We are in a battle for the hearts and minds of our fellow man. This is a real war with real casualties and collateral damage. We have lost innumerable good people to the war on weed and on a larger scale, drugs. This war rages on, even as we see the walls of prohibition crumbling and people calling for and end to these disastrous policies.
In any fight for freedom and justice it is necessary to decipher who are friends and who are foes…..and who is unfortunately neutral.
In the cannabis game it is not always such a clear cut line. Sure…there are the weed activists and the drug warriors; the outlaws versus law enforcers. But there are several more layers to the onion in this equation to consider. On both sides of the battle field there is dissension in the ranks, and double agents playing for both teams. There are weasels all around that have no qualms about selling morals and values down the river for the right paycheck.
As weed emerges into the mainstream market, there will be no shortage of folks trying to cash in, and in doing so, many will betray their trust to the movement and their fellow activists for some lousy silver coins. We already see the writing on the wall, as long established companies sell out their intellectual property to worthless investors with very little care for how we got here; yet are only concerned with what they can get from the industry now that we are here.
At least when fighting our normal adversaries of law enforcement and ill-informed drug crusaders we know where they stand and we can fight them on our terms accordingly. The new battle will come as those who masqurade as our friends are revealed as foes and enemies of cannabis freedom. Most of this is sure to be fueled by greed and a lack of true passion for cannabis, and the struggle for justice and morality.
We can already see this happening in a lot of the more upfront and regulated markets. Big money folks are working to enact counter-productive policies to ensure their business model has a competitive advantage. A lot of these people who operate in the world of cannabis do not have the skills to compete in a free and open market. What we see now is companies and individuals who have claimed to be a part of this weed movement working to restrict the market in order to increase their bottom line and hold their ogliopoly positioning. It is shameful, and from a business standpoint some of the unfair trade practices being suggested by people in our own movement are appalling.
I often hear a call for “unity” and the suggestion that we cannot afford to confront the hucksters in our own movement because it creates ammunition for the drug warriors. From where I am sitting, this is a HUGE strategic mistake. As these charlatans invade the Boards of our favorite reform groups and buy their way into positions fo power in cannabis reform circles, what we will see is a deterioration of our values and the entire reform process turned over to these business mogul wannabes. It is already happening. If you do not see it then you are not paying attention. The real foes of the game moving forward are not the traditional drug warriors, but the wolves in stoner clothing we see infiltrating our back lines.
As we pull out of prohibition into a legal cannabis market, these fiscal powerhouses are positioning themselves to undermine the process and to create an unlevel playing field that benfits the few. You do not have to believe me. That is fine. This will all come to reveal itsself rather quickly over the coming months and years. We can have another “I told you so” discussion then.
Right now is the time to begin cleaning house and we should not let the shiny tokens that are being presented distract us from the bigger picture. There are big money interests making plays all over this industry and a lot of the core infrastructure of the movement seems to be up for sale. What was once sacred ground is now a plastic and commercialized strip mall of weed businesses that are being hustled for their value by those who could give a shit about cannabis freedom.
Make no mistake….as this thing comes into view, the battle is shifting. It will not be about weed, or the right of humans to consume and produce weed. It will be about money. Plain and simple. So as the money war begins, how prepared will you be? Will you have already been fooled and manipulated by these folks because you did not see it coming? Will you wake up one day and realize everything has been taken from you and you have been voted off your own island? Will the reward be worth selling out everything you have fought for?
In a battle with so much at stake and a long history of evil and corruption, why would we be surprised to find out that our biggest enemy was within our own ranks? That the assholes who have pretended to be our allies have now used our camraderie and “movement” to advance their own causes and finances, and what we are left with is a bunch of nothingness and despair. It is happening. Do not be an idiot. Do your homework.
You should know in your gut who is a friend or a foe of cannabis freedom. If you do not, feel free to ask. I have a list going.