Newt Gingrich smoked pot, wants death sentence for marijuana users

Gary Johnson Outs Newt Gingrich? 'Among 100 Million Americans Who Smoke Marijuana'
video
by Tommy Christopher

Fourth-tier GOP presidential candidate and one-time debate sensation Gary Johnson became the latest to level a "serial hypocrisy" attack at frontrunner Newt Gingrich over the weekend, telling MSNBC's Alex Witt that in 1997, Gingrich "proposed the death penalty for marijuana — for possession of marijuana above a certain quantity of marijuana, and yet he is among 100 million americans who smoke marijuana."

While Alex Witt didn't think Gingrich's herbal history would be "at the forefront," maybe it should.
Johnson later referenced Gingrich's marijuana use in the past tense, saying that he "would love to have a discussion with (Gingrich) on the fact that he smoked pot, and under the wrong set of circumstances, he proposed the death penalty for something, potentially, that he had committed?"

Gingrich, you may be surprised to learn, admitted to youthful marijuana use, and according to Reason magazine, was sort of ahead of his time: Gingrich had this to say about his illegal drug use: "That was a sign we were alive and in graduate school in that era." Somehow, an activity that was no big deal in the late '60s and early '70s had become shameful and scandalous by the late '80s. Although Gingrich excuses his illegal drug use by implying that most of his fellow students also smoked pot, marijuana use was probably less common when he was in graduate school than it was in 1988. The government's survey data don't go back to 1971, when Gingrich got his Ph.D. But the survey shows a steady rise in drug use from 1974 until 1979. Although reported drug use declined after that, in 1988 it was still considerably higher than in 1974.

He was also an early proponent of legalized medical marijuana, penning a passionate, eloquent letter for the Journal of the American Medical Association in 1982.

In the intervening years, however, Gingrich's attitudes toward marijuana, like so many of his positions, changed significantly, and while the years in this case might insulate him from the flip-flopping charge, he displays a moral flexibility that should disturb conservative voters. "See, when I smoked pot it was illegal," he told WSJ's Hilary Stout in 1996, "but not immoral. Now, it is illegal AND immoral. The law didn't change, only the morality... That's why you get to go to jail and I don't."

This suggests not that Gingrich's moral attitudes changed over time, or that the nation's did, but that right and wrong themselves are subject to change, a sort of moral relativism on steroids (which might become moral any day now).

Johnson's statement about Gingrich's support for the death penalty is somewhat misleading. He conflates Gingrich's personal use of marijuana with the amount of pot that a smuggler or a dealer might have. Still, under Gingrich's proposed law, you could be put to death for possession of as little as 200 joints, which is equal in volume to a carton of cigarettes.

Inconsistency aside (Gingrich is, as far as I know, the only politician in history to be on both sides of the poem Whitey On The Moon), the former House Speaker might actually see some benefit from his extreme harshing of the collective mellow. In a general election, putting small-time pot smugglers to death might not play so well, but Republican audiences eat up the Death Penalty like bacon-laced Chex Mix.

Here's the clip, from MSNBC's Weekends With Alex Witt:

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• ron paul
• obama
• gingrich
• romney
• gary johnson
• republican
• iowa
• new hampshire
• death sentence

[xmobster5]

lol all the pot smokers are mad now ;)

[mattdogggg]

FUCK NEWT GINGRICH!

[JordonFoster1993]

what a hipicrate

[ced1547]

WHAT A BITCH!!!!



[Reqiim]

"What is that? Marijuanaa?? Kill 'em, kill 'em with fire!!!!!"

[autopsy87]

that woman seriously said "well pot aside, i dont think thats the forefront". wow. If the man thinks people who smoke a plant should all die then thats something the voters NEED TO KNOW.

[KCINUAEB360]

@IFlick kill yourself, POT, REEFER, MARIJUANA FOREVER!

[Werowocomico]

@IFlick First...Marijuana is not a narcotic. It doesn't have the same chemical compounds as a narcotic. Second...Is Adolf Hitler your hero?

[TEExT0KER]

@IFlick You're kidding right?!

[djfrenetiko]

this guy most of had some bad experience with marihuana to be so determined on passing a law on stretching the way marihuana is handle... death penalty or life sentence for a plant??? America has gone paranoid after 9-11, Now they want to censor everything, s.o.p.a, marihuana...For them they see it like this, stop the drug dealers, and pirates etc. making money so we can have more money.. lets get the rich, richer. good thing that dec 21 2012 is coming....

[icingdeathxs]

Ron "motherfucking" Paul 2012!!!!

[ex0duzz]

@IFlick You just used it(and i would consider this to be a public forum/setting). So you should go prison first. Right now. No possibility of parole. Good luck. :)

But seriously, stfu. You should go jail for being a fucken idiot who doesn't know what the fuck you're talking about. Go look up freedom of speech and the constitution. Yeah, you might need to learn how to read and interpret law first, and grow a brain and get over your bias of a plant.

[ex0duzz]

It's not at the forefront of the jewish owned news channels. However, every time there's a presidential net question/town hall, the question always ends up being about Marijuana. It's an IMPORTANT ISSUE. Same as Ron Paul. Stop ignoring it and censoring shit. No wonder no one gives a shit about traditional news media anymore. It's so full of shit. Thank god for the net(or rather, the hardworking geniuses behind computing and networking).

[CanadianPolybius]

@IFlick

So what's it like being a virgin at your age?

[IFlick]

The depiction of marijuana addicts in films, television, theatrical performances in a positive light is far more dangerous than the actual addict. Those even pretending to use this narcotic should spend the remainder of their natural life in prison. Using the word "marijuana" or slang phrases in reference to it in a public setting should spend the remainder of their natural life in prison without the possibility of parole.

[IFlick]

The only way we'll eliminated marijuana addicts is to execute them. For every thousand you execute, ten thousand others would be discouraged from smoking it. Anyone advocating the decriminalization, legalization, or exemption for medical use would spend the remainder of the natural life in prison. Depicting marijuana use in a positive light on television, film, theatrical skit would spend the remainder of the natural life in prison without possibility of parole. These solutions will work!

[colorxoxmexox]

stupid-ass interviewer. :/

[MrClaydough]

I think their should be a death penalty for self righteous bastards like GinGrinch. In fact...those new Red/Guv's signing away womens rights to take birth control, workers, childrens, voters, unions on and on...toss em into a heap. Oh yeah....forgot. Dem voters are already doing that.

[Elzon1]

@Elzon1 Newt*

[Elzon1]

You first Neut ^_^

[muskduh]

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