Marijuana isn't fully legal yet, but it's only a matter of time. If you choose to become a part of this industry, there are things I recommend you do to protect your future self. There is a war on drugs and by proxy you are a foot soldier. Whatever you think you are; a businessman, a healer, a farmer, a grower, you can still go to jail, as I’ve recently witnessed in the case of Gloor vs. The United States Government. In this case, like so many before him, Lance Gloor was prosecuted by the government for being involved with marijuana while following the ambiguous state guidelines provided. There is no guidebook to marijuana activism, as a matter of fact, if you ask 100 people you may get 100 different answers like, “Call it cannabis, not marijuana. Marijuana is a prohibitionist word” or “It needs to be descheduled, not rescheduled”. Each thing has its own validity, but personally I’ve never believed in the government process, that’s why we’re here in the first place. To me it's always been about how the consensus feels, or as I like to call it, America and the moral majority. Change public opinion, you change a law. The hardest part about marijuana activism is trying not to scream and yell, or breakdown crying - this cause is filled with modern day horror stories. One must keep their composure and try not to seem like a Chicken Little or an early Tea Party member as seen on Fox News, this leads me to my first topic; Activism 101. Change the perception. We are what we eat and via the cause, what they see, one must always keep that in mind. Let’s face it, nobody is a saint but if we’re mindful of our actions, people see this, this is the impression one wants to leave. I’m not saying you have to be a super citizen, just take care of yours and be responsible. Do you have kids? Love them. Do you have a job? Go to work. Do everything one normally does, be you; but also be mindful of what others are saying about marijuana and speak the truth in response, enlightenment is education. Hope Hope is a powerful tool when it comes to any war, it raises a mans (or womans) spirit and gives them something to live for and work towards. They are no longer the empty beaten down shell that the warden wants them to be, they’re a human being with pride and determination not to be forgotten. The reason why hope is important in this messed up War on People can be surmised by this quote by Thich Nhat Hanh, “Hope is important because it can make the present moment less difficult to bear. If we believe that tomorrow will be better, we can bear a hardship today.” Hope is especially powerful when you’re behind bars standing up to guards, wardens, or even the real criminal element in a penitentiary, hope lets them live. One means of hope is to reach out to a prisoner of pot. Recently marijuana activism has had many groups popping up with the direction of supporting prisoners, since I don’t know when you’ll be reading this I won’t single one specific out but am sure you can find them. Through these websites you can support the organization itself or just collect information so you can do
things on your own accord, by this I mean you can either write or donate to the prisoner directly. Prohibition has a plan A only (put you in jail and call you a bad guy), it’s up to us, to you for plan A and B, for his name is Robert Paulson. By sharing each other’s story, its spreads knowledge and wisdom. Good people are going to bad places in the name of a plant, no victim no crime. If the world can be outraged over another child hurt in a raid, another sick person dying because their medicine was seized, another family destroyed over a law, another provider incarcerated, another young person imprisoned only to come out old, then maybe, just maybe the people making decisions to chase after marijuana cases can use prosecutorial discretion and think “Not this time.” Marijuana is medicine and has been for thousands of years, marijuana is the medicine for so many things and for so many people, marijuana is my medicine and it does more than fight ALS or cancer in my system, it does so much more, it is my vitamin THC. With this being said the War on drugs is real, what have you done today? And which side do you stand because you’re either fighting or going to jail? The War on drugs is a class/race war, a war people. Like in all wars there are different forms of trauma but let's keep in mind, trauma is not exclusive to war. PTSD formerly known as shell shock is a result of an extreme trauma, a mass amount of young Americans were sent overseas to fight for a madman, to fight for a right world but let us not forget – what is true evil, it's the Walmart and McDonald's mentality, its corporations treating people like pawns, hiring and firing because it suits their purpose. People fired before they were about to claim retirement, people not hired based off a pee test, a life judged by a moment. To deny any war or a traumatic childhood experience is to deny the humans we are. Marijuana is a cure for a lot things and if it's not a cure, it’s a pretty fucking good distraction from death. To promote a narcotic over a natural plant seems more psychotic than the person being prescribed the drug, in fact the physician here is the one that should be examined. Marijuana is medicine but it's also a good night cap. All I am saying is when it comes to things that are good for us vs. bad, things that are medicine vs. illegal, is to give weed a chance. The modern day activist is a hashtag (#), viral video, meme, or whatever thing a keyboard warrior can come up with. When it comes to marijuana activism, I don’t consider what I do activism but being a foot soldier because there is a war, a war on me and my beliefs, a real war with casualties, spies, and incarceration. As a soldier you have a multiple of weapons at your disposal, the truth being the most powerful. Besides the truth of the properties of this amazing plant and the truth that marijuana is safer than most things legal, there’s the truth about your rights. Your inalienable right as a citizen, in life a lot of things are intrinsic, it's a something that belongs simply because it exists, as an American citizen it is your right to say “Not Guilty” because you
