The Marijuana Policy Project’s list of the Top 50 Most Influential Marijuana Consumers is intended to identify individuals who have used marijuana and achieved high levels of success or influence. It was created using the criteria employed by Out Magazine to produce its “Power 50” list of LGBT Americans, including “power to influence cultural and social attitudes, political clout, individual wealth, and a person’s media profile.”
To qualify for MPP’s list, individuals must (1) be alive, (2) be a U.S. citizen, and (3) have consumed marijuana at least once in their life according to either their own account or that of a legitimate source. They do not need to currently consume marijuana or support marijuana policy reform.
1. President Barack Obama
“When I was a kid, I inhaled. Frequently. That was the point.”
Source: NBC News
Photo: WhiteHouse.gov
2. 2016 Presidential Hopefuls
At least eight of the 23 major-party presidential hopefuls have consumed marijuana, and only six say they have not. The other nine — Joe Biden, Ben Carson, Carly Fiorina, Jim Gilmore, Lindsey Graham, Bobby Jindal, John Kasich, Martin O’Malley, and Jim Webb — do not appear to have ever publicly said whether they have consumed marijuana.
Source: See below
Photos: Official government and campaign portraits
Former Gov. Jeb Bush (FL)
“I drank alcohol, and I smoked marijuana when I was at Andover. It was pretty common.”
Source: Boston Globe
Former Gov. Lincoln Chafee (RI)
“In 1999, then-Warwick Mayor Lincoln D. Chafee won accolades for his honesty in acknowledging he used marijuana and cocaine as a 1970s student at Brown University.”
Source: Providence Journal
Sen. Ted Cruz (TX)
Cruz spokesperson: “When [Cruz] was a teenager, he foolishly experimented with marijuana. It was a mistake, and he’s never tried it since.”
Source: Daily Mail
Former Gov. George Pataki (NY)
“Mr. Pataki, in his first campaign for governor, admitted to the use of marijuana in his youth.”
Source: The New York Times
Sen. Rand Paul (KY)
“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.” [In response to a question about whether he ever consumed marijuana. Also, one of his college friends said, “Randy smoked pot.”]
Source: The Hill
Sen. Marco Rubio (FL)
“If I tell you that I haven’t, you won’t believe me. And 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. He did alright so I guess I can do it too.’”
Source: Slate
Sen. Bernie Sanders (VT)
“I smoked marijuana twice — didn’t quite work for me. It’s not my thing, but it is the thing of a whole lot of people.”
Source: Yahoo News
Former Sen. Rick Santorum (PA)
“Well, yeah, I admitted you know, back when I was running for the Senate, that when I was in college that I smoked pot and that was something that I did when I was in college.”
Source: The Daily Caller
