Pat Robertson: Marijuana should be legal
Pat Robertson at the National Press Club February 15, 2005 in Washington, DC. / Getty Images
(AP) RICHMOND, Va. - Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson says marijuana should be legalized and treated like alcohol because the government's war on drugs has failed.
The outspoken evangelical Christian and host of "The 700 Club" on the Virginia Beach-based Christian Broadcasting Network he founded said the war on drugs is costing taxpayers billions of dollars. He said people should not be sent to prison for marijuana possession.
The 81-year-old first became a self-proclaimed "hero of the hippie culture" in 2010 when called for ending mandatory prison sentences for marijuana possession convictions.
"I just think it's shocking how many of these young people wind up in prison and they get turned into hardcore criminals because they had a possession of a very small amount of a controlled substance," Robertson said on his show March 1. "The whole thing is crazy. We've said, `Well, we're conservatives, we're tough on crime.' That's baloney."
Robertson's support for legalizing pot appeared in a New York Times story published Thursday. His spokesman confirmed to AP that Robertson supports legalization with regulation. Robertson was not made available for an interview.
"I really believe we should treat marijuana the way we treat beverage alcohol," Robertson told the newspaper. "If people can go into a liquor store and buy a bottle of alcohol and drink it at home legally, then why do we say that the use of this other substance is somehow criminal?"
Robertson said he "absolutely" supports ballot measures in Colorado and Washington state that would allow people older than 21 to possess a small amount of marijuana and allow for commercial pot sales. Both measures, if passed by voters, would place the states at odds with federal law, which bans marijuana use of all kinds.
While he supports the measures, Robertson said he would not campaign for them and was "not encouraging people to use narcotics in any way, shape or form."
"I'm not a crusader," he said. "I've never used marijuana and I don't intend to, but it's just one of those things that I think: this war on drugs just hasn't succeeded."
In a statement Thursday, Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, said Robertson's "clearly stated and well-reasoned comments throw a curve ball into the growing debate over legalizing marijuana."
"Defenders of marijuana prohibition... must be wondering if it's only a matter of time before theirs proves to be a lost cause," he said.
Christian advocacy group Focus on the Family opposes legalization for medical or recreational use, Carrie Gordon Earll, the organization's senior director of government and public policy, said in a statement. The group would not comment specifically on Robertson's statements.
Sixteen states and the District of Columbia have legalized the medical use of marijuana. Several states also have decriminalized marijuana, which removes or lowers penalties for possession. Legalization, however, would eliminate penalties and pave the way for regulated sales similar to alcohol.
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Other than the last 8 months, I have self medicated for all these years (I'm 56 now) and can see just fine though I am noticing a narrowing of my vision recently. I need to start back up. I quit to get a job that included a drug test. I had NO trouble quitting at all. NO addiction.
I live in Florida. Too bad as this may just be the LAST place on Earth that will ever budge on marijuana and it's use. Governor Scott legislates ALL pleasure and makes all the rules his rules. That's what politicians do. The perception in Florida is that we're primarily retirees and THEY don't want marijuana. Says who? That was true many years ago but that generation has all but died off leaving the next gen to debate this topic.
I know if I get caught saving my eyesight, I will go to jail and will simply go blind there. Pot is the one thing that will arrest my condition and allow me the gift of sight. How can the state legislate THAT? How dare they tell me that I get no help and can simply go blind?
The marijuana laws are archaic and have outlived their usefulness long ago. In all the years of intense study, WHAT BAD had been found? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. And in my case, it's a miracle cure as far as I am concerned.
I consider some of the incredible things that I've SEEN since college and there are truly some amazing things I'd not have wanted to miss. I'd have seen NONE of those things without pot. Think about it.
We should dominate the world's trade in pot and all derivatives, including seeds.
Zero tolerance on imports. Banned as a major felony crime.
Then, maybe we can pay some debt down, and just care a notch less, by drugs of choice, about saving the rest of the world from itself.