The Four that Got Away, and Political Kids
Arrested for Drugs
information compiled by Kevin Zeese-
Common Sense for Drug
Policy
posted at DrugWar.com October 26, 2002
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President George W. Bush (R)
Question: Did George W. use drugs?
"George W. Bush certainly did drugs
until 1974."
Source: Nicholas Kristoff, NY Times reporter who profiled Bush
in a series of articles for the paper, 8/1/00 on NPR's Fresh Air
In August of 1999, Bush told reporters that
he had not used illegal drugs in the past 25 years. Bush declared
that if voters objected to his refusal to reveal more "they
can go find somebody else to vote for."
Source: John Affleck, Associated Press; 8/26/99
"As I understand it, the current forms
asks the question, 'Did somebody use drugs within the last seven
years?' and I will be glad to answer that question, and the answer
is 'No.'"
"Not only could I pass the background
check and the standard applied to today's White House, but I could
have passed the background check and the standards applied on
the most stringent conditions when my dad was president of the
United States--a 15-year period," Mr. Bush said. Spokeswoman
Mindy Tucker said Bush had effectively denied drug usage in a
period beginning 15 years before his father took office in 1989--or
since 1974, when 53 year old Bush was 28.
Source: John Affleck, Associated Press; 8/26/99
"If voters don't like that answer, if
voters want me to inventory something I did 25 to 30 years ago,
then they can vote for somebody else," he said.
While Bush would not talk about drug use
between the ages of 18 and 28, he responded to a question about
whether he used drugs while he was in the Texas Air National Guard
from 1968 to 1973 by saying: "I never would have done anything
to jeopardize myself. I got airborne and I got on the ground very
successfully."
Last year, he explained his discretion as
an effort to avoid leading the little ones astray. "If I
were you," he told a reporter, "I wouldn't tell your
kids that you smoked pot unless you want them to smoke pot. I
don't want some kid saying, 'Well, Gov. Bush did it.'"
Sources: www.mapinc.org
It seems Bush will do anything to avoid the
drug issue... When Bush was preparing for the New Hampshire primary
in January 2000, it was reported that Bush canceled a street-walking
tour of one community because, "about 20 people advocating
legalization of marijuana were awaiting him there."
Source: Clay Robison & R.G. Ratcliffe, Houston Chronicle;
1/31/00
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President Bill Clinton
"When I was in England I experimented with
marijuana a time or two and didn't like it," Clinton said.
"I didn't inhale and I didn't try it again."
Source: Michael Holmes, “Bush Rips Question About Drug Use
But Refuses to Answer.” Thursday, Aug. 19, 1999. Abilene
Reporter-News, Reporter-News.Com. Online. Available:
http://www.reporternews.com/abilene2000/elec/drugs0819.html.
Accessed: 10/24/02.
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House Speaker Newt Gingrich
“Smoking marijuana was a sign we were alive
and in graduate school in that era."
Former US Representative Newt Gingrich admitting that he smoked
marijuana when he was in college.
Source: Hilary Stout, Wall Street Journal; 8/8/96
Nov. 7, 1987: GOP Rep. Newt Gingrich admits he tried marijuana
“once at a party.”
Source: ABCNews.com Political Nation, Dodging the Drug Question.
David Phinney. Aug. 19, 2001. Online. Available:
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/politics/DailyNews/prez_questions990819.html.
Accessed: 10/24/02.)
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Vice President Albert Gore
“During my junior and senior year of
college, it was looked at in the same way moonshine was looked
at in Prohibition days."
Source: Newsweek, 11/16/87
Mr. Gore said he first tried marijuana at
the end of his junior year at Harvard and used it again at the
beginning of his senior year the next fall. He also said he used
the drug "once or twice" while off-duty in an Army tour
at Bien Hoa, Vietnam; on several occasions while he was in graduate
school at Vanderbilt University and when he was an employee of
a Nashville newspaper (The Nashville Tennessean).…
Source: Adam J. Smith, “New Bio Alleges Gore Used Marijuana
Regularly for Years,” January 20, 2000. DRCNet. Online. Available:
http://www.drcnet.org/wol/gore.html.
Accessed: 10/24/02.
