Pro-Marijuana Group Thanks Pat Robertson for 'Support'
The Drug Policy Alliance, a nonprofit organization dedicated to ending America's "War on Drugs," recently thanked evangelical Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson, among others, for his previous comments regarding the legalization of marijuana in a full-page ad.
The New York-based nonprofit reported on Dec. 19 that it took out a full page advertisement in the Thursday, Dec. 20 edition of The New York Times announcing an "end to Prohibition," a reference to the legalization of marijuana in two U.S. states, Washington and Colorado, as a result of the Nov. 6 election.
"We'd also like to thank: President Bill Clinton for acknowledging the drug war's futility and failure; President Jimmy Carter and Pat Robertson for saying it's time to legalize marijuana; Governor Christie for calling the drug war a failure and Governor Cuomo for working to end New York's racially discriminatory marijuana arrest crusade; Congressmen Ron Paul and Barney Frank for introducing the first bill to end federal marijuana prohibition," reads part of the advertisement.
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The advertisement references comments made by Robertson in a March 2012 episode of the Christian Broadcasting Network's "The 700 Club," in which the famed evangelical expressed his opinion regarding the incarceration of young Americans who are arrested for marijuana possession.
"I just think it's shocking how many of these young people wind up in prison and they get turned into hard-core criminals because they had a possession of a very small amount of controlled substance," said Robertson during the broadcast.
"It's time we stop locking up people for possession of marijuana. We just can't do it anymore," the evangelical added.
This is not the first time Robertson has mentioned his support for less strict marijuana laws in America.
In a Dec. 2010 "700 Club" broadcast, Robertson said:
"I'm not exactly for the use of drugs, don't get me wrong, but I just believe that criminalizing marijuana, criminalizing the possession of a few ounces of pot, that kinda thing it's just, it's costing us a fortune and it's ruining young people."
In November, Colorado and Washington became the first states in the U.S. to legalize the use of marijuana, to be regulated in a similar way to alcohol in the U.S.
While marijuana remains illegal under federal law, President Barack Obama recently told ABC News' Barbara Walters that his administration does not intend to pursue legal action against recreational users who choose to use the drug in their legalized state.
"We've got bigger fish to fry," Obama told Walters. "It would not make sense for us to see a top priority as going after recreational users in states that have determined that it's legal."
