Gary Johnson: Gingrich Is a Hypocrite About Pot

Newt cannot call for death penalty on drug he's admitted to smoking
By Mark Russell,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 14, 2011 1:36 PM CST

A libertarian GOP candidate for the presidency, usually ignored by mainstream media, is swinging hard at Newt Gingrich, calling him a "hypocrite" for his stance on marijuana. No, not Ron Paul. This time it's pro-pot candidate Gary Johnson, and he is slamming Gingrich for calling (in 1996) for the death penalty for pot smugglers, even though Gingrich has admitted to dabbling with the drug, reports the Huffington Post.

Gingrich "proposed the death penalty for marijuana—for possession of marijuana above a certain quantity of marijuana—and yet he is among 100 million Americans who smoke marijuana," said Johnson, who has been open about his own previous pot use. Gingrich has spoken of smoking pot in the 1960s, telling an interviewer in 1996 that, "when I smoked pot it was illegal, but not immoral. Now, it is illegal AND immoral. The law didn’t change, only the morality... That's why you get to go to jail and I don't." (More Gary Johnson stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X