The Good: I’m confirmed to appear this evening live on CNN to discuss the political aftermath and strategies for future Cannabis Prohibition law reforms around the 7:30 PM hour (eastern).
The Bad: Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske will appear live around 5:30 PM (eastern) to discuss cannabis legalization efforts post the close defeat of Prop 19 this week in California.
Update: Watch NORML on CNN here.
Regrettably, because of longstanding protocol at the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), the so-called drug czar will not appear live and/or debate with a representative from NORML. Instead, viewers and taxpayers are deprived of the opportunity for a civil discussion from two opposing viewpoints over a long-simmering public policy debate that’s been underway for over 40 years in America.
Instead, the drug czar’s media protocol dictates that he/she generally appear first in public discussions on TV or on the radio (live debates in front of an audience are verboten!), and then the advocate addresses their remarks in a later live or taped interview.
That’s what will happen on CNN tonight on what will be a painfully short, 5-7 minute live interview with Don Lemon.
See you on the Groove Tube!
They know the truth and their afraid to admit it. little girls in freakin suits.
Doesn’t this speak volumes? The drug Czar is a chickenshit liar who would lose any debate on the subject of cannabis.
I think its bs that nobody from NORML can confront the drug czar what so ever durring the interview.
We as americans should have the right to debate the toppic with him when after all he wouldn’t even be in office if it wasn’t for we the people, yet he keeps shoving his head further where the sun don’t shine and ignoring us and our nation wide demand for legalization.
COME ON Y’ALL I’M FED UP WITH THIS DRUG WAR!!!
WE HAVE TO COME TOGETHER N MAKE OUR VOICES HEARD ‘CAUSE JUST REMEMBER WE HAVE POWER IN NUMBERS AND THE GORVENMENT CAN”T ARREST US ALL WITHOUT RUNNING OUTTA JAIL SPACE. AND WHEN THAT HAPPENS THEY”D HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO SHOW THEIR TRUE COLORS BY ETHER LISTENING TO US OR KILLING US ALL!!!
Anslinger got hemp outlawed by attacking marijuana. We need to take a page from his book and legalize marijuana by legalizing Hemp and all that it can do. The American people are fed up with Big Oil, we need to show them that there is a better way. Instead of all these folks setting up dispensaries and grow farms they need to start cultivating Hemp. When the harvest is in and sold to Canada and other foreign countries then we’ll see who has the last laugh and just how much revenue America has been missing out on. If Henry Ford can build a car made with plastic from Hemp and powered by bio-fuel made from Hemp back in 1941 why can’t we do it today?
Get em’ Alan! Tell the people the reason it failed is because people have been taught to FEAR the Reefer. If they REALLY want to see it work, go see an actual pt. in person! Or see what it ACTUALLY does, compared to EVERYTHING else.
We (You)’ve got THEM scared. They know it’s just a matter of time.
Thank Alan…Good Luck !
5-7 minutes….that’s all we can get on tv? we’re never going to fucking win….americans…if we want change…we need to move out of the U.S.
Don’t tell them the strategy, that provides them with counter-inteligence. Instead, talk about the medicinal benefits and make a point about how other off the shelf medicine like asprin and tylenol are more dangerous and un-natural. Then make a strong point about the billions made annual from taxation and how much they would save not having to incarcerate innocent pot smokers..
go get ’em!
Make sure to mention that LIVE, so that people are more aware of these dirty tactics! Nobody will realize this is going on unless you out them and say on live tv that they are afraid to debate etc. Please do mention this.
Technically, this SHOULD be an ok way for the Drug Czar to speak, because he should NOT BE AN ADVOCATE. He should merely talk about policies and the way they are implemented. He should not speak about an opinion, or spin policy. He should speak as though he “doesn’t make the laws just enforce them”. It should be like arguing with a cop why speeding is illegal, not really the point because you are getting a ticket no matter what he thinks.
However we all know that he touts ridiculous lies in order to justify his multi-billion dollar budget….
