As he ramps up a possible bid for the Republican presidential nomination, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) has revealed through a spokesperson that he "foolishly experimented with marijuana" once as a teenager, but feels it was a mistake and has never tried it since.
An unnamed Cruz spokesperson made the revelation to the UK paper . The Cruz campaign confirmed to KUT News that the report is accurate.
The revelation comes just two days after that former Florida governor Jeb Bush, also considering a White House run, smoked pot in college. That prompted a jab from Republican rival Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentuky), who labeled Bush a hypocrite.
鈥淭his is a guy who now admits he smoked marijuana but he wants to put people in jail who do," Paul . As for Paul, he has not admitted smoking marijuana but , 鈥淟et鈥檚 just say I wasn鈥檛 a choir boy when I was in college."
When former Governor Rick Perry was last year if he ever smoked marijuana, Perry responded, "No, thank God!" but added, "You don't want to ruin a kid's life for having a joint."
Perry has said he favors policies that "" such as forcing low-level offenders instead of prisons. He also signed that gave local governments the option to "cite and release" people for marijuana possession.
Marijuana could become a more prominent issue in 2016 than in previous presidential election cycles. have already voted to legalize recreational use of marijuana. Pro-marijuana activists are hoping to get initiatives on the ballot in in 2016, and Rand Paul could continue to push the issue during the Republican primary process.
