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.”
