420 Petition and NORML Want to Give Pot a Chance
420petition and NORML are teaming up for a new video-response campaign aimed at anti-marijuana Rep. Lamar Smith. Thanks to NORML and fellow activists, the congressman who said he would not even give the Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act a hearing, has been busy deleting the Facebook comments and deflecting the phone calls of citizens troubled by his undemocratic actions. Well, we the people will not be ignored! We are upping the ante, and plan to bring hundreds of videos of concerned Americans directly to Rep. Smith.
For this we need your help! Make a video-response to Rep. Smith’s actions. Call him out on his ignorance, or outright lies, for saying that marijuana has “a high potential for abuse and does not have an accepted medical use in the U.S.” Ask the congressman to let democracy work, to respect the wishes of the American people and to Give Pot A Chance! Then upload the video to 420petition.com and tell everyone you know who shares your views to do the same. At first, the videos will be re-uploaded onto the 420petition Youtube channel but as the campaign advances we will be rolling out GivePotAChance.com to act as a hub for the videos collected and as a resource and community core of the campaign.
Regardless of a legislator’s position on a bill, it should be allowed a fair and open hearing in the interest of democracy and transparency. Considering that the Act has bipartisan sponsorship, and that President Obama himself has called drug legalization an “entirely legitimate topic for debate,” Rep. Smith’s actions are unacceptable. Now is the chance to bring the full brunt of the nation’s frustration with prohibition unto those who stand by outdated policies and unjustifiable beliefs.
“It’s obvious why marijuana prohibitionists like Rep. Smith will go to such lengths to try and stifle any public discussion of the matter,” says NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano. “Over the past 70+ years, the federal criminalization of marijuana has failed to reduce the public’s demand or access to cannabis, and it has imposed enormous fiscal and human costs upon the American people. Further, this policy promotes disrespect for the law and reinforces ethnic and generational divides between the public and law enforcement.”
So lets fight the failed ideas and their supporters, lets raise hell over our questions going un-answered, and out concerns being dismissed, and our votes getting treated as suggestions. Make a video today and fight to Give Pot A Chance!
Recall Lamar Smith!
Now being he would *see* us, does he need to know my name? lol
rep. smith i have done pot for over forty years and yes i have done other drugs too but pot has never left me craving it when i couldn’t get it or rape or steal or anything else except make me laugh, love and hungry. I know many people who are benefitting from my states legal marijauna laws. i think that you should have the courage of your convictions and let the states decide whether or not to legalize. the federal gov’t has bigger fish to fry like spending so much on enforcement, gang control, and jailing basically decent people becuase they would rather do pot than drink all as a consequence of pot prohibition. it didn’t work for booze and it hasn’t worked for pot unless you are making money as a prison guard or gangster. the law has helped both of thoes groups immensely.
Marijuana is a non violent/ non-physical addicting substance, has been in our countries history generations and should be taken into consideration over tobacco and alcohol. We have 2 legal substances in our country that kill millions every year alcohol and tobacco. but then Rep. Lamar Smith states that “marijuana is prohibited because of the high potential for abuse and has not been accepted for medical use in the us.” I apologize but this is a very ignorant comment and calling out the potential for abuse and non medical terms for marijuana, while still keeping tobacco and alcohol in the us market is idiotic. you can not use a defense on something that we believe in strongly and then remain to keep Tobacco one of the most addicting drugs in the world legal in your country. Rethink your statements.
Also Rep Lamar Smith stated that legalizing it in the US would resort to violent drug trades and trafficking over the mexico us border. Apparently he is uninformed of any news across our border.
Keeping Marijuana Illegal in the US creates a high demand for it and people will pay whoever they need to pay to get it. Mexican Drug Cartels smuggle in marijuana over our border every day and are making millions of US citizens. If the states declared this commodity as legal, what would be the need to travel to other countries for it? drug cartels would not benefit from this in any way.
Dr. Yolles was director of the National Institute of Mental Health from 1964 to 1970 and as such oversaw, among other things, research on illicit drugs and efforts to treat addicts. He was a prominent voice in the national debate over how to deal with the soaring use of marijuana and other drugs by young people.
In testimony before House and Senate committees, Dr. Yolles argued that strict laws failed as deterrents, and advocated abolishing mandatory sentences and giving judges greater leeway in dealing with drug users, especially first-time offenders. Of penalties for marijuana possession, he said, ”I know of no clearer instance in which the punishment for an infraction of the law is more harmful than the crime.”
how can these ancient republicans (which i would be if i was allowed to vote) keep putting down the current administration for taking our personal rights and stand their ground on marijuana consumption? every time they say it has a high potential for abuse i wonder what the recommended amount is because abuse means more than recommended. also, how much of a douche can you look like when you say no recognised medical use and 1/3 of your country has laws allowing medical use. Lamar smith your a uninformed old codger who needs to find his way back home!
2306 which would allow states to decide for themselves is being
blocked by Rep Lamar Smith (R) of Texas. This is a man who in the
current cycle has taken money for his campaign from:
$20,000 : National Beer Wholesalers Assn.
$15,000 : Schering-Plough Corp (merged with MERCK)
$11,000 : Altria Group (formerly Philip Morris)
$10,500 : Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America
$8,000 : Eli Lilly & Co (prozac + cancer drugs)
$8,000 : Amgen Inc ( drugs for dealing/w chemo )
$7,000 : National Community Pharmacists Assn
$5,000 : GlaxoSmithKline
$5,000 : Constellation Brands (Beer&Wine (B&W))
$4,800 : Republic National Distributing (B&W).
(according to http://www.opensecrets.org/pol...
This is the same man who says he will not even consider allowing it
to pass and is the head of the committee. Surely you can see the
conflict of interests when marijuana is proven to lower consumption use
of tobacco and alcohol- while offering a plethora of medical benefits.
According the US Department of Justice National Drug Intelligence
Center- issued a report entitled “The Economic Impact of Illicit Drug
Use on American Society” Which said in 2007 we lost $193,000,000,000.00
fighting a war on drugs on a state and federal level. That is JUST ONE
YEAR. No wonder the DEA who so strongly opposes marijuana continues to
try to play the American public as fools. Marijuana accounts for 49%
of all arrests and according to the report near 150 billion goes to
police/courts/prisons fighting drugs.
our country gives oxycoyin to people for pain relief.its addicting and dangerous!!yet pot eases pain and helps without horrible side effects and its ILLEGAL! llegalize for so many reasons,please.tax it,leagalize it,let all out of jail for it,save billions,jobs,help our country out of the mess we are in!!
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i agree pot should be legalized and taxed, its safer than beer, wiskey and over the counter drugs, and the people against legalization are mainly hipacrits becouse while they are dissing pot most are abusing over counter drugs like oxycontin, xanax , percacet, and other pain and nerve pills , or abusing alchohol , atleast pot helps with pain and nerves ,ect without the side effects