CANDIDATES UNABASHED BY PAST POT USE

Presidential Watch

(AP) - The question during the debate, held in front of an audience of
twenty-somethings in Boston, was inevitable. The answers showed how much
the times have changed.

"Which of you are ready to admit to having used marijuana in the past?"
Anderson Cooper, the moderator of Tuesday's "Rock the Vote" debate on CNN,
asked eight of the nine Democratic presidential candidates. (Rep. Dick
Gephardt was not there.)

"Yes," said Sen. John Kerry, leading off.

"Yes," said Sen. John Edwards.

"Yes," said former Gov. Howard Dean.

None of these three baby boomer candidates said anything beyond their
short, declarative affirmations. The implication of their answers seemed to
be, "Yeah, so what?"

In fact, the defensive answers tended to come from those replying in the
negative.

"No," said Rep. Dennis Kucinich. "But I think it ought to be decriminalized."

"I grew up in the church," said the Rev. Al Sharpton. "We didn't believe in
that."

"Well, you know, I have a reputation for giving unpopular answers at
Democratic debates," said Sen. Joe Lieberman. "I never used marijuana. Sorry!"

The next day's news coverage of the debate focused on the attacks on Dean
for his references to appealing to people who fly the Confederate flag. The
admissions of marijuana smoking by three of the Democratic candidates for
president were largely ignored. -- NEW YORK TIMES

Gephardt asks staff to take a pay cut

Democratic presidential hopeful Dick Gephardt, facing a huge cash
disadvantage against Howard Dean, has asked his senior staff to take a pay
cut."We want to make sure we spend the bulk of our resources in the early
states on the ground and on the air," said campaign manager Steve Murphy.
- -- ASSOCIATED PRESS

Kerry backs UMass effort to grow pot

Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry supports the University of
Massachusetts' effort to grow marijuana for medical research. The
University of Mississippi is the only legal grower of marijuana for
research. Kerry and fellow Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy say that amounts
to an "unjustifiable monopoly."

"The current lack of such competition may well result in the production of
lower-quality research-grade marijuana, which in turn jeopardizes important
research into the therapeutic effects of marijuana for patients undergoing
chemotherapy or suffering from AIDS, glaucoma or other diseases," Kerry and
Kennedy wrote in a letter to the head of the Drug Enforcement
Administration dated Oct. 20. . -- ASSOCIATED PRESS