RICHMOND -- Public school systems in Virginia should seriously consider adopting policies enabling them to test students for drug use, Attorney General Jerry W. Kilgore said Monday after meeting with the nation's drug czar. "We're not forcing it upon anyone, but we're certainly encouraging school districts to look at it, work with us and recognize the problems and the need to intervene in the lives of children," Kilgore said in a press conference, where he was joined by John P. Walters, the director of national drug control policy. [continues 429 words]
As well-meaning as he is, Attorney General Jerry Kilgore ["Drug laws send message to youngsters," Feb. 9] got a lot wrong in his column opposing the reform of marijuana laws. First, nobody in the state of Virginia is advocating legalization for underage consumers. The whole point of Mr. Kilgore's column is that we have to protect children, but it is this policy of total prohibition that puts our kids in harm's way! By not having something like an Alcoholic Beverage Control Board store for the herb, we put it on the street where kids are exposed. Everyone who wants to keep kids away from illegal drugs needs to consider this fact very carefully. [continues 329 words]
In response to the recent op-ed by Attorney General Jerry Kilgore, I found myself asking a few questions, such as what are the "gravely detrimental ways" in which marijuana affects the human brain, and which "science tells us" this? Kilgore failed to mention that various studies have demonstrated that THC sends certain types of cancers into remission, such as a study in 1974 by the Medical College of Virginia, which showed that certain types of breast and lung cancer were slowed by the drug. [continues 104 words]
FLORENCE - A jury on Wednesday found former Atlantic Beach Town Council member Vander More Gore guilty of conspiracy to distribute cocaine and marijuana. His co-defendants in U.S. District Court, nephew Johnny Lee Gore, 46, of New Jersey and Anthony Pridgen, 27, of Atlantic Beach also were found guilty of conspiracy to distribute drugs. The jury deliberated about seven hours after a five-day trial. All three defendants face prison time of 10 years to life. A sentencing hearing will be at a later date. [continues 500 words]
FLORENCE - About 30 people were selling drugs regularly during the mid-1990s in Atlantic Beach, according to testimony Tuesday in the trial of a former Town Council member. Four witnesses testified in U.S. District Court during the first day of trial in a drug trafficking case involving former Councilman Vander More Gore, his nephew Johnny Lee Gore and Anthony Pridgen. The men are charged with conspiracy to distribute more than 50 grams of crack cocaine, more than 5 kilograms of powder cocaine, 50 kilograms of marijuana and less than 100 grams of heroin. [continues 411 words]
It's interesting how people will often abandon an apparently strongly held philosophical position when it collides with a real-world issue they care deeply about. Over here, we have the left, passionately committed to the federal government's wisdom and largesse, especially when it comes to support of "the arts." But then comes Congress, saying libraries and schools that won't put approved Internet "filters" on their computers won't qualify for federal help in getting connected to the Internet. Outrageous! howls the left. This is an issue on which local people have the "expertise" to know how best to control what children have access to -- there is no federal "role." [continues 272 words]
For the past month the Congressional Black Caucus, the NAACP, and nearly every civil-rights group have loudly protested that thousands of blacks were "Jim Crow-ed" - turned away for various technical reasons - at the polls in Florida. They charge that if their ballots had been counted, Al Gore would have sailed to victory in Florida - and into the White House. But even without those rejected black ballots, Mr. Gore still could have bagged thousands of black votes and taken the state, avoiding the nasty legal war with George W. Bush. [continues 713 words]
To the editor: In her November 22 letter to the editor, Janelle Clemens disputes the facts stated in my recent letter about Vice President Al Gore's electoral stumble in Florida. The facts, however, are clear. According to Human Rights Watch and The Sentencing Project, 31 percent of African-American men are permanently barred from voting in Florida. That's more than 200,000 potential African-American votes, only a fraction of which Gore would have needed to win the state decisively. Florida is one of only thirteen states that deny the vote to ex-offenders who have served their sentences. [continues 145 words]
To the editor: I fail to understand how voting for a candidate who supports the death penalty, the war on drugs and corporate globalization could ever further the cause of progressivism. Al Gore and the rest of the Democratic Leadership Council have made their careers proving they don't want or need the progressive vote. If the Democrats suddenly find that they can't win without the progressive vote, they're simply going to have to try to find a way to earn it. [continues 68 words]
