Illusionist Penn Jillette has urged policy-makers in the U.S. to legalise all drugs, insisting it will make the world a “safer” place for youngsters. The magician wants all narcotics to be decriminalised and regulated to take the multi-million dollar industry out of the hands of violent criminals.
He admits there will be “downsides” to such a drastic measure but is adamant it is the only solution to the world’s growing drug crisis. Jillette tells British magazine Seven, “Well, it’s safer for children to have them legal, in a way. When you have drugs illegal you give people that live outside the law a great deal of power. McDonald’s and Burger King don’t have gang wars…
“(I don’t have) a rosy view: if you make it legal there will be a lot of downsides. But maybe those downsides will be less against innocent people.” Asked how he would feel about his own children using drugs, the father-of-two replies, “I guess we’ll find out. They almost certainly will. I’ve never done drugs. But I’m aware everybody else does, and everybody else does a fine job with it. So I can’t imagine my children will be any different.”