Bill Maher Marijuana - Comedian and political satirist Bill Maher has called for the legalization of marijuana across the U.S. and has asked for presidential pardons for those incarcerated for non-violent drug offences.
On Friday, during Real Time With Bill Maher the host also called for an end to asking potential presidential candidates if they used marijuana in the past as a way to vet them.
"You can see the progression. From Clinton copping to it, but still needing to say that he didn't inhale to George W. Bush not denying it, but just saying he wouldn't answer, to Obama who said yeah, I smoked weed. I smoked a lot of it, and I looked cool doing it," Maher said.
"But don't these guys, Clinton, Jeb, W., Obama, don't they all owe a debt to the 40,000 unlucky Americans currently in jail for the exact same crime."
He added that President Obama should not be 'stingy' with pardons, and should offer them to the thousands incarcerated for non-violent drug offenses.
He argued that in the past Republican presidents offered pardons to Southern rebels after the Civil War, draft evaders of the Vietnam War and In 1987 Ronald Reagan gave amnesty to 2.7 million illegal immigrants.
"If Republicans can forgive people for armed insurrection, desertion, and speaking Spanish, a Democrat can forgive us for getting high," Maher said.
Bill Maher also criticized the discriminatory nature of the current U.S. weed laws, saying that parents should at least be honest about it to their children.
"We should at least be honest with our kids and tell them the truth about the drug laws in this country," he said."Kid, if you're gonna experiment, make absolutely certain that beforehand your parents are white and well connected."
