July 3, 2018

How you can legalize marijuana instantly

The immigration issue shows how we can legalize marijuana instantly. Retweet

HR 1227 is the Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act. It currently has 37 co-sponsors in the House – a good mixture of Democrats and Republicans. The bill removes marijuana from the Controlled Substances Schedule 1 (effectively legalizing it at the federal level) while prohibiting marijuana importation into states where it remains illegal. 

This bill represents a huge opportunity, if you will seize it!

Many people must first overcome a crippling misconception — the idea that Congress doesn’t care what their constituents think. Politicians do care. They pay for opinion polls. Your letters to them are free. Both are considered valuable information. But what the politicians care about most is how much you care.

The immigration issue proves this. It’s a case study on how we can legalize marijuana INSTANTLY.

Gallup has tracked American views on immigration for decades. Guess what? The anti-immigration view has nearly always been the minority stance. You probably find that hard to believe. That’s because this minority view dominates public discussion. It’s even influencing Congressional legislation. This is happening because…

The anti-immigrant mob is loud, intense, and persistent.

Politicians respond to that!

When passion and persistence are missing Congress does its own thing, for its own reasons, just as you would if you were in their position.

But if an assertive minority view like anti-immigration can make the politicians move, then just imagine what a majority position could accomplish.

Marijuana legalization is a majority position.

Somewhere between 61% and 64% of Americans now want to end pot prohibition. That amounts to more than 155-million American adults! Make no mistake — if those people contacted their elected reps to ask for marijuana legalization…

Pot prohibition would end INSTANTLY!

It wouldn’t take a decade or even a month. The only reason it won’t happen is because most people have crippled themselves with the misconception that Congress won’t respond to their desires.

If 155-million Americans could legalize marijuana instantly, then so could 75-million. Or 35-million. Or 10-million. Or 1-million. A Capitol Hill staffer has told us that a mere 500 letters, per month, was enough to get his attention.

500 letters is NOTHING!

And if 500 messages are enough to grab a politician’s attention, then 1,000 would probably be enough to get several more bill sponsors. Get sponsors in a majority of the districts and you’ll have enough support for a discharge petition. That would force the issue to a vote, no matter what Congressional leaders might prefer. Then the majority would prevail.

But chances are, even the Congressional leaders would sign-on before that point. Consider: The Senate minority leader just introduced a marijuana bill! Politicians love bandwagons. Either way, whether the congressional leadership cooperated or we had to use a discharge petition…

Marijuana would still be legalized!

But for many people, the thought of sending even one message to Congress is too much. They’re too crippled with defeatism and inertia to take even the easiest action. Well…

This is your chance to be empowered instead!

We think we can legalize marijuana. The first step? Get 1,000 people per district who are loud, passionate, and persistent just like the anti-immigration people are. This is your opportunity to be one of the 1,000. It’s very simple. Do the following…

ONE: If your Rep is listed as a co-sponsor here, then write a letter thanking them for co-sponsoring the bill and encouraging them to take actions to bring it to a vote.

Alaska
-Rep. Young, Don [R-At-Large]
Arizona
-Rep. Grijalva, Raul M. [D-3]
California
-Rep. McNerney, Jerry [D-9]
-Rep. Lee, Barbara [D-13]
-Rep. Swalwell, Eric [D-15]
-Rep. Khanna, Ro [D-17]
-Rep. Eshoo, Anna G. [D-18]
-Rep. Lofgren, Zoe [D-19]
-Rep. Rohrabacher, Dana [R-48]
-Rep. Hunter, Duncan D. [R-50]
Colorado
-Rep. Polis, Jared [D-2]
-Rep. Perlmutter, Ed [D-7]
District of Columbia
-Rep. Norton, Eleanor Holmes [D-At Large]
Florida
-Rep. Soto, Darren [D-9]
Georgia
-Rep. Johnson, Henry C. “Hank,” Jr. [D-4]
Hawaii
-Rep. Hanabusa, Colleen [D-1]
-Rep. Gabbard, Tulsi [D-2]
Illinois
-Rep. Quigley, Mike [D-5]
Maine
-Rep. Pingree, Chellie [D-1]
Massachusetts
-Rep. Capuano, Michael E. [D-7]
Michigan
-Rep. Amash, Justin [R-3]
Nevada
-Rep. Kihuen, Ruben J. [D-4]
Oregon
-Rep. Blumenauer, Earl [D-3]
Pennsylvania
-Rep. Evans, Dwight [D-2]
Tennessee
-Rep. Cohen, Steve [D-TN-9]
Maryland
-Rep. Raskin, Jamie [D-8]
Texas
-Rep. O’Rourke, Beto [D-16]
Virginia
-Rep. Taylor, Scott [R-2]
-Rep. Beyer, Donald S., Jr. [D-8]
Washington
-Rep. Jayapal, Pramila [D-7]
-Rep. Heck, Denny [D-10]
Wisconsin
-Rep. Pocan, Mark [D-2]

TWO: If you don’t see your Rep listed above, send them a letter demanding they become a co-sponsor before history passes them by!

Your action on this marijuana campaign will also help us achieve the goals we’ve set for July…

  • Attract 58 new DC Downsizers during this holiday week (we’re ahead of pace).
  • Add $50 from new monthly pledgers by July 14.
  • Raise $1,000 in contributions by July 14 as well (we’re behind pace).

Consider starting or increasing a monthly pledge, or making a one-time donation so we can recruit more people to pressure Congress. Remember, each new DC Downsizer costs us less than $4. How many do you want working alongside you?

Thanks for being an ACTIVE DC Downsizer,

Perry Willis & Jim Babka
Downsize DC

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