Pubdate: Fri, 03 Aug 2012
Source: Seattle Times (WA)
Copyright: 2012 The Seattle Times Company
Contact:  http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/409
Author: Brian M. Rosenthal

LIBERTARIAN NOMINEE: POT LEGALIZED BY 2016

ELECTION 2012 Gary Johnson Says Voters in Colorado, Washington Will 
Approve Legalization

Gary Johnson, the Libertarian Party nominee for president, predicted 
Thursday that marijuana will be legal nationwide within the next four years.

Johnson, the former governor of New Mexico, said he thinks that pot 
legalization will be approved by voters in Washington and Colorado 
this fall, helping to spur other states to follow suit.

"We are a tipping point here on this issue," Johnson said in an 
interview during a visit to the Seattle area as part of his longshot campaign.

Johnson, who unsuccessfully pushed for marijuana legalization as 
governor of New Mexico a decade ago, has admitted to smoking pot as 
recently as 2008, when he was recovering from a paragliding crash.

He said, "The world will be a better place" when it is legal, because 
"police will go out and fight real crime, court dockets won't get as 
filled up, and maybe we can reduce the highest incarceration rate in 
the world."

Recent polling has offered varying pictures of the prospects of 
Initiative 502, which would legalize and tax the sale of marijuana in 
Washington.

An Elway Poll released last week found that 46 percent of registered 
voters supported the measure, while 44 percent opposed it. But a 
KING-TV/SurveyUSA poll released days earlier found the measure with 
55 percent support versus 32 percent against.

One thing is clear: The initiative has a better chance of passing 
than Johnson has of becoming president. His campaign has only raised 
about $1 million - President Obama and his Republican rival Mitt 
Romney have each raised about $300 million and he isn't being 
included in most polling.

But Johnson, who touts himself as the only third party candidate who 
will appear on the ballot in all 50 states, is likely to play a role 
in November by taking away votes from the major candidates.

The Obama campaign in particular is hoping Johnson will siphon off 
votes from Romney, The Associated Press reported earlier this week. 
According to The AP, the campaign figures Johnson will appeal to 
Republican voters, in part because he ran for governor of New Mexico 
as a Republican and sought the GOP presidential nomination before 
running as a Libertarian.

Johnson dismissed that logic Thursday, pointing to polling indicating 
he would disproportionately hurt Romney in some states and Obama in others.

"I hope I get labeled as a spoiler for both," he said. "That would 
get me more attention."

Johnson first made a name for himself while vetoing 750 bills during 
his governorship from 1995 to 2003. He is running on a platform of 
ending the war in Afghanistan, increasing civil liberties, balancing 
the budget by slashing spending and reforming the tax system by 
replacing the U.S. tax code with a simple consumption tax.

He said that he could exploit the flaws in the platforms of the other 
candidates if he was included in the presidential debates in the fall.

"Look, if I'm in the debate against Romney and Obama, they're going 
to change their tune," he said. "They're going to have to."

It's not likely, however: The Commission on Presidential Debates only 
invites candidates who have received an average of 15 percent in the 
polls, and Johnson - when he's included - has only been pulling in a 
few percentage points.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom