Gary Johnson Is In!

[Skyhigh420]

Well Ron Paul is great and all, but here is another respectable candidate.

Gary Johnson!

The former Libertarian Governor does not attend church, is pro-choice, pro-free trade, pro-immigration, an outspoken and articulate critic of the war on drugs an a stark proponent of legalizing Marijuana. He led New Mexico for eight years during which the state saw no tax increases and he Vetoed over 750 separate pieces of legislation to keep government from growing. His views on civil liberties, foreign policy, and drugs may be too difficult for conservatives to accept.

http://www.garyjohnson2012.com/

 

[vta]

So far, I like Gary Johnson…


Posted by Mickey Martin

So I read the article below on Gary Johnson and it made me want to check his website. I wanted to see where he stood on other issues. I agreed with a lot of his views and was impressed by the diversity of the responses to issues we face in our society. I am a pretty liberal, mostly democratic personality when it comes to the issues, but I like the attention Gary Johnson is bringing to the failed drug policies of his country. I am hoping he is not overshadowed by the Ron Paul experience, as I think he is stronger in many areas I care about in comparison to Paul. I do not agree with him on repealing healthcare, which would be a big one, but that is not a major platform for him. Should a miracle happen and he get elected, we will cross that bridge when we get there. For now, I like his outspoken nature and many of his views. I will still be voting for Obama because I still have hope and because he might do the right thing if he did not have to worry about re-election. I would like to see Johnson appointed DRUG CZAR! After his run in the sun is over for 2012, I think we should launch the GARY JOHNSON FOR DRUG CZAR! movement……
Gary Johnson is asked about the drug war

RN: I wanted to ask you about your opinion the “war on drugs.” This is kind of a signature issue for you, I wanted you to talk about the cost, your perception of the failure, and particularly the implications of the “war on drugs” for people in other countries, particularly in Mexico and Latin America, Mexico where thousands of people have been killed in the war on drugs there, Central America where there is now apparently a big expansion of the criminal drug trade. So tell me about your thoughts on the war on drugs, and what you think the U.S. should be doing instead, particularly as that relates to the impact of the war on drugs on other countries.

Gary Johnson: As Governor of New Mexico, what my pledge was, and what I did, and I’m really proud of this, and I said I was going to do this, that everything was going to be a cost-benefit analysis. Everything. What are we spending our money on, and what are we getting for the money that we’re spending. That there wouldn’t be any sacred cows, that politics was going to be the last consideration on the list, that first and foremost it was going to be about the issues, and understanding the issues. So when it comes to the war on drugs, I’m opposed to the war on drugs A through Z. But I came at it initially from the standpoint of – and, you know, there’s naivety, I guess, on a broad number of issues, and this is after I’m elected, one of them is, I guess I really didn’t understand that half of everything we spend on law enforcement, the courts, and the prisons is drug-related, and when you think about that, that is just staggering.

And when you think about what are we getting for half law enforcement, half the courts, and half the prisons? Well what we’re getting, is we’re arresting 1.8 million people a year in this country, which I point out is the population of New Mexico, that gets arrested every single year. And, we now have 2.3 million people behind bars. We have the highest incarceration rate of any country in the world. And this is America? Liberty, freedom, the personal responsibility that goes along with that? I guess, except when it comes to your own body and what the decisions are surrounding that.

So going back to 1999, I came to the conclusion… that 90% of the drug problem is prohibition-related, not use-related. That’s not to discount the problems with use and abuse, but that ought to be the focus. So in 1999, I advocated then, I advocate it now. Legalize marijuana. Control it, regulate it, tax it. It’s never going to be legal to smoke pot, become impaired, get behind the wheel of a car, do harm to others. It’s never going to be legal for kids to smoke pot or buy pot. And under which scenario is it going to be easier for kids to smoke pot or buy pot? The situation that exists today, where it’s virtually available anywhere, and the person that sells pot also sells harder drugs? Or a situation where to purchase it, you would have to produce an ID in a controlled environment, like alcohol, to be able to buy it. I think you can make the case that it would be harder to buy it, in that controlled environment.

When it comes to all the other drugs – [marijuana] is the only drug that I’m advocating legalizing – but when it comes to all the other drugs, I think what we ought to really be concentrating on are harm reduction strategies – the things that we really care about, which is reducing death, disease, crime, corruption – in a nutshell, it is looking at the drug problem first as a health issue, rather than a criminal justice issue.

So here we have the border violence with Mexico. 28,000 deaths south of the border over the last four years. I believe that if we legalize marijuana 75% of that border violence goes away, because that’s the estimate of the drug cartel’s activities that revolve around the drug trade. The drug trade – prohibition – these are disputes that are being played out with guns, rather than the courts. Control this stuff, regulate this stuff, take the money out of drugs, and so goes the violence.

 

[crazybear]

The only other problem with Gary Johnson is he seems only wanting the government to sell & tax, it also should be legal to grow for your own personal use , like beer & wine!

 

[IE2KS_KUSH]

I liked his ideas, seeing him live though...meh...he is not a very appealing, and does not strike me as a "leader"...actually, I have not been a big fan of Ron Paul, but I am starting to come around to him. Not that it matters, the dumbshit republicans will not nominate a real honest to god conservative, they will just prop up a bullshit candidate that won't be all that different from what we have now....
It boggles my mind how the republicans can continue to support these half ass spineless pukes of candidates and welcome the gov to continue to oppress freedom and liberty, as well as pursuit of happiness.
Makes me sick.
I like how Paul put things, "I don't agree w/ it, but it's none of the federal gov business what people do, or what states do..."
Thing about him that bothers me, is that he has been around for a long ass time, and what has he done? What "could" he do as president? Very little I suspect w/ congress full of shit. IDK anymore. Fuck the government. That's what I say, I am to the point where I don't even want to be apart of the process. They can keep putting people in cages, and I will keep being a felon. Fuckem.

 

[Hash Zeppelin]

^exactly. It would be great to have Roan Paul or Gary Johnson, but the republican party is just gonna put a corporate puppet into place.