Jamie Curtismith

Name: Jamie Curtismith

Occupation: PTA Mom of Pot

When and how did
you become an advocate for cannabis?

Raised
in the North Cascade foothills of rural desperation, cannabis use was prevalent
and normalized, so I never really understood how ruthlessly demonized the plant
was until I left home. The hypocritical “War on Drugs” and its continued
criminalization of poor people is a deeply felt personal injustice, and
participating in its demise inspires much of my advocacy.

My
direct participation was motivated by a casual conversation when I realized I
was in a unique position to assist the local implementation of legalization
efforts before “reefer-mad” policy making began to take root. Dragging my
children around to local council, commission and legislative meetings to speak
in support of cannabis, I became known as the PTA Mom of Pot. My effectiveness was
made more so by utilizing my background in economics, finance and business
development, which gave me a shared language to use with decision makers. I
have no legal or financial ties to the industry so I am often the neutral voice
in the room not driven by a special interest.

How has cannabis
benefited your life?

Cannabis
greatly benefits many people that I know and love, several of whom would not be
as productive (or alive) without access. What more could I ask?

What’s your
greatest achievement for the cannabis cause?

Shawn
DeNae Wagonseller of the Washington Bud Company, and I formed the R5
Cooperative last year in order to stop a land-use proposal to ban recreational marijuana
operators in the rural five-acre zone of Snohomish County. We rallied dozens of
impacted applicants to help fight the Noping Nimbys (the No Operational Pot
Enterprises organization teamed with our deeply entrenched Not In My Back
Yarders). After a tumultuous nine month battle, we lost to wealthy land
developers who bought off fear-filled politicians. Over 60% of Washington
States local municipalities are still upholding bans and moratoria using zoning
laws and code enforcement, so we are working with industry leaders to form the Washington
State Cannabis Commission in order to legitimize cannabis sativa as an
agricultural commodity with Right to Farm Protections.

If you could
change one thing about the way cannabis is viewed and/or treated right now,
what would it be?

There
are still so many obstacles to overcome, but the challenges are made much more
difficult with all the industry in-fighting. There are so many divergent
special interests that are trying to divide and conquer and I reject all
debates that split our industry over the reasons why people use cannabis. To me, it doesn’t matter if people
cultivate because of a medicinal need or out of economic necessity, and it’s
irrelevant if they imbibe curatively, recreationally, spiritually or
rebelliously, it should ALL be legal.