Drugs Policy Denied Vote To 2m Blacks Al Gore may have lost America's presidential election not because of a badly designed ballot, dubious counting practices in Florida or the defection of independents to Ralph Nader, but because of the criminal justice policy he and Bill Clinton have pursued for the past eight years. That policy appears to have robbed the Democrats of victory by disenfranchising nearly one in three black men in Florida, most of whose votes he would have received. [continues 664 words]
Regarding your October 12, 2000 editorial, ``The `Gore's a liar' lie'', in which you dismissed Gore's reputation for fabrications and embellishments as a political tactic by the Bush campaign. That may be mostly true, but no one can deny that Gore was lying when, in an MTV appearance a few weeks back, he stated his opposition to the medicinal use of marijuana to a woman who told him a member of her family was in jail for giving the drug to a cancer patient. Gore said, ``I don't agree that it's medically effective. Doctors have studied this question pretty extensively, and so far there is absolutely no evidence that it has the effect that some people say.'' [continues 181 words]
After reading "Shrub,'' the delicious dissection of George W. Bush's short political journey penned by Molly Ivins and Lou Dubose, I was left with just one question: Would there be an equally scathing critique of the longer but not particularly more meritorious career of Al Gore? The answer is yes, and the book is "Al Gore: A User's Manual'' (Verso). Authored by Alexander Cockburn, the veteran left-wing columnist and commentator whose ability to filet the deserving is unrivaled, and Jeffrey St. Clair, one of the nation's ablest and most aggressive environmental journalists, the "User's Manual'' offers a deconstruction of Gore that is every bit as chilling as the job done on Bush by Ivins and Dubose. [continues 448 words]
Until now, I have admired Al Gore's candor on the marijuana question. After all, he is the first presidential candidate to admit not only that he smoked marijuana but also that he inhaled it. His boss, President Clinton, confessed during his 1992 campaign to smoking the wicked weed in his youth, but insisted that he "didn't inhale." That's like saying you subscribe to Playboy for the articles. Maybe he enjoyed that distinctive marijuana smell, which is sort of like burning socks. [continues 655 words]
Even in the context of the never-ending tug of war over gun control, the past four years have seemed particularly tumultuous. Children died at Columbine High in Colorado and in other school shootings. Cities including Oakland, Berkeley, East Palo Alto and San Francisco, as well as Alameda and San Mateo counties, sued gun makers for their products' misuse. NRA president Charlton Heston made his impassioned vow never to relinquish his firearms. In California, city and state lawmakers passed new laws to create some of the nation's tightest restrictions on gun ownership. [continues 1917 words]
We'd Like To See These Issues Discussed At Tuesday Night's Debates, But We Don't Think We Will. Oct. 03, 2000 | Tuesday night's face-off between Gov. George W. Bush and Vice President Al Gore may well decide the outcome of the presidential election. The race is the closest such contest in 20 years, and each candidate is banking on his performance before moderator Jim Lehrer to help pull away from his opponent. But there are a handful of questions that probably won't make the cut during Tuesday's 90-minute showdown. Below are some of the questions we would like to see Bush and Gore answer before the American people. [continues 625 words]
Until now, I have admired Al Gore's candor on the marijuana question. After all, he is the first presidential candidate to admit not only that he smoked marijuana but also that he inhaled it. His boss, President Clinton, confessed during his 1992 campaign to smoking the wicked weed in his youth, but insisted that he "didn't inhale." That's like saying you subscribe to Playboy for the articles. Maybe he enjoyed that distinctive marijuana smell, which is sort of like burning socks. [continues 656 words]
One need only look at the current administration in Washington to see how morality has declined in recent years. We've seen how cheating on one's spouse, with subsequent lies and coverups, is accepted by our culture. Now, even illicit drug use is evidently something to be proud of as the democratic candidate boasts that he even "smoked the herb" ("Gore speaks to young voters at MTV forum," Sept. 27). Ironically, the music industry is the very group that Tipper Gore took on in her much-publicized '80s crusade against rock music's negative effect on young people. How times have changed. As they pander to Generation X, they must think their fellow baby boomers are already in the throes of dementia. Mary Mehring, Brookfield [end]
