Gary Johnson Announces Run for Presidency

Former New Mexico Governor and cannabis company CEO Gary Johnson announced his bid to enter the 2016 Presidential race.

Game on! America deserves another choice in #2016presidentialelections. #libertarian https://t.co/cRtLWvbPTs

— Gov. Gary Johnson (@GovGaryJohnson) January 6, 2016

Gary Johnson served two terms as Governor of New Mexico, and is now seeking the Libertarian nomination.

Johnson left his seat as CEO of Cannabis Sativa Inc. on December 31, 2015 to pursue a presidential campaign. Cannabis Sativa has developed an array of industry-leading cannabis products including a pharmacy discount card. Johnson has since dedicated his companies, Cannabis Sativa and Marijuana Politics, to ending the war on cannabis.

“I want to take this opportunity to announce my candidacy for president,” Johnson told Fox Business Network. “I am hoping to get the Libertarian nomination for president in 2016 and in fact offer that alternative.”

Johnson’s campaign is accepting bitcoin donations to end the “two-party monopoly” in the U.S. Presidential debates. The former Governor knows that support for cannabis reform isn’t enough to propel a campaign to the finish line. “Let me just put it at zero,” Johnson said. “When you go back four years ago when I was running for president on the Republican side, I made the statement that if everyone that smoked marijuana gave me a dollar, I’d have $150 million dollars in my coffer. None of that happened. It is a big zero when it comes to the ballot box. Is it the right thing to be advocating? Absolutely; but does it result in political benefits? I haven’t seen it.”

Johnson has been advocating for cannabis since 1999, and according to him no other governors are advocating for the complete de-scheduling of cannabis. Recently Republican Presidential candidate Ben Carson claimed he would reschedule cannabis, but held firm that he is not in favor of legalization.