Robertson’s remarks highlight cultural shift on pot legalization
Mark this day as a big step toward a major cultural shift. From the Associated Press:
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. …
“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.” …
“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 added. “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.” He has made similar comments in the past, but his reiterating this stance might make his audience pay attention.
His sentiment about the failure of the war on drugs, at least, has been a growing one in conservative ranks. In 2005, Gallup reported that just 21 percent of Republicans, 22 percent of conservatives and 29 percent of Southerners favored general marijuana legalization. By last year, those numbers had increased to 35 percent, 34 percent and 44 percent, respectively. Among all Americans, support for legalization rose to 50 percent last year from 36 percent just six years earlier.
Those are pretty amazing rates of change for a social issue.
As many of you know, I have a 3-year-old son and a 1-month-old son. I am starting to believe that, by the time the oldest is old enough to think about trying marijuana — more than 10 years from now, but less than 15 — it will be legal for adults in this state and many others.
– By Kyle Wingfield
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169 comments Add your comment
A Different Chong of Cheech and Chong Fame
March 8th, 2012
4:30 pm
Any truth to the rumor that Pat will be renaming his program, “The 420 Club”?
Michael H. Smith
March 8th, 2012
4:32 pm
Cute one, Fame!
A Different Chong of Cheech and Chong Fame
March 8th, 2012
4:34 pm
My friend started with mother’s milk. From there to apple juice, eventually to Coca Cola, to marijuana, and finally to crack cocaine.
Outlaw breast feeding!
Do what??????
March 8th, 2012
4:45 pm
“I lived in Holland for 5 years. ”
Holland is a Muslim country now.
I may be out of my mind to you but you should stay out of my business
March 8th, 2012
4:56 pm
Marijuana is not physically addictive. Period. That is not an opinion, but a simple fact. Yes it can be psychologically addictive but so can food, or shopping or pretty much any other behavior. So the idea that marijuana is inherently a gateway drug is preposterous.
Marijuana has virtually NO long term impact on the user and certainly has far fewer impacts than legal alcohol. Period. The marijuana high is completely unlike that of other “harder” drugs which actually alter the chemical balance of the brain. Rather then altering the chemical balance, THC increases the uptake potential of neurotransmitters in certain areas such as the Basal Ganglia, the Hippocampus and the Cerebellum. It is the impacts on these areas that can lead to short term effects such as coordination issues, short-term memory and the dreaded munchies. Once the THC is metabolized out of your system its long term effects are minimal if not non-existent.
Over all the negative impacts of THC on the body and brain PALE in comparison to those of ethyl alcohol readily available even on Sundays now.
People are perfectly entitled to differing opinions on whether or not marijuana should be legal but they are not entitled to their own set of facts.
The days of “Reefer Madness” must be put behind us as should be the days of the religion or morals of other dictating what people do in their own homes. If we are going to champion smaller, less intrusive government then we must be consistent.
A Different Chong of Cheech and Chong Fame
March 8th, 2012
4:56 pm
And America is a Mexican country right now. Your point?
Do what??????
March 8th, 2012
5:00 pm
“And America is a Mexican country right now. Your point?”
Mexicans dont fly planes into buildings.
carlosgvv
March 8th, 2012
5:00 pm
Rick
Drunk driving is illegal because it’s dangerous. Texting is illegal while driving because it’s dangerous. So, are you saying pot smokers should get a free pass?
jconservative
March 8th, 2012
5:00 pm
Kyle, I agree completely with your timeline.
Dusty
March 8th, 2012
5:03 pm
Well, I was reading a report from the USA Department of Drug Enforcement and it was not encouraging.
According to them, when the Netherlands relaxed its laws on marijuana, the use of that substance increased among 18-25 year olds two fold. It doubled, folks.
Since legalization of marijuana, heroin addiction levels in Holland have tripled.
These are statictics from 1984-96 but they do show what happened as soon as legalization of marijuana came to the Netherlands.
