm always watching the clock like, is it six o'clock yet? Cuz I'm eager to pray. And we pray for everyone. Even patients join in on our prayer. We wanna thank you for Lanette, Teva, Joe, Jeff, Ronnie [ CROSSTALK ] We've actually had employees that didn't want to participate for whatever reason [ UNKNOWN ], and it's okay. We're not here to judge you, one way or another. Hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come. I've been coming here for four years, and I'm a very satisfied customer. [ INAUDIBLE ] You know what I'm saying, you cannot judge people for sinning differently than you. Amen. Amen. Thank you. [ CROSSTALK ] And that one lady, and what she said was, God's God and you know what, I've got cancer and I need all the prayers I can get. [ MUSIC ]. I think our court case is something that God has provided for us as an opportunity. We did keep completely clean records. Everything was absolutely done correctly, to the point that we did pass that audit with flying colors. Cana Care owes the IRS more than $ 800, 000 in income taxes. At issue is this 1982 law, that bans the deduction of expenses for trafficking and controlled substances. They allow you to take the cannabis as your deduction, but they disallow you all the legal expenses. So the IRS came back and said give us 194, 000 and they will drop everything, and I said no, I wanna go to court. But then they make this deal with you, if you give us a couple extra percent of gross sales, this all goes behind you. [ MUSIC ]. So is it illegal federally or is not illegal federally? Because you'll allow us to stay in business if we give you more money. [ MUSIC ] Crusaders For Patients Rights is my organization. It's kinda my, basis of what I do. Remove federal barriers for medical and scientific cannabis research, and create [ CROSSTALK ]. We have no problems putting together a protest. And we actually have done protests at the federal court building and we've done candlelight vigils. But even now, churches have even come on board. There are several of them that have actually said, you know, we don't have a problem with medicinal cannabis. They have none. As a matter of fact, they wanna have those options open. I use cannabis at night. I usually use a pipe, a small amount, and it usually is, you know, a couple of tokes and I go to bed. He has a pretty gnarly disease. He have [ UNKNOWN ]. I had never seen him sleep through a night until Cannabis. Until he used Cannabis. I had never seen him sleep through a night. And we were married 25 years. I go straight back to, you know, God created this as a man made herb. It is a medicine. And it works as a medicine. And when it comes down to it, God's commandment to us is to take care of the sick and ill. Let me ask you this, did God create pot? I know he did. [ CROSSTALK ] Created everything. And you know what I know about God? He is still working with you. I would not do, it if I didn't endorse what we were doing here. If I thought for one minute, that this was not the way that he wanted us to go. I would not be here. I'm always worried about being a negative reflection on christianity, because it's not what we wanna do, but at the same point, I would be negatively not following God's commandments. If I didn't take this stance and work it. And of course you know, weed was grown in the Garden of Eden, so you know, there's nothing but God around here. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3633921/president-marijuana-hillary-rubio-rand/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3633921/president-marijuana-hillary-rubio-rand/"},"headline":"The Next President May Not Have Tried Pot","datePublished":"2014-12-15T19:45:34.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-13T21:42:00.000Z","description":"Would be the first since 1993","url":"https://time.com/3633921/president-marijuana-hillary-rubio-rand/","keywords":["2016 Election","Marijuana","2016 Election","White House"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta0b20682314e5ea9/6987681ee53aba96544d5d6f/marijuana-pot-weed.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ryan Teague Beckwith","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta0b20682314e5ea9/6987681ee53aba96544d5d6f/marijuana-pot-weed.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"File picture shows marijuana plants at a indoor cultivation in Montevideo","caption":"File picture shows marijuana plants at a indoor cultivation in Montevideo","creditText":"Andres Stapff—Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2016-election/","name":"2016 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3633921/president-marijuana-hillary-rubio-rand/","name":"The Next President May Not Have Tried Pot"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Inside A Christian Pot Shop","description":"Bryan and Lanette Davies run a Christian medical marijuana dispensary in Sacramento. 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