As long as law enforcement see hemp and medical marijuana as the same plant, we will make no headway on hemp legalization efforts. I don’t think we can get industrial hemp legalized to clear the way for recreational cannabis as law enforcement officials continue to maintain that they are unable to tell the difference between the two plants. I want to be a hemp farmer!
We need to get a prop on the state ballots to give us the public option of paying taxes for this lost cause of a war on drugs! We need to start fighting the feds more at the state levels!
Its time for a civil in general!
CIVIL WAR*
If it has cured one cancer even if it was by shrinking. They got nothing and We have the truth. As long as the people are told the truth I wouldn’t want to be one of them fearing their war crimes.
Just the very fact that they refer to this idiot that we dont elect into office, but is appointed by the bureaucracy, as a “czar” is fuct.
Please educate the public.
Please mention the 3 following facts.
1) The major producer counties in California, populated with growers and dealers, voted NO on Prop 19 in an effort to protect their profits that stem directly from the underground black market.
2) Harry Anslinger used racism and prejudice to outlaw HEMP in an effort to protect his family fortune from synthetic fibers.
3) THREE major government studies found that cannabis is safe enough that it does not warrant criminal status.
They are;
“The LaGuardia Report” from 1944,
“The Schaffer Commission” from 1972 under Nixon
“DEA In The Matter Of MARIJUANA RESCHEDULING PETITION Docket No. 86-22 OPINION AND RECOMMENDED RULING, FINDINGS OF FACT, CONCLUSIONS OF LAW AND DECISION OF ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE FRANCIS L. YOUNG”, from 1988.
It’s not at all surprising that the drug czar won’t debate us on the issue — It’s because he knows full well there’s no debate to be had. The prohibitionists have already lost, and as usual, they refuse to admit it.
If the public only knew how little of the war against them was built on fact, no one in their right mind would support it. The only way to get support for the drug war is to lie. So they write their own rules that allow them to keep lying, without having to ever be accountable for the lies. That’s your government at work, folks. Makes you proud, don’t it??
leave it to this corrupt government to make sure to stomp on the first amendment and i still cant believe in this day and age how many americans still believe that old corrupt government propaganda from 70 years ago.
Good luck Allen. Make sure you emphasize that it’s not a matter of if or when, but HOW, and that you wish he would be willing to discuss HOW so that we might all work together on this. He lost, we are mainstream now and the longer he holds out the more apparent it will be to the American people that he’s the one being unreasonable.
Thanks for the update NORML, we will share with our friends and affiliates in Wisconsin. Most of the time when marijuana advocates debate or speak in a forum situation, they smoke the opposition with truth, honesty and compassion! http://www.jayselthofner.com/wordpress/
They LIE, they cheat people out of thier GOD given right to life, liberty, and the persuit of happiness. Now they show thier true colors, they are COWARDS. Well we have known this for quite some time now, it just annoys the hell out of me that they lack the courage to stand up for what THEY believe in a true discussion. They just want to hurl thier rhetoric of lies, and then skulk into the darkest corner they can find, and try to hide from the light of truth. The saddest thing of all is that in this they allow OVER 500,000 people to DIE in this country every year from cancer. CANCER, a disease that has a cure if only these IDIOTS would allow true research into its cancer curing properties. They let people die, and it’s all for money, nothing more. Thier budget money for trying to enforce thier idiotic laws. The $209,900,000,000 spent every year on cancer treatment in this country. The big pharmacuetical companies lobbiest with all thier money. When somebody said that all politicians are crooks, it was kind of a joke. Well, nobody is laughing anymore. It’s the ploiticians who are laughing all the way to the bank.
How bout the majority of the US sure hopes Christ is the truth. So we believe that cannabis laws take the food out of the mouths of the children of God. You know that green herb thing as food.
