Inventing Al Gore: on Drugs

Smoked pot recreationally, but kept it separate from work

Gore insisted as a presidential candidate in 1987 that his dope smoking was “infrequent and rare.” He said he smoked marijuana occasionally at Harvard, “once or twice in the army,” and “once or twice as a graduate student” before quitting altogether in 1972. But Gore’s friends say that he remained an enthusiastic recreational user through the 1970s, during his newspaper career and up until his first congressional campaign in 1976. They remember him smoking dope as often as three or four times a week

Al Gore stoned was a mix of expansiveness and paranoia, friends recall. He could be ironically humorous and self-aware about his lot as heir apparent in a political family. But he was also worried about his bright future literally going up in smoke.

For the most part, Gore kept his off-duty explorations and newspaper work tidily partitioned. Most newsroom colleagues heard little about his religious studies and saw no evidence of his drug use.

Source: Inventing Al Gore, p.101

*The above quotations are from Inventing Al Gore, by Bill Turque.* Click here for definitions & background information on Drugs. Click here for more quotes by Al Gore on Drugs.
*Other candidates on Drugs:*
Pat Buchanan George W. Bush Al Gore Ralph Nader Harry Browne Dick Cheney Joe Lieberman *2002 Candidates:* Elizabeth Dole Janet Reno Jeb Bush Robert Reich	*Withdrawn Candidates:* Lamar Alexander Gary Bauer Bill Bradley Steve Forbes Orrin Hatch John Kasich Alan Keyes John McCain Dan Quayle Bob Smith Donald Trump Paul Wellstone
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