DAILY BEAST: Well, he isn’t for legalizing the drug but the Governor of Texas, in the rather un-Texan setting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, endorsed taking steps towards decriminalizing cannabis possession on Thursday.
In a panel at the prestigious [Davos] forum, Perry said: “What I can do as the governor of the second largest state in the nation is to implement policies that start us toward a decriminalization and keeps people from going to prison and destroying their lives, and that’s what we’ve done over the last decade.”
In a statement to the San Antonio Express-News, Lucy Nashed, a Perry spokeswoman attempted to clarify the governor’s position. “Legalization is no penalty at all whereas decriminalization doesn’t necessarily mean jail time (for minor possession offenses),” she said. “It means more of a fine or counseling or some sort of program where you don’t end up in jail but in a rehabilitative program.” … (more)