Cliches about broken clocks being right twice a day might need to be dragged out for this one. Pat Robertson wants pot to be made legal. He is on the straight-and-420 for this one. Robertson isn’t indulging in just idle, pass-the-bong, give-me-a-hit, don’t-bogart-that-joint talk. This is a serious policy recommendation, which gives off the aroma of prime bud, and which, if taken seriously, could unclog the legislative pipe, cleanse the bong water of our nation’s ludicrous, drunk-on-bad-beer, whiskey-addled, gin-soaked policy on marijuana, and perhaps, hopefully, cure the nation of its reefer madness.
(Even if it includes the usual disclaimer about not having tried marijuana and not intending to. Really Pat? Not even once? Such a long life, so many interesting experiences, and never a toke? Come on, it’s a sacrament. You should include it in your services. Perhaps everyone would mellow out and you would stop with all that crazy talk you’ve subjected us to over the years. I won’t forgive you just yet for all of it, but with this set of statements you might just have started filling out an application for forgiveness. My un-Christian heart could still be turned around.)
From the New York Times report linked above:
I really believe we should treat marijuana the way we treat beverage alcohol…[T]his war on drugs just hasn’t succeeded….[the US] has gone overboard on this concept of being tough on crime…It’s completely out of control…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.
And,
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….Mr. Robertson said that he “absolutely” supported the ballot measures, [in Colorado and Washington, intended to roll back marijuana penalties and prohibitions]
Can you dig it? Legalizing marijuana makes so much sense that even Pat Robertson thinks its the right thing to do. Come on legislators. Put away your wine glasses, cancel your meetings with tobacco lobbyists, don’t fill this month’s painkiller prescription, and get to work on drafting drug policy bills that don’t read like they were written by some pothead. Sorry, I meant vodka-martini-head.
Perhaps, years from now, when marijuana is finally legalized, it will be because the sheer hypocrisy of keeping it illegal, punishing its casual users, and virulently opposing any attempt at rationalizing its regulation, while alcohol is glorified, turned into an indispensable companion for dinners, weddings, sports events, White House banquets, St. Patrick Day’s festivities, into a marker of manhood, an indication of sophistication, will finally become too much for the collective psyche of those engaged in maintaining that status. Perhaps.
If not, then at least those in charge of marijuana policy and enforcement can congratulate themselves that when they talk about the pernicious effects of marijuana they are correct in one sense: Pot can drive you insane and make you do really stupid things. Like not legalizing it.
Samir Chopra 
Well said big guy. I enjoyed the “legislative pipe, bong water” sentence very much.
Ben,
Thanks! Glad you liked it – as you can tell, I was sober when I wrote this post 🙂
Totally agree with the hegemony tobacco & alcohol enjoy as status symbols. Loved the way you pointed that out.
You haven’t addressed it here, but doesn’t money entitle (for the lack of a better word) rich spoilt kids to succumb to the reefer madness and simultaneously not jeopardize their future?, and the stakes are higher(obviously) for unfairly targeted poverty stricken Afro-americans(ideological state apparatus?) If so, what is the issue then?
Would appreciate your thoughts.
Varun,
I agree completely – the war on drugs is classist and racist in its ideology and implementation through and through. It effectively amounts to one more weapon in the arsenal that is brought to bear against the poor. The rich can afford better legal representation and are more likely get off scot-free (a suburban kid busted by his neighborhood cop for smoking a joint will not get into as much trouble as a black teenager in the city). And so on.
Good one Samir, you know the political culture has really gone to the dogs when you find yourself agreeing with Pat Robertson.
David,
Thanks – I think that’s the funniest part of it. Who woulda thunk it? Agreeing with Robertson?
Over-consumption of weed can be detrimental, although NOTHING in comparison to the dangers of alcohol. The war on drugs started, as a thinly veiled way to roll back the gains on the civil rights movement and it is undoubtedly flawed, failed and wasteful of both human and financial capital. It’s high time for legalization and it’s nice to hear at least one loud conservative voice speaking up.
PS The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander is an excellent book on the racial dimensions of mass incarceration.
Noah,
Thanks for your comment and sorry for the late reply. I agree – the angle on rolling back the gains of the CR movement is interesting. You’ve joined the ranks of those recommending the Alexander book, so it looks like I’m going to have to get it!