Democrat Buttigieg used marijuana ‘a handful of times’

Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg said Wednesday that he’s used marijuana “a handful of times a long time ago,” and that it’s time for the U.S. to legalize marijuana.

Buttigieg, speaking to reporters after touring a legal pot dispensary in suburban Las Vegas, was asked about whether he’d ever used marijuana.

“I have. A handful of times a long time ago,” he said. He added that he knows people whose lives have been “shaken” by its criminalization and the so-called “war on drugs.”

Buttigieg said people still have an image of the marijuana industry and dispensaries that’s based on outdated stereotypes.

“When you go into a place like this, it almost reminds you of an Apple store how tidy and carefully it’s laid out, knowledgeable employees and a legitimate business that still struggles because federal policy hasn’t caught up,” he said.

The mayor of South Bend, Indiana walked through the dispensary with the shop’s owners and shook the hands of several employees.

As a pungent, herbal scent hung in the air and three workers nearby bundled and labeled pairs of joints, Buttigieg asked about the testing of products and difficulty of banking. [Read more at AP News]