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Gary Johnson, the Republican former governor of New Mexico, was on MSNBC with Cenk Uygur to talk about the need to end marijuana prohibition. He knocked it out of the park:
CENK: Governor, should we legalize it?
JOHNSON: We should legalize marijuana. I think that 90% of the drug problem is prohibition related, not use related. And when I talk about legalizing marijuana, it’s never going to be legal for kids to smoke marijuana, it’s never going to be legal to smoke pot, become impaired and get behind the wheel of a car. I think we should make the same comparisons to alcohol that exist with marijuana, and regarding all the other drugs I would suggest that we adopt harm reduction strategies, which is looking at the issue first as a health issue rather than a criminal justice issue.
>Half of what we spend on law enforcement, the courts and the prisoins is drug related. And what are we getting for all of that? Well, we’re arresting 1.8 million people a year in this country on drug related crime.
CENK: But governor, the issue seems to be that if the Democrats ever proposed this, the Republicans would demagogue it, honestly. Is that false, or is there any way that might change?
JOHNSON: No, that’s not my experience. My experience is this is not a party issue. It’s an issue with everybody who’s in elected office. Everyone who’s in elected office won’t touch this, it’s the Emperor that has no clothes, and nobody wants to touch it. But I think the people are way ahead on this. And of course it’s on the ballot in California to legalize it this fall — control it, regulate it, tax it.
Pew Foundation estimated that the price of marijuana would drop from $380 to $38 an ounce with a 50% tax on that. So I look at this from a cost benefit analysis. What are we spending and what are we getting?
And of course there is the human toll involved in this. The situation with drug abuse is that it’s always made worse because it’s criminal.
CENK: So how do we get the politicians to flip? Because you’re right, the whole country’s getting there…California’s there, many other states are beginning that process, but we can’t just move the politicians. Look prohibition didn’t work for alcohol, and we realized that fairly quickly and we changed that. Now we have this mindset that if we’re going down the wrong path, we have to stay there. How do we change that?
JOHNSON: You know what, I think the issue is at a tipping point. During the last election, Massachusetts voted to decriminalize pot by a vote of 65% to 35%. I’ve smoked marijuana, I’ve drank alcohol in my life. I don’t do either today, but I will tell you from experience that marijuana is safer than alcohol. Citizens of Denver got to vote on decriminalizing marijuana on the basis of marijuana being safer than alcohol. Six hundred thousand Denver citizens agree with me on that one.
So I think that it is at a tipping point. People are ahead of the politicians on this one, and it’s still going to happen. It’s going to happen. I think statistically we’re about two and a half years from 50% of Americans actually understanding this. From my own experience, it’s really thin ice. That with just a little bit of knowledge on this issue, people seem to move on this issue. People seem to be embracing this notion of “gee it’s not working, we really have to do something different.”
CENK: It’s really good to see former politicians getting on board for that, Republicans etc. So thank you for joining us, we really appreciate the conversation.
JOHNSON: Well I’ll just tell you too — in office I espoused this. I looked at it hard in 1999 and really came to this conclusion while in office, trying to implement this change then.
Last week’s surprise statement by former Mexican President Vicente Fox in support of “legalizing production, sales and distribution” of drugs made big headlines around the world.
[]
Fox’s statement, first published Saturday in his blog, went far beyond a 2009 joint declaration by former Presidents Fernando Henrique Cardoso of Brazil, Ernesto Zedillo of Mexico and Cesar Gaviria of Colombia. In that statement, the three former leaders questioned the effectiveness of the U.S. war on drugs and proposed de-criminalizing possession of marijuana for personal use.
[]
In a separate interview, White House drug czar R. Gil Kerlikowske told me that drug legalization is a “non-starter” in the Obama administration.
Kerlikowske disputed the idea that alcohol prohibition drove up crime in the United States in the 1920s, arguing that there were no reliable crime statistics at the time.
