because theres too much apathy. Theres not enough marijuana smokers voting and involved in the political process. Out of over 20+ million regular marijuana smokers in the US, the Marijuana Policy Project which is a group fighting for your rights only has 35,000 members. I dont blame any particular person on here, but almost every marijuana person as a whole. If at a minimum, you want to enjoy the freedom allowed in Colorado in your state, every marijuana smoker has to vote, join mpp and norml, donate a small contribution ($3-5 a month) to them, and be involved in the political process. Just like the NRA. Cause if everyone just complains and does nothing, nothing will change. If every single one of you did that, things would be far different. heres a prime example of how the people fighting for their right to use marijuana should be. This video is about cigar smokers fighting for their rights the right way. Not protesting in the streets blowing smoke in peoples face, throwing garbage, and getting violent. You got to get more marijuana smokers involved. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzghxyB1_00 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDMtLkVecR4
The real problem is the gov't. and the fact that once you come out as a supporter of marijuana you are immediately a "dirty pothead" in most peoples eyes and people can lose jobs and shit because of stuff like that. It's just a fucked up situation in whole, because marijuana should have NEVER been illegal. Its illegal because big cats pay for it to be illegal. Once people realize smoking a bowl of weed will fix their shit more than a bunch of pills the whole pharma industry is fucked....
no no no... Thats not an excuse. Every one of you marijuana smokers needs to help vote them out. 20 million marijuana smokers and MPP only has 35,000 members. Thats the real problem. You all need to be organized like the NRA. By shifting the blame and doing nothing gets you no where. You as a group have to stick together.
My Jury is still out on the MPP. They have forwarded some legalization for MMJ, yet they always seem geared towards the business of it rather then the patients.
I think Jumbo is spot on. You cannot support legalization publicly without being labeled as a drugie. You cannot donate to organizations like norml without being put on watch lists by the feds. There was just a thread on here the other day about a potential employer seeing a 'like' for a marijuana legalization page on facebook, and not hiring the person because of that. It's going to take years AFTER legalization to change the stigma. Meanwhile, we should all thank the brave souls who stand up and say 'fuck off, I love cannabis'.
Well, "fuck off, I love cannabis", and JoeVullion13254 is 100% correct, fear and apathy are the only things standing in our way. If 20+ million people put on their Sunday best, went to their state capitols, and demand that their legislators take action, not yesterday, not tomorrow, but NOW, then a real change would (not might) happen. So kudos to you, Joe.
I write my representatives all the time and they all give me some bullshit automated response. I vocally support cannabis strongly and everyone who knows me in real life knows this. I make it known. Lol C'mon stoners help out. Start writing your government! Demand action! Every email sent is a small step closer. They can't ignore us forever. Two states have already seen the hypocrisy and more will surely follow.
Kudos to you, as well. Keep writing those letters, and don't forget the thing I said about putting on your Sunday best, and marching down to your state legislature, and talking to those that make the laws, face to face. That way it's much harder to get a bullshit answer, at least without them stuttering in front of you. Which is kind of funny since I have Tourette's and one of my ticks is a slight stutter. Ha!
There are many situations like that in this world though. Gas prices are fucked, if everyone in this country just stopped buying gas for 2 days gas companies wouldn't know what the fuck to do. They would be shitting their pants. Will it ever happen? Fuck no, people will never group together and get that done, and people are too dependant on that gas. Would it be amazing in every marijuana smoker ever went to their state capital and demanded their rights? Fuck yes. The major problem with that as i stated before is peoples fear, and as much as you want to deny that fact its the real reason. People have been trained since their marijuana smoking habit that it should not be made public, and that they can and will GO TO JAIL for possession. This hobby needs to be hidden for a large majority of people, whether it be for the simple fact that they have little kids in school who are learning in class about how marijuana can kill you or they have a job where they would be TERMINATED for smoking a bowl of marijuana. This kind of shit is the real reason it's illegal. No matter what you want to say you cannot subdue this fear in the average citizen. Have i sent letter and forwarded every email and signed every petition i have had the chance to? Fuck yes! Will i continue to? Until the day i die. That doesn't change the fact that the average citizen is scared shitless to get in trouble, be labeled as a druggie, and potentially lose their job...... The drug wars wastes BILLIONS of dollars every year, large tobacco corporate big cats pay millions to keep it like that, there are more groups against marijuana legalization that FOR IT. Will marijuana be legalized at one point? I strongly feel it will, but we will need time, education, and more formal discussions, not just a bunch of stoners rushing their state capitals and demanding their rights. All that will do is create more fear and make us look worst. Continue to support MPP, continue to spread the word, but chill out brah. It will get there. And the sad fact is, we need more money to get the point across. Money is everything in 2013 if you haven't noticed. /2cents
You're right on a lot of points. Supporting both the Marijuana Policy Project, and the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws is all fine and dandy, but we need to take a cue from both organizations. The MPP put on suits and ties, and actually talk to legislators, on their own turf. I'm not talking about protesting, or bum-rushing into a House or Senate committee, holding a potted cannabis plant, screaming, "The plant's innocent, man!" I'm taking about building dialogues with lawmakers, as the ordinary Joe's, that put these assholes in power, in the first place. Norml, (at least in my state), is talking to the Virginia Nurses Association, who now endorse medical marijuana, and since I joined we've invited Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP, for short). This wasn't done by wishing that somebody would do something. It was done by realizing, "Hey. I'm somebody. Maybe I should do something". I'm not saying that all of this community has nothing to lose, we have EVERYTHING to lose, but the gain, outweighs the loss. Right now, I'm possibly facing a month in jail, am I afraid? Not of jail. I'm afraid that my cancer ridden wife, might have no one to take care of her, while I'm gone, but if that happens she'll survive, she's a fighter, and I'll have a new political base to build on. Who do you think I'd hypothetically meet in county jail? Some will be scary criminals, but MOST will be non violent, misdemeanor, drug offenders, who've been told, (and might currently believe), that they're nothing, and have no voice. The silver lining with this hypothetical situation is I could be that voice. Fear? I fully understand it, but refuse to submit to it. Am I an idealist? You bet! Am I a dreamer? Sure, but dreams are what made this country great in the first place, and those that follow their dreams, will deliver us to that break in the clouds, where the light shines through.