ANN ARBOR, Mich., Sept. 26 - He did not have to choose between boxers or briefs. But in a lengthy MTV forum today, broadcast tonight, Vice President Al Gore did reveal that he had a compact disc by the alternative rock band Sister Hazel in his CD player right then, that he would probably write for a living if he were not otherwise employed next year, and that he coveted Air Force One more than any other White House perquisite. Between hip cultural references about Napster and the World Wrestling Federation ("Smackdown!" Mr. Gore exclaimed when the topic was raised), the vice president explained his support for civil unions between homosexuals, his opposition to the legalization of medical marijuana and his distaste for misogynistic music. He was not asked about his underwear preference, as President Clinton was in a now infamous 1994 MTV forum ("Usually briefs," he responded). [continues 647 words]
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - MTV introduced Vice President Al Gore yesterday as a man who once listened to rock 'n' roll, rode a motorcycle and "even smoked the herb." Although he did not distance himself from the introduction's reference to his admitted past use of marijuana, he reiterated his opposition to its medicinal use to a woman who told him a member of her family was in jail for giving the drug to a cancer patient. "Thus far, there is absolutely no evidence" it is medically effective, he said. [continues 1062 words]
Kudos to Green Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader for having the good sense to advocate marijuana legalization ["Nader slams war on drugs; calls for legalization of pot," news story, Sept. 9]. The hypocrisy of the mainstream candidates is glaring. Vice President Al Gore is an acknowledged former pot smoker. George W. Bush's waffling all but confirms a history of illegal drug use. Yet both mainstream candidates implicitly support the incarceration of Americans who engage in the same youthful indiscretions they once did. [continues 151 words]
Al Gore On Drugs (MoJo Wire, Aug. 15, 2000) Several readers brought to our attention a discrepancy in the numbers relating to illicit drug use. The article originally read: "Alcohol is a factor in 100,000 American deaths each year, compared to 52,000 for all illicit drugs combined. Marijuana causes a tiny fraction of those deaths." Some clarifications are in order. a.. In fact, alcohol is a factor in at least 100,000 American deaths per year. b.. Illicit and illegal drugs, however, directly and indirectly cause between 10,000 and 16,000 deaths per year, according to figures from the Drug Abuse Warning Network and the Lindesmith Center. [continues 186 words]
To the editor: In the interest of increasing public knowledge, I submit the following observations. Waging "war" consistently fails to stop drug use, and in the guise of the War on Some Drugs, our government serves corporate interests. Al Gore has close ties to Democrat donor Occidental Petroleum (Oxy), which seeks to drill for oil on land traditionally cared for by indigenous Colombians. Oxy did not consult them, and they oppose the drilling, as it threatens their land, livelihood and lives. [continues 143 words]
There is something unsettling about the press coverage of the presidential race. Last week, President Clinton signed a waiver of the human-rights provisions imposed by Congress on the $1.3 billion drug-war package to Colombia, and not a single reporter bothered to ask the candidates -- one of whom, after all, will have to deal with the consequences -- what they thought of it. Do George W. Bush and Al Gore support our becoming embroiled in a three-way civil war? We know where they stand on "family" (they’re for it), but not whether they are in favor of more than $1 billion being spent to fight the drug war abroad while 3.5 million addicts at home can't get the treatment they need. Or whether they endorse the cavalier abandonment of the congressionally mandated human-rights benchmarks. [continues 647 words]
There is something unsettling about the press coverage of the presidential race. Last week, President Clinton signed a waiver of the human rights provisions imposed by Congress on the $1.3 billion drug war package to Colombia, and not a single reporter bothered to ask the candidates -- one of whom, after all, will have to deal with the consequences -- what they thought of it. Do George W. Bush and Al Gore support our becoming embroiled in a three- way civil war? We know their stand on family (they're for it), but not whether they are in favor of more than $1 billion being spent to fight the drug war abroad while 3.5 million addicts at home can't get the treatment they need. Or whether they endorse the cavalier abandonment of congressionally mandated human rights benchmarks. [continues 378 words]
There is something unsettling about the press coverage of the presidential race. Last week, President Bill Clinton signed a waiver of the human-rights provisions imposed by Congress on the $1.3 billion drug-war package to Colombia, and not a single reporter bothered to ask the candidates -- one of whom, after all, will have to deal with the consequences -- what they thought of it. Do George W. Bush and Al Gore support our becoming embroiled in a three-way civil war? We know where they stand on "family" (they're for it), but not whether they are in favor of more than a billion dollars being spent to fight the drug war abroad while 3.5 million addicts at home can't get the treatment they need. Or whether they endorse the cavalier abandonment of the congressionally mandated human-rights benchmarks. [continues 726 words]