Why would the drug czar want to debate this issue live, when they stand on lies? The last debate I saw with NOML reps and a former dea guy all the 99% of the comments from veiwers where favorable to reform Cannabis laws. We need to find politicians who support this cause and vote for them. Also I wonder if in the futrure we can somehow get our pro legalize organizationa on one link: ie LEAP, NORMl, and others so when we contribute our donations can be used with more strengh.
We need to reframe the argument now that Prop 19 failed to start calling it the failed WAR ON MARIJUANA and not the War on Drugs. Until the public realizes that the government is arresting over 800,000 people a year or marijuana related offenses and those being arrested are your kids, your mother, your father and even in some cases your grandmother or grandfather nothing is going to change.
So I’m now calling it the WAR ON MARIJUANA and no wonder the U.S. economy is in shambles fighting 3 wars at the same time (War in Afghanistan, War in Iraq and the War on Marijuana). Keep it simple so the Tea Party folks can understand this and we’ll win the hearts and minds of the public.
The Druz czar is bluffing with his threats to California because California doesn’t need this Country . This Country needs California and if he was going to do anything then why is California moving forward with legitimizing Cannabis ? More warehouses are opening up now than even after Proposition’s 19 loss & he still doesn’t do a thing about it .This Country can’t afford to lose California .
25,000 known uses for hemp, medicine, food, energy, malignant tumor suppressor, and I can smoke it too? Hemp would put alot of current products in jeopardy. Hmm.. wonder why we can’t have it??
So I wonder with all the “need” for enforcing the marijuana laws that somehow is portrayed by the DEA as a harmful substance.
My question is: How many people sign up to be a officer of the law being it a policeman, detective,FBI,DEA how many of them are worried about all the potheads and stoners and that they need to set a vendetta out for pot smokers.
My guess is: They DONT! They are thinking about the real criminals and people that kill for money and drugs. But when they start working they have to learn abouot marijuana and the safety handling procedures and that right there is a WASTE of money/schooling.
There is a reason for this. It is simple. Legalize and tax it!
awesome man! the more publicity the better. ill be watching. as a social smoker and a 4.0 college student, i gave a A grade speech in my Speech class about legalization. get serious, 57 billion a year on the war on pot? even more than that going to Mexican gangs?? WAKE UP ALREADY PEOPLE!!
I hope you spend a few seconds sliding in the fact that you would love an open debate but it’s not allowed.
A few quotes from ONDCP affiliates, to show how they take advantage of and use Churches, even though they have no loyalty to the Church. A few quotes that portray the environment I’m used to dealing with in the substance abuse field:
“It is commonly understood that religion is the anti-drug drug. The more religious a population, the less overt drug use occurs”
“The only cure for dipsomania (alcoholism) is religiomania” (obsessive-compulsive worship). — went on to cite many cases of alcoholics who were “cured” via religious conversion, which he rightly saw as an alternative form of euphoria.”
“It is not difficult to understand the religious prohibition on alcohol and other “mood altering” drugs. Religion, in general, is against anything that “alters mood” as such alteration could lead to “mind changing” and ultimately leads to heresy or conversion to another faith or choosing not to have a “faith”.”
“I like seeing nice, clean clear data that are consilient. That is, to be consilient means a clear unity of knowledge (literally a “jumping together” of knowledge). This scientific idea has its roots in the ancient Greek concept of an intrinsic orderliness that governs our universe and world, inherently comprehensible by logical process.”
“If a person walks away from a life of addiction, it is a hard road. If by becoming a Christian or embracing Christian values a former addict finds the ability and strength to remain sober, then the occasional euphoric worship experience will most likely not be enough to see someone through times of crisis.”
As you can see, faith based rehab is met with much scrutiny and skepticism by the ONDCP, as is with many Christian organizations in many different fields of society. They don’t believe in God, and neither do their conclusions; they don’t want God weighed in the discussion, they just want our Pulpits and the minds of our congregations.
I have difficulty accepting the opinions of such said individuals at the ONDCP as a Biblical truth, or that what their “researchers and medicla professionals” say is also what God says about it. They disregard what God says about it while they research, and the power of God is not in their conclusions.
