ROBERTSON PLEASES POT-LEGALIZATION GROUPS

Television evangelist Pat Robertson has made inflammatory remarks in
recent years that offend gays, Muslims and others, but a recent
comment he made on his Christian Broadcasting Network was more notable
for whom it pleased: people who want to see marijuana legalized.

"We're locking up people that take a couple of puffs of marijuana, and
the next thing you know they've got 10 years," the controversial
pastor said on "The 700 Club" on Dec. 16, in a clip unearthed by
bloggers this week. "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 and that kind of
thing, I mean, it's just, it's costing us a fortune and it's ruining
young people."

It was a surprising admission from a Christian conservative and
favorite target of liberals, who have pounced on his assertions that
the earthquake that devastated Haiti's capital city in January
resulted from a pact with the Devil, for example, or that Hurricane
Katrina was punishment for abortion and the country's general moral
decay.

His views on marijuana lit up the Internet on Thursday because they
seemingly aligned him with liberal groups that have long complained of
the punitive nature of the nation's drug laws. The comments have been
seized on by pro-marijuana groups that cite them as evidence that
their message is gaining traction not only in the mainstream but
within the religious right. ad_icon

"His voice is respected by hundreds of thousands or millions of people
who might not otherwise think about this issue seriously. His comments
were a very important step forward," said Ethan Nadelmann, executive
director of the Drug Policy Alliance, a group that supports legalizing
and taxing marijuana. "The only way that this country's going to end
up with more sensible and sane drug laws is if people call for it from
across the political spectrum."

On Thursday, a CBN spokesman said in an e-mail that Robertson is
"unequivocally" against illegal drug use and that he does not support
legalizing marijuana.

The nation's attitude toward marijuana has changed dramatically over
the past two decades. In an October Washington Post poll, 43 percent
of respondents said they would be in favor of legalizing the
possession of a small amount of marijuana for personal use - up from
22 percent in 1997.

Fifteen states and the District allow marijuana to be used for
medicinal purposes, and there are signs that public consternation is
growing over the sometimes severe punishments doled out for minor drug
offenses. In Montana last week, a group of potential jurors objected
en masse upon learning that a man was arrested on marijuana
possession. The uprising led the prosecution to seek a plea deal.

Self-described conservatives remain the most opposed to legalizing
marijuana, with 69 percent against such a change in the laws in the
Post poll. But there have been recent efforts to convince
conservatives that it is in line with their small-government
philosophy to consider alternatives to imprisonment for minor drug
offenses.

Gary Johnson, a libertarian and former Republican governor of New
Mexico, took his pro-legalization message to tea party rallies this
summer. Gov. Mitchell E. Daniels Jr. (R-Ind.) this month embraced a
proposal to reduce sentences for nonviolent offenders, including some
drug criminals, and to increase access to drug treatment programs - in
the name of government efficiency.

"Conservatives for a long time have supported a one-size-fits-all
solution, which is: Lock them up and throw away the key. There's a
growing realization that it hasn't worked very well and it's been very
expensive," said David Guenthner, spokesman for Right on Crime, a
Texas-based group that advocates for criminal justice reforms from a
conservative perspective. The group does not support decriminalizing
marijuana, however.

Guenthner would not comment on Robertson's remarks, which came after
"The 700 Club" aired a segment on Right on Crime and faith-based
programs in prisons.

"Those men and women want to know the Lord, but there's something else
we've got to recognize. . . . These judges, they say, they throw their
hands up and say, there's nothing we can do because of these mandatory
sentences," Robertson said.

He continued: "We've got to take a look at what we're considering
crimes, and that's one of them. . . . Young people go into prison . .
. as youths and they come out as hardened criminals, and it's not a
good thing."