Travel Celebrity Rick Steves Calls For Illinois To Legalize Pot

CHICAGO, IL — American travel writer and TV personality Rick Steves visited Chicago Tuesday to appear alongside Illinois lawmakers who are advocating for a marijuana legalization bill. At a press conference, Steves called his advocacy an "anti-prohibition movement." He said marijuana should be regulated and taxed.

The PBS star of "Rick Steves' Europe" has long been an advocate of marijuana legalization. He has given numerous talks in different states, and sits on the board of directors for the marijuana-decriminalization group NORML.

"Our courts and prisons are clogged with non-violent people whose only offense is smoking, buying or selling marijuana," Steves posted on NORML's website. "While our nation is in a serious financial crisis, it spends literally billions of dollars annually chasing down responsible adults who are good, tax-paying citizens in all regards except for the occasional use of marijuana."

Steves has clarified he doesn't advocate smoking marijuana, but believes that like tobacco and alcohol, it should be an individual's choice.

"Arresting people for marijuana use is laughable now in most of Europe. Canada is now following the European model," Steves stated on NORML's website. "After ten years of treating marijuana as a medical issue rather than a criminal one in the Netherlands, law enforcement officials there report no increase in the use of pot."

Cook County Commissioners John Fritchey and Luis Arroyo are calling for a referendum on whether recreational marijuana use should be made legal for anyone 21 or older. Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle backed the commissioners, who want to put an advisory referendum on the ballot during the primary election in March. The commissioners clarified they aren't asking for the county board to legalize recreational marijuana use—they are only asking to put it to a vote.

Elaine Thompson/Associated Press