ONDCP is not “moral” or “lawful” or “Christian”. They’re the opposite, they’re wolves prancing about in sheep’s clothing, spreading lies and eating our children, spreading lies and throwing our kids to the dumps.
Just join to the free state project. We’ll free a state and kick the feds out and restore the freedom this country was founded upon.
Stay tuned for the standard “Drugs are bad, mmmkay” propaganda from Gil. I think we should start referring to him as “Pinocchio”. Allen will do the Cannabis Community proud, as always. 🙂
And Deb says: “When the harvest is in and sold to Canada and other foreign countries…”
Deb, Canada & other countries are ahead of the U.S. hemp prohibition game when it comes to Industrial and edible Hemp and we don’t need to “Buy American”. In fact, America is spending $$$ importing Hemp from Canada. China has outfitted their military in Hemp uniforms, the UK is using Hemp to build houses and cars, and Russia is using Hemp to clean the soil at Chernobyl. I’m just sayin’…
http://www4.agr.gc.ca/AAFC-AAC/display-afficher.do?id=1174595656066&lang=eng
Allen,please ask the drug czar,on tv,to bring his experts and you’ll bring yours to debate the issue in congress,where everyone has to be sworn in.
I know he is mandated to lie but does his policy cover his experts when they lie?
Maybe the entire time should be committed to exposing the fraud perpetrated by such a “Protocol”, and the misinformation applied by government agencies on this issue.
Maybe if we stop fighting for the right to catch a buzz, and focus on such blatant injustices against the American people, and the world, we can progress this battle with new support. What good is the Constitution, or the rights within, if the keepers themselves are corrupt? If the people know of the “Protocol” to misinform them, they may understand more how that applies the their personal lives than marijuana as a primary concern.
Poor Prohibitionists don’t have a foot to stand on if we can take intentional misinformation out of the conversation. Let’s not forget, ALL OF THE ENFORCERS WORK FOR US. More importantly, we need to enforce that truth and maintain the right to do so.
Just a few thought. Peace to all.
@ 3 with total agreement
The regulations and tap dancing lawyers, judges are two stepping us, I do not like the law and I will change it.
The good life awaits us all
Tell me what do you prefer in a free society
I have thought about them legalizing Hemp first, but won’t that pollinate our Female Plants?? I would love to see fields of Hemp grown in America, but the females quit making THC once they have been pollinated.
Deb, there is one very good reason we can’t do it today. When Anslinger combined forces with Hearst in 1936, they successfully worked to get hemp put into the same drug category as marijuana even though hemp doesn’t have the psychoactive ingredients found in marijuana. Now they know better, but they are afraid to legalize hemp because it looks like marijuana and they feel people could use hemp crops to hide their medical grade marijuana crops. This, of course, couldn’t work because of the cloud of pollen that would be produced from the hemp crop would render the medical crop useless for future generations. Our only real chance here is with the truth, and with our young people, my generation grew up with the reefer madness mentality of the 40s and 50s and that conditioning (or brainwashing) is very hard to overcome in people who have been taught it for decades. Younger people, however, haven’t been conditioned in that way yet and are more open to the truth and to looking at science rather than decades old propaganda. So while many of the old hippies like myself are aware of the truth, the old people in government aren’t as easy to reach, that’s why we need fresh blood in congress and in capitols across the country, and not the kind of fresh blood that got sent to Washington Tuesday which is aimed solely at reversing all progress made over the past two years, this is now a Stag Nation (stagnation), because the next two years will be spent on the house trying to repeal the legislation passed since 2008, and the Senate rejecting those appeals, effectively wasting OUR money to accomplish absolutely nothing.
Am I to understand that the drug czar gets more time than NORML’s Executive Director? Or is the point of contention that there will not be a debate? I do hope that, at a minimum, CNN allots equal time to NORML. Expecting the drug czar to debate anyone is perhaps unrealistic, because the position that the drug czar must defend is based upon falsehoods.
