Angela Bacca
Sometimes I get really sick of talking about pot, but then I remember why I need to.
I have been immersed in the marijuana world for awhile now and it is easy for me to feel like all the things I know about marijuana are common knowledge; it wasn’t illegal until 1937, it cannot kill you, it is more effective in treating many illnesses than pharmaceutical drugs, it is only illegal because some people make a lot of money by keeping it that way. I am sick of talking about it.
But I was born, raised and live on the coast of California. I am surrounded by people who use it, grow it, sell it and people who fight for the right to do all of the above. The facts about marijuana have been normalized for me and many others like me.
Change is definitely happening in California, New York, Washington and Colorado– but we have to make more of an effort to reach out more. Real change happens in conservative states, low-population states, states with harsh drug laws, states where the prohibitionist propaganda is ingrained deepest.
For instance, did you know it would only take $50,000 to add Idaho to the list of medical marijuana states? I recently visited Idaho activist Lindsey Rinehart and learned not only does this Republican state of only 1.5 million people have an 84% favorable view of medical marijuana, it only would take 50,000 signatures to make it to a ballot where it would likely pass. $1 a signature, $50,000 total. Yet, the money isn’t there because activists in big liberal states still don’t believe it could happen, despite the facts.
Full Article:
http://www.ladybud.com/2013/06/10/how-and-why-you-should-talk-to-strangers-about-marijuana/