Alaska's sole congressman, Don Young, spoke at a Native issues forum in Juneau on Tuesday, answering audience questions in classic Don Young style.
In a meeting sponsored by the Central Council Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska and Sealaska Corp., which was live-streamed online, Young, 83, held forth on the Trump phenomenon, legalized marijuana, dealing with Alaska's growing heroin problem, and his future in Congress.
On Donald Trump:
Young was asked his feelings on the GOP presidential race. In a radio interview last week, the congressman declared his support for Ohio Gov. John Kasich and implied that he questions real estate mogul Donald Trump's qualifications when it comes to the economy.
In Juneau, he was more forthcoming in his views on Trump.
"I'm starting a write-in campaign for Don Young; how's that sound?" Young joked. "I'm a little frustrated in (the) sense that anybody can join any party," he said. With just $100, "Jack the Ripper" could run for Congress in Alaska, he said.
"I am not happy with the way this presidential nomination works. I haven't been happy for a long time. These are not debates. That's the biggest joke," Young said. "I'm not worried about the size of your hand, or your wife's looks, or all these other things. It's silliness," he said, alluding to Trump's repeated interest in defending the size of his hands and his efforts to malign the appearance of Heidi Cruz, the wife of Sen. Ted Cruz, in a line that garnered applause from the audience.
"And the media loves it … and we're dumb enough to watch it," Young said. "And I'm not supporting Donald Trump. I've said that publicly. I'm supporting Kasich. Because I think he's the smartest one of the bunch. But the people don't think he has any pizzazz. He happens to have one of the best brains, got the experience, knows how to do the job, (but) 'Oh, he's not exciting enough,' " Young said.
"Now who do I blame?" he asked, pointing to the audience. "The people. A bunch of idiots following Pied Piper over the edge of the cliff. That's who I blame. They ought to know better than that. I mean, nobody wants to read anymore. No one wants to find out the background anymore. And they blame Donald Trump. I blame the people."
On marijuana legalization:
Don Young has never smoked marijuana, but he's happy to defend Alaskans' rights to do so, he said Tuesday. He railed against putting users in jail, and even touted the quality of Interior Alaska's weed.
The issue of marijuana legalization in Alaska "is very frankly dear to my heart, because I do believe in states' rights and individual rights," Young said, noting that he has signed on to bills in Congress that would expand the state's ability to make a go of legal marijuana. "Either you're for states' rights or you're against it. You can't have it both ways."
"The second thing is, I have never smoked marijuana. Now, I have a lot of my, frankly, relatives that do ... They were smoking it long before most of you were born, by the way. Very prevalent, especially in Interior -- we grow great stuff up there," he added.
"But it is habit-forming; I don't care what they say. It is a detriment to the individual. It is less violent than alcohol," Young said.
But when it comes to more testing -- the state's on its own, Young said. The "state legalized it, they also ought to have a program -- take some of the tax money and use it to study the effects of marijuana over a long period of time."
"We had legalized marijuana in the state of Alaska for 12 years. And it was no big deal. And we re-criminalized it because we didn't get the money to work on cocaine, and heroin and the other types of drugs we had. So we re-criminalized so that we'd get the federal dollars," Young said.
Young also took issue with using taxpayer money to put drug users in jail. "We're spending more money now on prisoners than we are (on) students. Now does that make sense? And we want to build more jails! What is the crime a person committed? He smoked a joint," Young said.
Young said it is a "waste of human life" to put drug users in jail when they have committed no other crimes. "And we don't come to grips with this, we're not going to be able to survive as a society. It's a waste of humanity."
On hard drugs:
When it comes to heroin and other "hard" drugs spreading across the state, Young advocated prevention and education -- and death for dealers.
Heroin addiction has become an epidemic nationwide, and Young advocated focusing on prevention -- finding out "why people are using it" and requiring community service, rather than punishing offenders with jail time.
But for dealers, he had another route:
"I have the D&D program: You're dealing, you're dead. That solves the problem. Now, I betcha we can't do that. Now when's the last time you saw a dealer being prosecuted?" Young said, adding that he feels drug dealers are essentially murderers.
And in villages, Young urged local responsibility for ferreting out those bringing in drugs.
"There isn't a village that doesn't know who the dealer is. Now, may be your cousin, may be your brother, may be your sister, may be your wife or your husband. But the dealer is guilty," Young said.
Young said he supports new federal funds headed to Alaska for treatment and education.
Getting rid of the dealers is "going to take a little bit of courage on your own behalf," Young told the audience. "You always can't expect somebody to do it for you. And you should have a right under the courts and with the legal aspect of the villages, especially," to do what is necessary.
"It's something we all have to solve together. We can't do it by government edict, by passing a law. It has to be giving you help for treatment, and also prevention, and make sure that individuals committing that murder … make sure they pay for it."
On dating in his 80s, and his new wife:
Young, who married in July, fawned a bit over his new wife, and passed along some dating advice for other widowers in the crowd.
"And for you guys that might lose your wives -- the chasing's not fun. Believe me. In the first place, your legs are not what they were before. That's number one. And then you forget what you're going to do when you catch it."
His plans for (re)election:
Young isn't planning to retire any time soon, and is feeling vigorous despite his advanced age, he said Tuesday.
"I've said a lot of times, if I can find a young man or a young woman that believes in this state, and believes in the House of Representatives, and would stay there instead of running for governor, or running for senator, I might support 'em," Young said.
"But right now, I'm running hard ... I'll probably run in '85 -- excuse me, 2018," he said.
"I enjoy what I do. I like what I do. And I truly will fight till my last dying breath for the state of Alaska -- Alaska Natives especially," he said.
Young told the crowd that he has never wanted to be a senator. He wanted to run for governor in 1980, he said. But his first wife, Lu, "looked at me with those Athabascan eyes and said, 'No, you're not running for governor.' And I said, 'Why not?' And she said, 'You have to be a son of a bitch to be a good governor,' " Young relayed.
"And that sort of hurt my feelings, quite frankly. I thought I was."
One more Young-ism for the road:
"I've always said in this business perseverance overcomes intelligence any day of the year. And I'm a classic example. My perseverance will whip my intelligence any day of the year. I'll chew on your leg until they finally take and cut it off."