If you read more, crime also increased.
I hate to see the legal doors open for a drug that is detrimental in many ways. But, I guess if enough people want to “drug” themselves to death, they will want laws changed so they can do it legally.
Pompano
March 8th, 2012
5:15 pm
Many people actually graduate from Pot to other drugs due to drug testing. It’s actually easier to pass a test when using harder drugs than when using Pot. If Pot were legal, they’d likely stop there.
ESPN did a great special on Todd Marinovich. He changed from Pot to LSD because LSD would not get detected on an NFL drug test.
Rick
March 8th, 2012
5:17 pm
“Drunk driving is illegal because it’s dangerous. Texting is illegal while driving because it’s dangerous. So, are you saying pot smokers should get a free pass?”
Not at all. Notice the first sentence I wrote in that comment: “Obviously driving while under the influence should remain illegal.” My point was that marijuana shouldn’t be illegal simply because it is dangerous to use while driving, as there are an infinite number of things that are dangerous to do while driving. It should be illegal to drive under the influence of any substance, because it increases the chances of you harming someone else. If someone wants to smoke marijuana in the privacy of their own home though, I see no issue with that.
1961_Xer
March 8th, 2012
5:17 pm
@@ wrote: This one’s kinda personal for me. My younger sister started using marijuana and graduated to heroine. The drugs took her out seven years ago.
… And you saw how making those illegal worked out for her. Since you brought it up, this begs two comments:
1. When pot is illegal, then finding it often brings one in contact with unsavory people. The same guy who sells the illegal pot also sells the illegal heroine. Had the pot been legal, she would have never come in contact with those selling heroine.
2. You make the case that criminalization did not help. The money would have been better spent on programs to get her off of those drugs.
Sorry for your loss, but your experience affirms that pot should be legalized. Your gut instinct may say “no way”, but reality shows the folly of your thinking
Dusty
March 8th, 2012
5:20 pm
Sometimes I have to wonder.
Smoking is now seen as taboo and every smoker is predicted to have lung cancer and so will the non-smokers, and children around them So we get NO SMOKING signs everywhere and great penalties to the cigarette companies.
Now we have laws forbiding a habit forming, detrimental drug use and a whole gang of people want us to abolish the laws so they can inhate, inject or whatever no matter what it does to their health.
So throw out your tobacco but bring in your marijuana. And rub your stomach and pat your head while standing on one foot. Makes just as much sense!
Rick
March 8th, 2012
5:21 pm
Dusty,
If you have a link to that, I would like to see it. You should read about how drug decriminalization worked in Portugal http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1893946,00.html.
And again, it is impossible to OD on marijuana so using it you can not “drug yourself to death.”
I may be out of my mind to you but you should stay out of my business
March 8th, 2012
5:21 pm
Dusty,
The “studies” cited by the DEA are cherry picked by the bureaucrats there to justify their continued existence. There have been literally HUNDREDS of studies on the Dutch and Australian Models for the simple reason that research on those models is like having an open, free air laboratory. Overwhelming the studies have shown that legalization of cannabis has NOT led to an increase in overall use of the substance.
There are also many studies inquiring into the “gateway effect” of legalization and those studies OVERWHELMINGLY discount that legalization leads to an increase of the use of other drugs.
As a researcher in this area I can tell you that bias creeps into this area of research at an alarming rate and it is possible, if you begin your research with an eye toward a certain outcome, to slant the research to “prove” your point.
The reality is, however, that the number of studies disproving the “findings” of the DEA are vast in number.
And since when did conservatives trust anything coming out of the government. Be consistent.
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm! Just sayin...
March 8th, 2012
5:22 pm
I always thought it took being caught with like a ton of skunk before you were sent to jail?
I’ll have to remember not to fire one up in Pat’s neighborhood, geez.