In an interview with John Warneke, former
friend and colleague of Gore at The Tennessean , the frequency
of Gore's past marijuana use came into question. In 1988, Al Gore
called his friend John Warneke and asked him not to talk to the
press about Gore's past drug use. Warneke stated, "[Gore]
called me three times in one morning and he said, 'Don't talk
to the press at all about this.' That's a stonewall, and it's
another form of lying. But I couldn't do that. But I was torn.
I felt a debt to The Tennessean , a paper that taught me everything
about the truth. And I had a friendship with Al. So I came up
with this half-truth. And that was, that Al had tried it a couple
of times with me and he didn't like pot."
Trapper: "So when did you and Gore smoke pot?"
Warneke: "We started in 1970, I think. At my house in Nashville.
He likes pot. He told me he smoked it before. I smoked it with
Al before he went to Vietnam. And he told me he smoked over there
in Vietnam. But now that I know how Al talks about it as opposed
with what he really does, I don't know what to believe."
Trapper: "But he was a senator's son at the time. Wasn't
he worried about being caught?"
Warneke: "He was paranoid. When he smoked in my house he
would run around in my house and he would close all the blinds.
If it was night he'd turn all the lights out. He's look out the
windows and make sure that no one was watching. And then he would
light up. Talk about paranoia. We played pool in the dark once.
That's how a senator's son smoked pot."
Trapper: "You haven't talked to him in 10 years?"
Warneke: "No, he hasn't called since the day he asked me
to stonewall in 1988. And here I've been holding this lie up.
I lied to the New York Times; I was in tears when I lied to them.
And when my [second] wife died, I didn't get a letter or a note
from him."
Source: Jack Trapper, salon.com; 1/22/00. This interview is available
online at: http://www.salon.com/politics2000/feature/2000/01/22/gore
One former reporter at The Tennessean, Ken
Jost, confirmed that Gore has used marijuana while at the Tennessean
, but to a lesser extent than what Warneke reported. Three other
staff members would not say what they did or did not see, including
Tennessean editor Frank Sutherland and Warneke's former wife,
Nancy Rhoda.
Source: Laura Frank and Sheila Wissner, The Tennessean; 1/28/00
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Noelle Bush Niece of President George W. Bush,
daughter of Governor Jeb Bush (R-FL)
Florida Gov. Jeb Bush's daughter Noelle was sentenced
to 10 days in the Orange County Jail on October 17, 2002 by Circuit
Judge Reginald Whitehead. Although Whitehead did not discuss the
reason for her jailing in open court, it was clear that the sanctions
came as the result of a Sept. 9 incident in whichcrack cocaine
was found in her show while undergoing drug treatment at the Center
for Drug Free Living, police reported. Noelle Bush was accompanied
by her aunt, Dorothy Cook of Bethesda, Md., as well as her two
attorneys. She was led away in handcuffs to be booked into the
jail. Before Whitehead issued his order, Bush said, "Judge
Whitehead, I sincerely apologize for what happened, and I promise
to do well at the Center for Drug-Free Living." Whitehead
told Bush that he was disappointed in her but he added he believed
she could complete drug treatment successfully and was allowing
her to stay in the program. "I want you to have some time
to think and reflect on this," Whitehead said. "You
should be disappointed that you let yourself down." The judge
added that she hoped Bush learned a lesson. "You have to
learn from your mistake," he said. "This is a great
opportunity for yourself to see if you can do well." Bush
was placed in the drug court system after she was accused of trying
to use a fake prescription to buy the anti-anxiety drug Xanax
in Tallahassee in January. Prior to Noelle Bush's sentencing an
Orange County circuit judge denied a request from attorneys to
close drug-court proceedings to the public.
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Morgan Grams (21) , son of Senator Rod Grams (R-MN).
Grams "was stopped in July in a borrowed rental
vehicle after his father called the Anoka County sheriff for help
finding his son. A deputy found 10 bags of marijuana and the beer
cans in the Isuzu Rodeo," Source: Associated Press 1/12/00.
Grams had been previously jailed twice on drug-related offenses.
Chief Deputy Peter Beberg "found Grams driving a sport utility
truck with 10 bags of marijuana inside-an unspecified amount.
A 17-year-old passenger was charged with possession of nine of
the bags and later spent time at a juvenile detention center.