The mainstream media has seemed unfair and biased against efforts to reduce the scope of Prohibition. I believe that it is because some of the rich and powerful owners of the media have vested interests against legalization. NORML has on its side a tribe of people who know better and scientific and historical evidence. Truth versus power. Power usually wins… but there is still hope. One thing about truth is that it will always remain for discovery by those who are interested in the truth.
We can argue and debate all day, but as long as Dems or Repubs are in power, nobody will listen.But if you all voted Libertarians,like I did, then we would not be fighting for our rights anymore. Instead we will all be celebrating the New Year 2011 as Marijuana Freedom Year. It’s that simple people! If you want freedom, then Libertarians are the only ones who will provide that. http://www.lp.org/issues/crime-and-violence
I’ve seen that squirrely little jerk several times before, I could best him in any debate and I’m just a wasted out old hippie, no wonder he wont debate with any educated people.
There should be a picture of Gil Kerlikowske next to Websters definition of Mealy-mouthed. The Federal government seems to have come untethered from reason regarding marijuana..The story following the interview covered more violence in Mexico today. What irony.
I just watched the Drug Czar on CNN. I can’t believe how he is twisting what really happened. He said the people of California realized how dangerous marijuana is for you. He left out the part about the threats made by the feds if Prop. 19 would have passed. He left out the lies the opposition told the public about people being able to go to work high and drive while high. Can’t wait to watch Allen later on tonight. I can see why the czar didn’t want to be on at the same time with Allen St. Pierre.
I left the USA while on probation and finished my last 9 years in Cambodia, as a college professor. Had one of the first underground medical cannabis dispensaries on Maui from 1993-1999.
I will never return to AmeriKKKa,yet I’m obsessed with your ability to legalize…ever notice that the world is the slave of USA Govt. policy ??? Why is California the only place that can make lawful.? Or Colorado…never a sovereign country.
WarBama is a CIA-Mafia shill,so global democracy is dead,but through referendum we can create sanctuary.
This debate drives me CRAZY!~ They never talk about the details so we need to stop talking about the details.
Keep repeating it’s not about getting high, it’s about stopping the lies and the fud and telling the truth.
Andrew Mellon, Randolph Hearst, and the Du Pont family did this and nobody holds them accountable. Nixon started the war on drugs, but these are the founding fathers of cannabis prohibition!
“It will be found an unjust and unwise jealousy to deprive a man of his natural liberty upon the supposition he may abuse it.” – George Washington
Not a bad interview. Allen was intelligent and reasonable, while the White House suit clearly dodged the issue. Feds should keep up this act, it only helps the cause.
We need to petition the drug Czar to force him to have an honest debate with Allen St. Pierre. We shouldn’t have to stand for the lies and deceit that Gil Kerlikowske is feeding us and deserve the truth to be heard in the face of his bullshit.
Normally ive got foul mouthed labels for these kind of guys.. but i feel ‘scaredy cats’ or ‘chickens’ would be sufficient. They just dont want a activist with truth on his side to make fools out of our elected officials on t.v. That wouldnt settle with their ignorant agenda.
If russ or alan debated face to face a drug czar with a good chunk of time behind to allow for discussion it would make ppl who voted no feel like assholes
Why don’t you guys have an online link to the CNN program thats being shown ? Because too many people on the internet want to watch shows like this online.
[Editor’s note: CNN has not made a video link available yet of the interviews with St. Pierre and the Drug Czar.]
The drug czars a pussy, ‘nough said. good segment ! I like that cnn talk’s straightforward about it.