I'm sorry, I must have missed the pro-legalization candidates that were on my Missouri state ballot during the election last year. Oh wait, that's because there were none. There are no pro-legalization politicians. Well, just a very small handful anyway. Lobbyists from different multi-billion dollar industries, mainly the pharmaceutical industry, pay millions and millions of dollars to congressmen every term to keep cannabis illegal. And that is the real reason it remains illegal.
One thing is for certian, excuses for NOT backing something you are passionate about will NEVER bring results. We can blame this corp or that media outlet, blame this state or that politician but in the end the lions share of blame is on US if we do not push our beliefs in the political circle. I also strongly agree support pro pot lobbies, these people are in the "right" trenches, using the only tactics politicians understand...lobby, lobby, lobby. When elections day comes we must VOTE for our personal beliefs, not just sit on the couch buzzed angry because we have to be lawbreakers to enjoy our smoke.
^There are no pro-legalization candidates to vote for. For the entire country there is a small handful on the federal level who are not bought off by monopoly industries. If we want legalization, we have to find a way to pay congress more money than pharmaceutical, lumber, and oil companies do. It would be great if we could, but our movement doesn't have millions of dollars to spare to buy congress like these other giant companies do.
yes there was. You couldve voted for Gary Johnson of the Libertarian Party or Jill Stein of the Green Party. Even if they don't win, its important to try and run up their numbers as much as possible to spoil the election. That might help send a message to the 2 major parties to take up this issue theyre ignoring.
Corporations don't want hemp legal in the states. Not to mention cannabis is a threat to the pharmaceutical companies. Hemp can be bio-fuel, plastic, paper, food, and over 20,000 more different things. The plant is a threat to many corporations. Which is a shame since all varieties of the plant have some serious potential to do some pretty wonderful things in this world.
Stop blaming it on the corporations! Of course they have something to do with it, but if that means you just give up well then maybe you are "Lazy pot smokers" after all. If you pay close attention to every controversial thing that has been made legal, there is huge amounts of lobbying behind it despite corporations paying. Look at France - they recently legalised gay marriage after years of non stop picketing and protesting. Switzerland with Euthanasia. UK with pulling out of Iraq. The list goes on, if the people put enough pressure on the government, the international embarrassment will be too much to handle and eventually they will realise if enough people want it bad enough, they cannot continue to keep it illegal. Hell, it even happen in the U.S. with the Civil Rights Movement.
Wheres all this money from Big Pharma when Amendment 64 in Colorado was running to win? That legalized marijuana and hemp under the state law. I looked for the money on the opposing side and I dont see any Pharmaceutical, lumber or oil companies listed. If they really thought marijuana was a threat, they wouldve bankrolled tens to hundreds of millions of $$$ to defeat Amendment 64. That didnt happen.
Yeah, it passed because the people voted on it. Their are no lobby groups that will pay off hundreds of thousands of voters to vote their way. It's easy to buy off congressmen because there aren't that many of them. The reason that marijuana is federally illegal is 100% because of lobbyists paying congress off.
A sad fact regarding legalization on a Federal level is the state of todays political climate. Federal legislators cannot agree on the simplest policy nevermind an issue as involved as MJ legalization. We will be very fortunate if the Feds keep away from this issue rather than trying to solve it. This fight must be fought in the States. Only in individual states will legalization, decriminalization, or the implimentation of penalties for the use of, consumption of, and production of marijuana find solid policy. The Federal government is stalemated, inneffectual, and cannot solve this issue. That said, Local/statewide politics is the battlefield we must fight the good fight on. Only after enough states lean towards legalization will the federal gov't express lienency in it's prohibition of MJ.