Political Push: Stand Together, United

Randall Benton

CA- With 19 short
months before voters will be asked to reverse cannabis prohibition here in
California, the rumor mills are working overtime, and factions may be emerging.
Our shared passion and our shared commitment to the cause of legalizing
cannabis are tested, permanent factions are formed, and unbridgeable
differences are spotted, supposedly, if you listen to naysayers. What exact
purpose this serves, how exactly infighting helps advance our overall cause,
has never been adequately explained to me . . . On the other hand, to those who
follow the real “inside baseball” policy debates, or for those working within
one (or more) of the camps within the drug policy reform community, it can seem
as if we are all indeed at odds with each other at times.

You know what? The
general public, most patients nor the cannabis-using community, are all totally
oblivious to these supposed splits. They won’t even hear about any of this, it
doesn’t reach them, nor is it discussed with passion and in-depth background
knowledge in their circle of friends, as it is with some of us.

I would venture
that, for the overwhelming majority of likely registered voters, these organizational
and policy differences simply don’t matter. It’s hard to see how it will effect
how they’ll vote in 2016—nor will it (really) effect what the regulations will
look like after legalization comes. If a reasonably-crafted and politically-viable
statewide ballot measure to tax and regulate cannabis for adult consumption is
put in front of the voters, it should win. Period. And the guts of such a
measure, the overall framework that will be put into effect is, in a very real
way, up to us. For the cannabis movement and the cannabis industry, as with
much in life, what we get out of the 2016 measure will be directly linked to
what we put in.

If the majority of
cannabis users choose to stay uninvolved, if the majority of the cannabis
industry chooses to stay uninvolved, and if the majority of patients don’t come
out with their personal stories, then we might not like everything about the statewide
measure that gets drafted, gets put before the voters, gets campaigned for by
others, and passes (thanks to no help from us). Or we could go the other way. We
could improve on what Colorado, Washington, DC, Alaska and Oregon passed, by
going beyond what their measures did. We could create legal licenses for onsite
consumption clubs, heavily fund medical research, decrease barriers to entry
for small businesses and have low taxes on adult use. We could have the best
ballot measure out there in 2016, putting Arizona, Nevada, Massachusetts and
the other emerging state campaigns to shame.

We could create a
great environment for post-legalization here in California, great for patients,
great for consumers, great for investors, and great for local municipalities. But
it’ll take some work. And folks will have to engage with existing
organizations, maybe learn about policy differences, and maybe even contribute money
to campaign committees. We should be expected to put our money and our mouths where
our hearts are, right? It helps to remember that we are the lucky ones, front
row participants in the end of the “drug war,” walking in the footprints of
heroes and heroines, creating a great new industry as we move the world to a
better place. Why would we ever waste time fighting each other again?