Ten Reasons Why MMJ Is Cannabis Commerce’s Ball And Chain

Part 7: The foot-in-the-door theory is flawed

So far, so good. They suck you in, but then . . .

The foot-in-the-door theory suggests that any rights are better than no rights.

The door to further “privileges,” left slightly ajar, will undoubtedly swing open wider sometime in the future. Therefore, it doesn’t necessarily matter whether activists get things right in the present.

Or so the theory goes.

The foot-in-the-door theory tantalizes herbal rights activists with possibility: after your state self-sentences itself to insanely restrictive MMJ initiatives, you may be rewarded with a lighter ball and a shorter chain for good behavior.

Wouldn’t you know it, yours truly — MMJ’s biggest critic — has benefited more from the foot-in-the-door theory than anyone on earth.

That’s because by dumb luck I happen to live in the 80210 zip code — epicenter of cannabis commerce, MMJ style. Thirty dispensaries await my patronage within walking distance. Groomed strains of indica and sativa compete for my affection from alluring display cases. Smiling Hooters chicks hover behind, like medical marijuana nurses, ready to service my needs.

“A little White Lightning for you today sir, perhaps?”

“Mmm, magnificent bouquet. Pungent and skunky with a tinge of tangerine. Ah yes — the west side of the budyard.”

Anyone who can open a MMJ dispensary in Shelby, Wyoming deserves a statue.

If I was a selfish, sexist pig who didn’t care about anyone else or the fate of a nation, I’d be in hog heaven. But what if I lived in Shelby, Wyoming?  Then I’d be living in the one state which voted redder in the 2008 elections than it did in the 2004 elections.

Who’d be looking out for me, then?

I would hope it would be the same white-haired guy with the goatee and the red, white, and blue tophat who looked out for freedom in the dark days of slavery. The same guy who stepped in when it looked like Mormons might mind-control the morals of every Utahan. The same guy who’s job it is to keep states from going off on goofy tangents that trample the constitution.

That same avuncular dude who’s been kind enough to look the other way at the MMJ nests all over my hood.

He certainly doesn’t have to, the way federal law reads now.

Which is why I know how fortunate I am that I’ve been able to squeeze in a lot of schmooze time with dispensary personnel manning the local candy stores “official State of Colorado Medical Marijuana Centers” nearby. Poteconomics intrigues me. Coverage in Cannabis Commerce interests them. Opinions straight from the horse’s mouth are always on offer. I don’t have to imagine what business owners think about ever-changing MMJ regulations. Or how the constant barrage of new bills affects their ability to run their businesses — that is, if they can stay in business long enough to assimilate the changes.

So, when I tell you that after two years of patronizing Denver’s finest dispensaries, what I’ve seen so far is not a door swinging open wider, it’s a door slamming shut faster, I might just possibly know what I’m talking about.

When I make a statement like, “In MMJ states, you may imagine you’ll get more rights in the future, but I know you’ll get less rights in the present,” it’s because I’ve seen the consequences of the foot-in-the-door theory with my own eyes, in the broad light of day.

I don’t have to wonder if seventy-five percent of the thirty dispensaries I can walk to have changed ownership and management structure at least once in the scant two years they’ve been in existence. I know from personally observing “empirical data” that they have.

A turnover rate like that exists because when you’ve got your foot stuck in the door, and a Colorado Department of Revenue official slams it shut, the casualties start piling up pretty quickly.

There’s a big price to pay for winning crippled medical marijuana initiatives — they’re a bitch to upgrade later.

How did California Proposition 19 turn out? Shot down in flames, if I recall.

Now Colorado’s making its own dash for freedom. The hope is that the same, “no problem, we can always upgrade later” rationale which didn’t sway California will somehow carry the day at higher altitude. Excuse me if I’m not swept up in all the excitement.

I’ll start racing my engine when that guy in Shelby, Wyoming gets taken care of, too.

To upgrade herbal rights that you’ve already voted for … sometime later … when the world’s a better and brighter place . . . after the dawning of the Age of Aquarius … if Jesus comes back to earth … your MMJ state must:

• Not have elected local and state legislators who consider it their god-given duty to overregulate MMJ yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Good luck.
• Collect enough signatures to get your “upgrade” onto a state ballot.
• Word your referendum so people know what the heck you’re talking about. People need to know what they’re voting for or against, and which box on the ballot they’re supposed to check or punch to accomplish that. Many voters scan referendum language for the first time minutes before they cast their ballot.
• Finance a campaign against well-heeled opposition.
• Run an exhaustive campaign.
• Win the election against tenacious opposition.
• Etch your newly won freedom into the state constitution, ensuring that the opposition won’t be able to delete your hard-won gains ever again [theoretically].

Add it all up, and it amounts to not a whole lot more energy than it would have taken to repeal prohibition in the first place.

So, in a country where polls indicate that there are well over 100 million voters in favor of repealing prohibition, why is the MMJ brigade so quick to stick its feet in the door instead of bashing it in altogether?

