WASHINGTON — Former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson stopped by The Daily Caller’s offices Monday and let us know he’s used marijuana within the last couple weeks.

“But it wasn’t smoking it; it was edibles,” said Johnson.

The former governor is currently seeking the Libertarian Party’s nomination. He first supported legalizing marijuana in 1999 while in office and is still the highest office holder to have embraced this position. (RELATED: This Is The Only Candidate Outside Of The Two Major Parties Who Could Be On The Ballot In 50 States)

Specifically, Johnson said he had 20mg of “Cheeba Chews.” This is a marijuana-infused taffy — the standard dose is 10mg. The former New Mexico governor was, in fact, the CEO of Cannabis Sativa Inc., a publicly traded company.

He stressed he used marijuana responsibly, saying, “I occasionally use it.”

He added, “I haven’t had a drink of alcohol in 29 years.”

“For me when I smoked marijuana when I was 17 years old for the first time, the first takeaway was holy cow this is so much better than alcohol! There just doesn’t seem to be a downside,” said the former governor.

When marijuana was legalized in Colorado, the campaign focused on saying that weed is healthier for you than alcohol. Johnson envisions the same tactics getting marijuana legalized on the federal level. He did admit, “there’s a downside to doing any thing all the time.”

The former governor is no longer at Cannabis Sativa Inc., as he resigned Jan. 1 to focus on his presidential run. However, Johnson is confident he will have had an impact on marijuana far into the future.

[dcquiz] The former governor told TheDC, “One of the assets that Cannabis Sativa has is a ‘Sativa lozenge.’ which I’m going to suggest is as good a marijuana high as exists on the planet. We can’t legally produce it anywhere because its strain specific.”

Sativa is one of the two main marijuana subspecies used for consumption — the other being Indica.

“I was directly responsible for bringing the ‘Hi’ brand,” said Johnson. He added, “200 years from now this Sativa lozenge will exist under the brand name Hi.”