Rand Paul on drug laws: ‘I don’t want to put them in jail and ruin their lives’
During an interview on Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace yesterday, Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) was asked a myriad of questions ranging from immigration to same sex marriage.
Wallace asked him about his stand on a less strict drug laws for marijuana.
WALLACE: Let’s talk about the personal sphere, because, you would like to relax some of the laws for people who possess and are smoking marijuana. And you also in the Senate have voted against, in fact, to ban — rather, against a ban on synthetic recreational drugs.
Why are you more lenient on drug laws, sir?
PAUL: The main thing I’ve said is not to legalize them but not to incarcerate people for extended periods of time. So, I’m working with Senator Leahy. We have a bill on mandatory minimums.
There are people in jail for 37, 50, 45 years for nonviolent crimes. And that’s a huge mistake. Or prisons are full of nonviolent criminals.
I don’t want to encourage people to do it. I think even marijuana is a bad thing to do. I think it takes away your incentive to work and show up and do the things that you should be doing. I don’t think it’s a good idea.
I don’t want to promote that but I also don’t want to put people in jail who make the mistake. There are a lot of young people who do this and then later on in their 20s, they grow up and get married and they quit doing things like this, I don’t want to put them in jail and ruin their lives.
Look, the last two presidents could conceivably have been put in jail for their drug use, and I really think, you know, look what would have happened, it would have ruined their lives. They got lucky, but a lot of poor kids, particularly in the inner city, don’t get lucky. They don’t have good attorneys, and they go to jail for these things and I think it’s a big mistake.
WALLACE: Actually, it would be the last three presidents, but who is counting?