--- 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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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### 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. ## 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. ```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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