The dust is settling. My brain is beginning to wrap around the concept that Colorado and Washington passed weed legalization measures on Tuesday. While obviously it is not the end all for reform, it is a MAJOR step forward in ending cannabis prohibition. If you do not believe me then you are just not paying attention.
The media has picked up the story and ran with it. There are literally THOUSANDS OF NEWS STORIES discussing this new found freedom and the failed policies of current drug laws. It is AWESOME! I could not be more excited.
A watershed moment is happening in America, and I am knee deep in it. The efforts of activists and supporters have come to bear fruit, and we have forced our nation to have a serious discussion on drug policy…at least for weed. That is a major step, and one that we can certainly capitalize from. If we play our cards right, we should be able to crush the drug warriors in months…not years as some are suggesting.
“BUT HOW?”
Great question. The simple answer is strategy and coordination. It will take the whole damn village, but we are at a point where we can seize the moment and put a final nail in the coffin of prohibition; or we could blow it again, a la Peter Bourne.
We have an opportunity in front of us like never before, and we should take it and run with it. Now is not the time to hold back, or to make half-measure claims that reflect a desire to carry on the status quo for one day longer in hopes of better days 4 years from now. The only people who want to preserve the current cannabis structure are the folks that make their living selling overpriced weed to really sick 20 somethings, or who make their living from people going to jail for weed.
Anything less than a full-frontal attack on this nation’s failed policies on cannabis will be a huge opportunity cost to this movement, and the millions of stoners it is supposed to represent. Now is the time for the KILL SHOT.
Any person or group who loves weed (or who love people who love weed) MUST come together, find a clear message to rally around, and we must present our case loudly and effectively to the American people. All eyes are on us. If we do not take the kill shot, no one will.
At this moment in history, the hunter has become the hunted; and we have drug warriors scrambling to make sense of it all.
As the question continues to be asked, “Why do we take people to jail for weed?,” we must be there to expose the evils and injustices of these policies. We must be the voice for the hundreds of thousands of good people who are behind bars today for weed. We are the voices of the parents who have had their kids taken over weed. We are the voices of the millions of people whose rights are violated every day as officers search their cars and property because they say they smell weed. We are the ones that must stand up and hold these war criminals accountable for their crimes against humanity .
I call for a coming together of all factions of this movement in a bold effort to make this final push for real reform. We are on the doorstep of progress, and we have got to do what it takes to get this job done. Now is the time to set down personal, and organizational, differences and objectives and focus on one thing…cannabis freedom. The message is simple….“What we are doing is not working. We must end cannabis prohibition. This immoral and unjust policy has gone on long enough.”
Now is the time to organize and put everything we have into campaigning for a meaningful end to prohibition. We must form alliances with organizations aimed at stopping mass incarceration, and groups that protect human rights and minorities. We have got to get our boots on the ground…and on the phone, in social media, through emails, etc. There has never been a moment in the history of cannabis prohibition where so many people have been focused directly on this issue. We must use this energy to our advantage, and create massive awareness campaigns to hammer the message home.
We have the public eating from our hand’s right now and we must feed them a heavy dose of reality….taking people to jail for weed is an enormous failure, and a costly one. Also, we must uplift the public and empower them. We must make them understand that this is a matter of freedom and it is the right thing to do. We must send the message that WE ARE BETTER THAN THIS.
Because we are better than this. Prohibition and the drug war have ruined massive lives in this country and have created an astonishing amount of criminals through a tempting and lucrative black market. We have exposed the most needy in our communities to a culture of crime and punishment over a safe and enjoyable plant. It is a travesty, and one that must end NOW…
We have the power to make this happen. We CAN use our resources, time, and energy to crush prohibition…and we CAN do it right now. I hope the heads of state of cannabis reform are organizing a summit to develop a sound strategy for the final battle. If they are not, they should.
Yesterday is gone. Today is a brand new day. It is our day. It is our time. Never look back. The end is near…and not a moment too soon.