OK, here's lots of everyday things YOU can do to help:
1) Write your State Senator.
2) Write your U.S. Senator.
3) Write your Representative.
4) Write your Governor. (Remember, 1-4 might want to run for president one day.)
5) Write the President.
For 1 - 5, you can also e-mail, fax, call, visit, send pro-pot articles/fact sheets as you find them, give them personal testimony on how [past?] cannabis use has improved your life, just please don't threaten. Let them know that you know that cannabis is safer than cigarettes or alcohol, ask them to vote pro-cannabis when votes come up on this issue, or even ask them to begin a bill to end cannabis prohibition once and for all. It’s easy, it's our duty, and most of all, EVERY LETTER COUNTS!! Every letter/email sent counts as 100 who agree with what you've written about, but are too lazy/busy/scared to write.
When letters received reach a certain amount, they start paying attention. As whipped as some politicians may be, they DO want to get re-elected. I've been writing letters for years, and Thank God, no one has bothered me.
Be sure to say THANKS to those who are on our side and to those who get on our side - not an easy thing for them to do, really.
*****
To set up a meeting to discuss cannabis prohibition, just ask for an appointment. They will give you a bit of run-around, but stay on them and you'll get a meeting with a staff member.
I asked questions like, "Why is cannabis illegal?" because I wanted to give them a chance to defend their side, but they couldn't. (They said it was because of health issues. Interesting.) The staff member was really nice but couldn't answer my questions. She DID tell me that if these laws are to change, people must start SPEAKING UP about it. So I'm telling YOU: YOUR VOICE MATTERS!! EVERYTHING YOU DO MATTERS, BELIEVE IT OR NOT!
6) Pass out pro-cannabis information around your town. We can't spread the truth too much! Ask me and I will send you stuff to pass out. mmelz5@yahoo.com. I can send a sample of things you can make yourself or order from established groups (Like Cannabis Consumers Campaign). Take the literature downtown and give them to people as you smile and say something like, "Interested in our cannabis laws?" "Want to help make pot legal?" People do take them, but not everyone will. People are naturally curious, they just don't want to get "trapped" by you. Give it to them, say thanks, and go. The smiling really helps. Dress nicely - appearances matter much, it's just Human Nature.
7) Write to a Prisoner of War and tell them you're out here fighting for them, thinking of them, praying for them, anything. Ask them to get everyone to pray for our victory. Don't send stamps or cash - the letter will be returned to you, like mine was.
It'll REALLY make their day, and you'll be glad you did as soon as the pen touches the paper for them. Have you thought about what it must be like to be caged for YEARS for NOTHING? It's so hard to imagine, but please try. Give it 60 seconds - the life of an innocent prisoner. With kids.
Click here to Write to our POW's
These people would love even just a postcard of hope from the outside. Just to let them know you care.
Not sure what to say? Neither was I at first, but now I worked up a nice ice-breaker:
I bought some greeting cards that have a pretty ocean, sand dune and seagrass painting on them, blank inside. I write my return address on the inside of the card so I know they'll get it (Prisoners can't have adhesives, for some reason, so I resist the urge to stick on an address label so a mean guard won't pull it off). Then I write this; change it as you like:
"Hi, ____ I got your address from Americans from Safe Access and I wanted to send you a note of Hope and Peace. I am so sorry that you are caged like this over a Safe and Beneficial plant. There are a lot of us out here working to change these harmful laws so you and many others can get back to your homes and families. I've been writing to churches to help them see what these unjust laws are doing to people, their families, and our country. It's sad that it's the "good Christians" who are keeping all this damage going.
Here is a quote I hope gives you Peace: Phil 4: 6-7 "Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you want and thank Him for all He has done. If you do this, you will experience God's Peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His Peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus." -From Paul, imprisoned and tortured for his beliefs. Please keep your Hope and Spirits up! Peace, Melanie"
Many write back right away, so please write to the imprisoned soon!
