Newt Gingrich Says George Washington Would Have Punished Pot Growers

Pot growers such as…George Washington? This gem comes courtesy of our friends at SSDP who are on the ground in New Hampshire confronting candidates about the War on Drugs.

Newt is apparently unaware that George Washington and Thomas Jefferson both grew marijuana crops for the purpose of harvesting hemp. Or, maybe that's just not what Newt had in mind when he heard the question. But even if he'd known or understood, what then would he have said? It's nevertheless a fact -- a very stupid fact -- that it's presently illegal to grow hemp anywhere in America, and no one better try to make rope and paper the way our forefathers did, or there'll be hell to pay.

Whatever Newt may or may not know about hemp farming at Mount Vernon and Monticello is beside the point. The real story here is that our government is so embarrassingly terrified of the marijuana plant that modern farmers aren't even permitted to grow harmless and useful hemp crops for fear of…hell, who even knows.

Hemp isn't even a drug, and we're at war with it because it looks like one. If you can think of anything stupider than that, please don't tell Newt Gingrich about it.

(This article was published by StoptheDrugWar.org's lobbying arm, the Drug Reform Coordination Network, which also shares the cost of maintaining this web site. DRCNet Foundation takes no positions on candidates for public office, in compliance with section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, and does not pay for reporting that could be interpreted or misinterpreted as doing so.)