TRANSCRIPT: O'REILLY-ZEESE DEBATE MARIJUANA POLICY

O'REILLY: Thanks for staying with us. I'm Bill O'Reilly.

And in the second Unresolved Problem Segment tonight, should the government prosecute people who use marijuana?

Joining us now is a man who doesn't think so. Kevin Zeese is the president of the organization Common Sense for Drug Policy.

So what should the government do with people who are caught possessing marijuana?

KEVIN ZEESE, COMMON SENSE FOR DRUG POLICY: Well, I think we should move toward a decriminalized dealing with possessors as not a criminal offense. We should regulate the sale of marijuana. It's absurd to think that we can really keep marijuana from being a significant business in this country. An ounce of marijuana is worth more than an ounce of gold, and you can grow it in your closet, and so if you think the government can get into people's closets to stop this business, I think you're just not looking at history accurately.

O'REILLY: All right. Get -- let's get very specific. What -- what is your vision for marijuana prosecution in the U.S.?

ZEESE: My vision in the long run is treating it somewhat like alcohol. However, I would not allow national advertising, and I wouldn't allow national brand names.

O'REILLY: So you'd basically legalize it then?

ZEESE: Oh, yeah, I think regulate it. I think tax it.

O'REILLY: Well, how do you regulate it, though? Tell me how that happens.

ZEESE: You regulate it -- you regulate it with age restrictions, with purity controls, with product labeling so that people are given accurateinformation, and...

O'REILLY: And then you let...

ZEESE: ... you continue -- continue to put a lot of money into prevention programs, and I think you particularly invest in after-school programs for kids to keep them involved in life and not...

O'REILLY: All right. So you let...

ZEESE: ... giving them time to waste on drugs.

O'REILLY: ... Nabisco -- you let Nabisco market it, but you don't let them advertise. You can buy it, but you have to be over 18 or 21, and then it -- you just treat it like alcohol. So now...

ZEESE: Right.

O'REILLY: But what you do then is that you add another intoxicant to the market.

ZEESE: Oh, no.

O'REILLY: Alcohol...

ZEESE: Let me...

O'REILLY: Wait. Wait. Let me finish. Let me finish.

ZEESE: It's already -- it's already on the market, and...

O'REILLY: All right. It's on the market, OK, but legally.

ZEESE: Yeah. Right.

O'REILLY: Alcohol is not necessarily an intoxicant. It is in -- when bused, but marijuana is an intoxicant. It's taken, and you get high when you use it. So you -- you add that to society, which is already overwhelmed with addiction problems, and you then say, "OK. We're also going to add this to the -- the drunk-driving situation. We're going to"...

ZEESE: Well, look...

O'REILLY: And you know as well as I do...

ZEESE: Look...

O'REILLY: ... that kids can get any -- kids can get pot, too. I know they can. I'm not...

ZEESE: They certainly can. In fact...

O'REILLY: Sure.

ZEESE: In fact, if you ask -- there are surveys done right now of -- of kids. The kids will tell you that 90 percent of them say marijuana is easy to get. They will tell you marijuana is easier to buy than beer, and I disagree with you saying alcohol is not an intoxicant. It certainly is an intoxicant.

O'REILLY: Well, if you have one drink, you don't...

ZEESE: It's much more serious...

O'REILLY: ... buzzed.

ZEESE: ... intoxicant than marijuana is as far as its effects on you...

O'REILLY: Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. If you -- if you...

ZEESE: ... and as far as comparing marijuana...

O'REILLY: If you smoke one joint...

ZEESE: ... and driving, Bill -- as far as marijuana and driving goes, no one advocates marijuana and driving, certainly not when mixed with alcohol, but if you compare marijuana to alcohol and driving, you'll find marijuana to be a much safer drug.

O'REILLY: Well, that's your opinion.

ZEESE: I'm not advocating marijuana and driving.

O'REILLY: That's your opinion, but the -- the drugs...

ZEESE: No, it's science. No, it's not...

O'REILLY: The DWIs are the same.

ZEESE: No, no. Bill, I'm -- I'm talking...

O'REILLY: The DU...

ZEESE: ... research.

O'REILLY: Mr. Zeese, wait. Time out here.

ZEESE: I'm talking research, not my opinion.

O'REILLY: The DUIs are the same. You're tested with marijuana in your blood. You're tested with alcohol in your blood. You get the same. There's -- you may think it's not as bad, but that's not the way it goes in the law enforcement arena. But now, look, I've got...

ZEESE: Well, no, I'm talking about...

O'REILLY: ... a couple of things...

ZEESE: ... the effect on driving. I'm saying it's more dangerous as far as accidents goes. Alcohol is.

O'REILLY: All right. Fine. Whatever it is. What you have here is a situation where you're adding another intoxicant to the market.