Here is one particularly heart-breaking story I got back in April, 2005. Of course, it means less here on the computer screen, so go find a POW to write to and look hard into a whole 'nother world. Then do something to stop this from happening. Your voice DOES matter and touches people MORE than you know! OK, now get ready for a SAD story... Basically, cannabis laws were used for the purpose of taking land. Under our current drug laws, if it's even THOUGHT that your property was bought with drug money, it is criminally charged and taken into custody - no lie! Civil Forfeiture -- bad stuff. So, as in this case, if a person with enough meanness in him wanted your land, he could try the drug law tactic. Sadly, this is common, we just never hear about it, and once we learn it concerns drugs, most of us automatically go, "Oh, well, that's OK." But we can change attitudes, just gotta get the truth OUT THERE! OK, OK, here's the story:
"My name is Clyde Young. I have lived in Mobile, AL all my life until being imprisoned for the purpose of taking my family farm.
"A very rich and powerful man in Mobile who wanted a road across our property was very close friends and business partners with the judge and prosecutor and sheriff in Mobile.
"When our family refused to give in to this corrupt individual, Mr. J.P. Altmayer, a deed to our road, he used his political connections and power to build a phony case against our family that resulted in the arrest of 13 members of our family, including my mother and father and an 89 year old uncle, for the purpose of stealing our farm.
"The farm was in my mother's and father's name and they were found innocent at the first of several trials they put us through. And instead of releasing their property back to them, they superceeded a greater indictment against my wife, Patricia, the mother of our seven children, under the 848 statute of Continual Criminal Enterprise, trying to force our family to sign their life's work over to them.
"Over 100 agents came to our family dairy farm one Saturday morning just as we were finishing milking in 1989, a year before we went to trial. They looted and robbed until after dark that day, taking our cows and all our equipment, even a neighbor's truck that had been left there.
"They mentally, physically, and financially destroyed our family to the point that it was impossible to resist or fight back by taking our personal possessions and imprisoning all the male members of our family, me, my four sons and my wife, leaving their wives with small children and babies totally devastated and alone.
"Finally at the point of physical and mental breakdown with all the male members of our family in prison, they forced my wife and my mother and father to sign the dairy farm over to them, or else they were going to arrest the other women and move them with their babies out of the one remaining house which they were all living in.
"The dairy farm was seized in 1989 before the trial."
Here is more he included in his letter. He and his wife are in prison as you read this, and have been for almost 15 years.
"Drug Conspiracy: Never one once of any type of drug was found on or around any of the charged.
Land: Homes and dairy farm seized a year before their trial.
"Grandparents Marshall and Rosalie Young: Found innocent after being put through unbelieveable stress in their old age. Their property, home, cows and equipment, where their life savings had been invested, was stolen. They and Marshall's brother Morris, 89, died in sorrow and grief which was caused by agents given the power by their government's legislators who answer to no one."
I have tried to contact Mr. Young on April 10, 2006, and I hope he has been released, because I can't locate him.
Mr. Young and family is only ONE case out of WAY TOO MANY. The only way to do this is to stand up and say we're not going to take this anymore, so educate everyone you can and let's all start voicing our disapproval, PLEASE!
8) Send your church information on the destruction of families due to these racially-based laws. Christians REALLY need to be all over the Drug War. Jesus Christ would NOT approve of how we handle our "druggies", so find a church address and mail them your best reasons to join the fight to end cannabis prohibition now and the drug war immediately. Wrongful imprisonment is reason enough! Christians MUST stand up for the oppressed - it's in the Bible like a hundred times!! I know that if they just knew the truth, they'd come around. I talked to one preacher and he at first was very against the idea, but I believe God helped me strike a nerve when I said, "As long as drugs are made and distributed by criminals, there will ALWAYS be more harm involved." But I kinda also lost my temper a bit, so watch out for that. It's OK to be angry about this - it's justifiable anger. We just have to use the anger in the best way, and that is to keep pressing the truth NO MATTER WHAT!
9) Take a big "MAKE POT LEGAL" sign to an overpass or catwalk over a busy interstate and hold it up while waving to the cars. You'll get honks galore! Just PLEASE don't let the sign/banner fall into traffic!! That would be very bad.
10) Take pro-pot literature door-to-door in doorknob bags. No talking required, great exercise and a great feeling, too! More details on "MATERIALS" Page.
11) Write a Letter to the Editor whenever you see an article about this subject - either thank the editor and add points, or shame the editor for not printing the truth. Basically, if you find any article pertaining to the drug war, you can put in your 2 cent's worth, as long as it's around 200 words. Even if the letters are not published, the people reading incoming letters will be made more aware of the public's opinion (They are our targets, too - every human being is), and that can sway things over time. SPEAK YOUR MIND - IT COUNTS!! THANK YOU, MAPINC.ORG!!!
