editorial comment paraphernalia is impressed. As per the gateway theory, this guy should have OD'ed on Heroin by now....

by Matthew Tully

What started as four Democrats holding a news conference to raise questions about Mitch Daniels' 1970 marijuana arrest ended today with two of the Democrats and Gov. Joe Kernan acknowledging they also used the drug years ago.

The Democrats -- two each from the General Assembly and the Indianapolis City-County Council -- called reporters to the Statehouse steps and demanded Daniels, the Republican gubernatorial candidate, release information about his drug arrest 34 years ago in New Jersey.

During the news conference, the Democrats were asked by reporters whether they had ever used marijuana. Two acknowledged they had.

The attention then turned to Kernan, whose campaign acknowledged several hours later after reporters' questions that he, too, had smoked marijuana. "He did use marijuana a few times in his younger years, in his twenties," Kernan campaign manager Bernie Toon said.

Toon said Kernan, who was not at the Democrats' news conference, never used other illegal drugs.

The day's events unfolded after recent newspaper and television stories examined Daniels' drug arrest and conviction while a student at Princeton University.

Led by state Rep. Ed Mahern of Indianapolis, the four Democrats questioned whether Daniels has been up-front about the conviction. Mahern said 1970 news reports of the arrest do not "match up with what we hear."

Those reports note a grand jury initially indicted Daniels, then 21, on charges including possession and maintaining a nuisance -- allowing the use or sale of drugs. Daniels spent two nights in jail after the arrest and eventually pleaded guilty to a lesser disorderly persons charge of using marijuana.

He paid a $350 fine.

Daniels says he was a minor user of marijuana and did not take part in selling drugs. Former roommates and acquaintances interviewed in recent weeks support his claim.

But Mahern said, "We need more information about what his involvement was." He pointed to the thousands of Indiana residents in prison for dealing and possessing drugs.

Under questioning from reporters a few minutes later, Mahern admitted he smoked marijuana "on three occasions after college." Indianapolis City-County Council Vice President Joanne Sanders then said, "I did, in college, smoke marijuana."

The two other Democrats at the news conference -- Council President Rozelle Boyd and state Rep. Bill Crawford of Indianapolis -- said they have never used illegal drugs.

Daniels' deputy campaign manager Ellen Whitt called the Democratic effort a "pathetic" personal attack and pointed out Daniels has frequently disclosed his arrest and college marijuana use.

Whitt said Daniels went through FBI background checks before taking top-level posts in the Reagan and George W. Bush White Houses. He has talked to many reporters and employers about his conviction, and wrote about it in a 1989 newspaper essay.

In an interview last week, Daniels said he has volunteered information about the arrest to employers and others for more than three decades. He called the need to deal with the issue proof that, "we live with the consequences of our actions."

The four Democrats insisted they were acting on their own in calling the news conference and not at the direction of the governor.

But Toon, Kernan's campaign manager, said Hoosiers still don't know the full details of those actions. He called on Daniels to release all documents he has related to the arrest.

Daniels campaign manager Bill Oesterle said he has shown documents to various news outlets, including The Indianapolis Star. He accused Democrats of trying to get their hands on information for future television ads.

"If the governor wants to give detailed names and dates of his marijuana use, then we'll consider it," Oesterle said. "They need to stop the silliness."

So how much impact will this have on the election Nov. 2?

Margaret Ferguson, a political scientist at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, said it's probably not going to be a top-tier issue, but for some voters Daniels' experience could be considered more serious by voters because he was arrested.

"If we were talking about the rest of the county I would say (the issue) is in the past," she said. "But Indiana is a conservative state."

back | to top | full article >>