Pat Robertson: Pot should be legal

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JustaServant said:
More…

hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_PAT_ROBERTSON_MARIJUANA?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-03-08-13-11-19

Actually, this explains a lot…
:cool:
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Glad to hear Pat Robertson has finally come to his senses. OK, maybe that’s going too far. (Actually, I’ve always liked Pat Robertson but usually don’t take much of what he says that seriously.) In some ways, Robertson has always looked for practical solutions: remember he supported Rudy Giuliani for President. Should marijuana be legalized? Why not, if alcohol and nicotine are legal, both of which do more damage? Or let’s go the other way to be consistent: try to make alcohol illegal (again) as well as nicotine. Good luck on that one. The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our drugs but in ourselves.
 
GEddie said:
The difference us that if it is legal, EVERYBODY will use it, because it will be perceived as socially acceptable, versus now when it is mostly a youth-rebellion activity and disapproved of.

The criminals are here to stay. Just as the mob did not go away when prohibition ended, the violent elements in Mexico and elsewhere will find other rackets if dope becomes legal.

ICXC NIKA
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That’s an interesting point, but I wonder if it is true. If cocaine and heroin were legal, would you use them? I know I wouldn’t. Maybe more younger people would, but not more middle-aged or older people. And surely not EVERYBODY; at least, I don’t think so. Or do you believe fewer younger people would use these drugs because they would be socially acceptable?
 
I really in the end am open to the idea, but I do not think enough homework is being done on the issue or on its ramifications.

We always have to recognize that the Law sometimes is a tutor for society, not just an enforcing power. It helps to signal something that is a moral evil and societal evil.

People compare alcohol and marijuana all the time, with marijuana always winning on the balance scale of which less worse. Don’t really believe that for some reason. The Church could weigh in more heavily on the matter as a moral issue. The Bishops need a clear medical/neurological and psychological study of it and see if in fact one puff is a sin or not vs one drink. Is it a behavioural or chemical gateway, as much of law enforcement believes to hard drugs-- even when purchased legally?

As far as all drugs being legal- think again, a narcotic addict is a danger to others around him in a way that far excels other drugs. The worst abuse- sexual and criminal- in the home/workplace occurs under the influence of drugs. You may stop cartels, but you would have no way to put a drug user in rehab or jail, letting him go on the prowl to harm and abuse those around him.
 
I personally think that Pat Robertson has a screw loose. I wouldn’t to him, his theology or anything else that he has to say.
 
Comparison of recreational drugs to alcohol is flawed, because alcohol has always been socially acceptable, even used by our LORD! Therefore prohibiting it (in the USA) was bound to fail.

Dope has never been socially acceptable and in most places, is a youth-rebellion activity. Legalization will send the message that it is acceptable, so almost everybody will use it.

I don’t a priori like the “freedom” costs of the WOD. But the freedom is going away anyhow. And I like the idea of the masses stoning out even less.

ICXC NIKA
 
Pat has some serious “loose cannon” tendencies, but I think he’s right on this one. 👍

The War on Drugs is basically a price support program for organized crime.
 
GEddie said:
Comparison of recreational drugs to alcohol is flawed, because alcohol has always been socially acceptable, even used by our LORD! Therefore prohibiting it (in the USA) was bound to fail.

Dope has never been socially acceptable and in most places, is a youth-rebellion activity. Legalization will send the message that it is acceptable, so almost everybody will use it.

I don’t a priori like the “freedom” costs of the WOD. But the freedom is going away anyhow. And I like the idea of the masses stoning out even less.

ICXC NIKA
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If I recall correctly our Lord turned water into wine at the request of Mother Mary, but I am not aware of Jesus actually partaking in any wine/alcohol? Alcohol is classified as a Poison; WHO states that 2.5 million people worldwide die from alcohol related deaths each year, and because it is socially acceptable it should not be criminalized in the US?

Being socially acceptable should have nothing to do with whether a substance you or I choose to put in our body should be legal. Based on this idea of being socially acceptable, are you comfortable with the fact that 2.5 million people die each year directly related to alcohol related incidents? If you are not, would you move to criminalize Alcohol here in the states again? The obvious answer is that criminalization doesn’t stop demand, but it does hinder it some due to the fact of something no longer being legal.

Overall I think it is important on what grounds we believe something should be legal or illegal. I personally don’t think Marijuana should be illegal from the US government standpoint or from God’s. God put the plant there for a reason, and we know for a fact that the drug has many uses as a medicine and using the hemp. Cancer patients don’t get high when they smoke it, they get relief from their pain and an appetite they would not normally have; without side effects that comes with alternatives. If the logic is that Alcohol is okay in God’s eyes and the Government’s eyes due to the fact that someone can have 1 drink and not be drunk, then the same logic must be used for Marijuana. There are people out there who do not get high off this medicine, and therefore it should not be criminalized at least for Medicinal purposes.
 
