Calif. Dem: Elect Me and I'll Smoke Dope on Capitol Hill

Andy Caffrey often lights up on the campaign trail
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted May 22, 2012 10:37 AM CDT

Andy Caffrey is for the most part a pretty standard-issue progressive, but he's got one campaign promise that makes him stand out: He's vowing to smoke pot on the steps of Capitol Hill if he's elected. Caffrey, 54, is running for Congress in California and happens to have a prescription for medical marijuana for his ADD and PTSD. And he isn't shy about lighting up a joint on the campaign trail, which Politico points out he did twice last week.

"I'm willing to get arrested to fight for our rights," Caffrey tells Politico. "If I have to do it, I'll smoke a joint on the Capitol steps and get arrested to draw national attention to what's going on." Caffrey is for full legalization of marijuana, but he stresses that he's "not a crusader that everyone should get high." He says marijuana helps him focus, and "you can call it sort of an anti-depressant. ... Just don’t say I’m advocating for children to use it." (More Andy Caffrey stories.)

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