A Brief History of Drugs at the White House
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The discovery of cocaine at the White House on Sunday has stirred the imagination of the media and some Republicans — including Donald Trump, who wasted no time in suggesting that either Joe or Hunter Biden were the clandestine owners. While there is of course no evidence that the 80-year-old president and his son were responsible for the tiny bag found in a high-traffic area where guests touring the White House are asked to leave their belongings, rumors of illicit drug use have peppered the White House’s history.
From rumors of Willie Nelson lighting up on the roof to Jimmy Carter scolding staff after a reported “occasional” use of cocaine, here is a brief and unverified history of supposed drug use at the iconic presidential residence.
Willie Nelson Says He Smoked a Joint on the Roof
When asked on CNN if it was true that he rolled a joint on the White House roof under Carter’s tenure, Willie Nelson clarified and said, “I rolled it before I got up there.” The host followed up by asking if he was afraid of getting caught, to which the country icon replied, “I should have been.”
After a 1978 report that there was “high incidence” of marijuana use among White House employees and “occasional” use of cocaine, Carter issued a chastising memorandum to 351 staff members. The former president warned that workers who disagreed with the drug laws could “seek employment elsewhere.”
“I expect every member of the White House staff to obey the law,” Carter wrote. “Whether you agree with the law or whether or not others obey the law is totally irrelevant.”
Whether or not that sentiment applied to rooftop trips is debatable.
Erkan Mustafa Claims He Got High During ‘Just Say No’ Campaign
British actor Erkan Mustafa allegedly claimed he smoked in the White House before a 1986 meeting with former First Lady Nancy Reagan during her “Just Say No” anti-drugs campaign. “When I met Nancy, I was out of it,” he said. However, he has since denied the rumors, saying he other Grange Hill cast members made up the story after being questioned about the incident. “I came up with a story that bit me on the arse. Looking back, you live and learn,” he told The Guardian in 2016.
John F. Kennedy and Dr. Feelgood
Rumors have long swirled about a doctor named “Dr. Feelgood,” real name Max Jacobson, who prescribed amphetamines for both John F. Kennedy and former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. In a New York magazine feature on the the 50th anniversary of JFK’s death, Dr. Jacobson had reportedly administered “amphetamines and a slurry of other goodies” to JFK, who took “a crazy-quilt array of drugs” to address several ailments largely unknown to the public at the time.
“Gate logs show Jacobson visited the White House more than 30 times in 1961 and 1962,” the magazine stated, “to see both the president and the first lady.”
There are also the decades-old tabloid rumors that the former president and Mary Pinchot Meyer, an American painter and ex-wife of a CIA official Cord Meyer, smoked pot with in the White House bedroom. But we’ll leave that up to the public to reckon with.
Snoop Dogg Lights Up in White House Bathroom
During a 2014 episode of Snoop Dogg’s show GGN: The Double G News Network, the rapper and entrepreneur told guest Jimmy Kimmel that he toked up in a bathroom at the White House, although he did not specify when.
“I said, ‘Look, when I do No. 2, I usually, you know, have a cigarette or I light something to get the aroma right,” said the rapper when describing an exchange with security officials. “They said, ‘You know what? You can light a piece of napkin.’ I said, ‘I’ll do that.'”
Pointing to a blunt, he added, “And the napkin was this.”
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