LIBERTARIAN HOPEFUL USED POT TOO, BUT NEVER INHALED THE BROWNIES

Libertarian gubernatorial candidate Cal Skinner voluntarily walked into the
"Past Marijuana Use Confessional" on Tuesday, but said not only did he not
inhale--he didn't even know he was using pot until it was over.

In one of the most bizarre marijuana revelations yet, the former Republican
state representative admitted to reporters that he unwittingly tried
marijuana about 20 years ago when someone cooked up a batch of pot brownies
for him as a birthday present and didn't tell him about the secret ingredient.

So did he inhale?

"I guess I swallowed," Skinner conceded. "I mean, I like brownies a lot. I
probably ate two or three or four."

Skinner volunteered the information at an unrelated news conference a day
after Democratic rival Rod Blagojevich, 45, admitted to reporters that he
had smoked marijuana twice while in his late teens or early 20s but does
not remember whether he inhaled. A spokesman for GOP nominee Jim Ryan said
the attorney general has never smoked marijuana.

"If you ask me the marijuana question, I can give you the answer," Skinner
said. "I have never smoked marijuana in my life."

Skinner, 60, a conservative from northwest suburban Crystal Lake, then
recounted the tale of the tainted brownies, saying they were baked for him
around 1980 by a free-lance artist who wanted to see whether he would turn
into a party animal.

"She wanted to see what effect it would have on me, and it was real
exciting," Skinner said. "I fell asleep. I told her never to do it again,"
he said.

Skinner told reporters he does not share his new party's position that
marijuana use should be decriminalized. Asked if the brownie prankster
should have been locked up, Skinner hesitated and said, "I don't know how
to answer that question."

Skinner also confessed he was confused by all the discussion on talk radio
Tuesday morning about whether Blagojevich had the "munchies" during his
youthful experimentation with marijuana.

"I just didn't have a clue what they were talking about," Skinner said.

But he got the concept quickly when a reporter explained it was slang for
marijuana users' desire to stuff their faces with food after they get high.

"I have the munchies all the time," Skinner said. "It doesn't have to be
triggered by marijuana."