November 9, 2010 3:20PM # Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger By [Tim Lynch](https://www.cato.org/people/tim-lynch) --- SHARE Arnold Schwarzenegger’s days as governor of California are almost over—so he made a stop at one of the late nite shows and made news by saying, [“You want to smoke pot? Who cares?”](http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101109/ap_on_en_tv/us_schwarzenegger_leno) Well, Mr. Governor, as you well know, it is a federal crime to smoke marijuana. People get arrested and jailed for smoking marijuana. And you, Mr. Governor, could have done something about the war against cannabis because there was this ballot initiative called [Prop. 19](https://www.cato.org/prop-19-roundup/) in your state that would have made it legal for adults to smoke marijuana in private. Instead of fighting *for* Prop. 19, you *opposed* it! Apparently, you have decided to place yourself on both sides of the marijuana question—preserve penalties for use, but proclaim your opposition to penalties. Clever. For that and his other forgettable deeds as California governor, one can conclude that Schwarzennegger was a political wimp. In sharp contrast, Governor [Gary Johnson](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gary-johnson/legalize-marijuana-to-sto_b_696430.html) of New Mexico really [fights for reform](http://www.nytimes.com/2000/12/30/opinion/another-prohibition-another-failure.html). ##### Related Tags [General](https://www.cato.org/general), [Government and Politics](https://www.cato.org/government-politics), [Constitutional Law](https://www.cato.org/constitutional-law), [Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies](https://www.cato.org/robert-levy-center-constitutional-studies) [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).