In speeches at the Democratic Convention and again in La Crosse, Al Gore said, "It's just wrong to have life-and-death medical decisions made by bean-counters at HMOs, who don't have a license to practice medicine, and don't have a right to play God. It's time to take the medical decisions away from the HMOs and insurance companies and give them back to the doctors and the nurses and the health care professionals." Nice words, but coming from the #2 man in the Clinton Administration, which has been waging a brutal war on medicinal marijuana users for the last eight years, one can only wonder what gives the federal government the right to play God and make life and death decisions for patients who could find relief through medical marijuana. [continues 64 words]
Editors: Many citizens see little difference between Democrats and Republicans. That is why voter turnout is low. The Democrats want to force you to put 15 percent of your income into a bankrupt Social Security system. George W. Bush wants to cut that to 13 percent. Federal, state, and local taxes take 47 percent of the national income. The Democrat and Republican candidates are deciding whether that figure should be raised to 48 percent or lowered to 46 percent. There is a viable third party alternative - the Libertarian party. Harry Browne is running for president because he wants you to be free to control your money, retirement and personal life. Browne calls for an end to the income tax, Social Security tax, drug war and censorship. I urge those who support individual liberty, limited government and personal responsibility to join me in support of Harry Browne. David Lawrence Macon [end]
Gore won a standing ovation as the Democratic convention kicked off by telling a delighted audience that the US had become "the greatest terrorist ... and the largest rogue state" in the world. He was also applauded loudly after announcing that today "only corporate America enjoys representation". This was Gore Vidal, it should be said, the former Democratic politician, novelist, playwright, historian, mischief-maker and cousin of young Al Gore. He was addressing a full house as the delegates assembled for the first day of the convention. [continues 296 words]
The Clinton-Gore administration spends millions to fight illegal drugs, but does nothing about one of the most damaging substances in American society: alcohol. Perhaps the fact that Big Booze is generous at campaign time explains the contradiction. Drugs are bad, except the ones that finance campaigns. "If young people have emptiness in their lives, if they have a lack of respect for the larger community of which they're a part, if they don't find ways to feel connected to the adults who are in the community, if they feel there's phoniness and hypocrisy and corruption and immorality, then they are much more vulnerable to the drug dealers, to the peers who tempt them with messages that are part of a larger entity of evil." So spoke Al Gore in February 1999, denouncing illegal drug use by young people. [continues 689 words]
Campaign: He Accuses Bush Of Favoring Tax Cuts. The Democrat Plans A Texas Visit To Focus On State Fiscal Woes. RAYTOWN, Mo.--Vice President Al Gore said Wednesday that he will increase federal funding for crime-fighting programs if he becomes president and accused Republican rival George W. Bush of choosing to spend money on tax cuts over the needs of law enforcement. Gore said he wants to add to President Clinton's program of funding 100,000 more police officers--a target that has not been met--with an additional 50,000 officers and 10,000 new prosecutors nationwide. [continues 700 words]
In the Tribune (June 2) Al Gore said that if elected president he will declare a "war on cancer." I wonder if this war will be as successful as the war on drugs that he is currently involved with. Richard Reed, Atascadero [end]
The get-tough drug policies of Texas Gov. George W. Bush and Vice President Al Gore are hypocritical and further alienate estranged voters, the Libertarian Party's leading presidential candidate said Friday. "There probably is no issue today on which there is greater divide between the politicians and the people," said presidential hopeful Harry Browne, 66, whose name appeared on the 1996 ballot alongside Bill Clinton, Bob Dole and Ross Perot. Browne's solution: "Get rid of all the drug laws." [continues 276 words]
When future historians chart the downward course of Vice President Gore's presidential campaign, they will probably start with Elian Gonzalez. Gore's collapse in the face of Miami's professional anti-Castro claque captured everything that is wrong with the campaign and everything that is wrong with the candidate. While the Clinton administration took the sensible position that the child should be reunited with his father and returned to Cuba, Gore took the position that Elian's fate should be resolved in family court, probably the most no-win idea advanced in the whole controversy. To suggest that the dispute between Elian's father and his Miami relatives should be treated as a custody dispute flies in the face of the law and everything we know about child welfare. [continues 803 words]
Al Gore said Thursday that there are better alternatives to the medical use of marijuana because "the science does not show ... that it is the proper medication for pain." The Democratic candidate, on a visit to a Cudahy high school, was asked by a student for his position on whether doctors should be allowed to prescribe marijuana to treat pain. Gore said that should be decided "strictly on the science." "Right now, the science does not show me or the experts whose judgment I trust that it is the proper medication for pain and that there are not better alternatives available in every situation," he responded. [end]
Center Went From 50% Dropouts To College Goals CUDAHY -- Vice President Al Gore sat cross-legged on a schoolroom floor yesterday morning getting clobbered. As he does almost once a week as the unofficial Democratic presidential nominee, Gore spent a full day at a school -- in this case the Elizabeth Learning Center, which has transformed itself into an oasis of educational excellence amid the crime and poverty of this section of southeast Los Angeles County. In Linda Stewart's first-grade class, Gore joined youngsters who were playing a card game on the floor designed to teach them the proper use of contractions. [continues 614 words]
CUDAHY, Calif. May 11 - Vice President Gore today backed away from his earlier support of medical marijuana, saying he sees "no reliable evidence" that it is an effective pain reliever. During a candidate forum in New Hampshire last December, Gore said that "where you have sufficient controls, I think that doctors ought to have that option." In that session, Gore said he opposed legalized marijuana, but he also bemoaned the lack of flexibility given doctors to treat terminally ill patients. "I think that where the alleviation of pain where medical situations is concerned, we have not given doctors enough flexibility to help patients who are going through acute pain," he said at the time. "Many of us have seen that for ourselves. It's all too easy to come up with this reason or that reason why a doctor can't use what is going be most effective for the alleviation of pain." [continues 408 words]
He And Bush Accuse Each Other Of Cutting Prison Rehab Spending ATLANTA -- Al Gore proposed drug-test requirements for prisoners and parolees yesterday with better drug treatment - but also more jail time - for those who fail. He accused George W. Bush of slashing such programs in Texas and pushing criminals through "the same old revolving door." Aides to the Texas governor responded that the Democratic Clinton-Gore administration has cut rehabilitation programs for federal prisoners. And Texas Department of Criminal Justice figures show that prison substance abuse spending actually increased by 53 percent to $99.9 million under Bush. [continues 514 words]
ATLANTA -- Eager to steal a traditional Republican theme, Democratic presidential contender Al Gore on Tuesday pledged to be the "law enforcement president" by cracking down on drug use in prisons, hiring more police, and giving off-duty officers the right to carry concealed weapons. "I will intensify the battle against crime, drugs and disorder in our communities," Gore said at the Virginia Highlands YWCA. He slammed Republican presidential contender George W. Bush, claiming the Texas governor had slashed drug-rehabilitation funds for Texas prisoners. [continues 526 words]
ATLANTA -- Al Gore proposed drug-test requirements for prisoners and parolees yesterday with better drug treatment -- but also more jail time -- for those who fail. He accused George W. Bush of slashing such programs in Texas and pushing criminals though "the same old revolving door." "We need to get more police, not fewer," the vice president said, portraying himself as the stronger candidate on law enforcement, an area in which polls show him trailing his Republican rival. "We need to get tougher with repeat offenders, not just put them back on the streets." [continues 242 words]
ATLANTA, - In a speech pungent with tough talk about criminals, drug abusers and his Republican rival for president, Vice President Al Gore called today for a broad array of anticrime measures, among them mandatory drug testing of all prisoners and parolees. Choosing a Southern state as the backdrop for one of his most conservative speeches of the presidential campaign, Mr. Gore proposed federal spending of $500 million a year to help states test, treat and counsel prisoners and parolees for drug use. [continues 926 words]
ATLANTA, May 2 - Vice President Gore today proposed a range of crime-fighting initiatives - from mandatory drug testing and treatment for prisoners to expanding the number of new federally funded police officers - and attacked the crime fighting record of his GOP rival, Texas Gov. George W. Bush. In doing so, the vice president sought to bask in the glow of seven straight years of falling crime rates and hold on to an issue that once belonged to Republicans. He also sought to steal a page out of Bush's recent strategy by presenting himself as a politician eager to reach out across party lines to create common-sense policies. [continues 781 words]
