The Austin Chronicle

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What Do Obama and Palin Have in Common?

By Jordan Smith, August 29, 2008, 1:40pm, Newsdesk

Marijuana.

That's right, both Dem Prez nominee Sen. Barack Obama and GOP veep contender, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, have said that they smoked dope.

As our friends at the Marijuana Policy Project have just reminded us, in 2006, Palin told the Anchorage Daily News that she'd toked in the past, but that she didn't like it and doesn't still smoke it. Indeed, possession of up to 1oz of pot is still legal in Alaska, even though prohibition is alive and well under federal law. (Alaska is also one of 12 states that allows ill patients to use medi-pot.) Still, Palin told the daily, she certainly doesn't agree with legalization – that would send a bad message to her kiddos!

So, both Barack and Sarah have smoked. And guess what? Each has gone on to live a successful life. No shit. I ain't kidding – neither lost their job or their familly. They aren't criminals, and neither has landed in jail.

Could it be that pot isn't the demon weed the narco warriors would have us believe?

"Governor Palin is one of many millions of Americans who have used marijuana and gone on to live productive, wildly successful lives," Rob Kampia, MPP executive director, says in a press release. "That she used marijuana is no big deal, but what is a big deal is that she thinks that the 100 million Americans who have used marijuana, including herself, belong in jail. That wouldn't be good for her kids."

Indeed.

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