John Kasich, Roger Stone argue over whether anti-pot Kasich sold Reagan staffers weed in 1976

John Kasich criticizes Colorado's marijuana laws in GOP debate
(Image credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

On Wednesday night's Republican debate in Boulder, Colorado, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) made a marijuana joke, offering to buy CNBC moderator Carl Quintanilla "some famous Colorado brownies" — "Mmm. Brownies," Quintanilla replied later — but Ohio Gov. John Kasich was adamantly opposed to Colorado's liberal marijuana law. "Sending kids mixed signals about drugs is a disaster," Kasich said. "I've spent five years of my administration working with my team to do a whole sort of things to try to rein in overdoses."

Kasich did work on Reagan's 1976 campaign, but he dismissed Stone's accusation:

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

And his campaign pushed back harder, referring reporters to veteran Republican operative Charlie Black, who told Cleveland.com that he was Kasich's supervisor in 1976. "This is the first time I ever heard anyone mention drugs in connection with John Kasich," Black said. "He was not fired. He certainly was not fired for drugs."

Regardless of Kasich's views or past history, Ohio voters will have the final say in November, when both recreational and medical marijuana are on the ballot.

Explore More
Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.