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U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer Fields Questions From Stoners On Reddit: "Are You Blazing It Today?"

Congressman, "Where is the best, legal place to enjoy trees in Portland?"

Earl Blumenauer (WW staff)

By Corey Pein

In honor of 4/20, U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) submitted to an "ask me anything" session with Reddit users on the "trees" forum, which describes itself as the "go-to subreddit for anything and everything marijuana."

There isn't much news value in the transcript, but there are a few laughs. The questions are as incisive as you might expect from the Reddit crowd:

"Are you blazing it today?"

"Where is the best, legal place to enjoy trees in Portland?"

And, "I would really like to run for public office as of right now I am 28 and a senior in high school, what can I do to start?"

Sadly, Blumenauer deigned not to respond to any of those probing queries. But he did reply to "DetectiveSnowglobe," who asked "Hey hey hey, should I smoke weed every day?"

"The beauty of our movement is individual choice, as long as you're 21 or older," Blumenauer replied.

U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) proving to Reddit users that it’s really him at the keyboard on April 20, 2017. (Blumenauer)

Asked if he'd "rather fight 1 horse-sized duck or 100 duck-sized horses?" Blumenauer responded, "As an Oregonian, I would never root against Ducks."

The latter question came from "proud Portland[er]" and cannabis industry employee, "z3phyr13," who also asked "how do you plan to 'go to bat' for Oregon should [U.S. Attorney General] Jeff Sessions try to intervene in Oregon's recreational marijuana industry?" The co-founder of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus was ready for that one:

An earnestly affecting exchange took place with "stonedhillbilly," who wrote of losing a child in a car crash caused by a distracted driver.

Blumenauer's response:

Of course, someone asked the longtime Oregon Congressman if he smoked weed. "No," he replied, adding that even if he did, "I don't think it matters to my constituents."

Update 7:09 pm: The Oregonian, which is majority-owned by the same company that owns Reddit, reports that Blumenauer's interlocutors included Snoop Lion, who asked what "celebs [can] do to use their voice to support legalization?"

"Snoop," Blumenauer replied, "you have already done more than you know for this effort."