After Obama took office, the transition team took three polls on its website about which issues were most important to Obama’s supporters. Marijuana reform won all three. And a recent Colorado poll by AmericaVotes indicates that 45% of Obama 2008 “surge” voters say they are more likely to vote if marijuana legalization is on the ballot.
It’s always mystified me that in the wake of that kind of intense support for legalization from one of his key electoral constituencies, Obama has always been pretty dismissive of the whole issue.
In 2004 Obama supported decriminalization, but in early 2008 “reversed course and declared he does not support eliminating criminal penalties for marijuana possession and use.” In 2009 the Justice Department issued a directive not to “waste resources” by raiding medical marijuana dispensaries and growers that were operating legally, but Obama’s DEA appointee Michele Leonhart has been splitting hairs right and left and finding ways to ignore it.
It’s no mystery, however, that Gary Johnson has an eye on the 2012 presidential election. Conor Friesdorf, subbing for Andrew Sullivan, says Johnson is “a man who deserves to be viable in 2012. And Ron Paul says that if he doesn’t run in 2012, he could see himself supporting Johnson.
Johnson is a strong libertarian who says that “we should not be in either Iraq or Afghanistan.” He supports abortion rights, gay marriage and would have vetoed Arizona’s SB 1070.
| The Colbert Report | Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
| Gary Johnson | ||||
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Johnson has been touring the country, appearing on shows like the Colbert Report speaking in favor of legalization. And unless I miss my guess, courting one of Obama’s key constituencies: young voters.
34 Comments
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jimminy crickets, Ms Hamsher, what’s not to like ?
look at him, he’s the perfect spokesman – looks just like all those guys who will be voting in Cali in November – so much for the trusty stoner slams. bet the independents will love him.
off to do some googling. would love to hear from bgrothus and other land of enchantment firedogs on this
If Republicans are smart they’ll nominate this guy for 2012… but they’re not. Hope he runs anyway as he is a great spokesman for this issue.
Johnson is a very nice get. Adamant and no equivocation.
Thank you, Jane.
I’ve been a fan of Johnson for about 10 years. He came on Bill Maher’s show back on ABC and came out for legalization of marijuana while he was still a sitting governor in his final year of office. That took balls, and you’re right, what’s not to like? He’s a pure libertarian, the kind I like. I’d run his Indiana campaign if he runs.
Nice to see you in here.
Until tonight, I didn’t know Gov. Johnson had a dog in this fight. Glad he’s in.
former
His fingers must have been crossed when he said “My experience is this is not a party issue” when asked if “the Republicans would demagogue it”. The Republics will do nothing but demagogue it.
Mornin’ All,
Joh, yes. was reading last night he’s been at this since 1999. and he’s on the Board at SSDP
I have never voted Republican in a presidential election, but I did register Republican in 1980 just to vote against Reagan in the primary. I think that now I’m going to register Republican for the second time in my life. ;-)
I hope he runs as a Libertarian. I could vote for him then. It would nicer if he became a Democrat between now and then and primaried Obama – There would be a huge sucking sound of votes and the sound Obama makes when he visits Wall Street.
If he runs Republican, I can’t vote for him. I will not vote Democratic or Republican in ’12. The only way we will get respect from the Democratic party is by voting third party in sufficient numbers to be statistically significant. Rahmbo and Dumbo have said we do not matter because we have no choice. We are irrelevant in their view. And their disrespect and contempt have been so blatant it only empowers others to make the same choice.
I’d like to see him run as a Republican first. If, and likely when, he’s unsuccessful, I’d support him as a libertarian.
x2
If he really MEANS those positions, he’s already a better democrat than Obama.
Boxturtle (I have to keep reminding myself that Obama is STILL a better choice than McCain)
New post up top…
Pursuing legalization (or the lesser decriminalization) during his last year as goobernor was – in effect – nothing more than skeevy political posturing.
It’s good for Skeeves to speak so eloquently and with so much truth in support. But he is a professional politician like Obama. Plus, he’s a stinking Republican.
