Policy

Former Drug Czar Advisor Compares Marijuana to Child Pornography

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If you thought former drug czar advisor Paul Chabot couldn't top his claim that alcohol prohibition "actually worked" you would be wrong. Chabot recently appeared on HuffPost Live and compared marijuana to child pornography.

From the Huffington Post:

When asked by HuffPost Washington Bureau Chief Ryan Grim why we keep marijuana illegal, Chabot responded: "Why do we keep heroin, LSD, prostitution, child pornography illegal?"

"Drugs destroy lives," Chabot continued. "We have more addicts in this country today than we have had in a long time. It's a shame, when there are so many issues in the community that we could be working on, there's organizations of people who are not just trying to legalize marijuana but all drugs across the board."

Chabot can count me among those who would legalize "all drugs across the board," and I think that those who share my opinion should be thanking Chabot for his recent statements and actively encouraging him to make more media appearances.

Comparing marijuana to child pornography is a great way to insult millions of people by comparing them to pedophiles. Chabot is a free gift to those of us who would like to see drugs legalized; he is hardly going to make those who are undecided on drug prohibition more likely to support prohibition with the sort of moronic rhetoric he recently displayed.

Thankfully, most people can see beyond bad anti-marijuana arguments. A Quinnipiac poll from last month found that 51 percent of American voters favor legalizing marijuana, with 44 percent still in the prohibition camp. It's hard to see support for legalization of marijuana slipping if Chabot keeps saying that marijuana is comparable to child pornography.