Forget the drug czar. I want a debate with the president. And this is what I think is going to happen: Ron Paul will win the Republican nomination for 2012 and Obama will be forced to discuss this issue. Obama will have to come out in favor of marijuana legalization or at least decriminalization…if he doesn’t, Ron Paul will win the votes of younger (under the age of 60) Americans and will be the next president.
wat i would like to know is why can they and we all know who they are give false scientific information to back up false claims that mj is dangerous but any actual scientific proof we bring along is disputed with its just not enough to back up anything in court when will the minority get a chance at seniority its dirty ill gotten and ignorant i dont see justice i dont see rightous i see a bunch of over grown children playing with fire civil war is right the first time anyone tells me im going to prison for something my community and or state deems (OK) for me to do in my own living room im gonna pull out the smith and wesson and shoot him right between the eyes they use violence i will to
drug czar = pussy …… i hope he reads this . sorry paul , ha to be done. legalize
As you can see, this country is not ready to vote for cannabis. It’s not ready. The populace has been led to believe in outright lies, and they are not ready. No amount of “get out the vote” is going to do it. If we keep relying on ballot initiatives, every single one of us will be dead before we see this stuff legal. The country is not ready.
We have to MAKE them ready. It’s not about voting. It’s about STANDING UP. Here. Now.
It’s about every one of us taking a stand, intimately and personally with those around us in our lives, standing up for who we are.
This is a battle that will be won on the GROUND, in CONVERSATION, and in ACTION. Only when the country is ready for cannabis will cannabis be legal again – and it’s our job to make them ready. It starts today, and here’s how:
1. Purify your practice.
Shed the false persona of the “stoner”. Ask yourself, “am I talking/moving/acting this way because it’s my expression of who I am, or because the stoner-movie media told me that this is how cannabis users behave?”)
Return to the roots, the spiritual practice of cannabis. Use it consciously. With intention. Use it to heal, to re-establish connection with the divine, your uncorrupted self. Explore the unknown.
2. Reclaim the language. Repeat after me: It’s not a drug, it’s a medicine. It’s not a war on drugs, it’s a war on medicine. It’s not prohibition, it’s an inquisition. It’s not legalize, it’s stop throwing people in fucking jail.
3. Come out of the closet. Stop hiding, make sure every single person you know knows you use it. If they don’t know yet, tell them. And tell them why you use it. Tell them you enjoy it.
4. Stand up for the truth. No more incrementalism. We want it legal, now. No more excuses (like only for medical patients with a subscription), no more wimping out (like “tax it” or “loosen the penalties”), no more additional laws, and no more state-by-state – we want the Controlled Substances Act repealed, end of story.
5. Stop defending, and start putting opponents on the defensive. In a free society, the burden of proof is on those who would ban. Be aggressive. Don’t settle for mediocre answers. Demand they confront their lunacy. Anytime and anywhere you find inquisitionists, confront them, and don’t let up until they back down.
6. Smoke in public. As long as there are no cops, the worst anyone can do is throw words at you. Engage them in civil conversation. Educate them.
Every cannabis user can step up and personally fight for the truth. YOU can do this. WE ALL can do this. Stop waiting on NORML. Stop waiting on MPP. Stop waiting for the next election. The “political” process is just a thermometer, it’s not the thermostat. It merely measures the temperature, it doesn’t set it.
WE set it. Each and every one of us. The adventure begins now!
Please post a video of this CNN stuff for those of us with no TV!
Attack Kerlikowske as the establishment and ride tea party anger.
Attack marijuana persecution as one of the big problems with government.
Ride the tide of anger towards government!
Once again Allen does a great job. Great job Allen! Thank you for all of your hard work. 2012— WE ARE COMING!!! 2012 WE WILL BE HEARD!!! 2012 MARIJUANA GETS LEGALIZED!!! 2012 WE WILL HAVE MARIJUANA ON BALLOTS ALL ACROSS AMERICA!!! 2012 WE WILL WIN!!! GO NORML!!!
Anyone have this uploaded yet? Daylight savings time messed me all up. 🙂
Over the course of time Cannabis (marijuana) prohibition was established, maintained and defended by lies.
Wasn’t it Joseph Goebbels who said telling a lie over time establishes in the mind of the brainwashed the truth?
