Legalize - 2004
The Legalization Letter II - The Final Push ... Followup
What in the world makes me think legalization is possible
now given the current political climate in the United States?
I agree that it is rather audacious to suggest that the timing
for this is right. But it is precisely because of this administration’s
heavy-handed approach to enforcing the marijuana laws that this is
the time. The outrages perpetrated against the sick and dying
by the Ashcroft Justice Department have helped our cause greatly.
They have created a backlash in public opinion, and shown “compassionate
conservatism” to be the Orwellian lie it has always been. As
a result, we are now at a point where I believe a majority of Americans
no longer support locking up and criminalizing adult marijuana users.
I see many, many trends working in favor of marijuana legalization
at this time ...
- From news accounts across the country, it is becoming increasingly
clear that we can't continue down the current path of clogged legal
systems and overcrowded jails. These sentiments are most often expressed
by judges and local courts’ administrators.
- Despite the most right-wing administration in the history
of the country, and despite them being granted unprecedented law enforcement
freedoms, we have continued to make progress both in the federal courts,
and on the state level in advancing marijuana rights.
- Many, if not most, state and local governments are already
starved for tax revenues. Because of these budget pressures something
has to give somewhere. And in a number of locations that something
has been the enforcement of marijuana possession laws against responsible
adults. Even brainwashed people aren't stupid. They choose to let the
potheads go instead of the thieves, rapists and murderers.
- The trend in much of the rest of the western world has
been towards relaxing their laws and enforcement standards for marijuana.
- A demographic transition is now underway which is quickly
replacing the old-guard Reefer Madness crowd with a younger generation
far more accepting of marijuana.
- Many "conservative moralists" have been exposed as hypocrites
in the past decade, and I think the general public has grown weary
of the cultural war. (Do you think Rush Limbaugh or Billy Bennett
will have anything to say about this? Probably, if it gets that
far. But their credibility on this issue is severely compromised.)
- The Bush administration is currently looking for
window-dressing to make themselves appear less harsh than they truly
are. This would be a relatively well-chewed bone they'd be giving away.
Yes, it means them giving up a lot of money and power, but by now they
have consolidated their position so well that they can afford to play
good cop on this one.
Given the high probability that this effort will fail to achieve
legalization this year, why bother?
To energize the faithful and advance the national conversation
on this issue. The numbers are increasingly on our side, but if there
is no event to demonstrate those numbers then they don't matter. If
we had a national referendum system for specific topics such as this,
then I think we could win significant relaxation of the marijuana laws.
In an atmosphere where war and terror dominate the political
discourse, our cause gets lost in the noise. Unless and until
we force this issue to be considered, it will continue to languish.
I'm trying to create a substitute for a national referendum by starting
this latest round of focused activism.
Our privacy is being increasingly encroached upon by our
government in the name of protecting us. As a result there are now
many more people realizing that they too could be busted, regardless
of how careful they are. This is a new crop of potential activists.
There are now legions of medical marijuana patients who are
essentially confined to in-state travel. Otherwise they risk arrest
for having their medication in their possession. Even if they are in
another medical marijuana state, their out-of-state credentials are
meaningless. Potential activists all.
The outrageous behavior of the government in recent high
profile cases in California, especially that of pot activist Ed Rosenthal,
has created many non-pot-smoking activists. And I think we are all
aware of the fragile support for Justice Breyer's recent decisions in
the 9th Circuit, keeping the Justice Department out of intra-state commerce
in medical marijuana. And in fact, Ashcrofts Raiders have already
violated that decision in spirit if not in fact. Much like our misguided
policy in Iraq creating new terrorists, the Justice Department is creating
new activists for this cause.
I was surprised in July 1995 when I saw the Gingrich comment
on CNN. It helped convince me that we had enough numbers then to at
least make them address us directly. I know that our support has grown
since then. The key is getting the message to as many potential activists
as possible over the next few days.
It is my firm belief that as long as we don't challenge them
on this topic at the national level we can only move backwards. Maybe
this effort will not succeed at legalization next month, or the month
after that. But if it raises the issue to the level of serious discussion
then it has accomplished something positive. As Bill Maher was asking
on Larry King Live recently, why is the drug war not being discussed
in this election? I say that the answer is because we, the people,
are not making them address the issue.
The challenge lies in finding a way to reverse the inertia
of the status quo. And this is why I believe that incrementalism in
this fight - the NORML model, if you will - is a losing strategy. If
you incrementally decrease the velocity of an approaching steamroller,
it just rolls over you for a longer time. Our advances on the
state level will be negated if the laws and enforcement policies at
the Federal level remain as they are. Indeed, there are drug war
hawks in the House of Representatives who still wish to expand the war
against marijuana. They are pushing measures such as per se DUI
standards which essentially make it illegal to drive for weeks after
smoking a joint. If we don’t take a stand now we may as well never
bother because I fear after this year it will be too late.
A little bit of organization is a useful thing …
For at least the next few weeks, I will be devoting my website,
www.keithblevins.com, to being a bulletin board and information clearinghouse
for this effort. Among other things, I wish to post a state-by-state
index of contact information for the Senate and House. If any
of you already have this information compiled in a form that you could
email to me it would be greatly appreciated. Even better would
be a hot-link to a web-page already set up for this purpose. This
site will be up and running by Saturday the 18th, if not sooner.
I also wish to receive and post information regarding alternate
office phone numbers, cell phone numbers, fax numbers, email addresses,
home office, (in-state), contact information, and especially,
campaign contact information. One of the things that occurred
to me after completing the previous letter is that it will probably be
even more effective to barrage their campaigns with communications - that’ll
really piss ‘em off because it makes them more personally vulnerable.
Any helpful information, suggestions, etc. may be emailed to legalize2004@keithblevins.com.
New items will be posted as I am able to get to them.
It really doesn’t take a huge number of committed activists
to bring about change, and that is why I am optimistic about the possibility
that this project can succeed. I certainly would not say that
success is a predictable outcome. But if we all do nothing, either
because of fear of speaking out or resignation that things can’t change,
then the outcome is guaranteed. And so I again urge you, one last
time, to act on this NOW. Spread the word and do what you can in
the present to help create a better future for us all.
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