Posted on 09/14/2006 10:12:31 AM PDT by GulfBreeze
AUSTIN — Independent gubernatorial candidate Kinky Friedman today called for the decriminalization of marijuana to avoid further clogging state prisons with nonviolent offenders.
ADVERTISEMENT He also said he would favor a review of people already imprisoned on marijuana charges to "rehab them, try to get them back into society."
"We've got to clear some of the room out of the prisons so we can put the bad guys in there, like the pedophiles and the politicians," said Friedman, a humorist and author.
Friedman said he doesn't yet have specifics on how decriminalization would work, including what amount of marijuana a person could possess without being charged. He did say that he doesn't favor making marijuana legally available for purchase.
"I'm not talking about like Amsterdam," he said.
"I agree with (U.S. Sen.) John McCain that we've lost the drug war," Friedman said. "Drugs are more available, they're cheaper.
"It's clear to me, if you've lost the war on drugs then you've got to go some other direction. You can't keep banging your head against the wall."
Friedman's comments on marijuana came one week after he created a controversy in Houston when he said the musicians and artists who fled Hurricane Katrina had returned to New Orleans but the "crackheads and thugs" remained behind. He later added that many evacuees who remain in Houston are good citizens. The candidate said today that crack cocaine "is a different deal" from marijuana.
"Marijuana is a very different situation. It's not like crack and (other) drugs that create violence," he said.
Friedman discussed his prior cocaine use last week in an interview with the Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News. He also has written extensively and talked freely about his cocaine use when he was a satirical musician during the 1970s and early 1980s.
He said the deaths of two close friends spurred him to change his lifestyle and he has not used illegal drugs since 1985, when he left New York to return to Texas and began writing detective novels.
Friedman also added that while he knows most of the New Orleans evacuees are black, "crackheads come in all colors of the rainbow. So do racists." "I'm not a racist. I'm a realist," said Friedman, adding that he is the only gubernatorial candidate addressing the issue of crime in Houston.
Political scientist Bruce Buchanan of the University of Texas at Austin said Friedman is "off the beaten path. There's no question about that. That's his whole schtick."
"By traditional standards, we would all dismiss this out of hand," Buchanan said. But he said that "given the fluidity (of the governor's race) ... we have to wait awhile. The die has not yet been cast."
"He's new to the political game. He's still thinking it through. He still tends to say what he thinks whenever asked. And because of these special circumstances, it might not undermine his candidacy yet," Buchanan said.
Mark Sanders, spokesman for independent gubernatorial candidate Carole Keeton Strayhorn, said, "She is opposed to the legalization of illegal drugs."
Robert Black, spokesman for incumbent Rick Perry, said, "The governor does not agree with Kinky and does not believe marijuana should be legalized."
Democrat Chris Bell also is not in favor of legalizing marijuana.
"Drugs are illegal for a reason," said Bell's campaign manager, Jason Stanford. "The last thing we need is to give kids the message that drugs are OK. They pose a serious problem to our communities."
Libertarian candidate James Werner, however, said he would go further than decriminalization and support the "legalization, taxation and regulation of drugs in order to reduce the tremendous amount of crime associated with drug use and distribution."
"It will be treated like alcohol," Werner said, adding that he would start with marijuana and move toward legalization of all drugs.
Friedman also said he would like to put inmates to work outside the confines of prison walls.
"Let them paint poor people's houses, fix up the state parks, things like that," he said. "It would be good for them and good for us."
Sorry guys...
Now, really, who could disagree with this?
But, but, Imus says he is brilliant.
Agreed.
He should've waited until after the election to say it.
It doesn't matter. He just quit. He has just capped his support level at 20% or so.
Cut out one of the big cross-border businesses (aside from the human trade of course).
Latest Survey USA Poll ..
Perry 35%
Friedman 21%
Bell 20%
Strayhorn 19%
A politician finally gets it. Amazing.
To paraphrase Henry Clay, Kinky apparently would rather be right than be governor.
Willie made me do it.
Kinky needs a bong break.
The worst part about Kinky is he is too close to being right. As long as this country is inundated with illegal Mexicans, we are going to have marijuana. It has become a habit here and in reality the only way that it is going to be controlled is economically. It will have to be treated the same as alcohol. Only when the gubmint legalized and taxed it were they able to control it.
You seem to have a dog in this fight, which leaves me thinking your opinion is a bit tainted.
Why don't you let the Freepers decide who's dead meat.
Sounds to me like he's pushing for the young vote. College kids and the music crowd are going to eat this up.
"You can't keep banging your head against the wall."
Even though I don't touch the stuff, I'm forced to pay for this insanity. More government intrusion, less freedom, higher taxes, where does this end?
The Statesman ran a couple of columns on the Joker the last few days..... a few snips:
"I don't know what I would cut," Friedman said. "How 'bout cutting that last question?"
.......
He admitted that his proposal to pay Mexican generals a bounty for capturing illegal immigrants crossing the border isn't serious but contains a methodology that would work better than current policies.
"The five Mexican generals is a joke that flies close to the truth," he said.
.....
Here's a ping for you. You can argue with these folks
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