Travel writer, television host and cannabis activist Rick Steves is cementing his commitment to cannabis reform. Steves recently pledged to spend up to $100,000 in support of cannabis legalization efforts around the country in the upcoming midterm elections, according to a Regina Leader-Post report.
Steves has previously been part of legalization campaigns in Washington, Oregon, Massachusetts, Maine and New Jersey. Voters in a number of states—including Maryland, Missouri, North Dakota and Oklahoma—will have the opportunity to support cannabis legislation later this fall.
Steves, who also serves as board chair for NORML (the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws), made the announcement in a fundraising email blast last week.
“I’ve spent the last five election seasons campaigning around the country for legalization ballot initiatives[ …] So far, we’ve won in nearly every state we’ve contested,” Steves writes. “The majority of the American public is with us. We just need to smartly make our point to win at the ballot box. And that takes hard work and money.”
For those who donate more than $100, Steves will also give away a copy of his book, On the Hippy Trail, which documents his 1978 travels from Istanbul to Kathmandu and recounts his first time consuming cannabis in Afghanistan. Alongside his fundraising efforts, the report also mentions that Steves will spend eight days on the campaign trail in an effort to “make the most of this exciting opportunity.”
The writer and travel enthusiast, who has spent at least 100 days in Europe each year for the past 30 years, has previously discussed the differing cultural viewpoints Europeans have toward cannabis versus Americans.
“Like most of Europe, I believe marijuana is a soft drug (like alcohol and tobacco), not a hard drug. Like alcohol and tobacco, it should be treated as a health [issue] rather than a criminal issue. Crime should only enter the equation if it is abused to the point where innocent people are harmed,” Steves wrote in a 2015 blog.
He echoed the sentiments in a 2021 CNN op-ed, nodding to America’s drug policy “built on lies and racism and [an] affront to civil liberties,” he wrote. “As a travel writer and television host, I’ve seen how other nations—such as the Netherlands and Portugal—have tackled the complicated issue of marijuana in ways that are arguably more effective than ours, and at far less cost, both in money and the toll on human lives.”
Steves also cites that teen cannabis use has not increased along with adult-use legalization and that state reports reflect legal cannabis hasn’t impacted road safety. He also references the changing demographics among cannabis users. “Pot is now used by Mom and Dad. And Grandma’s rubbing it on her elbows,” Steves said, referencing the “thriving” and highly taxed legal markets that not only increase employment but provide billions in state tax dollars.
Ultimately, Steves said it’s time for the government to recognize something that many Americans in support of legal cannabis legislation understand, “that the current war on marijuana is racist, it’s an expensive and counterproductive mistake, and it’s time to recognize the civil liberty of mature American adults to enjoy smoking pot in their own homes and to do so without breaking the law.”
Rhode Island became the 19th state to legalize recreational cannabis last month, and a 2021 Gallup poll recently found that nearly 70% of Americans support cannabis legalization. Steves says in his letter that, despite this progress, readers must remain diligent, because anti-cannabis groups are actively spending money to defeat pro-cannabis ballot initiatives this fall.
”These regressive and reactionary forces are working to roll back civil liberties across our country. And I can’t just stand by,” Steves said in the email.
