# List of United States politicians who have acknowledged cannabis use

Before the prohibition of cannabis in the United States, some of the nation's Founding Fathers and presidents grew hemp. Politicians who have admitted to recreational use of the drug prior to its decriminalization or legalization include mayors, governors, members of the U.S. Congress, vice presidents and presidents.

## Background

In the United States, cannabis was initially grown for industrial reasons, though it quickly became a staple medicinal product in the early 19th century and recreational use became more prevalent during the 20th century. Harry J. Anslinger, the commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, responded to political pressure to ban marijuana at a nationwide level. The Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 created an expensive excise tax, and included penalty provisions and elaborate rules of enforcement to which marijuana, cannabis, or hemp handlers, were subject. Mandatory sentencing and increased punishment were enacted when the U.S. Congress passed the Boggs Act of 1951 and the Narcotics Control Act of 1956.
During the counterculture of the 1960s, attitudes towards marijuana and drug abuse policy changed as marijuana use among "white middle-class college students" became widespread. In Leary v. United States (1969), the U.S. Supreme Court held the Marihuana Tax Act to be unconstitutional since it violated the Fifth Amendment. In response, Congress passed the Controlled Substances Act as Title II of the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970, which repealed the Marihuana Tax Act. In 1972, the National Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse concluded that marijuana should be decriminalized, but that public use and driving while intoxicated should remain illegal. By the end of the decade, several states had decriminalized the drug, while many others weakened their laws against cannabis use.
A wave of conservatism during the 1980s allowed president Ronald Reagan to accelerate the war on drugs, prompting anti-drug campaigns such as the "Just Say No" campaign of first lady Nancy Reagan. Federal penalties for cultivation, possession, or transfer of marijuana were increased by the Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1984 and the Anti-Drug Abuse Acts of 1986 and 1988. Since California voters passed the 1996 California Proposition 215, which legalized medical cannabis, several states have followed suit. However, United States v. Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative (2001) rejected the common-law medical necessity defense to crimes enacted under the Controlled Substances Act because Congress concluded that cannabis has "no currently accepted medical use" and Gonzales v. Raich (2005) concluded that the Commerce Clause of Article One of the U.S. Constitution allowed the federal government to ban the use of cannabis, including medical use. Today, cannabis remains classified as a Schedule I drug under the Controlled Substances Act, and possession is punishable by up to one year in jail and a minimum fine of $1,000 for a first conviction.

## List of politicians who farmed hemp

| Name | Lifetime | Highest position | Party |
| Benjamin Franklin | 1706–1790 | President of Pennsylvania | Independent |
| Thomas Jefferson | 1743–1826 | President of the United States | Democratic-Republican |
| James Madison | 1751–1836 | President of the United States | Democratic-Republican |
| George Washington | 1732–1799 | President of the United States | Independent |
| Henry Clay | 1777–1852 | United States Secretary of State, United States Senator Kentucky | Democratic-Republican, National Republican and Whig |

