Jimmy Carter, the former U.S. President, has said he backs legalising marijuana.
Speaking on a public panel in Georgia aired by CNN, Carter was asked if he supported the move. I'm in favour of it. I think it’s OK,' he said.
'I don’t think it’s going to happen in Georgia yet, but I think we can watch and see what happens in the state of Washington for instance around Seattle and let the American government and let the American people see does it cause a serious problem or not.'
Last month, Washington state and Colorado voted to legalise the use of recreational marijuana. They were the first states to opt for legalisation, putting the state laws in conflict with federal Controlled Substances Act,.
Carter, who served as president for one term from 1977 to 1981 and was defeated by Ronald Reagan, said that decriminalising drugs would not necessarily lead to more drug users.
'All drugs were decriminalised in Portugal a few years ago and the use of drugs has gone down dramatically and nobody has been put in prison,' he said.
'So I think a few places around the world is good to experiment with and also just a few states in America are good to take the initiative and try something out. That’s the way our country has developed over the last 200 years, is by a few states being experiment stations. On that basis, I'm in favour of it.'
High times: Marijuana users celebrate Washington's new status as the first state in the nation to legalize pot for adult recreational use last ThursdayCarter said that he had wanted to decriminalise marijuana even when he was president.
'When I was president, in 1979 I made my definitive speech about drugs and I called for the decriminalisation of marijuana. This was in 1979 - not for the legalisation but the decriminalisation to keep people from being put in prison just because they were smoking a marijuana cigarette.
'Putting everybody in prison because they have marijuana is a very major step backward, and it ought to be reversed not only in America but around the world.'
