Weedists, We’ve Been Called out As Bitches (at the Polls)

The American Prospect’s May 29th 2012 article on why politicians support the status quo on the War On Drugs has thrown down the gauntlet.  The essence of Paul Waldman’s challenge is:
“When was the last time somebody lost a race for being too tough on drugs? The half of Americans who favor marijuana legalization are not an organized voting bloc that gets together to punish its opponents at the polls.”

Did the statement sting me a little?  I hate to admit that it did and that as much as I want to argue with Paul, I can’t.  It’s ironic for a plant we’re all so passionate about and support in polls, the level of stark contrast vs. the political apathy we show for organizing to demand change and actually showing up to vote.  We’re not even at the stage of making idle threats to politicians yet even though the majority of the US wants to legalize for medical and/or recreational purposes.  We need to rapidly move beyond the stage of idle threats and follow through at the voting booths this November.

On the positive side, we’ve seen several recent amazing advances in wielding our political weight and our collective job is to make sure politicians understand the threat of losing our vote is real if they ignore the will of the majority of their constituents regarding prohibition. Some examples:

1. Ellen Rosenblum Defeats Anti-Marijuana Candidate Dwight Holton To Become Next Oregon Attorney General
2. Rep. Reyes of Texas, an 8 term incumbent, loses in own Democratic primary from his hard stance on marijuana vs. Beto O’Rourke
3. NY Gov. Cuomo proposes reducing marijuana penalty; Bloomberg says it mirrors NYPD directive

There’s a statement I tire of hearing all the time as it’s beyond untrue:  the myth of vote Republicrat or you’ve “wasted” your vote.  Nothing is further from the truth, it sends a huge message that the (no-longer) silent majority will not stand for the prohibition of marijuana by our government.

Gary Johnson @ Hempstalk 2010.

Here is a promise:
If Obama or Romney loses the 2012 election because of votes Gary Johnson ‘takes’ from the other Republicrat, politicians will begin to truly tremble in 2013+. I would be one damn satisfied voter and not for a moment think I ‘wasted’ my vote.  Obama and Romney are two sides of the same coin on cannabis, so it would be a bigger ‘waste’ of my vote to pick one vs. the other.  Penn Jillette’s response to why he’d ‘waste’ his vote on Gary Johnson was “I believe that voting for the lesser of two evils in game theory will always leads to more evil.”

If you’re not familiar with Gary Johnson, take a look at his stances on the failed War on Drugs and Civil Liberties.  Even if you disagree with his other policies, he’s clearly the only candidate who will end the war on cannabis.  Einstein said insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.  Weedists, it’s time we stop hoping Obama ‘evolves’ his position back to his 2008 campaign promises he broke and we and we start supporting a candidate like Gary Johnson.

Even if Romney or Obama matches up best for you vs. Johnson on other (more) critical topics than ending prohibition, Weedist asks you still support Johnson in the national polls occurring now.  Here’s why:  Johnson is polling at 9% now, but needs to poll at 15% to be in the Presidential debates.  Just 1 out of every 3 who support legalization or 1 out of 5 who support medical marijuana need to help Johnson help us.  If you care about ending prohibition, the only chance the topic has to receive POTUS debate coverage is if Gary Johnson is on the stage.  To Obama and Romney there is no need to debate the War on Drugs because they both want to continue the status quo.

This October marks 75 years of federal prohibition. The numbers are now on our side as more step forward.  What can we all do to end it?  Send a message to Washington that we will not tolerate prohibition any longer.  This is our open call to arms through the applied use of democracy!