Gary Johnson has stated that the issues arising between police officers and minorities have been because of the war on drugs. This week, there have been five Dallas police officers killed and two people killed by police. The Libertarian nominee for president didn’t explicitly say that the war on drugs has caused these deaths, however, he made it very clear that bad relations between cops and African-Americans originate at drug use.
“The root is the war on drugs, I believe. Police knocking down doors, shooting first,” Johnson stated in an interview Friday in Washington. “If you are (black and) arrested in a drug-related crime, there is four times more likelihood of going to prison than if you are white. And shooting is part of the same phenomenon. That’s the common thread. Shootings are occurring with black people, black people are dying,” Johnson added. “This is an escalation.”
The past Republican governor of New Mexico is now suggesting that we completely change the country’s drug laws as he looks to become president with his running mate, former Massachusetts GOP Gov. Bill Weld. In the past, the Libertarian party has seen very little success, making Johnson an underdog. He would also like to legalize cannabis and find ways to deal with more dangerous drugs other than jail time. He predicts that in November, California is going to legalize cannabis and that President Barack Obama will remove marijuana from its listing as a Schedule I drug.
“I think Obama’s going to do that going out the door,” Johnson states. “The focus on drugs needs to be as a health issue, not a criminal justice issue. It can be illegal but does it need to be criminal? Do you need to go to jail for drugs? I do believe that the root of the militarization, knocking on doors, is a drug war phenomenon.”
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