Paul v. Baldwin

Ron Paul says end the War on Drugs (by Photo by Jana Birchum)

Can you say, "train wreck"?

Friday night's Larry King Live resounded with the crash of metal when actor Stephen Baldwin took on Texas' own Liberpublican U.S. Rep. Ron Paul and the subject of marijuana legalization. Baldwin -- who claimed cred on the issue because of his parts in movies Half Baked and Bio-Dome -- said he was bringing the "faith-based, conservative perspective" to the question. (Born again Baldwin runs the Breakthrough Ministry and has dubbed his preachin' self, Stevie B.) "It's a very simple reality: Marijuana leads to doing worse things," Baldwin told Joy Behar, who was filling in for Larry (who, apparently, chose a really good night to be off). "That's just a fact," Baldwin continued. "When you smoke marijuana at a young age, it will usually lead to alcohol abuse and harder drugs."

Baldwin did a good job of parroting the fed claim of a so-called "gateway theory" of drug use, but, as is the case with the narcos who created the theory, Baldwin had no facts to back up the claim. "I think that's silly," Paul responded. Nicotine and alcohol are far more addictive, he noted, so if the gateway theory is true then it should start with nicotine -- and if prohibition is the answer, then alcohol prohibition should be first up on the list, he said. But no one in Congress would go for that, he said. "This is how hysterical the War on Drugs has become," Paul noted.

"Drugs are very dangerous, but there's a lot of things that are very dangerous. The question is, who should regulate danger?" Paul asked. "Should we assume responsibility for ourselves, or should the government take care of us?"