Not often I agree with Pat Robinson about anything…<\/p>\n
From The Independent<\/em>:<\/a><\/p>\n “We’re locking up people that have taken a couple puffs of marijuana and next thing you know they’ve got 10 years with mandatory sentences,” Mr Robertson said on The 700 Club.<\/p>\n “I’m not exactly for the use of drugs, don’t get me wrong, but I just believe that criminalising marijuana, criminalising the possession of a few ounces of pot, that kinda thing … it’s costing us a fortune and it’s ruining young people,” Robertson went on. “Young people go into prisons, they go in as youths and come out as hardened criminals. That’s not a good thing.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The article goes on to say that the right is moving towards legalization in general. That would be good news, if true:<\/p>\n The right is reconsidering its stance on America’s drug laws in part because of the rise of the Tea Party, which for many of its members is about libertarianism and thwarting government intrusions on personal choice.<\/p>\n It is also about fiscal responsibility \u2013 putting drug offenders in prison drains public coffers \u2013 and about a growing recognition that prohibition in the US is fuelling drug violence in Mexico, a reason cited by Mr Beck.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n But then again:<\/p>\n In October, Newsweek magazine published the results of a survey suggesting that while 25 per cent of Republicans favoured legalising personal marijuana use (compared with 55 per cent for Democrats), that was up 7 percentage points compared with 2005 when the last such poll was taken.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n So I wonder how much of the country would have to be in favor of decriminalization before it actually had a realistic change in state legislatures?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Not often I agree with Pat Robinson about anything… From The Independent: “We’re locking up people that have taken a couple puffs of marijuana and next thing you know they’ve got 10 years with mandatory sentences,” Mr Robertson said on … Continue reading