Responsibility Is a Heavy Responsibility
In American democracy, when something ain’t right the people have the right to tell the man it’s wrong. So put the pen to paper, or fingertips to computer keys, or finger-swipes to smart screens, and send a letter or email to your state and federal representatives the next time a bill comes up for vote.
To the Honorable [YOUR REPRESENTATIVE’S NAME]:
Hello,
My name is [YOUR NAME], and I live in [STATE + DISTRICT]. I am writing to ask that you support [NUMBER AND NAME OF BILL].
I feel that people who use marijuana are unfairly criminalized, and the “War on Drugs” is a complete failure.
For over seventy years, our country’s marijuana laws have not curtailed marijuana use, but they have put many good and decent people in prison. As you surely know, in the 1930s the original (yet mostly secretive) reasons to make marijuana illegal were racism against minorities and protecting corporate wealth—and unfortunately, both factors still exist, though the difference today is that the light of truth is shown upon these nefarious reasons. Still, today, almost a million people are arrested for marijuana each year, and almost ninety percent of those arrests are for mere possession, not manufacture or sale.
Even after the federal government has spent hundreds of billions of dollars on the War on Drugs, the marijuana usage rate in the U.S. is the highest in the world. And, according to all scientific evidence, marijuana is far safer than both alcohol and cigarettes, and therefore should be subject to similar laws and regulations.
I urge you to cosponsor and vote for [NAME OF LEGISLATION] in order to put an end to marijuana prohibition. I will greatly appreciate your support on this issue, and will be watching to see how you vote.
Thank you,
[YOUR NAME]
[YOUR ADDRESS]