Chalk this one up as a real head-scratcher.

Pat Robertson, the televangelist who once ran for president, said on his show “The 700 Club” that he thought marijuana should be legalized.

Yep, the Christian conservative preacher who said Hurricane Katrina was God’s way of punishing America for its abortion policy is now on the side of the marijuana lobby.

“I’m not exactly for the use of drugs, don’t get me wrong, but I just believe that criminalizing marijuana, criminalizing the possession of a few ounces of pot, that kind of thing, it’s just, it’s costing us a fortune and it’s ruining young people,” Mr. Robertson said. “Young people go into prisons, they go in as youths and come out as hardened criminals. That’s not a good thing.”

Of course, Mr. Robertson is not alone in his thinking. California’s Proposition 19, which would have legalized marijuana in the state, failed in November, but not before lining up an impressive list of supporters from across the political spectrum.

Representative Ron Paul, the Texas Republican who ran for president in 2008, has advocated leaving the decision about marijuana up to the states. And even Sarah Palin, who opposes legalization, has said she thinks that the police shouldn’t spend a lot of time hunting down offenders.

“If somebody’s going to to smoke a joint in their house and not do anybody else any harm, then perhaps there are other things that the cops should be looking at to engage in,” Ms. Palin said on Fox News last summer.

For Mr. Robertson, the issue appears to be the effect prison terms have on young people who have been arrested for what he said was taking “a couple of puffs” of marijuana. No word, though, if he plans to use his Christian Broadcasting Network to advocate for legalization anytime soon.

UPDATE: A spokesman for Mr. Robertson e-mails to say that he did not intend to suggest support for the legalization of marijuana, but rather to question the severity of the government’s punishments for those who use or possess a small amount of the drug. Here is the statement, from the spokesman, Chris Roslan:

“Dr. Robertson did not call for the decriminalization of marijuana. He was advocating that our government revisit the severity of the existing laws because mandatory drug sentences do harm to many young people who go to prison and come out as hardened criminals. He was also pointing out that these mandatory sentences needlessly cost our government millions of dollars when there are better approaches available. Dr. Robertson’s comments followed a CBN News story about a group of conservatives who have proven that faith-based rehabilitation for criminals has resulted in lower repeat offenders and saved the government millions of dollars. Dr. Robertson unequivocally stated that he is against the use of illegal drugs.”