5 controversial things Pat Robertson said while hosting ‘The 700 Club’
Marijuana decriminalization
On a March 2012 episode of "The 700 Club," Robertson stated that he believed it was “time we stop locking up people for possession of marijuana,” adding, “We just can't do it anymore.”
"I just think it's shocking how many of these young people wind up in prison and they get turned into hardcore criminals because they had a possession of a very small amount of controlled substance," said Robertson at the time.
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Robertson had made similar comments in a 2010 episode, noting that while he was not a fan of using drugs, he believed that “criminalizing marijuana, criminalizing the possession of a few ounces of pot" is "costing us a fortune" and "ruining young people.”
Robertson’s comments received praise from The Drug Policy Alliance, a group dedicated to ending “The War on Drugs.” The organization thanked the televangelist in a major advertisement in December 2012.
However, Robertson later appeared to backtrack from his earlier position expressing support for two ballot measures to legalize marijuana in Colorado and Washington. He expressed his opposition to Colorado’s legalization of marijuana in a 2014 episode. He insisted that, at most, he supported decriminalization.