don’t agree with the law, this is called Jury Nullification. Just like people didn’t believe there was a crime in aiding and abetting slaves escaping legal masters, people today do not believe anyone is guilty for being involved in any form of marijuana. As a citizen, it is your inalienable right to say “Not guilty” on a jury, no matter what the evidence was presented to you, no matter what the instructions were given to you to take into consideration. You are Citizen X and it is you that can stop a person from going to prison. The next legal and perhaps most poignant thing one can do besides saying not guilty is court support. I’ve seen this work first hand on multiple occasions, when people show up to stand with the defendant it makes a statement to the system and to the jury. It makes them question the true guilt and nature of the defendant, it makes them consider the sentence they’re about to impose on another life, it makes them consider the crime that has no victim. Keyboard Warrior One doesn’t have to leave the house or even interact with physical people to make a difference but one does have to speak up. Learn about what is going on in your area by visiting local websites and leave counterpoints in the comments, if we’re not learning we need to be teaching, this is how we win the war on ignorance, this is how we make a difference. You don’t have to take keyboard activism to the extent I have. Being tech savvy before everyone became Facebook savvy, I knew the internet was going to be the means in which I could spread the word and have a hand at writing to the masses, simply put I love weed, writing, and fighting injustice. Not everyone needs to create throwaway accounts so they can write articles hoping to get their message out there but everyone can speak up, speak in their home, speak to their friends, speak to a stranger on the bus, it's not how you get your message out there but what your message is and mine has been no prison for pot. Be Forewarned Activism does not pay the bills but it can make for a better world. In fact marijuana activism can bring you to tears and to the brink of madness. Imagine seeing your own country put people like you away, people who want to be good citizens but are second class because are considered the criminal element, I want to smoke pot not shoot heroin! Pot Prisoners Are Easy Targets There is a war on me, a war on drugs, the war on marijuana affects me in particular. How can I feel safe in a world that is willing to put me in a cage, willing to let me get old behind bars, willing to put me away even if I’m sick (Chris Martin of Zonka Bars, Eddy Lepp, Richard Delisi, Luke
Scarmazzo, Craig Cesal), or wants to feed me just bologna sandwiches and cheese over a crime that is not a crime involving a plant. Its election time again and everyone is stomping for making America great again but in my lifetime justice has always been skewed, minority communities manipulated, people lied to over the properties of a plant, when was it good? Each write I do is a message in a bottle, hoping it makes it out to the world because we need saving. I am going mad, I am getting desperate but no matter how bad my day is, how shitty things are, I am not in jail for pot.
What have we learned here? That hope is an important, let a prisoner know they’re a human being and give them a hand up by donation or lift their spirit up by writing them a letter, either way share their story so the world doesn’t forget about the horrible pot atrocity known as jail. Besides sharing the story of an individual pass on any news you learn about in the science or law concerning marijuana but just as important share stories of the raids. I have a friend that hates this subject but knowing that the government still considers us bad players should be enough to make everyone want to speak up. The sharing is teaching but don’t think you know it all. Watch everything you can, when you can, read everything you can, when you can, the more we learn the less we know but the more powerful in debate you become. Remember, you are the example, you are the weed ambassador, consider your actions before you do them, do you want to be looked at as the stoned out of gourd hippie who won’t work or the dependable hard worker who tries his best, it's all up to you. Lastly the two most important legal tools you need to emphasize, you must champion because they will help you if you find yourself looking at a judge, a prosecutor, and a jury of your “peers” and that’s jury nullification and court support. I really shouldn’t have to explain the importance to you as a defendant but will one more time. If everyone in your state knew it was their right to say not guilty about a law they didn’t agree with then it could result in a not guilty verdict or hung jury, either way you get to go home that night and not directly to jail, do not collect 200 dollars. Besides one person saying not guilty, if as a community you can stand behind each other regardless of personal differences, grudges, or opinions of lifestyle and stand strong as a community then it will be harder to break the community. Right now your competition is not your enemy but an ally in the war on pot, you both are a guilty in the eyes of the government. Donations Accepted
If you feel that this advice is on point or has helped please share and if you care to donate so I can continue to be a thorn in Department Of Justice’s ass, donate via my e-mail at Paypal 420binary@gmail.com or contact me on how you can help. Miggy420