Rick
March 8th, 2012
5:24 pm
Dusty,
I think if people want to smoke cigarettes, that is their choice. I agree with stricter regulations for smoking in public though, as secondhand smoke can harm others. Why is personal responsibility such a bad thing? A bigger problem in this country than drug use is obesity. Should the government start banning unheatlhy foods too?
I may be out of my mind to you but you should stay out of my business
March 8th, 2012
5:27 pm
Dusty,
I’m not trying to pick on you but a recent study has confirmed that the cancer risk associated with tobacco use does not extend to marijuana use.
In fact a May 2011 Harvard study shows that THC actually cuts tumor growth rates in half and significantly reduces the ability of the cancer to spread.
So that is yet another myth you cannot rely on in this discussion.
Dusty
March 8th, 2012
5:28 pm
Rick,
I picked that DEA report from google. You can find it.
You don’t overdose on tobacco or marijuana. But they both can be blamed for death at an earlier age.
rightwing troll
March 8th, 2012
5:35 pm
“I guess all those government mandated warnings didn’t work.”
Then what will work? I mean, obviously it’s not working because it’s the government trying…
schnirt
Rick
March 8th, 2012
5:38 pm
Dusty,
It is actually possible to overdose on tobacco. It’s actually called nicotine poisoning. If you’re going to claim marijuana has an effect on life expectancy then let’s see a study that says that.
Aquagirl
March 8th, 2012
5:39 pm
You don’t overdose on tobacco or marijuana. But they both can be blamed for death at an earlier age.
So can Big Macs. But as I recall, conservatives pitched a fit when New York went all nanny-state over food. Matter of fact, weren’t you in that group, Dusty?
Pompano
March 8th, 2012
5:40 pm
The last 3 US Presidents have all admitted to using/trying Pot! BO even had pictures taken with him holding a blunt.
In spite of this, while we often hear of politicians with drinking or prescription drug problems that inhibit their ability to perform their duties, I can’t recall one with a Pot problem.
S
March 8th, 2012
5:41 pm
Well Duh, me thinks old Bubba Pat has been spending to many hours talking to God. Millions have people have thought just that same thing for years and years. We waste billions and billions of $’s on fighting this drug war. Make it legal and sell just as they do alcohol and Tax it to high heaven, like cigarettes.
rightwing troll
March 8th, 2012
5:43 pm
Heh… Dusty relies on the gubbimint for information… heh… talk about cherry picking… either you want the gubbimint out of our lives or you don’t, you don’t get to decide the gubbimint shouldn’t work to discourage cigarette smoking and then point to gubbimint info to buttress your argument to keep an adult from making up thier own mind as to whether or not they wish to inhale somethin you don’t care for… be consistent please.
Don't Tread
March 8th, 2012
5:47 pm
“you have no reasonable way of proving those two things are connected”
No I don’t, but then again I don’t have to prove anything. The US District Attorney who prosecuted the case can easily prove it via confession and interviews of said drug addict/child molester.
Ironically, it turns out that the mother’s pot problem was the catalyst that set all that mess in motion to begin with. (No Dad in the house, as Dad took a hike when Mom refused to give up the pot.)
Dusty
March 8th, 2012
5:48 pm
AquaGirl,
I certainly was against Big Macs. Give me a WHOPPER and I’m happy. BurgerKing is my favorite.
They don’t serve marijuana so you probably haven’t been there.
Dusty
March 8th, 2012
5:58 pm
Right Wing Troll.
I learned a lot from gubbiment. One thing was how to spell “government”. I see you didn’t have that advantage.
Yes, we live in a democratic republic with a fine constitution. So I do expect the government to follow those “instructions”.
When you learn to read you will find that a bloated government raising a mountain of debt was not suggested in the constitution. Perhaps you should call Washington and tell the Obama administration about that little fact. Also learn to spell “bankruptcy” since that is where your Dem led administration is leading us.
Aquagirl
March 8th, 2012
5:58 pm
Give me a WHOPPER and I’m happy.
Oh, the jokes, they write themselves…..
