On The 700 Club, Pat Robertson argued for the decriminalization of marijuana. According to Reverend Robertson:
[T]here’s something else we’ve got to recognize. We’re locking people up that take a couple of puffs of marijuana and the next thing you know they got 10 years. They’ve got mandatory sentences and these judges – they throw up their hands and say, “There’s nothing we can do. It’s mandatory sentences.” We’ve got to take a look at what we’re considering crimes, and that’s one of them. 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. Young people go into prisons, they go in as youths and come out as hardened criminals. That’s not a good thing.
Set aside the fact that decriminalizing marijuana would lead to large increase in its use. Set aside the fact that using marijuana, whose potency today is much greater than in the past, is both physically and mentally harmful. Set aside the fact that, “Marijuana affects levels of dopamine (the substance that gives pleasure) in the brain in a manner similar to heroin. Indeed, marijuana may prime the brain to seek substances such as heroin and cocaine that act in a similar way.” Set aside the fact that it would make the job of parents much harder in teaching their children why they shouldn’t use illegal drugs (if you decriminalize it, you would be removing a powerful disincentive against drug use). And set aside the fact that when government pursues strong anti-drug policies, as we did when William J. Bennett and John Walters were the “drug czars,” we saw a substantial decrease in drug use.
Let’s simply focus on the premise upon which Robertson bases his decriminalization case.
Contrary to the picture painted by Robertson, the story of the young person who takes two puffs on marijuana, maybe for the first time, ends up in prison for 10 years and comes out a hardened criminal is a fairy tale. For all practical purposes, marijuana possession alone never leads to prison. John Walters used to say it’s easier to find a live unicorn than someone in prison solely for a baggie of marijuana in their possession.
Almost all possession convictions that lead to incarceration involve either very large quantities (i.e., major trafficking on the order of 100 lbs.); or a violent/repeat offender; or, if a significant trafficker is arrested on a serious charge and for some reason (witnesses are frightened, the courts are overloaded, et cetera), the original charge is difficult to press. Even local and state police do not lock up kids for a baggie of dope.
At the time of arrest, many bad actors do have drugs on them and the charge is reduced to the possession. They then plead guilty, speeding adjudication and removing them from the street because their prior criminal history makes this something that should not be handled with probation.
Even in California, where a ballot initiative favoring legalization was based on flawed assumptions, a first-time, second-time, or more offender with just possession cannot, by state law, be sentenced to anything other than court supervised treatment. Indeed, the number of drug courts has been exploding over the last decade-and-a-half. What the criminal justice system actually does with drug users is help them get the treatment they need. The criminal justice system is now the single biggest cause for treatment entry.
Perhaps next time, before he emphatically weighs in on an issue, the Revered Robertson might take the time to acquaint himself with the real world rather than a George Soros make-believe one. Otherwise Robertson risks not only being wrong but looking mighty uninformed.
