Politicians having done drugs.

buttmunch · October 13th, 2005, 04:06 AM

Do you care if a politician has taken drugs in the past? Or does it not matter one iota? Or does it depend on the drug? Maybe you don't care about a few doobies but smack heads are out? It's a tough question in today's day and age...

DisruptiveHair · October 13th, 2005, 04:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by buttmunch

Do you care if a politician has taken drugs in the past? Or does it not matter one iota? Or does it depend on the drug? Maybe you don't care about a few doobies but smack heads are out? It's a tough question in today's day and age...

It would depend on the drug(s) they did, the frequency, and how old they were when they did it.

I don't really care if a politician did a couple of hits of acid or smoked a doobie or two in college. I never did that, but I know plenty of normal, hard-working people who did!

buttmunch · October 13th, 2005, 04:29 AM

I generally know more people who did dabble in drugs when they were young than those who didn't. That could, of course, say something about the company I was keeping but they mostly ended up professionals: lawyers, doctors, journos, etc., and stopped more or less when they 'grew up'. I can't say I could get too bothered one way or the other, especially if it was youthful 'indescretions'.

HWBL · October 13th, 2005, 05:10 AM

The "problem" now is that many of the politicians currently in (any) office are baby boomers, who are more than likely to have been experimenting with drugs back in the sixties. I don't think that is wrong, and I'm a person who barely ever drank and never smoked.
As long as they've kicked their habit successfully and have learned from their mistakes and as long as their use of drugs never lead to criminal behavior or something like that, I don't think these things should be damaging to them or their careers too much.

But if they're downplaying it, or even denying it (and I don't mean saying "I didn't inhale" after a few joints in college, but playing it down while you were practically a certified alcoholic or coke head like the Shrub in his adult years) it means they still have a problem with handling the truth about it, which could be symptomatic for their handling of other issues, too.

buttmunch · October 13th, 2005, 06:48 AM

But then you have to question whether recreational drug use is a mistake? There is a whole school of thought that would disagree with that. I figure most experimented, grew up, grew out of it, switched to booze and hopefully aren't big on hitting the bottle.

SVZ · October 13th, 2005, 07:56 PM

no. i had a friend who was so sheltered he thought only one drug existed, and all the names were just nicknames for the same thing. this included alcohol

barbiedoll25 · October 13th, 2005, 10:52 PM

I don't care as long as they don't do them while in office. I mean it's not like when these guys were 15-16 yrs old they knew they would go into politics. Life happens. I would much rather have them admit to it and be honest than lie about it and act innocent and that they are better than the average person. Plus, it would be just as bad if any one of them was a heavy drinker in office.

Elise · October 13th, 2005, 11:40 PM

I don't care as long as they aren't using while in office. Most people experimented. I've smoked pot 4 or 5 times & I would hate for that to be used against me ever. Most people experiment to some degree.

buttmunch · October 14th, 2005, 04:47 AM

Christ, if all my so-called mistakes I made during my well-spent, mis-spent youth were used against me, I'd never get a job.LOL. And I agree with Mushy, there's something a little, erm, odd about someone who hasn't tried a single thing, not even a drink. I have a relative who's like that and she is incredibly uptight and judgemental. Also a colleague who just sits and stares while the rest of us get tanked at office parties. It's like having your old nanny around - the one who goes to church every day. I don't know, it's wierd.

DisruptiveHair · October 14th, 2005, 11:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mushy

I tend to be leery of people who have never tried anything, never had a sip of alcohol, etc. Not that they're goodie goodies (well, maybe a little), but the people who I've met that haven't done anything always seem a bit naive. They have no idea how to sympathize with people who have drug problems, or who have made some bad choices or mistakes because of a drug/alcohol problem. It is a valuable learning experience in many ways. I'm certainly not saying everybody needs to experiment with drugs or drink too much at some point in their lives, but there is a been there, done that aspect to it that makes one more multi-dimensional.

Does that sound totally stupid?

Sort of. I've never done drugs before, and I don't consider it naive. I consider it to be a sound life choice.

I JUST SAID NO!