The 10th bag was found under Gram's seat, according to a report
by deputy Todd Diegnau,"
Source: Associated Press 11/14/99.
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Richard Riley, Jr. , son of Education Secretary
Richard Riley
Riley, Jr. was sentenced to six months' house arrest
in June of 1993 for conspiring to sell up to 25 grams of cocaine
and 100 grams of marijuana in South Carolina. The initial charges
carried a penalty of ten years to life in prison. Riley's light
sentence allowed him to continue his work at an environmental
consulting firm.
Source: James Bovard, "Prison Sentences of the Politically
Connected," Playboy; July 1999.
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Gayle Rosten , daughter of former House Ways
and Means Committee chairman Dan Rostenkowski (D-IL)
Rosten was charged with possession of 29 grams
of cocaine with intent to deliver in June of 1990. Rosten, facing
up to 15 years in prison, plead guilty to a lesser charge and
received three years probation and 20 hours of public service,
paid a fine of $2800, and forfeited the car in which the cocaine
was found. Three years later, Rosten was found with a gram of
cocaine in her possession. In violation of her probation, Rosten
could have faced up to three years in prison. However, the charge
was dismissed by one judge, then reinstated after Rosten was indicted
by a county grand jury. On April 12, 1994 Cook County Circuit
Judge Michael Toomin ruled that the search of Rosten had been
illegal. Ironically, Judge Toomin ruled that the packets of cocaine
were admissible evidence against the two passengers that supposedly
"dropped" the packets in Rosten's car.
Source: James Bovard, Playboy; July 1999
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Cindy McCain, wife of former Presidential
candidate John McCain (R-AZ)
Ms. McCain "admitted stealing Percocet and
Vicodin from the American Voluntary Medical Team, an organization
that aids Third World countries. Percocet and Vicodin are schedule
2 drugs, in the same legal category as opium. Each pill theft
carries a penalty of one year in prison and a monetary fine."
However, McCain did not face prosecution. She was allowed to enter
a pretrial diversion program and escaped with no blemish to her
record.
Source: James Bovard, Playboy; July 1999
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Dan Burton, II (18) , son of Representative Dan
Burton (R-IN)
Burton was busted in January of 1994 on charges
of possession of marijuana with intent to distribute. Allegedly,
Burton II was transporting seven pounds of marijuana in a car
from Texas to Indiana when he was caught in Louisiana. Burton
II plead guilty to felony charges of possession of marijuana with
intent to distribute. Rather than face ten to sixteen months in
federal prison, Burton was sentenced to five years probation,
2000 hours of community service, three years of house arrest and
random drug screening. Five month later police found 30 marijuana
plants and a shotgun in Burton's apartment in Indianapolis. Under
federal mandatory minimum rules, Burton should have received at
least five years in federal prison, plus a year or more for arrest
while on probation. State prosecutors decided that the total weight
of marijuana from the 30 plants was 25 grams (about one ounce),
thus reducing the charge to a misdemeanor. The Indiana prosecutor
threw out all the charges against him saying, "I didn't see
any sense in putting him on probation a second time."
Source: James Bovard, Playboy; July 1999
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John Murtha (35) , son of Representative John
Murtha (D-PA)
Murtha received a sentence of 11 to 23 months in
jail after pleading guilty to selling a gram of cocaine to an
informant. Murtha has been busted for two burglaries in 1980 and
for armed robbery in 1985. Murtha was on parole at the time of
his arrest and could have faced more than ten years in prison
if he'd been prosecuted under federal guidelines. The judge hearing
Murtha's case allowed him to temporarily withdraw a plea bargain
and resubmit it at later date so he could enter the jail's school-release
program and continue his education.
Source: James Bovard, Playboy; July 1999
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Susan Gallo (33) , daughter of former Representative
Dean Gallo (R-NJ)
Gallo was charged with five counts of cocaine possession,
five counts of intent to distribute, five counts of distribution,
and five counts of conspiracy. Facing five to ten years in prison
for each charge, Gallo plead guilty to one count of distribution
and one count of conspiracy to distribute cocaine. Gallo was sentenced
to five years' probation in 1992.
Source: James Bovard, Playboy; July 1999
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Warren Bachus (19) , son of Congressman Spencer
Bachus (R-AL)
Bachus was busted in 1993 for possession of marijuana
and possession of drug paraphernalia. Bachus was not convicted
and in a "pretrial diversion remedy," he was set free.
