Johnson on Immigration, the 2010 Governor's Race, 2012 -- and of Course, Marijuana

Interviewing former Gov. Gary Johnson is always fun. He dropped by my Roundhouse office this afternoon to talk about his new immigration proposal and other things.

My story in Wednesday's New Mexican is HERE.

Here's the recent Daily Caller interview with Ron Paul in which Paul says Johnson would be the best candidate besides himself. HERE

Among the things Johnson told me:

On illegal immigration: “Secure our borders. What’s the cost? What’s the benefit? ... I just don’t think it’s practical to put the National Guard arm-in-arm across 1,600 miles of border. ... (Deporting all Illegal immigrants) is just going to add to the insanity of spending and it’s not gong to have any positive impact.”

On why he’s traveling around the country speaking out on issues. (He won’t confirm or deny he’s running for president):

“I’m trying to give another voice to Republicans out there who don’t have that voice being spoken for. That would include marijuana reform, the state of war we’re in with Afghanistan and Iraq. I think we’re all pretty much on the same page when it comes to spending money, but when you listen to the rhetoric they all seem to say engage on the war on terror at an unlimited cost and they’re all now talking about securing the borders when they don’t seem to have any idea how much that would actually cost. Although the rhetoric sounds good, the reality of what they’re saying really isn’t going to reduce spending.”

On whether he’s endorsed this year’s Republican gubernatorial ticket:
“I haven’t. Not that I won’t. But I just think it’s a shame that we have this incredible negative campaign right out of the chute instead of a campaign on merits. I thought Susana Martinez really had the opportunity to take the high road here and talk about what she’s planning to do for New Mexico as opposed to hanging stuff around Diane Denish’s neck.”

On marijuana legalization and home cultivation: “I predict that marijuana’s going to get legalized. And I predict that growing your own — even though it’s going to be a big phenomenon to begin with, keeping markets in check — 20 years down the line, nobody will be growing their own. It would be like making bathtub gin. Why would you make bathtub gin when you can buy Tanqueray because of the quality and you know what you’re getting.”