College pothead Jeb Bush now thinks marijuana has "devastating impacts on productivity and brain damage." He said this at the Republican presidential candidates' Town Hall in South Carolina on Feb. 18.
Though Bush admits to smoking pot when he attended Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass. from 1967–1971 ("it was pretty common"), he currently believes it has "neurological impacts" due too the increase in potency. Presumably, since potency was lower back then, he didn't suffer the brain damage that he now says cannabis causes.
Bush fielded the following question from a student: "What is your stance on legalization of recreational drug use? And also, if elected president, what are you going to do to combat drug abuse and addiction in this country?"
Bush replied: Two separate distinct questions, both of which are really important...
'The recreational drug – the terminology is probably a little misleading if you think about it, because of the potency – of this generation is marijuana. It has major impacts – neurological impacts. There are scores of studies that suggest this. And yet it's laughed off because culturally that's an obsolete notion. Well, it isn't.'
"My wife was on the board of CASA, the leading advocate of research and development dealing with addiction and dealing with drug use and alcohol use in this country...
'Just go on their website and see the devastating nature of the abuse of marijuana and the devastating impacts that it has on productivity, and the impacts it has on brain damage.'
"This is not some idle kind of conversation. This is a serious problem. Addiction in general is a huge problem for our country… Alcohol and drug abuse is a serious problem that crosses all ethnic lines, income lines. Columba (his wife) and I have struggled with this, as parents of a daughter who is now 10 years drug-free. But she got into the criminal justice system because of her addictions. There are a lot of people that have mental health challenges combined with addiction."
After losing badly in the South Carolina primary on Feb. 20, Bush bowed out the race for the presidency.
