Gary Johnson - Illegal Drugs
Suffolk University Speech
In April of 2010, Governor Johnson spoke to the Suffolk University NORML. He speaks about the policies of other countries, and their results. He notes the number of people in US jails for nonviolent drug crimes.
Cato Institute Speech
In November of 2010, Governor Johnson gave a speech to the Cato Institute where he spoke about the drug policies of various countries and how they compare to the US.
Ridley Report Interview
In April of 2011, Governor Johnson was interviewed during the Ridley Report Interview. He states during that interview that he smoked marijuana when younger and didn't believe the drug was as dangerous as alcohol.
South Carolina Debate
In May of 2011, Government Johnson was asked about legalizing drugs during the first Presidential debate. He discusses the amount of money that the US spends on drug enforcement and then states that he would legalize marijuana.
Our America Initiative
Governor Johnson started the Our America Initiative in 2011. On that website, he discusses his drug policy and his views that while he does not advocate for people doing drugs, he does not believe it should be illegal.
Drugs
We advocate a “Don’t do Drugs” policy. Drugs can be harmful, addictive and destructive to our lives and society. The current war on drugs, however, has not been successful. Crime, economic problems and abuse related to drug usage are still very present. We believe there needs to be a new direction in fighting these problems. The Our America Initiative believes that one of the best solutions to help with the many problems caused by drugs is to legalize marijuana. We do not advocate the legalization of any other drugs and believe that harm reduction measures should be implemented.
Marijuana should be regulated and taxed by the federal government (just like tobacco is currently), which would lead to a lower price for the product and eliminate the criminal element from its distribution, much like the repeal of the prohibition of alcohol many decades back.
The Our America Initiative believes that current drug policies need to be changed. The answer to solving this problem lies in sentencing reform, in supplying treatment on demand, and in honest drug education for our children. We advocate heroin maintenance and other harm reduction measures and believe we should move from a criminal to a medical model of dealing with drug usage. The Initiative thinks that locking up more and more people who are nonviolent drug offenders, people whose real problem is that they are addicted to drugs, is simply a waste of money and human resources and fails to deal with the real problems of abuse. Our goal is to lower the abuse rate in America and we believe a new direction is needed for that to happen.
Real Clear Politics Interview
In June of 2011, Governor Johnson was interviewed by RealClearPolitics.com and was asked about his views on drugs.
JOHNS: Marijuana. This is one of the issues -- one of your signature issues when you were governor.
JOHNSON: What I would like conservatives -- first of all, I'm opposed to the drug war A through Z. But I think from a conservative standpoint, I think it's important for all of us to recognize -- and this is staggering, Joe, half of what we spend on law enforcement, the courts and prisons is drug related. What are we getting for that?
JOHNS: So you would legalize the sale, marketing and possession of marijuana?
JOHNSON: I would, yes. And, of course, it will never be legal to smoke pot, become impaired, get behind the wheel of a car. It's never going to be legal for kids to smoke pot or buy pot like alcohol.
And I would argue if you've got to produce an ID to be able to buy marijuana, is that not going to be more difficult than the situation that exists today where marijuana is for sale everywhere and the person that sells marijuana also sells harder drugs?
I've come to the conclusion that 90 percent of the drug problem is prohibition related, not use related. And that's not to discount the problems with use and abuse, but that ought to be the focus.
JOHNS: Now, when I listen to you, you sound more and more like a libertarian. Why aren't you running as a libertarian?
JOHNSON: Well, I've always been a Republican. And when it comes to the drug war, as I just go back to the drug, when it comes to everything I did as governor of New Mexico, everything was a cost benefit analysis.
The reason I'm a Republican is I think Republicans do a much better job of balancing the checkbook than Democrats and right now, we're bankrupt. We've got to fix this and I happen to believe that only the Republican Party is capable of fixing this right now.
And that in lieu of the fact that Republicans, last time they controlled both houses of Congress and the presidency, ran up record deficits and passed a prescription health care benefit -- all things that I was embarrassed of as a Republican.
2012 Presidential Campaign Website Statements
DRUG POLICY REFORM
Despite our best efforts at enforcement, education and interdiction, people continue to use and abuse illegal drugs.
