It’s not exactly the Nobel Peace Prize, but President Obama and a lot of his friends are topping another list of overachievers: dope smokers who made good.
The Marijuana Policy Project’s âTop 50 Most Influential Marijuana Usersâ in the United States puts Obama at the top, followed by Oprah Winfrey and former President Bill Clinton, making them former potheads who broke the stereotype and went on to score major accomplishments.
âThe goal here is to dispel the myth that marijuana users are âlosersâ who lack motivation and highlight the fact that they are typically productive and oftentimes quite successful,â said Mason Tvert, director of communications for the Marijuana Policy Project. âAs this list demonstrates, many of our nationâs most successful citizens have used marijuana.â
Obama, however, recently said he does not plan to legalize marijuana.
To get on the group’s second-ever such list, people had to have used marijuana at least once — and still be alive.
âWe hope this list gets people thinking about the fact that marijuana prohibition laws cause more harm than the substance itself,â Tvert said. âSome of these folks might not have made it to where they are today had they been arrested for using marijuana.â
Most have either admitted using marijuana or skated around the issue enough to suggest they are past users. According to research from the Project, former President George W. Bush, for example, once said, “I wouldn’t answer the marijuana questions. You know why? Because I don’t want some little kid doing what I tried.” Bush is 12th on the list.
The Top 20
1. Barack Obama
2. Oprah Winfrey
3. Bill Clinton
4. Clarence Thomas
5. Stephen Colbert
6. Jon Stewart
7. Jay-Z
8. John Kerry
9. George Soros
10. Bill Maher
11. Bill Gates
12. George W. Bush
13. Andrew Cuomo
14. Rand Paul
15. Sanjay Gupta
16. LeBron James
17. Rush Limbaugh
18. George Clooney
19. Michael Bloomberg
20. Lady Gaga
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected].
