This article was written by Matt

Whether you subscribe to the ninety-eight percent of mankind who believe in a divine being or you embrace science as your creed, either way marijuana has come across your plate at one time or another. Albeit, you may not have inhaled (right Bill?) or you wake-and-bake every day, the truth of the matter is that the criminalization of this mild substance seems ridiculous. This was the opinion of the wildly popular, 82-year-old evangelical Christian, Pat Robertson, on his March 1st airing of “The 700 Club”. Thank God for at least one religious heavy hitter having come to their senses.

Why Pat’s Outcry
His opinion was in response to the long, unsuccessful ‘war on drugs’ that began during the Reagan years but has officially been in existence since the end of Prohibition. In 1933, once all those FBI cronies had no stills to destroy, it was high time (pun intended) to find another interloper to shut down. Enter the Mexican migrant field worker whose family had been smoking spliffs since Mayan times and lo and behold here was the new enemy, weed. This assault has only made hardened criminals out of recreational users and created street wars amongst dealers that need not be in existence. By convincing the public it is a ‘gateway’ drug (which it is not) it eats up billions of dollars in taxpayer money as well as takes away valuable manpower that is better off being used to fend off the real drugs that are threatening our society, namely: cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine.

What Pat Said
Pat Robertson is quoted as saying, “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. The whole thing is crazy. We’ve said, `Well, we’re conservatives, we’re tough on crime.’ That’s baloney.’’ This is not Robertson’s first comment on marijuana either. In 2010 he became a self-proclaimed “hero of the hippie culture” when he spoke out against ending unnecessary prison sentences handed out to those possessing marijuana.

It’s a Matter of Practicality not Endorsement
Robertson feels that responsible use of pot by those 21 and over is as acceptable as indulging in alcohol and that commercial sale should be allowable as well. He told the NY Times, “I really believe we should treat marijuana the way we treat beverage alcohol. When I was in college, I hit it pretty hard, but that was before Christ. Jesus made water into wine; I don’t think he was a teetotaler.”  Interestingly he has never tried marijuana stating, “I’m not a crusader. 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.’’

Marijuana advocates continue to prove its many health benefits as well as recreational advantages. If people like Pat Robertson continue to stand up for legalization it will only be a matter of time before the Vatican is rolling up their own.

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