Pat Robertson Says Marijuana Use Should be Legal
Jesse McKinley ("The New York Times," March 7, 2012)
USA - Of the many roles Pat Robertson has assumed over his five-decade-long
career as an evangelical leader — including presidential candidate and
provocative voice of the right wing — his newest guise may perhaps surprise
his followers the most: marijuana legalization advocate.
“I really believe we should treat marijuana the way we treat beverage
alcohol,” Mr. Robertson said in an interview on Wednesday. “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.”
Mr. Robertson’s remarks echoed statements he made last week on “The 700
Club,” the signature program of his Christian Broadcasting Network, and other
comments he made in 2010. While those earlier remarks were largely
dismissed by his followers, Mr. Robertson has now apparently fully embraced
the
idea of legalizing marijuana, arguing that it is a way to bring down soaring
rates of incarceration and reduce the social and financial costs.
“I believe in working with the hearts of people, and not locking them up,”
he said.
Mr. Robertson’s remarks were hailed by pro-legalization groups, who called
them a potentially important endorsement in their efforts to roll back
marijuana penalties and prohibitions, which residents of Colorado and
Washington will vote on this fall.
“I love him, man, I really do,” said Neill Franklin, executive director of
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, a group of current and former law
enforcement officials who oppose the drug war. “He’s singing my song.”
For his part, Mr. Robertson said that he “absolutely” supported the ballot
measures, though he would not campaign for them. “I’m not a crusader,” he
said.
That comment may invite debate, considering Mr. Robertson’s long career of
speaking out — and sometimes in ways that drew harsh criticism — in favor
of conservative family values. Recently, he was quoted as saying that
victims of tornadoes in the Midwest could have avoided their fate by praying
more.
But advocates of overhauling drug laws say Mr. Robertson’s newfound passion
on their issue could help sway conservative voters and other religious
leaders to their cause.
“Pat Robertson still has an audience of millions of people, and they
respect what he has to say,” said Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the
Drug
Policy Alliance, which advocates for more liberal drug laws. “And he’s
not backtracking. He’s doubling down.”
Mr. Robertson, 81, said that there had been no single event or moment that
caused him to embrace legalization. Instead, his conviction that the nation
“has gone overboard on this concept of being tough on crime” built up
over time, he added.
“It’s completely out of control,” Mr. Robertson said. “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.”
Such talk was welcomed by some other religious leaders, especially those in
African-American communities who have long argued that blacks are unfairly
targeted in drug cases.
Iva E. Carruthers, the general secretary for the Samuel DeWitt Proctor
Conference, the Chicago group that represents hundreds of black clergy members
and lay leaders, said Mr. Robertson’s remarks suggested that he recognized
that “if you’re a Hollywood exec with money, you’re treated differently
than if you’re a poor kid getting off public transportation and get arrested.”
“I would hope and think that it would move the needle for the large
constituencies of evangelicals he represents,” Dr. Carruthers added.
She said that she personally supported marijuana legalization, as did a
growing number of conference members. But whether Mr. Robertson’s endorsement
would have a lasting impact was unclear, even to Mr. Robertson.
“I think they would agree if they understood the facts as I do,” he said
of other evangelical leaders. “But it’s very hard.”
He attributed much of the problem of overpopulated jails to a “liberal
mindset to have an all-encompassing government.”
Conservative groups that usually align with Mr. Robertson, meanwhile, were
largely silent when asked for comment on his stance. For example, Focus on
the Family — a Christian group whose disdain for same-sex marriage and
support for family values are in line with Mr. Robertson’s — declined to
respond beyond saying that the group opposes legalization of marijuana for
medical or recreational use.
For his part, Mr. Robertson said he was “not encouraging people to use
narcotics in any way, shape or form.” But he said he saw little difference
between smoking marijuana and drinking alcohol, a longstanding argument from
far more liberal — and libertarian-minded — leaders.
“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?” he said.
Mr. Franklin, who is a Christian, said Mr. Robertson’s position was
actually in line with the Gospel. “If you follow the teaching of Christ, you
know
that Christ is a compassionate man,” he said. “And he would not condone
the imprisoning of people for nonviolent offenses.”
Mr. Robertson said he enjoyed a glass of wine now and then — “When I was
in college, I hit it pretty hard, but that was before Christ.” He added that
he did not think marijuana appeared in the Bible, though he noted that “
Jesus made water into wine.”
“I don’t think he was a teetotaler,” he said.
And while Mr. Robertson said his earlier hints at support for legalization
had led to him being “assailed by those who thought that it was terrible
that I had forsaken the straight and narrow,” he added that he was not
worried about criticism this time around.
“I just want to be on the right side,” he said. “And I think on this one, I
’m on the right side.”
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