Anyway, I see you’re using the standard prohibitionist defense–completely dodging the logical question (because you have no answer) and falling back on the “pothead” attack. Oh, so predictable.
So, is Pat Robertson a dope fiend? I think some of the Drug War fans are gonna have to choke on this one. Pat is clearly crazy without the influence of drugs. I don’t think they pass a doobie around the prayer circle at the 700 Club.
Rick
March 8th, 2012
6:02 pm
Dusty,
The constitution also didn’t suggest that the government should mandate what we can do with our own bodies.
Ending the drug war, or at least focusing it on drugs that are actually harmful, would save lots and lots of money. In 2010, over $15 billion was spent on the drug war. Plus legalization would increase tax revenue.
Dusty
March 8th, 2012
6:06 pm
Rick,
I don’t need a study to prove that people are dying from drug overdose and addiction. It is on the news every day, quite often a celebrity. And marijuana is the usual introduction to other drugs.
If you don’t believe what is well known, then find your own statictics that prove otherwise.
Michael H. Smith
March 8th, 2012
6:10 pm
You don’t overdose on tobacco or marijuana.
Yes you can overdose on tobacco. Have you ever heard of nicotine poisoning?
Both if smoke either tobacco or marijuana long enough it will eventually lead to COPD.
If you want to live happy and feel good for a likely long time then live and eat healthy.
If you want to kill yourself, then smoke, drink to excess and eat anything you can stuff into your mouth, take every kind of pill, upper, downer, or in-betweener you get get your hands on but don’t come crying about it later on when the dying starts.
Rick
March 8th, 2012
6:14 pm
Dusty,
As I have pointed out, it is impossible to OD on marijuana. And as I also already pointed out, in addition to that most people who use marijuana do not move on to harder drugs, the fact that marijuana is illegal actually contributes to people moving on to other drugs. It puts the buyer into a black market deal where the seller is often going to be pushing you other, harder drugs. If marijuana were legal, that interaction would not occur.
Button Gwinnett
March 8th, 2012
6:14 pm
Nosey Effing Do-Gooders are evil .
.
They never do good……….and they see evil everywhere they look..
.
I own myself.
Butt out of what I want to ingest…and take your government thugs with you.
Dusty
March 8th, 2012
6:18 pm
Rick,
The government is supposed to protect us from harm. Drugs are harmful. YOu might look at it that way.
The cost of treating drug addicts is not cheap. Neither is drug education so children won’t be drug addicts by the time they get out of high school.
I don’t want taxes raised from habit forming drugs.
I don’t want other countries like Mexico and Afghanistan using drugged Americans for their livlihood although they are doing quite well with lawbreakers here. I don’t want legal drug lords here either.
Did I mention I don’t like DRUGS which includes marijuana.?
Rick
March 8th, 2012
6:19 pm
Michael,
Studies have shown that smoking marijuana only does not lead to COPD. Combining it with tobacco does further increase the risk compared to only smoking tobacco though.
Dusty
March 8th, 2012
6:21 pm
Rick
Don’t blame drug addiction on anybody but the drug user. Just say NO.
Aquagirl
March 8th, 2012
6:23 pm
I own myself. Butt out of what I want to ingest…and take your government thugs with you.
Or, take the Dusty approach….let the government tell you which drugs are good, while simultaneously complaining about government overreach because the government can’t be trusted.
Yes, people really do this without their heads exploding from the obvious irony. Amazing.
MarkV
March 8th, 2012
6:26 pm
Dusty,
I see you are waging a battle, in which you are vastly outnumbered, and you do not have good arguments on your side. I cannot offer support, because I do not know what exactly the solution should be. I think those people, who point out to the failure of the current war on drugs, are absolutely right. On the other hand, I think any “legalization” would have to be done very carefully and with safeguards against the problems that concern you. The proponents seem to think it to be a much too simple.
