Texas Gov. Rick Perry often complains about "big government" and the overreach of the "federal government," but he strongly supports such laws when it comes to jailing people for using marijuana.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland last month, Gov. Perry even went as far as to link marijuana legalization to murder, noted RawStory.com (video below).

Gov. Perry also claimed that legalizing marijuana would send the message “that it’s OK.”

However, Gov. Perry no made no mention of the dangers of prescription drugs, which cause over 20,000 deaths a year, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

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“I want to share just one thing, or make a response to [United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan] about Portugal and the legalization of drugs there," stated Gov. Perry.

"In the five years since that has occurred there, 40 percent increase in the murder rate in that country," added Gov. Perry. "Anecdotal, I totally understand that, but the fact is we need to look at all of the data, the science.”

However, Portugal's murder rate is 124 per year, compared to Texas, which had 1,144 murders in 2012, notes the FBI.

According to the U.S. State Department, in 2013, Portugal "has low incidences of narcotic-related violent crime," which Gov. Perry failed to mention.



“The question for me is if the economics of this is what really drives this, and we as a society and government say it is OK for you to smoke marijuana, we have decriminalized it, basically say that it is OK for you to use, be thoughtful about it, here are the bad things that come from it, what is that going to cost society?" stated Gov. Perry. "I mean, what is the medical cost to this world when we send that message, when influential men and women stand up in front of these young influenceable young people and say it is OK.”

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Sources: RawStory.com, Centers for Disease Control, FBI, U.S. State Department

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