California Gov. Jerry Brown on Legalizing Pot: Americans ‘Need to Stay Alert’

California Gov. Jerry Brown isn’t so stoked about the prospect of legalizing marijuana, and his reasons have to do with our nation’s citizens keeping their edge in an increasingly complex and dangerous world.

Brown articulated his somewhat surprising take, coming from California (considering the Golden State’s long and storied love affair with weed), on Sunday’s “Meet the Press,” as The Associated Press reported that day:

If pot smoking gains more legitimacy in the nation’s most populous state, Brown said he worries it could have negative ripple effects.

“The problem with anything, a certain amount is OK. But there is a tendency to go to extremes,” he said in a wide-ranging interview aired Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “And all of a sudden, if there’s advertising and legitimacy, how many people can get stoned and still have a great state or a great nation?”

That was apparently a rhetorical question, as Brown went on to answer his own question, stating that he believes Americans need to back away from the bongs and “stay alert, if not 24 hours a day, more than some of the potheads might be able to put together.”

–Posted by Kasia Anderson