Laura Bush, Marijuana User and Seller?

That's what I'm hearing in Hardball where Kitty Kelley says Laura not only smoked it (and it sounds like with regularity) but she also sold it to friends.

Now, I'm not going to sound pious about this. I tried pot in college. Hated it (made me depressed rather than spacy happy). Had much more necessary things I needed to spend money on (like the brother I had to raise at the time the "compassionate" Reagan Admin was making it very tough for poor kids to continue college).

It was actually more widely available when I was in high school (late 70s), but I had no problem resisting peer pressure on that issue. I wanted to get out of my current situation and the folks I saw smoking dope in high school just didn't seem particularly motivated. In college, I waited until my senior year when I had enough credits to graduate. See, I had to work a lot harder to get to that diploma, so I didn't want to risk losing it. As it happened, pot proved no risk. After the first time or two, I don't think I was even in a room with the stuff again until my mid-20s. I was fortunate because most of my friends were neither alcohol nor drug users.

Selling it is slightly different. I would not own a liquor store because I would have problems selling ethically to people I knew had a life in chaos because of it. Selling - especially when you're a privileged little priscilla like Laura - is a whole drive across the bridge beyond simple use. But I'd say that pot selling is also a great deal different than selling heroin or cocaine.

And you know what bothers me most about Laura's story, if true? Laura had already run over a schoolmate, killing him or her, while in high school. There has always been rumors that she was drinking when it happened (but variations on this story are fierce). If you have that kind of history, that experience, why would you choose to use a drug? And why the hell would you sell one?

Or, let me put it this way. I'm a real caffeine addict (albeit one who used to be a caffeine and nicotine addict). Cigarettes are in my past to stay. But as much as I love caffeine and feel I can't live without it, were I to have an accident tomorrow where someone was hurt or killed, and I knew that somehow, my coffee use added to that accident, I doubt I'd ever touch another cup of my precious coffee. I certainly would not sell it to friends!