Will you join me and sign this petition to urge our government to legalize marijuana?
Dear MoveOn Member,
Hi, I'm Rick Steves.
You may know me as a travel writer or television host. But for 20 years, I've also been very busy as a drug policy reform activist—working hard to help end our government's unproductive and racist prohibition against marijuana. In fact, I just wrapped up a three-year term as the chair of the board at the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML). Why? Because I believe it's time for a new approach to marijuana. Sure, marijuana is a drug; it can be abused, and it needs to be regulated. But enjoying it responsibly is also a civil liberty for adults, and our current laws against pot are causing our society more problems than the drug they hope to protect us from.
Half of all Americans now live in states where the recreational use of pot is legal for adults. Yet we still arrest about a quarter of a million people a year for simple marijuana offenses.1 These are not privileged white people like me—they're mostly poor people and people of color. It's high time our federal government repealed its wrong-minded and counterproductive prohibition and opened the way for states to legalize, tax, and regulate marijuana just like they do alcohol.
Twenty-four states have already legalized marijuana for responsible adult use. These are not pro-pot laws. They are pro-public health laws and pro-civil liberties laws … smart laws that provide a framework for states to turn thriving black-market businesses that enrich gangs and organized crime into highly regulated, legal businesses that generate billions of dollars in tax revenue while providing nearly half a million full-time jobs.
I'm a hardworking, grandparenting, churchgoing, taxpaying American citizen. If I work hard all day long and want to go home, smoke a joint, and just stare at the fireplace for three hours ... that's my civil liberty! If you agree with me (and if you want to help end this tragic, costly, and racist prohibition), please join me in adding your name to this petition to urge our government to end marijuana prohibition in the U.S.
More than 35,000 fellow MoveOn members have already signed this petition, and we'd love to have you on board. (And while you're at it, share this with three friends to help spread the word.)
Thanks so much, and happy travels (even if you're just staying home).
Rick Steves
P.S. See the note below from my friends at MoveOn for more context about marijuana reform, including news that the Department of Justice is now planning to reschedule marijuana.
Source:
1. "FBI: Police Make Over a Quarter Million Marijuana Arrests in 2022," NORML, October 18, 2023
https://act.moveon.org/go/193927?t=4&akid=392744%2E53570607%2E0luqp0
Will you sign the petition to demand that marijuana be legalized nationwide NOW?
Dear MoveOn member,
After more than 50 years of flawed, racist policy and a failed war on drugs, the Department of Justice is now planning to reschedule marijuana as a lower-risk drug.1 With 24 states, two territories, and D.C. having legalized cannabis for adult recreational use, and 38 states allowing medical use of cannabis products, it's not just time to reschedule marijuana but to legalize cannabis entirely.2
Will you add your name to the petition to demand that marijuana be legalized and decriminalized NOW?
Marijuana's placement in the Controlled Substances Act has had a devastating impact on our communities and is increasingly out of step with state law and public opinion. The nation has reached a broad consensus on legalizing marijuana, with a full 7 in 10 adults now supportive. Not only do most U.S. adults favor it, but so do majorities of all major political and ideological subgroups—and it's time for our legal system to catch up.3
Marijuana has been a Schedule I drug since the Controlled Substances Act was signed in 1970. This classification was based on stigma, not science.
The current recommendation from the Department of Justice would reclassify marijuana from a Schedule I drug—believed highly dangerous, addictive, and without medical use—to a Schedule III drug that can be lawfully prescribed as medication. Unfortunately, changing marijuana's scheduling still maintains its federal criminalization and harms to our communities. We need to deschedule marijuana entirely through comprehensive reform like the CAOA!
The need to legalize cannabis nationwide couldn't be more urgent. Today, police make more than 1.5 million drug arrests each year, and about 550,000 of those are for cannabis offenses alone. Almost 500,000 people are incarcerated for nothing more than a drug law violation, and Black and brown people are disproportionately impacted by drug enforcement and sentencing practices.4
Add your name now to join a growing number of federal lawmakers, including Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and Oregon's Senator Ron Wyden, demanding that Congress pass the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act, which would finally end the federal prohibition on cannabis while prioritizing safety, research, workers' rights, and restorative justice.5
Thanks for all you do.
–Soraya, Chris, Jensine, Mia, and the rest of the team
Sources:
1. "Justice Dept plans to reschedule marijuana as a lower-risk drug" CNN, April 30, 2024
https://act.moveon.org/go/191328?t=12&akid=392744%2E53570607%2E0luqp0
2. Ibid.
3. "Grassroots Support for Legalizing Marijuana Hits Record 70%," Gallup, November 8, 2023
https://act.moveon.org/go/191329?t=14&akid=392744%2E53570607%2E0luqp0
4."Fifty Years Ago Today, President Nixon Declared the War on Drugs," Vera, June 17, 2021
https://act.moveon.org/go/191306?t=16&akid=392744%2E53570607%2E0luqp0
5. "U.S. Senators Introduce Bill To Legalize Marijuana," Forbes, May 2, 2024
https://act.moveon.org/go/191330?t=18&akid=392744%2E53570607%2E0luqp0
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