ZEESE: Not adding. Marijuana...

O'REILLY: Legally.

ZEESE: ... is as easy to get...

O'REILLY: Legally you're putting another intoxicant on the market.

ZEESE: No. Here -- here's what you're doing, Bill. You're -- you keep saying adding. What you're doing is you're getting control of an intoxicant that's already on the market. You're getting control of it so we can handle it better as a society.

O'REILLY: I don't see...

ZEESE: Right now, we're not handling it very well.

O'REILLY: I don't see how -- I don't see society handling -- I don't see society handling alcohol real well. So I'm...

ZEESE: We're not handling marijuana real well.

O'REILLY: ... I'm going to disagree with you there. I'm going to say even if it's legal, they're not going to handle it any better, and it would cause more social problems. Now here's what I would do.

ZEESE: I think -- I think we could -- I think we could improve alcohol...

O'REILLY: Here's what I would do.

ZEESE: Well, I'm not going to give you the last word on that. We can certainly improve the way alcohol's regulated. I think we can -- we can learn from our mistake there. But marijuana's disaster right now.

O'REILLY: All right.

ZEESE: Seven hundred thousands arrests each year. It makes up half of the drug arrests in this country. We...

O'REILLY: Here's what I would do, and then I'll -- you can reply to it, OK?

ZEESE: OK.

O'REILLY: I believe that you keep marijuana illegal because you here we have another substance. We keep it illegal. But you don't throw people in jail. There's only less than 1 percent of users in jail now, so it's not a big problem. But you don't -- you don't do that. You fine them. You fine them just as you would anybody publicly drunk or whatever. If you're caught with a DUI, if you're caught with marijuana, it's -- I fine you, and you use the money to pay for drug rehab. Now there's a solution to the problem...

ZEESE: I'm not against...

O'REILLY: ... and that is the perfect solution to it.

ZEESE: It's not a complete solution. I think that's a partial solution. I favor the idea of fines for public intoxication. I favor prosecution for driving. I think though -- you're right about those issues. What you don't deal with is -- is the market, and right now, that's...

O'REILLY: I don't care about the market.

ZEESE: The market's important. The market's where the corruption comes. The market's where the violence comes. The market's where the crime comes.

O'REILLY: If you're selling it, I'm going to put you in jail.

ZEESE: Well, you're going to have...

O'REILLY: I'm going to put you in jail if you're selling it. I don't care.

ZEESE: Yeah. Well, you know, then what you're basically advocating is the alcohol prohibition model. That's what...

O'REILLY: No, I'm not.

ZEESE: That's what we did in the 1920s.

O'REILLY: I'm not going to -- I'm not advocating a prohibition model because it's not a situation where it's one or the other. I'm saying...

ZEESE: That's what happened in the 1920s.

O'REILLY: ... I'm accepting the fact...

ZEESE: Bill, history...

O'REILLY: ... that you guys are going to use marijuana.

ZEESE: Bill...

O'REILLY: I'm...

ZEESE: Bill...

O'REILLY: I'm accepting that.

ZEESE: Bill...

O'REILLY: I'm accepting that you're going to use it.

ZEESE: But you're not -- but you're not -- you're not learning from history. You're repeating the mistakes in history.

O'REILLY: No, I'm not!

ZEESE: During alcohol prohibition, possession and use was not illegal.

O'REILLY: It doesn't...

ZEESE: Only the sale was.

O'REILLY: All I'm saying to you is...

ZEESE: Only the sale was.

O'REILLY: ... I don't want to add to...

ZEESE: So my point is...

O'REILLY: ... society's problems, and...

ZEESE: ... your approach...

O'REILLY: ... I want to pay...

ZEESE: you're going to add to society's problems.

O'REILLY: I want to charge these people...

ZEESE: Well, Bill, you're adding to society's problems because...

O'REILLY: No, you're not.

ZEESE: What you're going to have with that approach is a decriminalized consumer making it -- meaning that there's a market there for people to take advantage of dealers...

O'REILLY: No, Mr. Zeese. No one has the right...

ZEESE: That's what happened...

O'REILLY: ... in this country to use marijuana. That's not a God- given right or a constitutional right.

ZEESE: No. Of course not.

O'REILLY: If you're going to do it...

ZEESE: But also -- also, Bill...

O'REILLY: ... and you get caught, pay for it.

ZEESE: ... where in the Constitution does the government get the power to do what they're doing here?

O'REILLY: No. It's against the law. There it is, Mr. Zeese.

ZEESE: The law needs to be changed.

O'REILLY: OK. We'll let the audience decide. Thank you very much for appearing.

ZEESE: Thank you.

O'REILLY: And directly ahead, you are getting hosed at the the gas pump.