Libertarian White House hopeful Gary Johnson said Tuesday it’s been his stated position that legalizing marijuana will lead to less substance abuse overall.

“I took the position I took business-wise to make the world a better place,” Mr. Johnson, the former New Mexico governor, said on CNN’s “New Day.”

“On the medicinal side, marijuana products directly compete with legal prescription drugs that statistically kill 100,000 people a year,” he said. “And on the recreational side, I have always maintained that legalizing marijuana will lead to less overall substance abuse.”

Mr. Johnson, who won about 1 percent of the popular vote as the Libertarian Party’s presidential nominee in 2012, said there is a “total disconnect between elected politicians and the public.”

“Sixty percent of Americans now want to legalize marijuana,” he said. “But the campaign to legalize marijuana in Colorado was a campaign based on marijuana is safer than alcohol, and it is. It’s safer than everything else that’s out there, starting with alcohol.”

The Libertarian Party will choose its presidential nominee later this month at a convention in Orlando.

Sign up for Daily Newsletters Manage Newsletters

Copyright © 2020 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission.