What if MLK took what he learned from civil rights . . . and applied it to herbal rights?
The legalization “movement” is crying out for someone to point the staff toward the Promised Land. Someone like Dr. Martin Luther King. But Dr. King didn’t invent nonviolent confrontation; Gandhi did. Dr. King simply took Gandhi’s formula for upgrading second-class citizenship and adapted it to the civil rights movement. If herbal rights proponents hope for legalization anytime soon, they would do well to replicate the tactics of individuals and movements that persevered through tremendous struggles to win their freedom.
Mahatma Gandhi, MLK’s biggest influence, knew how to work a crowd. Charismatic leaders tend to energize just movements, whether the cause is civil rights or herbal rights.
If you’re after sweeping changes, history tells us that first and foremost you have to put a face on a movement. Faces fit on buttons, banners, and bumper stickers — organizations don’t. Which isn’t to minimize their importance. A strong organization working toward common goals is vital — if you want prompt, conspicuous, and compelling response to valentines like the one the city of Loveland, Colorado recently sent its dispensaries: “Get out of Dodge, cause cities can vote out dispensaries in medical marijuana states any time they damn well please.”
But once you have a face and an organization, it’s a mistake to compromise a just cause by accepting limitations. Demand what’s right from the start — so you don’t have to beg for it later.
Prophets are in short supply. But surely there’s a mediagenic personality out there who yearns to steer the legalization movement. Whoever takes the reins has to be an inspiring speaker and a persuasive writer, know the issues inside and out, and be willing to crisscross the country rallying support. Diplomacy is a valuable trait; forging an alliance of advocacy groups like Dr. King’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) will be the first order of business.
This is no simple task: at present, the legalization movement is divided on two major fronts.
The schism between patients’ rights groups campaigning for medicinal use and groups seeking herbal rights for everyone — including recreational and industrial use — stands out. In a nutshell: should we settle for providing debilitated persons access to “meds,” or do we demand nothing less than full-on legalization for all? If the SCLC worked alongside militant factions, and Hindus and Moslems cooperated for Gandhi, this gap can be bridged.
Dr. King might proclaim: “The hemp growers who autographed the Declaration of Independence didn’t restrict life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness to the chronically ill.”
The other thorny issue is whether a marijuana alliance intends to effect legalization state by state … or get it done in one fell swoop by repealing Prohibition. The mission of securing civil rights for the state of Alabama alone is not one that would have satisfied Dr. King. When you have a day named after you, the worthwhile crusade is repealing Prohibition. MLK labeled the alternative — slogging it out state by state, locality by locality — “taking the tranquilizing drug of gradualism.” He would certainly caution against our doing the same.
There can be no doubt that in Dr. King’s mind, the cause consisted of individual liberty and economic opportunity. After all, the “I have a dream speech” was delivered at the March for Freedom … and Jobs. Supporters had gathered at the Lincoln Memorial to demand both, not to compromise.
I have a dream, too: herbal rights activists working toegether to repeal prohibition.
What other limitations would give Dr. King pause? There’s a big price to pay for winning crippled medical marijuana initiatives: they’re a bitch to upgrade later. While it’s true that winning such initiatives “gets your foot in the door” … there’s no guarantee it will open any wider in the future. Witness California Proposition 19; its defeat shut the door on expanded freedom.
Dr. King would preach that as long as “medical marijuana” has that crippling adjective, job creation is a fraction of what it would be if marijuana was fully legal and regulated. Cannabis commerce is condemned to a cottage industry. Cannatax is a trickle compared to the funds that would “flow like the mighty Mississippi” in a fully legal landscape.
Fed up with medical marijuana’s dampening effect on jobs, industry, and taxation, Dr. King might declare, “Now is the time . . . to stop throttling the golden goose.”
What would be the best way to get things moving forward right from the start? Marching on Washington worked out pretty well for Dr. King’s cause. Marijuanamarch would be ample indication that the 150 million strong pro-pot voting combine controls its own destiny — it just needs to realize it. The clarion call from a voice of the movement might reverberate forever.
7 comments
Russ (Stumpy) Hicks says:
Aug 17, 2012
I couldn’t agree with you more!!!! The way you so eloquently stated, “if HERBAL RIGHTS proponents hope for legalization any time soon, they would do well to replicate the tactics of individuals and movements that persevered through tremendous struggles to win their freedom.” I would go you one better and instead of replication I would say that we as a People, meaning people who choose to partake of the sacred herb, follow as close to the letter as humanly possible the exact tactics of these two great leaders, Ghandi and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Hell, I would go as far to say that whomever our leader turns out to be, should go back in history and adapt Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech to suit the desires of our People. Afterall, we are still the minority, just as the African American was back in the sixties.
Again, I applaud, not only your candor, but how you chose to approach this crucial subject matter. I absolutely agree that we should pursue what is right from the very start. Or else, we would be begging for it at a later date. And we, as a People, should not take no for an answer. I liken it to the civil rights movement. And I am so glad that we have racial equality in our great nation. Did the African Americans take no for an answer. No, they did not. They kept at it, at it, and when all of the cards seemed stacked against them they got stronger, until they got what should have been a God given right in the first palce. You see, I am a God fearing man and a Christian. And I believe what the good book says, “…that all men are created equal.” And yes, we need to put a face on our People’s Movement. In fact, didn’t the good Lord put all of the plants and animals on our planet for us to use. I believe the answer to that question is a resounding YES!!!! However, I don’t agree with you when you suggested that we ally ourselves with Dr. King’s SCLC. Only because I don’t think that the Southern Christian Leadership Conference would be a good fit, not in the beginning anyway. Who knows I could be wrong. Afterall, if the Hindus and Muslims came together for Ghandi, I suppose anything is possible.
Again another valid point you make. I also think that Dr. King would take the all or nothing approach. And i think that that is exactly what we should, as a collective People, do. I mean, if three voices are louder than two, wouldn’t it make sense to all “harmonize” to make our collective voice all the more harder to ignore. What I mean by this is simply: I think someone should take the reigns and organize a two, three, four… million smoker march. And once we get to the Lincoln Memorial we make so much noise that not only our government hears our pleas, but the entire country hears our plight, as well. We should make sure that ALL doors are opened up. NOT only the doors to the medical marijuana dispensaries, but EACH and EVERY OTHER DOOR THAT CAN BE OPENED WILL BE OPENED. And NOT ONE, and I mean NOT ONE compromise will be made. We will stick to our guns, as it were…
Unfortunately, I reside in a state, North Carolina, that doesn’t see the medicinal benefits of marijuana, let alone the outright legalization. But I am moving to Michigan, Montana, Oregon or Nevada within one year. My plans are to be in a marijuana friendly state by February of next year. I can hardly wait.
How’s this for an idea, instead of raising taxes on the already over-taxed populace, start a new tax. Tax marijuana!!!! I mean, our national debt is floating right around fiftten-trillion dollars. Do you really know how much money fifteen-trillion dollars is. I’m going to show you right now: a packet of one-hundred dolalr bills is right around a half-inch thick and contains ten-thousand dollars. That “wad” will fit quite nicely in my pocket and be enough cash for me to have a truly decadent time for a week, maybe two. Believe it or not, you can fit one million dollars into a brown paper grocery sack and ceAry it around town, if you chose to do so. Now, let’s take a look at one-hundred-million dollars. That amount of cash fits on a standard four-by-four pallet and it stretches some forty-three inches on my six-foot frame. That’s probably more money that i’ll ever see in my lifetime. But keep in mind that our national debt is right around fifteen-trillion dollars. I’m getting there I promise, just bear with me, if you would please. Next in line comes one-billion dollars. Now we are really getting somewhere because one-billion dollars is TEN, yes, I said TEN of those four-foot by four-foot square pallet stacked forty-three inches sitting one next to another.
Now here’s where all of my rambling gets really, really interesting. You know you’ve heard this number before, one-trillion dollars. But, let me break it down for you: it is one-million-million; or one-thousand billion. That’s the number one followed by twelve zeros. Are you ready for this?? That’s fifty four-by-four pallets high by fifty four-by-four pallets deep. But that’s not all, you see one-trillion dollars requires that you stack two pallets, one top of one another. That’s a grand total of two-hundred four-by-four foot pallets.
Now multiply that number by fifteen that gives us a grand total of three thousand pallets. Now imagine, if you will, just for a moment, stacking all three-thousand pallets in a huge square. You’ve got a massive amount of cash, to be sure. Just how big is this stack, you may be asking at this point. Well, this really did surprise me. It is one-hundred-twenty yards long, the length of a football field, plus both end-zones. How high, it reaches all of the way to the elbow of the Statue fo Liberty. These pallets dwarf a semi tractor and trailer, and a four BDR house. Keep in mind that the pallets are evenly stacked one on top of the other and it looks to be an almost perfect square.
Now I ask you how long would it take to pay off that monstrous debt with raising taxes instead of creating a brand new tax. Yes, a marijuana tax. If the government would get off of their dead-beat asses and realize this, Obama might just be able to keep one of his major campaign promises and that promise was to balance our budget in his first term. No, no, no, please don’t get me wrong. A snowballs got a better chance in Hell than me voting for Mr. Barrak Obama again this year. My point is this, why not lagalize marijuana, regulate it. But more importantly tax it. Now i’ve heard all different sorts of numbers as to the gross annual sales of marijuana. Anywhere from ten-billion dollars to twenty-seven-billion dollars, and as high fifty-billion dollars So, just for the sake of argument let’s work with a number somewhere in the middle, say thirty-billion dollars. If we tax that at, let’s say, ten percent that adds up to about three-hundred-million dollars in tax revenue from the single source of marijauna. That’s not a bad payday at all. You can do the math to see just how long it would take to bring ou rnation’s debt to a reasonable level. One that we all feel comfortable with.
Just one more thing about our President. Didn’t he promise us, the People, that he would create some four-million jobs. By my last count he’s about a million-and-a-half short of that goal. And November will be here before we know it
cancom says:
Aug 19, 2012
—I’ll jump in below where appropriate. I cut out a few statements; your full comment is above.
I couldn’t agree with you more!!!! The way you so eloquently stated, “if HERBAL RIGHTS proponents hope for legalization any time soon, they would do well to replicate the tactics of individuals and movements that persevered through tremendous struggles to win their freedom.” I would go you one better and instead of replication I would say that we as a People, meaning people who choose to partake of the sacred herb, follow as close to the letter as humanly possible the exact tactics of these two great leaders, Ghandi and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Hell, I would go as far to say that whomever our leader turns out to be, should go back in history and adapt Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech to suit the desires of our People. Afterall, we are still the minority, just as the African American was back in the sixties.
—Thank you for your kind words. I disagree that “we are still the minority.” I’d say we grovel like we’re a powerless minority, but, in actuality, we’re a powerful majority. We just don’t seem to realize it.
Again, I applaud, not only your candor, but how you chose to approach this crucial subject matter. I absolutely agree that we should pursue what is right from the very start. Or else, we would be begging for it at a later date.
—Unfortunately, it’s a little too late for that. MMJ has quite a foothold already. Patient rights groups would have us believe our choice is constricted MMJ or nothing … when the option to repeal prohibition has been there all along. And patient rights groups are doing plenty of begging — for the rights of a few.
And we, as a People, should not take no for an answer. I liken it to the civil rights movement. I don’t agree with you when you suggested that we ally ourselves with Dr. King’s SCLC. Only because I don’t think that the Southern Christian Leadership Conference would be a good fit, not in the beginning anyway. Who knows I could be wrong. Afterall, if the Hindus and Muslims came together for Ghandi, I suppose anything is possible.
—It’s possible you misread that. I said herbal rights groups in the present might want to ally themselves like Dr. King’s SCLC united civil rights groups in the past, not that herbal rights groups should ally with the SCLC, which I don’t think is even still in existence! Uniting is lot tougher now; there are so many more groups to unite.
Again another valid point you make. I also think that Dr. King would take the all or nothing approach. And i think that that is exactly what we should, as a collective People, do. I mean, if three voices are louder than two, wouldn’t it make sense to all “harmonize” to make our collective voice all the more harder to ignore. What I mean by this is simply: I think someone should take the reigns and organize a two, three, four… million smoker march. And once we get to the Lincoln Memorial we make so much noise that not only our government hears our pleas, but the entire country hears our plight, as well.
—Let’s put it this way: activists have tried everything but a march on Washington, and where has it got us? It’s got us to a place where maybe one out of thirty people who want to buy cannabis legally can. Nothing beats massive demonstrations for effecting paradigm change. That’s not a personal opinion, it’s in the history books, it’s in pictures, and it’s on video.
Unfortunately, I reside in a state, North Carolina, that doesn’t see the medicinal benefits of marijuana, let alone the outright legalization. But I am moving to Michigan, Montana, Oregon or Nevada within one year. My plans are to be in a marijuana friendly state by February of next year. I can hardly wait.
—I certainly take advantage of the access here in Denver, but I also realize that by doing that, it actually prevents some other people from gaining access. I try to make up for it by talking up herbal rights over patients rights.
How’s this for an idea, instead of raising taxes on the already over-taxed populace, start a new tax. Tax marijuana!!!!
—I’d like to extend a warm welcome. As a new visitor, you must not have yet encountered Cannabis Commerce in the USA, which is our twelve-part series all about cannatax. It’s available in the Cannatax category and on the main slider.
If the government would get off of their dead-beat asses and realize this [how cannatax could help with the national debt], Obama might just be able to keep one of his major campaign promises and that promise was to balance our budget in his first term. No, no, no, please don’t get me wrong. A snowballs got a better chance in Hell than me voting for Mr. Barrak Obama again this year.
—He’s made himself a pretty easy target. It’s easy for you and me to say that if we sat in the Oval Office, we’d just sign full legalization into effect, and that would be that. There are factors we can’t know about which, in all probability, make that way more complicated than it seems. That said, if my own mother died of cancer, and a substance like cannabis showed incredible promise at curing cancer, I’d be declaring war on cancer, not Afghanistan. I’d also be thanking my lucky stars that my opponent, Mr. Romney, is not bright enough to play the cannabis card in the forthcoming election. It’s coming sooner than later: a Republican will take the higher ground in a prominent election — and win because they dared to do it.
My point is this, why not lagalize marijuana, regulate it. But more importantly tax it. Now i’ve heard all different sorts of numbers as to the gross annual sales of marijuana. Anywhere from ten-billion dollars to twenty-seven-billion dollars, and as high fifty-billion dollars So, just for the sake of argument let’s work with a number somewhere in the middle, say thirty-billion dollars. If we tax that at, let’s say, ten percent that adds up to about three-hundred-million dollars in tax revenue from the single source of marijauna. That’s not a bad payday at all. You can do the math to see just how long it would take to bring ou rnation’s debt to a reasonable level. One that we all feel comfortable with.
—Cannabis Commerce in the USA, and watch for the forthcoming Cannatax 2012, coming this fall.
Just one more thing about our President. Didn’t he promise us, the People, that he would create some four-million jobs. By my last count he’s about a million-and-a-half short of that goal. And November will be here before we know it
—Yeah, he said they would be in the alternative energy sector. The industrial hemp field fits the bill perfectly well. And there’s probably room for 10,000 repurposed DEA agents there, too.
Russ (Stumpy) Hicks says:
Aug 17, 2012
I’m not real sure of Mitt Romney’s views on the legalization of marijuana. But you can be sur ethat i’ll find out before i go to the polls.
cancom says:
Aug 17, 2012
Russ,
If you poked around the site, perhaps you saw that we’ve been back up for less than a week after being down for six months. I mention that to emphasize just how awesome your letter is for our first comment in six months! I was hoping to present the material we have in a way that would get people going just the least little bit. Your letter suggests maybe we succeeded after weathering a few storms.
I am still in make-sure-everything-works mode, so I can’t address the many points you raise right this moment, but I promise to do so in the next few days.
Thanks again for putting so much energy into your comment!
M. Simon says:
Feb 15, 2013
http://classicalvalues.com/2013/02/cbd-science-hplc-analysis/
Medical Marijuana prohibition is a crime against humanity and a violation of the religious precept – heal the sick.
Pass it on.
Kashyap Bhatt says:
Jul 21, 2013
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,” : Martin Luther King Jr.
Lory Kohn says:
Jul 21, 2013
Thank you for commenting on one of my older articles. It’s still one of my favorites, so I appreciate it! Still awaiting the marijuana messiah …