California Governor Jerry Brown is afraid that widespread marijuana legalization could lead to the creation of too many “potheads.” California has had a medical marijuana program since 1996 and it was one of the first states to pursue such a program. More expansive programs have been adopted by states such as Colorado and Washington in recent years however and this has reignited the debate regarding the legal status of marijuana overall. Advocates have been calling for a broader legalization of the drug beyond the medical uses that are permitted by programs such as the one in California. Colorado and Washington have taken a step in that direction but it is still not full legalization.
Brown was confronted with the question regarding marijuana during an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press” program on Sunday. Brown was on the program to discuss running for a fourth term as California governor, but host David Gregory posed the marijuana question. He asked Brown if the programs in states like Colorado and Washington made him consider the possibility of legalized recreational use in California. Brown replied that the world is a dangerous and competitive place in an economic sense and questioned whether a state could remain great if too many people were getting stoned.