12) Call a radio or TV talk show whenever they discuss cannabis laws. Any opinion you have about how cannabis laws need changing can be displayed any way you see fit. Please don't be the raving lunatic! Always stay calm, even if they say really bad things, which they most likely won't. Every opinion made public will help save people from this mindless oppression that much sooner.
13) Forward pro-pot articles/studies to people you normally wouldn't, especially to your Representative/Senators/etc...
14) Vote whenever there is anything to do with cannabis. This is HUGE. NEVER assume everyone else will do it, so you're "covered" - DO IT YOURSELF! Even if it IS a "Shoe-in," a greater number of votes on our side will give an incentive to other areas to try adopting pro-cannabis laws, too.
As stupid as some of these things are on the ballots, your votes DO matter. PLEASE study up on what your community is voting on and participate!! Do NOT read a tiny bit and say, "Yeah, that sounds good." Those things are DEVILISHLY tricky! It's disgusting how they'll word it to sound like one thing and it means the opposite (Think PATRIOT ACT)! I did not discover this until I really got involved in the voting process, and yes, it's a mess. But we STILL gotta go in there and do our duty - WHAT do you think would happen if we don't? Study, check with your favorite political party, and VOTE. Want motivation to vote? Pretend you're not allowed to. Hundreds of thousands of American citizens can't vote because of a felony drug record - they might vote for change.
15) Get a clearly-written pro-pot sign and stand/walk along a busy street smiling and waving, just like those campaigners do. YOU WILL BE AMAZED HOW POPULAR YOU WILL BECOME! Yes, it's scary at first, but I'm not kidding - it really is FUN!!! It encourages our brethren who see us AND it's a thorn in the side of our opponents!
This is one of my favorite things to do - it's like having a party on a stick, and I'm always thinking of those I'm trying to set free, so it's very invigorating. Write me for more info: mmelz5@yahoo.com.
16) Link a pro-pot site to your website.
17) Go to pro-pot events and meetings.
18) Join a law reform group. Research it well before you join. Look at how they spend donors' money, look at recent work, see if they pay any attention to you, things like that. Never join or donate to any organization that treats you like a mindless wallet. Make them EARN it. Good ones are out there, bad ones are too...
19) Go to courtrooms where cannabis-offense cases are being heard. Americans for Safe Access is good about listing these hearings, but mostly just for California. Copy and paste: http://safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=354.
20) Volunteer to collect signatures for groups doing signature drives. Some groups doing this are mpp.org, safeaccessnow.org, saferchoice.org, look for more - browse those sites on the Front Page.
21) Sign every pro-pot signature-gathering paper you can. The only lottery YOU should be playing is the one called, "Sign The Petition". Sure, just like your dollar, your signature will probably just disappear, but you NEVER know which one will Hit The Jackpot!! Plus it's FREE, and it's something only FREE citizens do! NEVER fear signing any pro-pot petition/signature gathering of ANY kind. There is no need to fear acts of freedom, or you're just proving that you're not free. R U Free? Do you WANT to be??
22) Nail up a bold-lettered sign on a tree by an interstate saying "Make Pot Legal 555.org", "LEGALIZE IT", or "STOP THE DRUG WAR .org".
To put them up, take your sign, 4-5 words per sign, 3" large-headed nails, a small saw and a hammer. Look for a slow-moving-during-rush-hours road, and look for a tree (Not a privately owned tree) that shows a lot of trunk as you drive up on it. After parking carefully out of the way, position the sign on the tree at a 45-degree angle towards oncoming traffic, as high as you can. Look back to make sure branches are not obstructing the view, and if all is well, hammer away! You'll probably get a few honks of support before you can even finish, just look out for the Man. Yes, this is a heart-pounding activity - a good one for the vandal who wishes to clean up his/her act! It's never too late - God allows U-Turns!
Yes, the signs probably won't last long, that's why we use CHEAP signs - our opposition will tear them down and even people on our own side will take them for souveniers! Bad stoner. No chips. BUT, how many people saw them before they disappeared? IT'S WORTH IT!
