Rick Steves: We Need to Win for Cannabis and Civil Liberties

You may know me today for my guidebooks or my PBS series about traveling in Europe. But back in the late 1980s, I was the anonymous “responsible businessman who supports legalizing pot” guest on a leading radio show in Seattle. My pseudonym was Jerry. My stance: Our society would be better off by taking crime out of the marijuana equation. Back then, it felt risky to use my own name when advocating for drug policy reform.

But times have changed. Now, two-thirds of Americans agree, like I do, that the responsible adult use of marijuana is a civil liberty and that we should stop locking up pot smokers.

I’m a travel writer, and for me, high is a place. Sometimes I want to go there. If my government says I can’t go, there should be a good reason. There is no good reason that an American should be denied the civil liberty of enjoying marijuana.

We need to bring that civil liberty to even more Americans. Thankfully, we have a huge opportunity TOMORROW to legalize the adult use of marijuana in FIVE MORE STATES. Though I’m worried. These elections are going to be very, very close. Can you contribute today to help us win?

MAKE SURE YOU ARE INFORMED AND READY TO VOTE! VISIT NORML’S ELECTRION CENTRAL TO CHECK YOUR REGISTRATION, FIND YOUR POLLING PLACE, AND SEE WHAT’S ON YOUR BALLOT!

I helped legalize marijuana in my state, Washington, and now, about a decade later, we’re glad we did. The numbers are in: consumption overall is roughly the same, teen use has not gone up, there’s been no impact on road safety, we’re no longer arresting thousands of people a year, and our civil liberties are respected. And from this legal market, my state is enjoying about $400 million of tax revenue each year.

Now, nineteen other states have smartly legalized the responsible use of marijuana for adults. They’re glad they did too. Now it’s time to bring cannabis freedom to Missouri, Maryland, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Arkansas. Every dollar donated means we can contact even more voters and make sure they get out and vote YES on common sense marijuana policy.

Are you in?

Onward,

Rick Steves