Freedom Quote by Gary Johnson

Gary Johnson is trying to do something American politics rarely rewards: hold two ideas at once without flinching. He frames marijuana and alcohol as "handicaps" - blunt, almost puritan language that signals personal disapproval and lived experience ("I don't... anymore"). That phrasing courts the suburban voter who wants permission to be cautious, even judgmental, about intoxication. Then he pivots: even if it's a handicap, "it shouldn't be criminal". The point isn't to glamorize weed; it's to strip the legal system of its moralizing role.

The subtext is a libertarian argument smuggled in through self-restraint. By insisting he's sober, Johnson inoculates himself against the classic legalization smear: that reform is just stoners lobbying for their hobby. He positions legalization as a governance question, not a lifestyle endorsement. The word "criminal" does the heavy lifting, evoking police, prisons, records, and state power rather than personal health. He's inviting listeners to see criminalization as an overreaction - a punishment that damages lives more predictably than the substance does.

Context matters: Johnson, best known as a Libertarian-friendly former governor, spoke in an era when marijuana reform was shifting from counterculture to ballot initiatives, while alcohol remained the culturally protected drug. Calling alcohol a "terrible handicap" also exposes hypocrisy: society tolerates one widespread impairment while punishing another, often along class and race lines. His intent is pragmatic: de-escalate the culture war, keep the moral critique, and still end the arrest.