The parallels between drug policy today and Prohibition in the 1920’s are obvious, as are the lessons our nation learned. Prohibition was repealed because it made matters worse. Today, no one is trying to sell our kids bathtub gin in the schoolyard and micro-breweries aren’t protecting their turf with machine guns. It’s time to apply that thinking to marijuana. By making it a legal, regulated product, availability can be restricted, under-age use curtailed, enforcement/court/incarceration costs reduced, and the profit removed from a massive underground and criminal economy.
By managing marijuana like alcohol and tobacco – regulating, taxing and enforcing its lawful use – America will be better off. The billions saved on marijuana interdiction, along with the billions captured as legal revenue, can be redirected against the individuals committing real crimes against society. Harder drugs should not be legalized, but their use should be dealt with as a health issue – not a criminal justice issue.
Getting Smart about Drugs
1 THE HISTORY IS CLEAR
AMERICANS WERE PROMISED IN THE 1970'S AND 1980's that hefty enforcement budgets and tougher sentences would lead to less crime and drug abuse.
- We have all been raised to believe that there are only two camps in the drug policy universe -- "pro-drug" and "anti-drug" -- and that any person who does not support the "War on Drugs" is automatically "pro-drug." This simply isn't the case.
- Since only criminal gangs and cartels are willing to take the risks associated with large-scale black market distribution, the War on Drugs has made a lot of dangerous people and organizations very rich and very powerful.
- The same happened with Alcohol Prohibition (1920-1933). Prohibition had only a minimal effect on the desire of Americans to drink (in some cases, it clearly made drinking more attractive), but pushing alcohol underground had other effects: overdose deaths, gang violence, and other prohibition-related harms increased dramatically during the Prohibition years.
2 MAKE MARIJUANA LEGAL
OVER A MILLION AND A HALF AMERICANS were arrested last year on drug charges, and nearly 40% of those arrests were for marijuana possession alone. Does this make sense?
- A recent Gallup poll reports that 46% of Americans now agree that marijuana should be legalized, a dramatic increase in support that reflects Americans' increased knowledge and understanding of the issue. Proposals to regulate marijuana similarly to alcohol have been considered in several states, and Governor Johnson has supported those efforts; he believes the federal government should end its prohibition mandate and allow each state to pursue its own desired policy.
- Governor Johnson believes it is insane to arrest roughly 800,000 people a year for choosing to use a natural substance that is, by any reasonable objective standard, less harmful than alcohol, a drug that is advertised at every major sporting event.
- As Governor Johnson often points out to concerned parents, "it will never be legal for a person to smoke marijuana, become impaired, and get behind the wheel of a car or otherwise do harm to others, and it will never be legal for kids to smoke marijuana." But we have to understand that marijuana is our nation's #1 cash crop despite the prohibition; it will always be available to those who really wish to use it.
- When polled, high school kids say marijuana is easier to get than alcohol. Perhaps this is because they buy from black market dealers who do not ask for ID?
- Legalization of marijuana would instantly and dramatically improve conditions on our southern border. Marijuana is Mexico's #1 illegal export, dramatically reducing the power and wealth of the drug lords, and instantly helping to restore stability in a nation whose stability and sustainability is truly vital to our economic and national security interests. If we truly wish to reduce border violence, take the profit out of it.
3 HARM REDUCTION
BEFORE WE CAN GET SERIOUS ABOUT REDUCING the harms associated with drugs, we have to accept that there will never be a drug-free society.
- To create a drug-free society, we'd have to build a police apparatus so intrusive that all Americans would have to be under surveillance 24 hours a day... presumably for their own good. Would citizens of the "land of the free" ever stand for that?
- Abuse of hard drugs is a health problem that should be dealt with by health experts, not a problem that should be clogging up our courts, jails, and prisons with addicts. Instead of continuing to arrest and incarcerate drug users, we should seriously consider the examples of countries such as Portugal and the Netherlands, and we should ultimately choose to adopt policies which aim to reduce death, disease, violence, and crime associated with dangerous drugs.
- Honest, effective education will be key to succeeding with this transition. America has cut teen cigarette use in half, not by criminalizing possession and use, but through a combination of honest education and sensible regulation.
- We can never totally eliminate drug addiction and drug abuse. We can, however, minimize these harms and reduce the negative effects they have on society by making sure drug abusers are able to access effective treatment options (jail is not an effective treatment option).