Kc906 said:
If I recall correctly our Lord turned water into wine at the request of Mother Mary, but I am not aware of Jesus actually partaking in any wine/alcohol? Alcohol is classified as a Poison; WHO states that 2.5 million people worldwide die from alcohol related deaths each year, and because it is socially acceptable it should not be criminalized in the US?

Being socially acceptable should have nothing to do with whether a substance you or I choose to put in our body should be legal. Based on this idea of being socially acceptable, are you comfortable with the fact that 2.5 million people die each year directly related to alcohol related incidents? If you are not, would you move to criminalize Alcohol here in the states again? The obvious answer is that criminalization doesn’t stop demand, but it does hinder it some due to the fact of something no longer being legal.

Overall I think it is important on what grounds we believe something should be legal or illegal. I personally don’t think Marijuana should be illegal from the US government standpoint or from God’s. God put the plant there for a reason, and we know for a fact that the drug has many uses as a medicine and using the hemp. Cancer patients don’t get high when they smoke it, they get relief from their pain and an appetite they would not normally have; without side effects that comes with alternatives. If the logic is that Alcohol is okay in God’s eyes and the Government’s eyes due to the fact that someone can have 1 drink and not be drunk, then the same logic must be used for Marijuana. There are people out there who do not get high off this medicine, and therefore it should not be criminalized at least for Medicinal purposes.
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1). Our LORD did indeed partake of alcohol, if only on His last night alive, in the Cenaculum with HIS friends. (And the fact that HE, knowing it was the night before His death, was able to partake of alcohol and NOT get blitzed speaks volumes about self control!)
  1. There are many substances used as medicines that are not permissible (legal) to use for fun.
3). The fact that something is “natural” does not mean it belongs in our human bodies. Arsenic, mercury and strychnine are all natural.

ICXC NIKA
 
GEddie said:
1). Our LORD did indeed partake of alcohol, if only on His last night alive, in the Cenaculum with HIS friends. (And the fact that HE, knowing it was the night before His death, was able to partake of alcohol and NOT get blitzed speaks volumes about self control!)
  1. There are many substances used as medicines that are not permissible (legal) to use for fun.
3). The fact that something is “natural” does not mean it belongs in our human bodies. Arsenic, mercury and strychnine are all natural.

ICXC NIKA
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  1. By definition, when Transubstantiation takes place the substance of the wine is changed into the Blood of Jesus, but to our human senses of sight and taste the wine appears to be unchanged. If I am understanding this correctly (not saying I am) then that means when Jesus blessed the cup and said “This is my Blood,” then the cup he drank out of no longer had any true substance of the wine, including the alcoholic content.
  2. I may have strayed on my own since the article states that Pat Robertson is for full legalization, not just for medicinal purposes. To answer you on this, Marijuana is not legal on the Federal level for medicinal purposes, and currently there are 16 states that have legalized Medicinal Marijuana. Either way Federal agents can arrest anyone caught with it, including a person dieing in a hospital bed who is using it to relieve pain.
  3. You are absolutely correct, you must look at each substance on their own to determine how it affects our human species. If the logic used by the Church/God and Government is that a substance like Alcohol is legal due to not becoming “drunk” after one drink, then that should be the standard for other substances in my opinion. Cancer patients and terminally ill patients don’t get high when they smoke or ingest Marijuana, just like people who have 1 drink do not get drunk in most cases (some have quite low tolerances.) I haven’t personally done research, but I would love to see an authentic case where a licensed doctor prescribed a person to drink a certain amount Alcohol or smoke a certain amount of cigarettes. The term double standard comes to mind, but I may not be aware of certain cases. :confused:
Peace to you friend
 
twopekinguys said:
All of this coming from the same man who said it was OK to divorce a spouse with alzheimers.

Go figure.
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Having Eastern European blood in my veins I have a tendancy to be a little superstitious when it comes to that. Robertson needs to be careful with such words, they have a way of coming up from behind and biting one in a very uncomfortable place.
 
P_Siena said:
You may stop cartels, but you would have no way to put a drug user in rehab or jail, letting him go on the prowl to harm and abuse those around him.
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Would not such harm and abuse be illegal in and of itself?

If someone steals your TV in order to sell it, does the law care whether they wanted the money for whiskey or cocaine?

If someone punches you in the face, does the law care whether they were drunk on beer or high on speed?
 
Nicko said:
Would not such harm and abuse be illegal in and of itself?

If someone steals your TV in order to sell it, does the law care whether they wanted the money for whiskey or cocaine?

If someone punches you in the face, does the law care whether they were drunk on beer or high on speed?
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I think their point was that currently, the law can prevent the tv from getting stolen or the punch being thrown by forcing the druggie off the streets.

In the same way, someone who is publically drunk can be put in the tank, but drug use seldom has such obvious external signs.

ICXC NIKA
 
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