Jimmy Carter on Drugs

President of the U.S., 1977-1981; Former Democratic Governor (GA)

Declared White House to be officially "dry"

Early in his presidency, Carter proclaimed that the White House would be "dry." Each time a state dinner was held, the White House made a point of telling reporters that no liquor--only wine--would be served. "The Carters were the biggest liars in the world," the director of the White House Military Office said. "The word was passed to get rid of all the booze. There can't be any on Air Force One, in Camp David, or in the White House."

[When the alcohol was removed, the staffer continued], "I get a call from the mess saying, 'They want Bloody Marys before going to church. What should I do?' I said, 'Find some booze and take it up to them.' "

[Another staffer confirms], "Occasionally Carter had a martini." Rosalynn would have a screwdriver. Lillian Carter, Carter's own mother, contradicted her son's claim. In a 1977 interview with The New York Times, she said that, even though the White House was officially "dry," she managed to have a nip of bourbon every afternoon when she stayed there.

Source: In the President`s Secret Service, by Ron Kessler, p. 74-75 , Jun 29, 2009

We stopped treating alcoholism as a crime; that helped

The Drug Enforcement Agency, created in 1973, has already been tainted by scandals that forced its director to resign.

Our overcrowded court system is now a major cause of crime.

We should encourage local police to give priority to violent crimes- assault, robbery, rape, muggings, murders. When I was Governor of Georgia, we stopped treating alcoholism as a crime to provide increased medical help to alcoholics and to free our police and courts to concentrate on violent crimes.

Source: Campaign Speech in Detroit, in “Good As Its People,” p. 220 , Oct 15, 1976

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