‘Top Line’ — Gary Johnson on Legalizing Pot, Cutting Medicare, and the Legacy of Ron Paul

ABC News’ Rick Klein reports: Former Gov. Gary Johnson, R-N.M., has launched a political action committee and is traveling the country in support of his Our America Initiative project — a venture that gives him a platform that appears likely to lead to a 2012 presidential candidacy. If he runs, Johnson could occupy space in the Republican primary field that belonged mostly to Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, whose libertarian leanings gave him a niche in the 2008 campaign that led to memorable fundraising successes — and, some would argue, offered hints of the anti-government tea party fervor to come. In an interview on ABC’s “Top Line” today, Johnson made clear that he’s staking out territory that’s far different than that of his potential 2012 rivals. That includes an immediate pullout of US troops from both Iraq and Afghanistan: “I would just argue that maybe we’re spread a little bit too thin. And we ought to be concentrating on real threats and that Iran may pose that real threat with enrichment of uranium,” Johnson told us. He also favors significant cuts to federal entitlement programs, including Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. “Cutting entitlement programs has to happen!” he said. ”I mean, you guys saw here — what two days ago, where Social Security is done for. I mean, whether that’s two years from now or whether that’s tomorrow — it’s not funded anymore, and it’s here. It’s not our kids, it’s not our grandkids, it’s now!” “Medicare — you know, the Republicans talking about criticizing Obama for potentially cutting Medicare –  Medicare has to be cut, Medicare has to be put on the table, and solutions have to be brought about to reduce that spending. And I would argue that those solutions lie with the free market.” He also favors legalization of marijuana: “It’s never going to be legal to smoke pot [and] do harm to others. It’s never going to be legal for kids to smoke pot, OK? That said, we’re arresting 1.8 million people a year in this country on drug-related crime. Half of what we spend in law enforcement, half of what we spend in the courts and half of what we spend in the prisons is drug-related.” “Look, I haven’t had a drink of alcohol in 22 years. Best decision that I ever made. I have smoked pot. I don’t smoke pot now because it’s a decision that I’ve made. I think the country would be a lot better off if no one were allowed to drink, but we tried that right? We tried that and what happened was, was that people continued to drink. So now, because they continued to drink they were criminal. Well why can’t we make that same correlation today? Why can’t we make that same correlation today that Al Capone was the guy that got rich.” On his potential candidacy in 2012, he said he’s “flattered” by the suggestions that he could run for president. He also sounded supportive of another run by Paul, whose candidacy Johnson backed in 2008. “It wouldn’t be a bad thing. I haven’t spoken with him. But again, I think he raised consciousness when it came to issues like the Federal Reserve and what was happening in our economy. I think that those have come to play themselves out.” Watch the interview with former Gov. Gary Johnson HERE. We also chatted with Politico’s Jonathan Martin about our question of the day — is Sarah Palin qualified to be president? — and about Palin’s prospects more generally, with a new ABC News/Washington Post poll showing growing public skepticism over whether she should have a future role in national politics. Watch the “Top Line” segment with Jonathan Martin HERE.