Pat Robertson: Legalize Pot!

Bible-thumping televangelist Pat Robertson is used to raising eyebrows—by saying that the tornadoes that have devastated parts of the Midwest could have been prevented by mass prayer, for example. But the 700 Club host has made a bigger splash than usual by declaring he wants to decriminalize marijuana—adding that Christ was never a teetotaler. Naturally, Robertson still managed to get a swipe in at "liberals," blaming them for the punitive laws that jail young people for small-scale possession. "I just think it's shocking how many of these young people wind up in prison and they get turned into hard-core criminals because they had a possession of a very small amount of controlled substance," said Robertson on the March 1 taping of his show. "We've got to take a look at what we're considering crimes and [marijuana use] is one of them. I'm not exactly for use of drugs, don't get me wrong, but I just believe that criminalizing marijuana... is costing us a fortune and ruining young people." Robertson echoed his stance in another interview yesterday, declaring that marijuana should be treated like alcohol and that the War on Drugs has failed.