Paul McCartney, singer and songwriter for the legendary band The Beatles, recently advocated decriminalizing marijuana in an interview with the New Statesman Magazine.
I support [the] decriminalization [of marijuana,]” McCartney said. “People are smoking pot anyway and to make them criminal[s] is wrong.” He added that it was pointless to incarcerate marijuana smokers because that experience exposes them to a legitimate criminal element.
McCartney noted that he spent nine days in a Japanese prison in 1980 after being found in possession of marijuana. He said he learned nothing from it.
When I was jailed in Japan for having pot there was no attempt at rehabilitation,” he said. “They just stuck me in a box.”