Former Congressman Tom Tancredo: I Won’t Smoke Dope After All

To be “blunt” about it, family comes first for Tom Tancredo: The former GOP congressman is backing out of his promise to smoke weed because of pressure from his family.

Tancredo made a bet with comedian and filmmaker Adam Hartle that if Amendment 64 passed in Colorado and marijuana became legal in the state, he would publicly smoke one joint with Hartle.

Tancredo, who doesn’t do drugs, nonetheless supported the recreational marijuana legalization initiative on the basis of personal freedom and smaller government, but he incorrectly surmised that it would fail to get a majority vote in November.

Tancredo explained to ABC News why he couldn’t live up to the bet:

“My wife is absolutely — she’s pissed. Oh man, she is not happy …

“My conservative friends just believe what I’m doing is encouraging people to smoke it. I don’t think people should. That decision is up to an individual. An adult, in this society, is not something the government should have any control over.”

The ex-lawmaker also asserted that his grandchildren were upset with the whole idea of grandpa toking up. According to Twitchy, Tancredo expressed these sentiments in an email:

“I am especially concerned that the publicity may cause my grandkids to have to justify my actions to their peers and afraid that no matter how many times I say I am NOT condoning the use of marijuana, that that message will not get through. My grandchildren are extremely precious to me and I would never want to do anything that puts them in a difficult situation.”

ABC News cites another Tancredo email in which he states: “Will have to welch. Political heat is one thing. Am use to that. Heat from my family is quite another.”

Are you disappointed that Tom Tancredo, who represented Colorado’s sixth Congressional district from 1999 to 2009, won’t be smoking dope?