Libertarian presidential hopeful Gary Johnson is sticking up for marijuana after 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney last week said smoking the drug “makes people stupid.”
“I do not agree with that,” Johnson told CNN’s Erin Burnett in an interview scheduled to air Sunday on “OutFront.” “As someone who has used marijuana, I do not agree with that.”
Johnson, who was the governor of New Mexico from 1994-2003, has been an advocate for legalizing marijuana since 1999. In his interview with Burnett, he suggested that marijuana “competes with legal prescription painkillers and drugs that statistically kill 100,000 people a year.”
He noted that there has not been one documented death due to medical marijuana.
“On the recreational side, I have always maintained that legalizing marijuana will lead to overall less substance abuse because it’s so much safer than everything else that’s out there starting with alcohol,” Johnson said.
Romney — who has been a vocal member of the “Never Trump” party — told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on “The Situation Room” last week that he would consider voting for Johnson, but had reservations given his stance on marijuana.
“I think the legalization of marijuana on a recreational basis and the legalization of drugs would be highly destructive to our coming generations and the work ethic of this country,” Romney told Blitzer.
“Marijuana makes people stupid,” he added.