The ONDC policy that forbids federal officials from appearing with or debating legalization advocates in public, should be Allen’s opening statement tonight on CNN. It speaks for itself.
i would love to see kerlikowske have to stand trial and prove that marijuana is what they claim it is.i know it hasn’t been too long ago that the global warming issue was in the courtroom.why shouldn’t the dea be held accountable for their lies?
giv’em hell.don’t get mad just point out the facts that the government knows but to scared to change.
Is this the clip?
Would it not be a total surprise if the same rhetoric was not spouted? Please, we all know that we have heard it before and if they do happen to say something different we will read about it on NORML.
So, Our Government wants to use Our Public Broadcast Systems to give us a one-sided message, knowing how close the vote was in California and how close it would be nationwide? Really?
Give the networks something to think about.
DO NOT WATCH THAT LIAR!
(Need I say which one I mean?).
First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then they flee like a bat out of hell to avoid a live debate with NORML.
drug czar??? WHAT A WASTE OF TAXPAYER MONEY!!!
?.did the mexican cartels pay off our goverment to not make it legal
We’re lucky to have Allen as a front-line spokesperson. We each need to advocate for saner drug policies in our own backyards, wherever that may be. And, we need to remind our political representatives and government employees that we’re still their bosses.
Who’s the drug Czar’s boss? It might help if we could get together a petition to him/her demanding that we, the people get to converse directly and in public over this or any other issue. They can only hide if we let them.
Screw , Holder & his threats . Amerikkka isn’t going to mess with California a State they can’t afford to lose .
They aren’t doing anything now & they aren’t going to do anything after we turn more warehouses into growing facilities . Amerikkka needs California . California doesn’t need Amerikkka .
Gil Kerlikowske, i guarantee is getting donations
( money ) from Drug , Alcohol , tobacco or Oil to take such a ridiculous stand on his opposition to Cannabis .
Go get ’em Allen!! I’ve got a ton of confidence in you. Show CNN what’s up. I’ll be watching the Packer game but good luck kind sir!!
Check out the CNN video here – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBTCIRgTwEo&feature=share
I tend to agree with Victory. The strategy for prop 19 seemed to be to get marijuana supporters to the polls, not change minds. I don’t think that alone can work. We’d be vulnerable to repealing the law in the next election cycle.
I’ve seen a few interviews of people on the fence but who voted no on Prop 19. In summary, they were feeling “us vs. them,” where “them” are potheads and they don’t much care for potheads. Talking about tax revenues can not overcome this gut feeling.
I see two better strategies moving forward:
1. Wear suits and ties. Anyone speaking for marijuana legalization should be dressed better than the people s/he is speaking to. Even if the speaker’s argument is flawless, the message will be lost if the speaker wears dreadlocks, or in anyway resembles the stereotypes depicted in media. We must break down the us vs. them mentality.
2. Co-opt the “less government” sentiment of the tea-party and other conservatives. Use slogans like, “Get the government out of my garden.” and the like.
The Evening Report
“?.did the mexican cartels pay off our goverment to not make it legal”
Thank you Shawn, Dateline here in America
Money is tight, I wonder in my only fiduciary soul
Amazing Grace
the drug far seemed really scared that we are going to legalize, he stated that prop19 was our best effort and will be our best effort ever and that we should all just give up because people are starting to realize the dangers of marijuana….
i agree with hippie dude 100%. like the someone else had writen in, as soon as the older people die things will get better.
Allen St. Pierre is a class act. He represents the pro-marijuana side: professionally, ethically and with class. Thank you Allen.
There’s one reason why the DRUG CZAR doesn’t debate Allen or any knowledgeable person who knows the facts about Cannabis……he knows he’ll lose the debate .