### Parties

Democratic-Republican  Whig  Independent

## Use prior to decriminalization

| Name | Lifetime | Highest position | Party |
| Rob Astorino | b. 1967 | County Executive of Westchester County | Republican |
| Bruce Babbitt | b. 1938 | Governor of Arizona, United States Secretary of the Interior | Democratic |
| Michael Bloomberg | b. 1942 | Mayor of New York City | Democratic |
| Bill Bradley | b. 1943 | United States Senator from New Jersey | Democratic |
| George W. Bush | b. 1946 | President of the United States | Republican |
| Jeb Bush | b. 1953 | Governor of Florida | Republican |
| Pete Buttigieg | b. 1982 | United States Secretary of Transportation | Democratic |
| Paul Cellucci | 1948–2013 | Governor of Massachusetts | Republican |
| Lincoln Chafee | b. 1953 | United States Senator from Rhode Island, Governor of Rhode Island | Libertarian |
| Lawton Chiles | 1930–1998 | United States Senator from Florida, Governor of Florida | Democratic |
| Bill Clinton | b. 1946 | President of the United States | Democratic |
| Steve Cohen | b. 1949 | United States Representative from Tennessee | Democratic |
| Jack Conway | b. 1969 | Attorney General of Kentucky | Democratic |
| Ted Cruz | b. 1970 | United States Senator from Texas | Republican |
| Andrew Cuomo | b. 1957 | Governor of New York | Democratic |
| Bill de Blasio | b. 1961 | Mayor of New York City | Democratic |
| Howard Dean | b. 1948 | Governor of Vermont | Democratic |
| Joseph DeNucci | b. 1939 | Auditor of Massachusetts | Democratic |
| Mary Donohue | b. 1947 | Lieutenant Governor of New York | Republican |
| Shaun Donovan | b. 1966 | United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development | Democratic |
| John Edwards | b. 1953 | United States Senator from North Carolina | Democratic |
| Newt Gingrich | b. 1943 | United States Representative from Georgia | Republican |
| Al Gore | b. 1948 | Vice President of the United States | Democratic |
| Kamala Harris | b. 1964 | Vice President of the United States | Democratic |
| Maggie Hassan | b. 1958 | Governor of New Hampshire, United States Senator from New Hampshire | Democratic |
| John Hickenlooper | b. 1952 | United States Senator from Colorado, Governor of Colorado | Democratic |
| Eric Holcomb | b. 1968 | Governor of Indiana | Republican |
| Gary Johnson | b. 1953 | Governor of New Mexico | Libertarian |
| Mondaire Jones | b. 1987 | United States Representative from New York | Democratic |
| John Kasich | b. 1952 | Governor of Ohio | Republican |
| Joseph P. Kennedy II | b. 1952 | United States Representative from Massachusetts | Democratic |
| John Kerry | b. 1943 | United States Secretary of State | Democratic |
| Ed Koch | 1924–2013 | Mayor of New York City | Democratic |
| Richard Lamm | 1935–2021 | Governor of Colorado | Democratic |
| Connie Mack III | b. 1940 | United States Senator from Florida | Republican |
| Kyle E. McSlarrow | b. 1960 | United States Deputy Secretary of Energy | Republican |
| John Miller | 1938–2017 | United States Representative from Washington | Republican |
| Susan Molinari | b. 1958 | United States Representative from New York | Republican |
| Jim Moran | b. 1945 | United States Representative from Virginia | Democratic |
| Seth Moulton | b. 1978 | United States Representative from Massachusetts | Democratic |
| Evelyn Murphy | b. 1940 | Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts | Democratic |
| Phil Murphy | b. 1957 | Governor of New Jersey | Democratic |
| Richard Neal | b. 1949 | United States Representative from Massachusetts | Democratic |
| Barack Obama | b. 1961 | President of the United States | Democratic |
| Sarah Palin | b. 1964 | Governor of Alaska | Republican |
| George Pataki | b. 1945 | Governor of New York | Republican |
| David Paterson | b. 1954 | Governor of New York | Democratic |
| Edward W. Pattison | 1932–1990 | United States Representative from New York | Democratic |
| Claiborne Pell | 1918–2009 | United States Senator from Rhode Island | Democratic |
| Rob Portman | b. 1955 | United States Senator from Ohio, U.S. Trade Representative | Republican |
| J. B. Pritzker | b. 1965 | Governor of Illinois | Democratic |
| Dana Rohrabacher | b. 1947 | United States Representative from California | Republican |
| Bernie Sanders | b. 1941 | United States Senator from Vermont | Independent |
| Rick Santorum | b. 1958 | United States Senator from Pennsylvania | Republican |
| Arnold Schwarzenegger | b. 1947 | Governor of California | Republican |
| William Scranton III | b. 1947 | Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania | Republican |
| Kevin Stitt | b. 1972 | Governor of Oklahoma | Republican |
| Scott Stringer | b. 1960 | New York City Comptroller | Democratic |
| Bill Thompson | b. 1953 | New York City Comptroller | Democratic |
| Peter G. Torkildsen | b. 1958 | United States Representative from Massachusetts | Republican |
| Jesse Ventura | b. 1951 | Governor of Minnesota | Independent |
| Janet Yellen | b. 1946 | United States Secretary of the Treasury | Democratic |

### Parties

Democratic  Republican  Independent  Libertarian