23) Go to the websites of our dear government offices like ONDCP and post YOUR thoughts on their comments page. Yes, you'll most likely get a, "We appreciate your comments but things are staying the way they are." DON'T BE DISCOURAGED! Of course, they are protecting their very own jobs so they'll have a reason for everything, it will seem. Just DON'T get mad and "yell" at them. Keep writing or consider the job done and move on to another anti-freedom group.
24) If you are ever arrested, do your best to take your case before a jury. You will be pressured hard to "shut up, take the plea bargain so we can be done with you and move on to tormenting someone else," but if you remain firm, your case will become a huge opportunity to shine a glaring light on the injustice of caging humans for using a plant. Pray hard for strength - I'm prayin' with you.
25) Leave pro-pot literature in places where people have to sit and wait, like coin-laundromats, bus stations, doctor/dentist offices, airports, etc... "THEY" have their propaganda out there, let's get OUR TRUTH out there, too!
26) Volunteer for your favorite pro-pot or anti-drug war group. Just write them and ask what you can do to help. If they never respond, you'll know not to donate to them, that's for sure!
27) Take action on EVERY action alert you get from groups you sign up with - this is a GREAT way to keep up with current legislature, but always do a bit of research yourself to see exactly what you're writing about.
28) Find anti-pot or pro-drug war blogs and forums and peacfully introduce/defend the truth. Careful - some of those guys are RABID! Let THEM be the raving lunatic - we've got TRUTH on OUR side! PEACE!!
29) Make mainstream radio ads, TV ads, use ANYTHING you can think of to tell the public what's REALLY going on. I have a radio commercial you can have - it's a SIMPLE one - I just "sing" the website with a jazzy style - 30 seconds.
30) If you're mainly disgusted that cannabis is a Schedule I controlled substance (defined as a dangerous drug with no medicinal value and a high potential for abuse [Notice cigarettes AND alcohol both fall under this definition]), Americans for Safe Access is doing a GREAT thing right now with this - visit their site (www.safeaccessnow.org/article.php?list=type&type=144).
Here is a great contribution from a visitor: "Cannabis is Schedule I, meaning among other things that it has no accepted medical use. But that is a blatant falsehood, given that until 1938 it was in the pharmacopeia. In fact, when the FDA was created, it provided for 'grandfathering' in of known existing remedies, but for some reason cannabis was excluded from this grandfathering (the AMA was extremely surprised and outraged when this 'reefer' that was being hurriedly banned turned out to be the same as cannabis that had been sold in pharmacies for hundreds of years)."
31) Thank your congress people who have shown courage, knowledge and dignity with their votes. You can find out how your Representative voted by going to http://www.safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=3471. Thank the ones who have the courage to uphold their oath to rule by the Constitution. They know they'll be proven right in the long run.
32) Write your favorite news sources and tell them that you want MORE COVERAGE ON THE INJUSTICE OF CANNABIS PROHIBITION and/or DRUG WAR.
33) Simply sit and read stories about real people who had their lives ripped up by our unjust laws. Look to cannabisconsumers.org, here's the link:
34) Send your leaders the MSNBC poll results taken on June 7, 2005: 89% of 71,000 respondants said they believe cannabis should be legal medicine! NOTHING gets that kind of approval rating, and they won't be able to take the pressure if we keep it on them, so MAKE POT LEGAL!!!
35) Do NOT try to get out of jury duty. If you end up with some kind of drug case, you can do a lot for the cause by refusing to convict. Jury Nullification or Jury Veto is a precious right that we have. One educated juror is an amazingly powerful person in this society. Credit for this one goes to a visitor. Keep 'em comin', thanks so much!
36) Post this website anywhere you can to connect as many like-minded people as possible. Even just "Make Pot Legal" will accelerate our acceptance, but the beauty of the Internet is that a few extra numbers and letters are capable of taking people to all kinds of information, so we should take advantage of that. Also, putting up simple and cheap posters/signs wherever we can WILL get people thinking and/or talking about cannabis laws - which is GOOD! Once we start opening this discussion up, it's over. Go break some ice.
37) Place an ad in your town's alternative newspaper or magazine - even just a classified under "Announcements/Happy Ads" help. I sent in ads saying, "DO YOU THINK MARIJUANA SHOULD BE TREATED LIKE ALCOHOL? SAY SO! MAKEPOTLEGAL555.ORG".
Other ad ideas: "Should people go to jail for pot? Say so! MakePotLegal555.org." "Marijuana is safer than cigarettes or alcohol. MakePotLegal555.org." "Drug abuse is bad but the drug war is worse - Law Enforcement Against Prohibition." Any other ideas??
