article: Ted Cruz is personally against the legalization of marijuana but the Republican presidential candidate said this weekend that he believes states have the right to put decriminalization laws on the books if they want - even though they directly conflict with federal law. Cruz implied during a conversation with Daily Mail Online on Saturday that if he ascended to the highest elected office he wouldn't make his attorney general enforce federal laws pertaining to marijuana in states that have approved sales and consumption of the drug. The position stands in contrast to the views of at least three of his GOP competitors, who last week said that while they believe in states' rights to self-determination, they'd lay the hammer down on Colorado and Washington for flouting federal law. Republican presidential candidate Sen. Ted CruzCruz implied during a conversation with Daily Mail Online on Saturday that if he ascended to the highest elected office he wouldn't make his attorney general enforce federal laws pertaining to marijuana in states that have approved sales and consumption of the sticky icky . Cruz, pictured here on Sunday in Litchfiled, New Hampshire, at the Londonderry Fish and Game Club, is personally against the legalization of marijuana but said this weekend he believes states have the right to put decriminalization laws on the books if they want - even though they directly conflict with federal law . Asked Saturday during a New Hampshire campaign stop if he would direct his attorney general to enforce federal pot laws, Cruz said ‘yes’ before providing a lengthy answer that indicated he would not. He first said that ‘if the attorney general and the president disagree with federal drug law they should come to Congress’ because Republicans and Democrats can come together on the issue of drug reforms. ‘But it is lawless for the attorney general simply with a stroke of a pen to say we will not enforce these federal laws we disagree with.' He was referring at that time to Eric Holder's Justice Department's decision to look the other way when it comes to minor drug offenses across the country. He then said: ‘There is a different circumstance when you have states that a democratically adopted law that legalizes marijuana.' 'When that happens that's a change in the legal standard, and then you have to apply conflict of law standards,' Cruz, the former solicitor general of the state of Texas, said. 'In my view the question of legalizing marijuana should be a question for the states. Now personally I don't support legalization. If it came up for a vote in the state of Texas, I'd vote no. But I respect the genius of the framers of our Constitution,' he added. Cruz's stance on the issue presents a problem the politician who has said the 'most dangerous' aspect of President Barack Obama's tenure ‘has been lawlessness, the unwillingness of the president to follow federal law or the Constitution.’ Article Six, Clause 2 of the U.S. Constitution, better known as the Supremacy Clause, clearly states that laws established by Congress are 'the supreme law of the land' and the Supreme Court has consistently ruled in favor of the federal government. A strict Constitutionalist who has made a career for himself by bashing Obama for straying from its principles, Cruz's promise to respect the founding document has been at the center of his campaign for presidency. During his gaggle with reporters on Saturday after his speech at the First in the Nation conference in Nashua, New Hampshire, Cruz levied the attack on Obama's lawlessness, then, a minute or two later, in response to another question, said he would not vote in favor of the president's attorney general nominee Loretta Lynch when her name comes up for consideration in the U.S. Senate. The reason for his 'no' vote, he said, is the support for the president’s lawlessness that she demonstrated at her confirmation hearing. The role of the attorney general he said, is 'to remain faithful to the rule of law and the Constitution and the American people’. Cruz was then asked if he’d make his own attorney general follow the rule of law when it comes to federal marijuana policy. JUST SAY NO: Cruz's position stands in contrast to three of his GOP competitors - Marco Rubio, left, Chris Christie, center, and Lindsey Graham, right - who said last week that while they believe in states' rights to self-determination, they'd lay the hammer down on Colorado and Washington for flouting federal law . Cruz shakes hands with Adam Prendible, 8, of Bedford, New Hampshire, at his Sunday stop. Cruz was in town for the First in the Nation forum, held Saturday in Nashua . Daily Mail Online followed up on the statement in an email to Cruz's presidential campaign and pointed out that the constitutional scholar  seemed to arguing that states’ rights should supersede federal law in this specific ‘circumstance’ -  marijuana policy - and that he'd legally get around the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution by claiming that ‘conflict of law standards’ should apply. It further pointed out that the Obama administration's alleged violation of Article II of the Constitution, the section that pertains to the executive branch, is not dissimilar from Cruz's own intentions. Lawyers for the Justice Department have argued in court that the president was within his legal right to act on immigration. Daily Mail Online also pointed out that Cruz's competitors for the GOP nomination - New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, a likely 2016 candidate, and Florida Senator Marco Rubio, an announced contender - were asked a similar question about weed on conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt's show last week and they were clear in their answers. 'Marijuana is a gateway drug,' Christie said after Hewitt asked him if he'd crackdown on weed sales in Colorado and Washington . Citing an 'enormous addiction problem in this country,' Christie said, 'we need to send very clear leadership from the White House on down through the federal law enforcement. 'Marijuana is an illegal drug under federal law. And the states should not be permitted to sell it and profit from it.' Asked for the same thing by Hewitt, Rubio said 'Yes, I think we need to enforce our federal laws.' Rubio, who is also a lawyer by trade, said he's a believer in states' rights, 'but they don’t have a right to write federal policy as well.' Stating for the record his own sentiments on weed, Rubio then said, 'I don’t believe we should be in the business of legalizing additional intoxicants in this country for the primary reason that when you legalize something, what you’re sending a message to young people is it can’t be that bad, because if it was that bad, it wouldn’t be legal.' A CANDIDATE'S BEST FRIEND: Cruz posed for pictures with potential supporters and their pets. A former solicitor general of Texas, Cruz's stance on pot resents a problem the politician who has said the 'most dangerous' aspect of President Barack Obama's tenure ‘has been lawlessness, the unwillingness of the president to follow federal law or the Constitution' Accompanying Cruz on the trip was his wife Heidi. She's pictured here on Sunday at the Londonderry Fish and Game club . In a separate interview with Daily Mail Online, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, who is expected to join the race at the end of May, said he 'would not embrace legalizing marijuana.' Asked if he would crack down on states deploying their own standards for weed sales as president, Graham said, 'The federal law preempts the state law. We just can't just take the law and do what we can't.' In response to Daily Mail Online's email, a spokesperson for Cruz said in a statement: 'Just because federal case law allows the federal government to assert the Supremacy Clause to try to displace state law, does not mean that in every instance the federal government should do so.' The response indicated that Cruz, if president, would not force his attorney general's office to go after states that legalize pot because he doesn't think the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution should be applied in areas where voters have said they want to get high without repercussions. 'The Framers of our Constitution understood cooperative federalism--the overlapping spheres of authority between the federal and state governments--and federal law enforcement can and often should respect and incorporate state law,' the statement from Cruz's campaign continued. 'The voters of the states of Colorado and Washington have made the decision to legalize marijuana, and that is a change in law that alters the appropriate enforcement of federal law.' She also made clear that Cruz is of the opinion that the Department of Justice 'lacks the authority to simply refuse to enforce current federal law' in states that have not passed their own marijuana laws. The couple went to church on Saturday in Auburn, New Hampshire, at the First Assembly God .
highlights: Cruz is personally against the legalization of marijuana but believes states have the right to put decriminalization laws on the books if they want .
  Implied he wouldn't make his AG enforce federal pot laws in states that have approved sales - even though directly conflict with federal law .
  Stands in contrast to the views of at least three of his GOP competitors who said they'd lay the hammer down on Colorado and Washington .
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