Dr. Ben Carson, the world famous neurosurgeon who has flirted with seeking the GOP nomination for president in 2016, now says he has no intention of running.
"Don't hold your breath," Carson told "The Steve Malzberg Show" on Newsmax TV.
"I have never intended to run."
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Carson, former chief for pediatric neurosurgery at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center and founder of Carson Scholarship Fund, has never held a public office.
He says only extraordinary circumstances could drive him to throw his hat in the ring.
"If circumstances presented themselves in such a way that there were a lot of people clamoring for me to do that and there was no other candidate that was really receiving a lot of traction, I would certainly have to give it consideration," Carson said.
That seems unlikely, given there are more than a dozen potential GOP stars mulling runs including New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, and Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas.
Carson told Malzberg he is disturbed by the loosening of marijuana laws across the country.
"Logic has completely gone out of the window. It's been tossed to the wind," he said.
"We have [the] kinds of problems that have in the past destroyed nations facing us and we would like to do almost anything to divert attention by any means necessary rather than rolling up our sleeves and fixing the problems.
"We've reached a point where if it feels good, do it and let's get rid of all of the societal constraints that have, in the past, led us to be a highly civilized group of people."
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