To # 32 ,
I lived with a family of Church goers . Not only my Dad ( who favored Cannabis ) and Mom but my Aunts and Uncles . They were all anti – Weed but every single one of them except one Aunt of mine were essentially alcoholics . Probally most Christian organizations of today are truly not Christians . They live on the side of Satan the Devil , are liars & hypocrites .I quit going to Church .
i really dont belive our votes count on certain things,like voting for tax cuts,or to legalize marijuana,or hell even who the president will be.but if the people that smoke it that works in the white house and other goverment offices would stand up for the people that vote for them then we mite have a chance.maybe im worng but i should have the fredom to smoke a j in my home or in my yard.its no wonder why the wrong people get votted in,cause the pot smokers like my self no that in some cases my words dont matter. sorry but where is my fredom
I think it’s quite ironic that big pharma is pumping our elders full of perscription drugs which have the potential to kill a young, healthy person, let alone those whose ammune systems hang by a thread.
Way to go, big pharma. Keep killing off your supporters…
i saw the show.
you mentioned driving high, and smoking in proximity to kids as bad things, needing police action.
please, just treat pot like alcohol and tobacco.
(it’s not heroin or coke, dammit)
people drink beer and smoke tobacco in the presence of kids every day, and are NOT ARRESTED. (but if it’s so bad, why not)
as to driving;
1. recent studies show tired driving to be as dangerous as drunk driving.
2. texting and cell phone use while driving can be just as dangerous as driving on pot.
3. what about all the people who DRIVE WHILE HIGH ON PRESCRIPTION PILLS ??
why do you give them a free pass ?? (no mention)
WHY are you advocating a crackdown on US,
-but not on them ??
please don’t start a new prohibition to try to end the old one.
I don’t know what went wrong, but I tried to catch both interviews and missed them both, did they change the times or something? I tuned in at 5:30 and watched for almost an hour, no drug czar, then I tuned in again at 7:30 and no Allen. I hope you can post clips from it to NORML’s site somewhere. I would love to challenge that idiot to a debate, 70 year old rhetoric could never stand up to 21st century science in an open debate.
Tea Party will not help us. They are mae up of consevite to right wing consertiv and right wing chrition conservti In the south we have the bible belt they play a big roll. Only bi regesting pepply to vote is the anser one state to make it leagl will start the ball rolling.Soi belive we need to spend the money on get the young falks toe regster to vote and then go out that day and take over u.s.a.
One of the reason my dad fout in ww 2 is to keep our country free from a goverment like this drug teasing peeing in a bottle for a job. My dad is in heaven looking now on us and saying there is going to be and war sooner or later in this country. lord i hope im not alive when that day come. no way in a lover not a fighter
2012 Is when mexico will elct a new presdent The curent pres will be vote out. The new party in and they will leagliz cannabis I hope
Great job, Allen! It was a very good interview and I think Don Lemon falls on our side.
Did everyone see where the Heritage Foundation recommended the dissolution of the Drug Czar’s office? The Heritage Foundation no friend of the legalization movement but they’re beginning to realize that the amount spent on prohibition is ridiculous. Now if they’ll only realize that denying someone their freedom for using or growing such a safe substance is the most ridiculous thing our government does and should be reason enough to legalize.
@Old Blue Man
Don’t lump all conservatives into the freedom hating, so called “moral majority.” You might find yourself surprised at how many people would consider themselves in agreement with a lot of what the Tea Party is about and still vehemently oppose prohibition.
Remember the legacy of President Richard M. Nixon, who, after being told that all of these anti-war, hippie detractors on the streets embarrassing him were potheads, had pot placed on the list of Schedule 1 Narcotics, where it has remained ever since! The Nixon legacy lives on!
the goverment won’t change there way until the people say enough is enough. we voted do we realy have a vioce? it make a person wonder.
Ok, here’s my take. The women’s movement said to the government about killing the children in the womb. “Hey it’s my body, keep your hands off of my body”. So smoking pot should be no different in fact it’s only between you and no one else. “It’s your body”. So killing a child in the womb is perfectly OK according to the government, but having one lousy joint makes you a hardened criminal. Being gay was once outlawed, now it’s some kind of constitutional right. Go figure where is the justice? The time has come to at least decriminalize it. This by far is less of a crime than a damn parking ticket.