Rick
March 8th, 2012
6:26 pm
Dusty,
The cost of running a drug war and imprisoning people is not cheap. It means police wasting their time when they could be more effectively be stopping violent crime, clogs up the courts with petty drug possession cases, and increases our incarceration rate further. The USA has one of the highest incarceration rates in the world. Your argument fails to realize that the drug war hasn’t been effective. We are not saving money by fighting this war, only wasting it. It far outweighs the cost for treatment of serious drug abuse.
Parts to your argument are actually things that are already going on. We do spend money on drug education, how would legalizing drugs change that? And if drugs are legalized, that takes away the profit from the Mexican drug cartels and puts it in the hand of legitimate businesses. Look at what happened when alcohol became illegal. Al Capone and the mob made their money off of bootlegging, and the same thing is happening now with the drug cartels.
Rick
March 8th, 2012
6:29 pm
“Don’t blame drug addiction on anybody but the drug user. Just say NO.”
We all make our own choices, no doubt about that. It doesn’t change the fact that I pointed out though. The gateway drug theory is a load of crap and is actually contributed to because of prohibition.
Dusty
March 8th, 2012
6:29 pm
AquaGirl
Is Robertson a drug fiend? I don’t know. I have never listened to him.
Who is joking about BurgerKing? Not me. I really enjoy their tasty hamburgers and their polite staff. Sounds like you are afraid to be seen eating good hamburgers. Figures…
Dusty
March 8th, 2012
6:33 pm
Rick..duh!
People are dying every day from drug addiction and you say prohibition caused it. Yeah sure…
You won’t present any statistics but I suppose you are too “laid back”. Just don’t move to the harder stuff like so many do. You, too, might become a statistic.
Michael H. Smith
March 8th, 2012
6:37 pm
Rick
Studies have shown that smoking marijuana only does not lead to COPD/em>
Wrong!
A televised documentary you obviously missed did prove exactly that my friend and it only took about five years to develop COPD from smoking marijuana by the island Rastafarian in that study.
Furthermore Rick,
In the November issue of Chest Physician, the association of regular marijuana smoking with chronic respiratory symptoms was examined in three published studies of young and middle aged adults residing in Los Angeles, California, Wellington, New Zealand and Tuscon, Arizona. “All three studies showed a correlation between the smoking of marijuana and chronic bronchitis, independent of the effects of cigarette smoking.”
http://copd.about.com/b/2008/12/08/does-regular-marijuana-smoking-lead-to-copd.htm
Best update your research of the facts, Rick
tiberius your lightning rod of hate!
March 8th, 2012
6:37 pm
Dusty, the government is supposed to protect us from OTHERS who might harm us. NOT from all harm.
My only issue with legalizing pot is stiffer penalties for DUI accidents.
MarkV
March 8th, 2012
6:38 pm
At least this discussion is a respite from the usual Obama bashing.
Aquagirl
March 8th, 2012
6:42 pm
Sounds like you are afraid to be seen eating good hamburgers. Figures…
I know you’ve abandoned all logic when you mention “good hamburgers” in conjunction with Burger King. I’ve heard you say crazy things before, but that..for the love of God, get hold of yourself!
Pat Robertson Is One Of You (A Conservative)
March 8th, 2012
6:45 pm
@Do what??????
March 8th, 2012
3:13 pm
“Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson says marijuana should be legalized and treated like alcohol because the government’s war on drugs has failed.”
And the left rejoiced. Amen.
**************************************************************************
Pat Robertson Is One Of You (A Conservative).
How you like them apples?
Dusty
March 8th, 2012
6:47 pm
MarkV
I believe I have some good arguments on my side. You don’t see many here against drugs because the people who don’t use them are not here wanting to make them legal. They don’t care until it hits home. Do you not believe that the use of marijuana often leads to hard drugs? I do.
Perhaps some changes in the laws would be effective. Putting young people in jail for trying a small amount seems a bit drastic. But I do believe that is when it often starts. So some punishment or education or something should be done at that time.
As you said,”any legalization would have to be done carefully”. Very carefully indeed.