HUDAK ADMITS TO SMOKING POT

It's a political rite of passage -- answering the question "did you
inhale?"

Ontario Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak on Thursday admitted
to smoking marijuana, joining a long list of high-profile politicians
quizzed on their reefer habits, including U.S. President Barack Obama
and Premier Dalton McGuinty.

"Yes, I have," Hudak replied Thursday as he reannounced his campaign
promise to have a registry of homes once used as grow-ops or crystal
meth labs to protect buyers.

"I was wondering if this would come up.

"I was a normal kid, I had a normal upbringing, a normal life in
university. I experimented from time to time with marijuana. It's a
long time ago in the past and in the grand scheme of things."

Hudak was obviously prepared for the question, which politicians of
all stripes have chosen to answer differently over the years -- and
which has declined in importance as the pot-smoking baby boom
generation ascended to prominent positions.

Obama had one of the best answers when asked whether he had ever
inhaled.

"Frequently . . . that was the point!" he quipped several years
ago.

The fact Obama answered so casually is a sign pot smoking is no longer
an issue, said Bob Andersen, a professor of sociology and political
science at the University of Toronto.

"It's not going to hurt Hudak," he said of Thursday's admission. "It
might even help. People will see him as a real guy."

In a televised debate years ago, Sen. Joseph Lieberman said he'd never
taken a few tokes.

"I never smoked marijuana. Sorry!" he said, almost
embarrassed.

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath's staff replied to an email asking if she
has smoked pot with a terse "yes," but declined to provide further
details.

McGuinty has previously admitted to smoking pot when he was
younger.

"I was in my late teens, I did it twice," McGuinty told the Star in
1999, when he was leader of the opposition.

Then-premier Mike Harris said no to the dope question.

"I found booze a little more attractive."

Despite his past dalliance with dope, Hudak said he does not support
the decriminalization of small amounts of marijuana.

"I think we still need to set a very clear direction that drug use is
wrong and these criminal activities need to be taken very seriously."

Finance Minister Dwight Duncan, a former energy minister, said it's
odd that Hudak is fighting grow-ops at the same time as he is leading
a crusade against "smart meters" because they help find dope.

"One of the great things about smart meters is they help you shut down
grow-ops ... these things give very precise measurements of how much
power is used," he said.

"I kind of laughed today. Here's a guy out berating smart
meters."

Pot in politicians' past

"When I was in England, I experimented with marijuana a time or two,
and I didn't like it. I didn't inhale and never tried it again."

- -- Bill Clinton during the 1992 U.S. presidential election
campaign

"You bet I did. And I enjoyed it"

- -- Michael Bloomberg, the mayor of New York, when asked in 2001 if he
had ever tried marijuana

"I never exhaled."

- -- Chris Stockwell in 2002, when running for the provincial Tory
leadership

"Like a lot of other people, I've smoked marijuana. It is what goes on
in this country."

- -- New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson in 2001

"I have smoked pot as a young man, yes ... and it's one of the reasons
why I urge young people not to repeat the experience."

- -- Michael Ignatieff, then-federal Liberal leader, in
2011

"As a kid trying to impress a girl and prove that I wasn't a moral
egghead, I had a puff or two of a joint at a party."

- -- Rocco Rossi, then-Toronto mayoral candidate, in 2010

"Yes, of course I tried it before, obviously. My own experience can't
tell you if it's harmful or not."

- -- Martin Cauchon, then-federal justice minister, speaking about
marijuana in 2002

"When I was 14, someone tried to offer me marijuana and I remember
trying to smoke it but I coughed and I got nothing out of it."

- -- Helena Guergis in 2010

Compiled by Rick Sznajder