This article originally appeared in High Times Magazine’s 50th Anniversary Print Issue. Order yours here and get it delivered to your door.
Political and societal changes rarely occur organically. They only happen when advocates agitate for them.
For over five decades, NORML and its grassroots supporters have advocated for ending the criminalization, discrimination, and stigmatization of cannabis consumers. We have been deliberate and diligent in our efforts to change the way people talk and think about the marijuana plant and those who consume it.
It’s been – and it remains – an uphill battle. Our movement challenges powerful special interests, like law enforcement. Our work is deeply underfunded. Our advocates are often underrepresented in the mainstream media and in the political arena. But we are winning nonetheless because our message is irrefutable: It makes no sense from a public health perspective, a fiscal perspective, or a moral perspective to arrest, prosecute, and incarcerate adults who choose to responsibly consume a substance that is objectively safer than either alcohol or tobacco.
Also read: Want Clean, Safe Cannabis? Home Grow And Legal Access Are The Answer
At the time of NORML’s founding, only about one in ten Americans believed that cannabis should be legal. Today, 70 percent of Americans support legalization. There are several reasons for this dramatic shift in public opinion. One: the devastating effects of prohibition – including the arrest of over 30 million Americans, disproportionately young and poor people, for violating marijuana possession laws – have been laid bare for all to see. Two: the successes of legalization – including the public health benefits provided by the growing acceptance of medical cannabis and the economic benefits provided by regulated markets – have become impossible to deny. As more jurisdictions have moved to legalize the plant for either therapeutic or recreational purposes, public support for these policies has increased exponentially. In short, the more the public has first-hand experience with legalization, the more they like it.
But just because we have won the hearts and minds of the public doesn’t mean that we have successfully won the legalization battle. In fact, in some respects, it’s made our fight that much harder.
Many supporters now believe, falsely, that nationwide legalization is some sort of fait accompli and therefore, there’s no longer a need for grassroots advocacy. This perception is woefully incorrect. Our political and cultural opponents have not gone away. In many cases, they have regrouped and re-strategized. Knowing that their side has lost the war of ideas, they’ve pivoted to targeting democracy itself – at times attacking and undermining the ballot initiative process, in other instances, overturning marijuana-related election results they disapprove of. In jurisdictions where cannabis is legal, they are chipping away at consumers’ hard-won freedoms by lobbying for arbitrary potency limits (which would re-criminalize certain cannabis products as well as those who produce and consume them), pushing for artificially high sale taxes, and calling on cities and towns to impose bans on marijuana-related businesses.
Also read: Debunking Pot Potency Hysteria: The Truth About ‘Super-Strong’ Weed
Others presume that the corporate cannabis industry can sufficiently and successfully carry our movement to the next level. This is wishful thinking. While some players in the commercial cannabis space do provide limited financial support for grassroots activism, most cannot or do not. More concerningly, the interests of the cannabis industry do not always align with those of consumers. Issues that matter most to the cannabis community, such as securing home cultivation rights, expunging past criminal convictions, ending workplace discrimination, and strengthening parental rights, often get short shrift from industry players – who are far more likely to utilize their resources to lobby for changes in corporate tax codes and industry-specific regulations. In this vacuum, it is critical that activist groups like NORML and other grassroots organizers ensure that consumers’ voices, rather than corporate interests, remain prominent in the ongoing public policy debate. After all, there is no cannabis industry without cannabis consumers.
Finally, it goes without saying that our movement’s objectives are not met until federal cannabis prohibition is repealed. Despite most states having now legalized cannabis, all these policies – and more importantly, those who provide and consume cannabis under these laws – are in violation of federal law and remain in jeopardy of potential federal prosecution. This fact won’t change until the cannabis plant is removed from the federal Controlled Substances Act entirely. Reclassifying cannabis to a lower status, like Schedule III, is not a sufficient long-term solution and, in fact, it will perpetuate the growing divide between state and federal marijuana policies. For states to truly legalize cannabis without the threat of undue federal interference, the government must abandon its long-standing ‘Flat Earth’ policies once and for all. In short, the need for grassroots consumer-driven advocacy is more important than ever. Now is not the time for the cannabis community to rest on the laurels of its past successes or to presume that someone else is going to finish the job. Historically, it’s been the efforts of dedicated advocacy groups like NORML (along with longtime ally High Times) that have represented our culture and demanded that it be recognized and respected. Ultimately, it is this same activist community that must continue to lead this fight, and it is our community that will ultimately liberate the cannabis plant and cannabis consumers from the shackles of prohibition.
This article originally appeared in High Times Magazine’s 50th Anniversary Print Issue. Order yours here and get it delivered to your door.
Paul Armentano is the Deputy Director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, America’s oldest cannabis consumers’ lobby. To become a member of NORML or to support NORML’s efforts, please consider making a donation here.
Photo by Luis Quintero on Unsplash
