cannabisnews.com: Gore Pot Tale Gives Mag Cold Feet





Gore Pot Tale Gives Mag Cold Feet
Posted by FoM on January 22, 2000 at 16:32:49 PT
Richard Johnson, Paula Froelich & Ian Spiegelman
Source: New York Post
Excerpts from an upcoming biography of Al Gore that accuse the presidential hopeful of chronic pot-smoking right up until he first ran for Congress in 1976 are too hot for Newsweek to print -- even though the book was written by one of the magazine's own reporters. According to stopthedrugwar.org -- a non-profit web site dedicated to "pointing out the hypocrisy of our drug policy" -- Newsweek was set to run portions of "Inventing Al Gore" by its Washington reporter Bill Turque in the Jan. 18 issue. 
The excerpt would have included retired journalist John Warnecke saying he and Gore regularly smoked pot together when they were reporters at the Nashville Tennessean. Gore, of course, said during the 1988 Democratic presidential primaries that he had only used pot "rarely," that he didn't like it, and that he hadn't toked in 15 years. Warnecke told stopthedrugwar.org, "Al Gore and I smoked regularly, as buddies. Marijuana, hash. I was his regular supplier. I didn't deal dope, just gave it to him." How frequent were Warnecke's reefer sessions with the would-be veep? "We smoked more than once," he claims, "more than a few times, we smoked a lot. We smoked in his car, in his house, we smoked in his parents' house ... we smoked on weekends. We smoked a lot." Gore spokeswoman Laura Quinn tells PAGE SIX that the veep's statements in 1988 were true and that Warnecke himself backed Gore's story in the press at the time. "The gentleman's recollection in 1988 was very different," says Quinn. As to Newsweek's apparently sudden decision not to run Turque's drug-related material, a Newsweek spokesman said only, "We are working on an excerpt," while declining to discuss its content or when it might run. But PAGE SIX has obtained galleys of the book in which material has been blotted out with a note from publisher Houghton-Mifflin reading, "Material to be used in Newsweek serial." An additional explanation on the front page says that the missing paragraphs were "tentatively scheduled" for Newsweek's use "in mid-January." One of the sections of missing material tagged for Newsweek's use follows the sentence, "With [Gary] Hart's departure [from the primaries], Gore knew that if sex was on the table, then drugs weren't far behind." Houghton-Mifflin spokesman Walter Vatter says he doesn't know if Newsweek will run the material it agreed to use: "You'll have to ask them." Published: January 22, 2000New York PostRelated Articles:Stop The Drug Warhttp://www.stopthedrugwar.org/NORMLhttp://www.norml.org/DRCNethttp://www.drcnet.org/Smoke In His Eyes - 1/22/2000http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread4429.shtmlDid Gore Go One Toke Over the Line at Law School?-1/21/2000http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread4422.shtmlEditorial: Dishonest Policy - 1/21/99http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread4418.shtmlNew Bio Alleges Gore Used Marijuana For Years - 1/20/2000http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread4399.shtml 
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Comment #1 posted by FoM on January 22, 2000 at 16:39:05 PT:
Web Site Rolls Out VP's Pot Smoking
Web Site Rolls Out VP's Pot SmokingBy Gayle Fee and Laura Raposa Friday, January 21, 2000Boston Heraldhttp://www.bostonherald.com/Was Al Gore a pothead during his Harvard days? Hard though it may be to believe, a new bio may paint our ever-so-boring vice president as a real stoner! A Web site advocating the legalization of drugs says a new book by Newsweek reporter Bill Turque will explore Gore's marijuana-smoking from his Harvard days until he declared his candidacy for Congress.According to the Web site stopthedrugwar.org, Turque interviewed Gore pal John C. Warnecke, who claimed he and the veep were a couple of regular Cheech & Chongs!``We smoked more than once, more than a few times, we smoked a lot. We smoked in his car, in his house, we smoked in his parents' house, in my house, we smoked on weekends. We smoked a lot,'' Warnecke told The Week Online, the site's news page.However, it is not clear whether that info is also contained in Turque's Gore bio. The book, which will be published by Boston-based Houghton-Mifflin, is due March 23, which - lucky for Gore - comes AFTER the big ``Super Tuesday'' primaries!The vice president admitted 'way back in 1988 that he and his wife, Tipper, smoked marijuana in their misspent youth but never said he was a regular user. Well, perhaps he was just Dazed & Confused!Copyright by the Boston Herald and Herald Interactive Advertising Systems, Inc. 
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