Gov. Gary Johnson: "I Smoked Marijuana from 2005 to 2008"

lunarverse · Dec 8, 2010

The former New Mexico governor and likely 2012 Republican presidential candidate talks about his pot-smoking past.

Gary Johnson, the former New Mexico governor and a likely 2012 Republican presidential candidate, hasn’t been shy about his support for marijuana legalization or his personal use of the drug during his younger days. “I never exhaled,” he joked in a recent interview with The New Republic. But in an interview with THE WEEKLY STANDARD, Johnson admitted publicly for the first time that he smoked marijuana more recently—from 2005 to 2008—for medicinal purposes, he says.

“It’s not anything I volunteer, but you’re the only person that actually asked about it,” says Johnson, who governed New Mexico from 1994 to 2002. “But for luck, I guess, I wasn’t arrested.” Although smoking marijuana for medicinal purposes was illegal in New Mexico until 2007, Johnson says he needed the drug following a 2005 paragliding accident in Hawaii. His sails got caught in a tree, he stalled—and fell about fifty feet straight down to the ground, he says. Johnson suffered multiple bone fractures, including a burst fracture to his T12 vertebrae. “In my human experience, it’s the worst pain I’ve ever felt.”

“Rather than using painkillers, which I have used on occasion before, I did smoke pot, as a result of having broken my back, blowing out both of my knees, breaking ribs, really taking about three years to recover,” Johnson says. He explains that painkillers had once caused him to suffer nasty side effects and the pain of withdrawing from the pills was unbearable. So, Johnson says, in 2005 "someone" who cared for him gave him marijuana to deal with the pain.

For a typical presidential candidate, admitting to illegally smoking marijuana just a few years ago would be badly damaging. But Gary Johnson isn’t a typical candidate. He’s a libertarian prophet crying out for the Republican Party to “get back to the religion of the pocketbook,” and spreading his message takes precedence over appealing to Republican primary voters. His personal marijuana story may even help him spread the word. And marijuana legalization may, in fact, be a much easier sell to Republican primary voters than Johnson’s positions on national security, foreign policy, and social policy.

By John McCormack, The Weekly Standard - Wednesday, December 8 2010
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Read more here;

http://cannabisculture.com/v2/content/2010/12/08/Gov-Gary-Johnson-I-Smoked-Marijuana-2005-2008

Meliai · Dec 8, 2010

I haven't even heard of this guy..i'll definitely be following him leading up to the 2012 elections.

lunarverse · Dec 8, 2010

Anyone else think this will badly hurt his campaign while running for president?

Meliai · Dec 8, 2010

I think it could potentially help his campaign if youth voter turn out is high. People are disillusioned with politics; the fact that this guy is honest and up front is rather refreshing.

skip · Dec 8, 2010

“I never exhaled” - Gary Johnson

I love this guy! He was a great governor too!

Captain Cannabis · Dec 8, 2010

He smokes pot? So do I!!!

That must mean he deserves to be the president of the united fucking states!!

lunarverse · Dec 8, 2010

Meliai said:

I think it could potentially help his campaign if youth voter turn out is high. People are disillusioned with politics; the fact that this guy is honest and up front is rather refreshing.
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I'm sure youth voters will be high, hopefully they'll show up to vote in large numbers too

Meliai · Dec 8, 2010

god i love unintentional puns

slappyman · Dec 8, 2010

A past coke addition didn't seem to hurt Bush Jr now did it.

Poppy Sunshine · Dec 8, 2010

Meliai said:

I haven't even heard of this guy..i'll definitely be following him leading up to the 2012 elections.
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this got MY attention! thanks for sharing it.:2thumbsup:

snowtiggernd · Dec 9, 2010

I think its a ploy to attract the younger voters. Anytime I see anything to do with a republican I hear a little voice that says do not trust....

StrawberryGirl · Dec 13, 2010

I love this guy! "I never exhaled"...how funny!

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Gov. Gary Johnson: "I Smoked Marijuana from 2005 to 2008"

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Gov. Gary Johnson: "I Smoked Marijuana from 2005 to 2008"

lunarverse The Living End

Meliai Members

lunarverse The Living End

Meliai Members

skip Founder Administrator

Captain Cannabis Banned

lunarverse The Living End

Meliai Members

slappyman Member

Poppy Sunshine atypical hippie Lifetime Supporter

snowtiggernd Member

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