Gary Johnson at one of his most (or perhaps the most) passionate moments speaking on the utter failure of the war on drugs:
“In 1970 I smoked marijuana for the first time. When I smoked marijuana for the first time what I discovered was – Everything the government had said about marijuana was a lie. . . . This is an issue that transcends party lines. . . . I’m running for Governor of New Mexico 1994 . . . They ask me the question, “Had I ever smoked marijuana?” Yes I had smoked marijuana; I had never exhaled. . . . So in 1999 at the beginning of my second term as Governor of New Mexico . . . I wanted to take a really high profile look at the war on drugs. . . . You start with Holland and you start with Portugal. . . . Over the last 10 years they have decriminalized all drug use. . . . We are at a tipping point on this issue. . . . . It becomes an understanding that 90 percent of the drug problem is prohibition related. . . . Denver six years ago voted to decriminalize marijuana on a campaign that it was safer than alcohol. . . . It’s going to be a State’s issue. . . . When all the other states — come Friday evening get on a plane to go to Denver to chill out, that’s when the rest of the country will fall in line with rational drug policy. The hypocrisy that exists with elected officials . . . We’re arresting 1.8 million people a year in this country. Half of what we spend on law enforcement, the courts and prisons is drug related. Let’s bring this to an end. . . .”
Right on GJ!