Is it because they’re copycats copying the wrong cats? Yes.

Is it because they’re addicted to the tranquilizing drug of gradualism? Yes.

Is it because they’ve turned their backs on the lessons of history when they could have learned from the struggles of civil rights, gay rights, women’s rights, and Indian rights? Yes.

Is it because they’re perfectly willing to win a battle but lose a war? Yes.

Is it because they’re disorganized, haven’t agreed upon a common goal, and have failed to put a face on the organization? Yes.

But the #1 reason feet get slammed in the door is the misguided perception that winning constricted, statewide, patients-only MMJ initiatives is a whole lot easier than repealing prohibition.

Actually, trying to accumulate patients’ rights state-by-state is at least fifty times harder.

Think about it.

It’s fifty times harder because there are fifty states. That means you have to win fifty elections for sure. However, we’re talking about winning the same state all over again, in an attempt to pry the door open further. Regarding California Proposition 19, it would appear that even had that bill been passed, the state would still have had to upgrade its herbal rights yet again until these approached a level of freedom repealing prohibition would have delivered. Now how many elections have to be won? Eighty? One hundred and twenty?

When does it end?

Just for grins, let’s imagine I’ve got this all wrong.

Assume for a moment that the mission of repealing prohibition is more difficult than winning crippled MMJ initiatives over fifty times. OK. If you’ve already waited out eighty years of marijuana prohibition, what’s waiting another year to get the job done right once and for all?

Folks, I’m talking about getting marijuana legalized for everyone, forever, instead of for hardly anyone, for as long as it takes until fickle state legislators decide to pass dynamic laws which force MMJ businesses and caregivers onto the street — at which point you have to hold a whole new referendum to get what you thought you already had.

Which one of those choices works better for you?

Not there yet? No problem. Let’s keep going.

Say you want to build a bridge from Point A [selling marijuana is a criminal act] to Point B [unfettered cannabis commerce lives and breathes]. Why go through all the aggravation of passing a referendum to fund a structure which spans one-twentieth of the gap?

Who knows if and when funds will become available “tomorrow” to complete the rest of the bridge?

Yet that’s exactly how MMJ initiatives are built. “We’ll take what they give us, then we’ll come back for more . . . when the powers-that-be are in a good mood.” How often was Stalin in a good mood?

Stalin repeals rose prohibition and the people rejoice, June 1948.

Meanwhile, repealing prohibition is one good March on Washington away! That statement is based on actual historical events that have been documented, photographed, and filmed — not on personal opinion. It is a fact, not a supposition, that all through the 20th century, virtually every rights group that showed up en masse in Washington, DC wound up getting exactly what it went there for.

Look it up. Google “marches on Washington.” Don’t take my word for it.

Taking over the nation’s capital is a winning tactic because it’s a whole lot easier for the White House to ignore what it can’t see than have to account for legions of “stoners” screaming “Legalize It” through bullhorns, brandishing pitchforks, torches, and bongs along Pennsylvania Avenue.

That is the appropriate remedy for repealing prohibition.

What’s the foot-in-the-door theory compared to marching on Washington a half million strong?

How to repeal prohibition in one stiking image.

Need more? Happy to oblige.

Taking a mulligan on already-passed statewide marijuana legislation invites any number of wild cards to the party.

When California initially approved “medical marijuana” in 1996 — yes, it took twelve years for legalese on paper to become brick and mortar on a street — the maneuvering flew under the radar of outlaw growers. Come 2008, who was hurt the most by competition with retail MMJ outlets? Outlaw growers. Who do cognoscenti credit for shooting down California Proposition 19? None other than outlaw growers — not bible thumpers from Orange County.

Then there’s the matter of wording your proposition, a rocky field to plow. This Sensible Colorado missive captures a sense of the tribulation involved:

As you might have read or heard, a broad coalition of organizations that includes Sensible Colorado has submitted language for a 2012 statewide legalization initiative in Colorado. We went through an exceptionally exhaustive five-plus-month process to produce the filed initiative language, which we believe is incredibly strong and presents the best route to ending marijuana prohibition here in Colorado. We coordinated with dozens of organizations, attorneys, activists, patients, marijuana business owners, and other stakeholders, both in Colorado and around the country. We also solicited comments from the public via our organizations’ lists of thousands of Colorado reform supporters, magazine ads, and events around the state.

My reaction? Great. Why didn’t you make that Herculean effort in the first place? I’m supposed to live and die with this crusade’s ups and downs for over a year?

Any state, which doesn’t already have MMJ laws, can become the first state to pass full-on legalization [which would still be in conflict with federal law] by executing Sensible Colorado’s battle plan from the get-go — not after you already voted to accept one-twentieth the freedom that you really wanted in the first place.

Which state has the cojones to do that?

Better yet, which coalition of activists groups has the right stuff to overturn federal prohibition?

As I write this, the answer is “none.” They won’t be marching on Washington anytime soon.

Their feet are stuck in the door.