‘zup Boo !
a little embarrassed I hadn’t heard of him before – further evidence that I’ve had my head too deep in to DC politics for too long X~o
still don’t know much about his politics and frankly am a little wary these days of being enamored with a ‘personality’ – but man oh man he could be highly effective for this campaign
Old road kill is still a better choice than McSFB.
I like Gary Johnson. I heard him speak about 10 years back and was suitably impressed by his level of intelligence. He de-bugged MJ back then as he is doing now. I read a recent article about his run for Prez. and was scared by his libertarian views. He is outside of Ron Paul on most issues. He is not my choice even if he is intelligent.
What gets me is there are so many things that are so much worse the MJ, with most prescription medications leading the lists of things you don’t really need in your body. I love the trend of states exercising their rights and hopefully once more states begin to adopt a more sane stance towards the drug, the federal government will fall in line.
Anyone have a link for this?
I did make a comment sometime in the wayback about Johnson. That comment was something to the effect that people who were interested in legalization/libertarian/third party should look at Johnson who has been posturing for a run for the Presidency for at least a year.
I will say that AFAIK, he is honest, another good thing.
He was a political neophyte with a lot of money from the construction industry. He started a construction company that eventually became a worker-brokering company and made millions off the backs of his workers, typical for a non-union man. I used to hear stories from other workers about how things were at his job sites.
He was a total political neophyte that came to the elected job with the idea that the government is just another business. I am sure it was under Johnson that we had an enormous increase in the amount of private prisons. I don’t know whether this reality collided with his support of legalization, though he was known as a drug user in his early days, and he came out for legalization of not just marijuana but other drugs as well, I think.
He is an “Iron Man” and participated in intense physical fitness/conditioning during his time in office. He had a terrible fall on the ice in Santa Fe one winter that sidelined him for a while (broke his back), but I think he did recover from that. He has tremendous will.
His campaign slogan was “People Before Politics.” But I thought it was more like “Poop for Politics.” I don’t think he was great for NM. Heather Wilson got her start during his administration. He appointed her to head Children, Youth and Families Dept.
How do these people get jobs,
let alone be put in positions of authority.
Hey, Obama! Johnson’s in your base, stealing all your young and Indie voters — who, by the way, are among the demographics hardest hit by the recession and your refusal to spend more on legit stimulus than Bush spent on bank bailouts. What are you going to do about it?
My god, he’s a Republican who supports gay and abortion rights, thinks we should be out of Afghanistan and Iraq, and wants to legalize marijuana?
Where can I sign up to vote for him? That’s MY kind of Republican!
I don’t think of this post as an endorsement of all of his actions. I do see it as a warning shot across Obama’s bow: The very groups Obama and Rahm say they want to cater to when they do pro-corporatist policies — namely, the kids and the indies) — are likely to swoon for this guy, thus leaving the Big O vulnerable to a loss in 2012. If Obama’s not going to push for more job-creating stimulus, then he’d better push for legalization of weed, because jobs and weed are the two big issues for both the kids and the indies.
And just in case my comments above are not clear, if you like your Indie candidate to trend strongly to the right (but not religious) Johnson may be your man. He will side with the Republicans always.
And he will veto plenty.
Wrong foundation, Pew hasn’t touched the subject.
Study: Marijuana Prices to Crater If Legalized
http://www.cannabisnews.org/united-states-cannabis-news/study-marijuana-prices-to-crater-if-legalized/
“just sane: how”
Jane, I’d be mystified at why you are mystified if I believed that were actually the case. :)
Amnesty and release now for non-violent drug prisoners.
Obama for federal prisoners, state governors for their prisoners.
It’s a start.
Ughs-actly.
He was the same on the public option. He gave the finger in the face of overwhelming public support.
Obama threw the young voters under the bus a while back.
For what it’s worth, I’d consider voting for him in 2012 if he made it to the general election. I figure a libertarian is at least half a liberal, which is a lot more than we have in the White House right now.
Call him a “moderate”.
thanks so much !