article: Dope smokers beware: If Marco Rubio or Chris Christie manage to elbow out the competition and win the White House in 2016, they'll crack down on pot in states that have legalized marijuana. The Republican presidential hopefuls told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt in separate interviews on Tuesday that they'd enforce federal drug laws and block the sale of marijuana in Colorado and Washington. 'Marijuana is a gateway drug,' Christie said, citing an 'enormous addiction problem in this country.' 'And 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.' New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, center, makes a campaign stop at Rockingham County GOP Happy Hour on Tuesday in Newmarket, New Hampshire, with his wife Mary Pat, right. During a radio interview that day, Christie, a candidate-in-waiting, said, 'Marijuana is a gateway drug' and claimed America has an 'enormous addiction problem.' he added, 'We need to send very clear leadership from the White House on down through the federal law enforcement' U.S. Senator Marco Rubio is pictured here on Monday with his wife Jeanette as he announces his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination during a Miami, Florida, event. Talking about weed on Tuesday, he said, 'I think we need to enforce our federal laws' Asked for his position on the topic, Rubio said 'I think we need to enforce our federal laws.' Rubio, who on Monday made official his candidacy, said he believes in states' rights - but laws created by the federal government legally supersede those of the states. '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,' the Florida senator said. Questioned about cannabis last year by ABC News' Jon Karl, Rubio took a hard-line stance, saying, 'I think there’s no responsible way to recreationally use marijuana.' 'I don’t want my kids to smoke marijuana, and I don’t want other people’s kids to smoke marijuana,' he said at the time. He refused to tell Karl if he'd engaged in any marijuana-related youthful indiscretions, arguing that his answer would either set a bad example for young people or make him look like a liar. Christie has also forcefully denounced marijuana legalization, saying last March, 'I don't favor legalization. I don't favor recreational use. I don't favor decriminalization. And I don't favor the use of marijuana as a medicine.' Texas Senator Ted Cruz, the first Republican to officially enter the 2016 race, also supports stricter enforcement of current law and has said he is against legalizing weed. He's also said he's willing to have an 'intelligent conversation' about drug policy, however. Other GOP contenders, Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, who tossed his hat in the ring last week, and former Texas Governor Rick Perry, a presumed candidate, have taken a softer approach to the budding discussion - they're in favor decriminalization. The youngest major presidential candidate this election season, 43-year-old Rubio is presenting himself as a fresh face with forward-thinking ideas compared to candidates of 'yesterday' - a not-so-subtle attack on 67-year-old Democrat Hillary Clinton. He's pictured here at his campaign launch with his wife and four children . Christie and his wife Mary Pat greet diners at Chez Vachon in Manchester, New Hampshire. The governor is on a four-day swing through the first in the nation primary state as he explores a run for the Republican nomination for president.  Christie said in his interview Tuesday he thinks he thinks Clinton is vulnerable and promised, 'If I run, I will beat her' The youngest major presidential candidate this election season, 43-year-old Rubio is presenting himself as a fresh face with forward-thinking ideas compared to candidates of 'yesterday' - a not-so-subtle attack on 67-year-old Democrat Hillary Clinton. In the course of his conversation with Hewitt on Tuesday Rubio defended his framing of Clinton as past her prime and said he was knocking her 'ideas,' not her age. 'Age is a legitimate issue,' he said, 'not the age of the people, the age of their ideas...I’m just saying that the things that worked in the last century don’t work that well now.' The jobs that served as the base of our economy before 'either don’t exist' now or 'they have been shipped overseas or they don’t pay what they once used to relative to the cost of living,' he said, asserting that 'we have to fully embrace the opportunities of the 21st Century.' 'We need leaders that understand that and have an idea about how the 21st Century can also be a new American century.' He later predicted that Clinton would 'struggle to connect with everyday Americans and their struggles of daily life' on the campaign trail. 'I mean, and that’s a big problem,' he said. 'That’s one of the reasons why her ideas are so outdated. They’re still ideas based on an era that came and went.' Christie said in his interview with Hewitt that he also thinks Clinton is vulnerable and promised, 'If I run, I will beat her.'
highlights: 'We need to send very clear leadership from the White House...' Christie said. 'And the states should not be permitted to sell it and profit from it'
  Rubio said: 'I think we need to enforce our federal laws'
  'I don’t believe we should be in the business of legalizing additional intoxicants in this country,' he added - it sends a bad message to youth .
  He also defended his framing of Hillary Clinton as past her prime and said he was knocking her 'ideas,' not her age .
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