Pat Robertson Wants the Devil's Weed Decriminalized
[There was a video here]
Whatever happened to the culture warriors? Everyone is either a gay soldier or a black president nowadays. Or perhaps even a pot decriminalizing televangelist? This is old Pat Robertson, now. Pat Robertson is sick of the War on Marijuana.
Robertson's pot comments aired on the December 16 edition of 700 Club, in case you had to miss that one.
"It got to be a big deal in campaigns: 'He's tough on crime,' and 'lock 'em up!'" the Christian Coalition founder said. "That's the way these guys ran and, uh, they got elected. But, that wasn't the answer."
His co-host added that the success of religious-run dormitories for drug and alcohol cessation therapy present an "opportunity" for faith-based communities to lead the way on drug law reforms.
"We're locking up people that have taken a couple puffs of marijuana and next thing you know they've got 10 years with mandatory sentences," Robertson continued. "These judges just say, they throw up their hands and say nothing we can do with these mandatory sentences. We've got to take a look at what we're considering crimes and that's one of 'em.
"I'm ... I'm not exactly for the use of drugs, don't get me wrong, but I just believe that criminalizing marijuana, criminalizing the possession of a few ounces of pot, that kinda thing it's just, it's costing us a fortune and it's ruining young people. Young people go into prisons, they go in as youths and come out as hardened criminals. That's not a good thing."
He's still a vicious dick. I mean, in this same calendar year, he's blamed the Haitian people for bringing the earthquake upon themselves, centuries ago, when they liberated themselves from slavery. But that's a coherent, moderate marijuana policy argument! Even if you don't really care for religious focus of Robertson's take, it's an much-needed argument that can gain traction among social conservatives. This draconian crap will remain a third rail in national politics until more simple, constituent-tailored reasons like this bring political cover.
