Pat Morita Quotes
You may have heard that back in the States there are some people who are smoking grass. I don't know how you feel, but it's sure easier than cutting the stuff.
Morita, Pat. Quoted in The Comedy Quote Dictionary, edited by Ronald L. Smith, Doubleday, 1992, p. 112.
There are great differences in the law enforcement policies throughout the country. Even when marijuana was illegal in every state, there were gret differences in the vigor with which this illegality was enforced. And local cities, towns and counties also are different. In the case of Pueblo marijuana was illegal in his childhood but the local authorities chose not to enforce those laws. Even within the same city or town there are often differential enforcement policies for different neighborhoods very ften. Also some communities have a strong libertarian viewpoint and there has been a reluctance to enforce lws relating to personal life choices.
This quotation brought him much ridicule. See {585947}. Clinton was of the swing era where there were very negative public views about the morality of using illicit drugs and the character of those who might have used it. So Clinton felt constrained to emphasize that it was only marijuana, the most popular and benign of the illicit drugs, and to emphasize the fact that he did not enjoy it. His successor, however George W. Bush, had been an alcoholic and a heavy cocaine user, but learning from the Clinton error, would never comment about it other than to say that it was wrong and he urged all to avoid drugs.
This remarkable observation turned out to be true even to this day where study after study demonstrates that the average teenager believes that drug use is much more prevalent that it really is.
Noriyuki "Pat" Morita was a Japanese-American actor and comedian. He was known for his roles as Matsuo "Arnold" Takahashi on Happy Days (1975–1983), Mr. Miyagi in The Karate Kid film series, Mike Woo in The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo, and The Emperor of China in Mulan and Mulan II. Morita was nominated for the 1984 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Mr. Miyagi in The Karate Kid, which would be the first of a media franchise in which Morita was the central player for much of his later career. Morita also portrayed Ah Chew in Sanford and Son (1974–1976). Morita was the series lead actor in the television program Mr. T and Tina (1976) and in Ohara (1987–1988), a police-themed drama. The two shows made history for being among the few TV shows with an Asian American series lead.
