The ex-Presidential candidate and outspoken right wing activist stumped all with his latest views on marijuana. His comments made in an interview on Wednesday follow the line he has taken in earlier statements in 2010 and comments made last week on the Christian Broadcasting Network’s “The 700 Club” show.
Mr. Robertson said, “I really believe we should treat marijuana the way we treat beverage alcohol … 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.” Pat Robertson further added, “I believe in working with the hearts of people, and not locking them up.”
Robertson’s remarks were immediately lapped up and hailed by groups in support of marijuana legalization. Pro-marijuana groups said Pat’s remarks were an important endorsement of their efforts to remove penalties and prohibitions on marijuana use.
The issues over marijuana legalization would be soon put to the ballot in Colorado and Washington. Robertson said that though he would not be campaigning for the legalization of marijuana personally, he “absolutely” supported the ballot measures.
Mr. Robertson, 81, also said that he had never embraced legalization of marijuana, but he was convinced that the nation “has gone overboard on this concept of being tough on crime.” According to Pat, government interference in the lives of people should be balanced and be in line with social realities. “It’s completely out of control,” said Pat, “Prisons are being overcrowded with juvenile offenders having to do with drugs. And the penalties, the maximums, some of them could get 10 years for possession of a joint of marijuana. It makes no sense at all.” Talking on other evangelical leaders, Pat Robertson said that “I think they would agree if they understood the facts as I do.”
However, speaking on the issue of legalization, Pat drew the clear line that what he was against was a hyperactive legal system dealing in disproportionate fear and penalties. He said that he was “not encouraging people to use narcotics in any way, shape or form.” However, Pat was again clear that he found little difference between smoking marijuana and drinking alcohol.
Mr. Robertson noted that no directive over marijuana use was found in the Bible though “Jesus made water into wine.”
Mr. Robertson, a devout Christian leader, is also known to have commented recently that the victims of tornadoes in the Midwest could have escaped their fate had they prayed more.
Let all men know how empty and worthless is the power of prohibitionists. For there is none worthy of the name but ‘God’s market forces’, whom heaven, earth and sea obey.
An appeal to all Prohibitionists:
Most of us know that individuals who use illegal drugs are going to get high – no matter what, so why do you not prefer they acquire them in stores that check IDs and pay taxes? Even if we could afford to put anti-narcotic police on every single street corner, we also know that at least half of them would soon become dealers themselves. Gifting the market in narcotics to ruthless criminals, foreign terrorists and corrupt law enforcement officials is seriously compromising our future.
We simply cannot continue with a policy that has proven itself to be a poison in the veins of practically every free nation on this planet. Even if you cannot bear the thought of people using drugs, there is absolutely nothing you, or any government, can do to stop them. We have spent 40 years and trillions of dollars on this dangerous farce; Prohibition will not suddenly and miraculously start showing different results.
Do you actually believe you may personally have something to lose If we were to begin basing drug policy on science & logic instead of ignorance, hate and lies? Maybe you’re a police officer, a prison guard or a local/national politician. Possibly you’re scared of losing employment, overtime-pay, the many kick-backs and those regular fat bribes. But what good will any of that do you once our society has followed Mexico over the dystopian abyss of dismembered bodies, vats of acid and marauding thugs carrying gold-plated AK-47s with leopard-skinned gunstocks?
You may find lies easier to tell, but they do nothing to prevent the existence of truth, they do nothing to help you sleep at night, and they do absolutely nothing to help those who depend on you for their safety and health.
Kindly allow us to forgo the next level of your sycophantic prohibition-engendered mayhem!
Prohibition Prevents Regulation : Legalize, Regulate and Tax!