Libertarian presidential hopeful Gary Johnson denied 2012 Republican nominee Mitt Romney’s claim that “marijuana makes people stupid.”
“I do not agree with that,” Johnson told CNN correspondent Erin Burnett in an interview that will air Sunday. “As someone who has used marijuana, I do not agree with that.”
The former New Mexico governor defended pot as having fewer consequences for users compared to prescription medicines and other drugs.
Johnson added that medical marijuana has never been linked to a death, contrasting it to pharmaceuticals and hard drugs, which “kill 100,000 people a year.”
The pro-pot advocate has supported legalizing marijuana since 1989 and, in the two-and-a-half decades since then, he has found pot to be safer than comparable legal substances.
“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.
The two governors first butted heads last week when Romney said he liked Johnson and his running mate William Weld, but was worried about the duo’s support for 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 said.
