Robert Celt
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In a mostly positive evaluation of Gary Johnson, who is expected to be the Libertarian Party's presidential nominee this year, National Review's David French shakes his head at the former New Mexico governor's history as a cannabis consumer and entrepreneur:
Johnson is a Libertarian, and that means he's for drug legalization. That's not necessarily disqualifying. After all, his views are similar to those of the founder of National Review, William F. Buckley Jr., and are shared by a number of conservatives. Johnson, however, is an actual drug user–boasting recently that he'd just consumed "Cheeba Chews," a form of "marijuana-infused taffy." (To be fair, he claims that he does not drink alcohol.) But that's not all, not by a long shot.
In 2014, Johnson became a "pot entrepreneur." He was named the CEO of Cannibas [sic] Sativa. The company's intended products included medicinal oils and–get this–a "cough drop—like" pot candy. Johnson of course tried and endorsed the product, asking, "Why would anybody ever smoke marijuana given this as an alternative?"
But let's give him the benefit of the doubt and presume for the moment that he would not, in fact, transform the Cabinet into a highbrow version of Obama's legendary "Choom Gang."
For the record, Bill Buckley not only wanted to legalize marijuana; he famously tried it after sailing into international waters, ostensibly to avoid violating U.S. law (although he violated U.S. law merely by possessing it on the way to lighting up). That was back in 1969. Nearly half a century later, it is plainly absurd to think you can surmise anything about a man's ideas, character, work ethic, or presidential fitness from the fact that he has consumed cannabis. According to the latest Gallup poll, 58% of Americans think marijuana should be legal, and 44% of them have tried it. The latter figure is probably an underestimate, since survey respondents may be reluctant to admit illegal behavior. According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, most American adults below retirement age are current or former cannabis consumers–a group that includes our current president and his two most recent predecessors.
What's more, marijuana is legal for medical or recreational use in two dozen states and the nation's capital, which is how Johnson came to be involved in the cannabis industry. Would French take the same smirking, condescending view of someone who became a liquor merchant after alcohol prohibition was repealed? Would he worry that a drinker running for president would conduct Cabinet meetings in a drunken stupor?
French seems to assume his readers will share his pharmacological prejudices, and he may be right. Even though direct experience with marijuana is statistically normal among Americans born after World War II, it remains a touchy subject for Republican politicians, who evidently fear that conservative voters, especially the older ones, cannot get past the plant's countercultural connotations.
Assuming Johnson is the Libertarian nominee (as he was in 2012), he will be running against Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, both of whom say they have never tried marijuana. That does not make them any more appealing.
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Gary Johnson's Cannabis Consumption Is Irrelevant To His Presidential Fitness
Author: Jacob Sullum
Contact: Forbes
Photo Credit: Scott Olson/Getty Images
Website: Forbes
Johnson is a Libertarian, and that means he's for drug legalization. That's not necessarily disqualifying. After all, his views are similar to those of the founder of National Review, William F. Buckley Jr., and are shared by a number of conservatives. Johnson, however, is an actual drug user–boasting recently that he'd just consumed "Cheeba Chews," a form of "marijuana-infused taffy." (To be fair, he claims that he does not drink alcohol.) But that's not all, not by a long shot.
In 2014, Johnson became a "pot entrepreneur." He was named the CEO of Cannibas [sic] Sativa. The company's intended products included medicinal oils and–get this–a "cough drop—like" pot candy. Johnson of course tried and endorsed the product, asking, "Why would anybody ever smoke marijuana given this as an alternative?"
But let's give him the benefit of the doubt and presume for the moment that he would not, in fact, transform the Cabinet into a highbrow version of Obama's legendary "Choom Gang."
For the record, Bill Buckley not only wanted to legalize marijuana; he famously tried it after sailing into international waters, ostensibly to avoid violating U.S. law (although he violated U.S. law merely by possessing it on the way to lighting up). That was back in 1969. Nearly half a century later, it is plainly absurd to think you can surmise anything about a man's ideas, character, work ethic, or presidential fitness from the fact that he has consumed cannabis. According to the latest Gallup poll, 58% of Americans think marijuana should be legal, and 44% of them have tried it. The latter figure is probably an underestimate, since survey respondents may be reluctant to admit illegal behavior. According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, most American adults below retirement age are current or former cannabis consumers–a group that includes our current president and his two most recent predecessors.
What's more, marijuana is legal for medical or recreational use in two dozen states and the nation's capital, which is how Johnson came to be involved in the cannabis industry. Would French take the same smirking, condescending view of someone who became a liquor merchant after alcohol prohibition was repealed? Would he worry that a drinker running for president would conduct Cabinet meetings in a drunken stupor?
French seems to assume his readers will share his pharmacological prejudices, and he may be right. Even though direct experience with marijuana is statistically normal among Americans born after World War II, it remains a touchy subject for Republican politicians, who evidently fear that conservative voters, especially the older ones, cannot get past the plant's countercultural connotations.
Assuming Johnson is the Libertarian nominee (as he was in 2012), he will be running against Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, both of whom say they have never tried marijuana. That does not make them any more appealing.
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Gary Johnson's Cannabis Consumption Is Irrelevant To His Presidential Fitness
Author: Jacob Sullum
Contact: Forbes
Photo Credit: Scott Olson/Getty Images
Website: Forbes