*Politics: Vice president will unveil plan to meld law enforcement, drug and gang programs and victims' rights. Program would cost $1.3 billion a year. WASHINGTON--Moving to delineate differences with George W. Bush while setting himself apart from "the old Democratic approach," Al Gore plans to outline an anti-crime program today that melds stepped up law enforcement, drug and gang programs and victims' rights measures. The vice president will propose a federal program that would spend $500 million a year--with the states matching the money--to fight the use of drugs in state and local prisons. [continues 1120 words]
ATLANTA (AP) -- Al Gore proposed a $500 million program today to drug-test prisoners and parolees in an effort to rehabilitate criminals, accusing Republican presidential rival George W. Bush of slashing similar programs as governor of Texas. Outlining a broad anti-crime package, the vice president also proposed using federal money to hire 50,000 new police across the country and said off-duty officers should be allowed to carry concealed weapons. ``I will be a law enforcement president,'' Gore said in a speech at a local YWCA. [continues 517 words]
The drugs issue that seemed to have fizzled out of the US presidential campaign almost before it started returns today with claims in a new biography of Al Gore that the vice-president was an enthusiastic cannabis user in the 1970s. "We'd get stoned and talk about what we would do if we were president," John Warnecke, an old friend of Mr Gore, is quoted as saying in Inventing Al Gore: A Biography. An extract from the book by Bill Turque, Newsweek's Washington correspondent, appears in this week's issue of the magazine. It comes at a time when the vice-president had appeared to be seeing off the challenge of Bill Bradley, the only other candidate for the Democratic Party nomination to run for president. [continues 286 words]
Al Gore was an enthusiastic "recreational" smoker of marijuana in the 1970s, according to three of his friends from that period (Ian Brodie writes). The trio are quoted in an excerpt in Newsweek from a biography of Mr Gore written by Bill Turque, a Washington correspondent for the magazine. They said that Mr Gore, now the Vice-President, sometimes smoked marijuana as often as three or four times a week. "We'd get stoned and talk about what we'd do if we were president," John Warnecke, one of the three, said. [continues 103 words]
Where you stand on Al Gore and pot definitely depends on where you sit: upright in a hard metal chair, railing against the triumph of baby-boomer cultural mores, or relaxing on a couch and toking on a really excellent doobie. Which explains two wildly differing media alerts that were sent out late last week. The first, from the archconservative Media Research Center -- offering "expert documentation of the latest liberal media bias" -- was headlined LITTLE OR NO INTEREST IN GORE AND MARIJUANA. The one-page fax detailed the media's failure to report extensively on allegations that Gore smoked a lot more weed than he's admitted to. [continues 319 words]
A WEEK or so ago the latest chapter in the continuing saga of Al Gore' s flaming youth erupted, as so many such stories do nowadays, from the subterranean depths where book publishing, journalism, and the Internet flow together. A new biography, full of purportedly titillating revelations, is set for publication a few months hence (in this case by Houghton Mifflin); a big magazine (in this case Newsweek, where the book's author, Bill Turque, works) buys the first serial rights; the magazine's editors, worried about the credibility of a source, develop qualms; an Internet reporter (in this case Jake Tapper, of Salon) gets a tip; and the gist makes its way via the tabloids to the mainstream papers (initially as a businesssection "media" story) and the TV political gab shows, where, at this moment, it contentedly bubbles and pops. [continues 1080 words]
DAVENPORT, Iowa--Al Gore denied on Monday that he had smoked marijuana regularly, even daily, with a Tennessee friend as late as 1976 as the man now contends. The question came up when a reporter said to Gore at a diner: "It's been reported that after you came back from Vietnam you were smoking on a daily basis." Gore responded, "No. When I came back from Vietnam, yes, but not to that extent. ... This is something I dealt with a long time ago. It's old news." [continues 66 words]
CAMPAIGN 2000 Editors At The Tennessean Found Themselves In A Ticklish Situation Late last week: what to do about unproven allegations of widespread marijuana use by Vice President Al Gore when he worked at the Nashville newspaper in the early 1970s. Their decision: Talk to everybody they could find who worked at the newspaper with Gore and then write about it. The Tennessean interviewed 36 journalists and then published three stories Tuesday, one of them on Page 1A. The four-day investigation concluded there's no evidence of rampant drug use by Gore. [continues 596 words]
DAVENPORT, Iowa--Vice President Al Gore denied Monday that he had smoked marijuana regularly, even daily, with a Tennessee friend as late as 1976 as the man now contends. The question came up when a reporter said to Gore at a dinner: "It's been reported that after you came back from Vietnam you were smoking on a daily basis." Gore responded, "No. When I came back from Vietnam, yes, but not to that extent....This is something I dealt with a long time ago. It's old news." [continues 228 words]
Gore, Al
