By Sam Sabzehzar
Rather than pain killers than damage his body, the former Governor relied on a safer alternative, noting the risk 'is in the prohibition of pot, not the plant itself.'
After an accident let him to discover the medicinal properties of cannabis, former Governor of New Mexico Gary Johnson announced today that he is officially a candidate for the 2012 Republican nomination for President of the United States.
In less than two decades America saw Bill say no inhalation to Barak poking fun at Bill Clinton’s answer, and when Bush bumbled his way around the issue of marijuana all together as if that was the one thing from his past he wanted to keep hidden from all, we now have a presidential candidate who, as a former Governor, can speak to the issue of a failed Drug War with a bit more than respect than Ralph Nader receives.
He also is the only candidate to ever be a medical marijuana patient. Not any more, mind you, but after a horrific accident left him responsible for pain management issue, a close friend suggested he try marijuana, something he always told his children to stay away from.
Not because of the dangers to the body, but because of the risks with law enforcement encounters.
In fact, if Ron Paul throws his hat in the ring too, we’ll have two candidates on the republican side that can take over the debate when it comes to this issue, should they both be allowed on stage on on air.
Ralph Nader knows what it’s like to have good ideas and have no one listen, and the republicans have done well to silence Paul up until now to some degree too.
For Johnson, he’s the only anti-prohibition candidate that has ever been a Governor and can speak to the idea that prohibition, and not the pot plant itself, is the most dangerous part about it.
Johnson has been hinting rather loudly about his run in 2012, from speaking engagements at last years cannabis conventions, including Kush Con, and now making his announcement at the height of Denver’s NORML conference (although he made his announcement in New Hampshire), it seems as if the timing couldn’t have been better planned.
Without a real GOP contender in the race, and with the Koch brothers distracted by their own mess in Madison, candidates like Johnson and Paul, both more Libertarian than Republican, have a real chance at usurping next year’s race, even if it’s to carve out a name for themselves on the national stage for issues that affect us all, like the prohibition of pot.