If you send me proof of the ad you bought, I will send YOU the money!
38) You can buy 2-inch lettering and spell the website out on the bumper of your car for just a few dollars. Center the "G" in "Legal" and work outward from there on either side. When I did this while in Florida, a conservative state, people kept their distance but no one even gave a dirty look! I fully expected a few birds or wagging fingers, but NOTHING! NEAT!! WE ARE GAINING ACCEPTANCE, JUST KEEP BEING BRAVE! When they looked to see what kind of person "just wants it to be legal so he/she can get stoned", I was GLAD to show people a middle-aged, clean-cut person demanding change. You will be too, just be sure your car is in good shape legally, in case you get pulled over because of it. Profiling/bullying DOES happen. Bad cop. No donut.
39) If you're really brave, or if you're going to a pro-pot event, get those markers just for car glass (Even sidewalk chalk works well) and write the website, or just, "LEGALIZE IT" on your back and side glass. Heck, even just writing/printing out something on regular paper in letters big enough to read at a distance, then using packing tape to secure it to your back glass will get the message across. And it's FREE!
I get a LOT of honks and thumbs-ups and NO negativity, I kid you not! I may offend some people, but the truth is, the truth is the truth!! ;)
40) Do you get a lot of mailed requests from charities? Here's an idea: Go to the bank and get a bunch of 5 or 1 dollar bills. Get a stack of your favorite pro-pot literature, capable of being folded to fit into a variety of envelopes, and use their reply envelopes to send them OUR message back at them PLUS a donation that will add up and help out others. It's a WIN-WIN-WIN situation, ain't that so NICE??!
41) Become the spammer. I get about 30 spams a day. Instead of deleting them, I put them to work by harvesting the addys off all the ones that come with extra addys. First, make a signature for your email that tells people about cannabis prohibition/drug war injustice. For Yahoo, this feature is in the OPTIONS part. I use,
{Cannabis is safer than alcohol or cigarettes and must be made legal for adults. http://makepotlegal555.org
Prohibition has failed us again, but we CAN change our drug laws and free the wrongfully imprisoned - AGAIN.
Please tell your congress-people that you know the truth.
http://congress.org
Every letter adds up for change!
"Drug abuse is bad but the drug war is worse."
-Law Enforcement Against Prohibition: http://leap.cc
What would Jesus do? Teach Peace!
Christians aren't allowed to hate ANYONE.}
Here's what I've learned: Click "Reply to everyone" and delete the sender's addy - it will almost always be undeliverable. Then delete the subject and put in "End Cannabis Prohibition". Go to the body, Left-click and choose "Select All" then delete, and only your signature will go through. It's gotta be the only spam that doesn't want to rip anyone off.
42) Come out of the closet. Get brave and tell everyone who cares about you that you enjoy or have enjoyed cannabis. Some of the people you know may be shocked, some might even turn their backs on you (Most will be temporary), but by telling them, they will always think of YOU when they hear about cannabis, and that will probably change the way they vote or talk about cannabis. That gets everyone closer to the truth. I know it sounds crazy, but there is VERY little chance someone will call the cops on you. You might even find out someone else you love was enjoying the herb, also! But I realize the fear of being labeled a pothead or even worse. We simply MUST overcome it for the good of the innocent, that's all. I hope and pray nothing bad happens to any of us, but if it does, may we grow from it. Stay Strong. No matter what, just talking about cannabis helps.
43) Support ourselves. Whenever you feel hopeless about it, that's the way they WANT you to feel. This is FAR from hopeless, this is inevitable change. And we DO have the power to demand our rights. If you need a boost, visit some sites on the Front Page so you won't feel alone. NJWEEDMAN'S site really gets ME charged - check it out!
44) If you find yourself being arrested and in a lawsuit, try your best to be a good example of a responsible cannabis consumer. People with half a heart will feel bad for treating a good person so poorly, and our actions CAN influence how people think of us. Everyone changes, a little at a time.
45) TALK TO YOUR DOCTOR about how cannabis helps you. They need to know, since all they usually get is info about the pharmaceuticals they prescribe. My doctor didn't even know what THC was until I told him, and now he has something to think about. These guys are very influential in the community, too, so they NEED to know!
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