Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson leaves the Utah State Capitol after meeting with with legislators on May 18, 2016, in Salt Lake City. The former two-term New Mexico governor is an outspoken supporter of marijuana legalization. (Rick Bowmer, The Associated Press)

Bro hug: Presidential candidate Gary Johnson forgives ex-cabinet member in pot spat

SANTA FE, N.M. — Libertarian presidential candidate and former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson says he forgives a former public safety secretary who resigned over Johnson’s stance on legalizing marijuana.

That former secretary, Darren White, now is CEO and security director of one of the state’s new medical marijuana producers.

Johnson told The Associated Press on Monday that everyone makes mistakes, but he is happy that White has come around and endorsed the legalizations of marijuana.

White stepped down as Johnson’s secretary of the New Mexico Department of Public Safety in 1999, because he publicly disagreed with then-Gov. Gary Johnson’s stand on legalizing marijuana. He later became a two-term Bernalillo County Sheriff.

Today, White says he uses marijuana due to chronic back pain. He endorsed Johnson for president in July.