1996 SHOCKER: Clinton Press Secretary Confesses to Smoking Joint When Young

About this episode

The episode discusses the historical context of a White House press secretary's confession about smoking marijuana and its implications in the political landscape.

Coming soon: April 20th — the counterculture holiday for celebrating cannabis consumption and advocating marijuana legalization ... So, let's hear, from 2021, Democratic Senate Leader Chuck Schumer ... "Today is what you might call a very unofficial American holiday, 4/20. It is as appropriate a time as any to take a hard look at our laws that have overcriminalized the use of marijuana and put it on a par with heroin, LSD, and other narcotics that bear little or no resemblance in their effects." Chuck Schumer is the first ever Senate Leader to publicly advocate ending the Federal prohibition on marijuana. In this week's episode of C-SPAN's podcast "Extreme Mortman" — timed for what Senator Schumer calls the "unofficial American holiday 4-20" — we remember when a White House press secretary said that as a kid, he smoked a joint — and the firestorm of shock, controversy, and outrage that confession created. Who was the press secretary? Who was the president? Why was the White House press corps asking about marijuana? And which prominent member of Congress at nearly the same time also admitted to once smoking a joint? Find out in in "Extreme Mortman" — as we get in the weeds — with…

People in this episode

Host: C-SPAN

Topics covered

• marijuana legalization
• cannabis consumption
• political controversy
• press secretary confession
• Senate leadership
• overcriminalization

Keywords

• Clinton
• press secretary
• marijuana
• Chuck Schumer
• 4/20
• cannabis
• legalization
• politics
• controversy

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: C-SPAN

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