Bachus paid $56 in court expenses and was required to submit to
drug testing twice in the following six months.
Source: James Bovard, Playboy; July 1999
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Josef Hinchey (26) , son of Congressman Maurice
Hinchey (D-NY)
Hinchey was charged with intent to distribute individual
cocaine doses. Hinchey could have been sentenced to 20 years in
prison. He plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute
cocaine and received a sentence of 13 months in prison. The prison
term was suspended until Hinchey completed a drug-treatment program.
Source: James Bovard, Playboy; July 1999
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Al Gore III (13) , son of Vice President Al
Gore (D)
Gore was caught smoking what appeared to be marijuana
by school authorities at St. Alban's School. Al III was suspended
as a result of the incident. While the story appeared in the foreign
press, the story was suppressed in the US media. London's Daily
Telegraph charged, "The crusading American media and Washington's
political elite have closed ranks to protect Vice President Gore
from embarrassment over his teenage son's indiscretion."
Source: James Bovard, Playboy; July 1999
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Claude Shelby (32) , youngest son of Senator
Richard Shelby (R-AL)
Shelby was arrested at Atlanta's Hartsfield
International Airport on drug charges, where a US Custom's drug-sniffing
dog found 13.8 grams of hashish in his possession. Shelby was
given a $500 administrative penalty and turned over to Clayton
County Sheriff's Department for prosecution.
Source: USA Today; 7/29/98
On July 24, authorities at Atlanta’s
Hartsfield International Airport arrested Claude Shelby, the youngest
son of U.S. Senator Richard Shelby (R_AL), for possession of 13.8
grams of hashish. Claude Shelby, 32, is married and has one child.
Sen. Shelby is chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence
(“Drug Charge,” USA Today, July 29, 1998, p. 6A).
U.S. Customs Service inspectors found the
hashish in Shelby’s possession using a drug_sniffing dog.
Shelby, who had arrived on a flight from London, was issued a
$500 fine, which he paid on the spot. He was then turned over
to the Clayton County Sheriff’s Department for state prosecution.
Responding to the incident, Sen. Richard
Shelby responded that he and his family were “shocked and
saddened” by the charge but that he would “stand by
him through this difficult ordeal.” The senior Shelby added,
“My position on fighting drugs is well known. It continues
to be a priority for me regardless of personal circumstances.”
“The senator may find it hard to be
stoic if his drug_fighting colleagues in the House have their
way,” said Monica Pratt, communications director for Families
Against Mandatory Minimums, in an op_ed in the Atlanta Constitution.
Pratt was referring to the “Drug Importer Death Penalty Act”
(HR 41), introduced by House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R_GA), which
would mandate a life sentence without parole for offenders who
import “100 usual dosage amounts” of a controlled substance,
and a death sentence for such offenders with a prior conviction
for a similar drug offense . The measure does not define what
amounts constitute “100 usual dosages.” Pratt said,
“Under this broad definition, Claude Shelby’s 13.8 grams
of hashish could be enough to qualify him for life imprisonment
(Monica Pratt, “Congress comes into the courtroom,”
Atlanta Constitution, August 12, 1998). The U.S. Sentencing Guidelines
provide that 1 gram of hashish is the equivalent of 5 grams of
marijuana and that 1 gram of marijuana is two doses.
“Luckily for the senior Shelby, he will
not know the pain of visiting his son in prison for the rest of
his life. . .Perhaps his son’s brush with the law will convince
the senator that life_and_death sentencing policies are not trifling
matters to be bandied about during election_year politicking,”
said Pratt.
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Darlene Watts sister of US Rep. J.C. Watts, Jr.
(R-OK)
Darlene Watts, 34, the sister of U.S. Rep.
J.C. Watts (R_OK), the new House Republican Caucus Chairman, the
number four position in the House leadership, was given a seven_year
suspended sentence after successfully completing a boot camp program
for nonviolent offenders. Darlene Watts was charged with possession
and distribution of marijuana, methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia,
and maintaining a property where drugs were kept. She pleaded
guilty to six drug_related counts in March 1998
(Associated Press, “Watts’ Kin Gets Term Suspended,”
July 20, 1998).
