Outgoing Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told the story of when she first smoked marijuana and thought it was “neither here nor there.”
President Joe Biden nominated Yellen, 78, as the first female head of the Treasury Department. Pending confirmation, she will be succeeded by hedge fund manager Scott Besent.
Late-night talk show host Stephen Colbert pointed out news coverage of Yellen’s trip to China, where the secretary said she ate at a Yunnanese restaurant per the recommendation of her attache there. The chef served mushrooms that could be hallucinogenic if not prepared properly, and Yellen assured that when she ate them, they were cooked well.
“Just while I’ve got you, you ever partake for real? I mean, have you ever? You’re leaving office. You’re not running for anything. Have you ever inhaled, is what I’m asking?” Colbert asked.
“Well, I think the answer is yes,” Yellen said on the CBS show to applause. “I mean, it’s been a long time. I did have an opportunity to smoke pot when I was in college.”
Yellen explained that she never smoked as much as a cigarette prior to smoking marijuana. So, ahead of the event, she bought cigarettes to practice inhaling the smoke.
“I bought a lot of cigarettes. I smoked them. I learned to inhale. Well, so we smoked pot. It was okay, you know, neither here nor there. You know, I didn’t really do it again for the rest of my life,” Yellen said. “But within six months, I was smoking three packs a day.”
“Oh, wow. How long did that go on?” Colbert followed up.
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“For a decade,” Yellen said to near silence from the audience outside of one sympathetic coo. “And then I quit cold Turkey.”
The audience burst into applause.
In 2023, Yellen followed up with a request from Congress to craft a national strategy for financial inclusion per the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act. Her plan involved banks and employers cooperating to encourage Americans to open bank accounts when they get a new job, tax refund, or a government payment. American voters ranked the economy as one of their top three concerns at the time.