Talking or doing?

Is it time for drug reformers to move from talking about drug reform to doing about drug reform?

The polls indicate that the battle for opinion about medical marijuana has been won and that a substantial number of people are now willing to remove penalties from possession and use of marijuana. So, what will it take to convert those attitudes into legal changes?

It's time to take to the streets. Political action often has to be political theater; a way to get people involved emotionally and a way to get the media involved visually. As I often heard when I was a child, "Actions speak louder than words."

The tradition of political action -- civil disobedience is an old and noble one. The first modern proponent was Henry David Thoreau, who developed a lot of the theory and protested the Fugitive Slave Act from inside the Concord jail. Ghandi brought down the British Empire and led India to freedom with Thoreau's methods; and the greatest proponent was Martin Luther King, Jr. in his leadership of the American Civil Rights movement.

One problem that we have is marijuana's image. For a very long time, the image of the marijuana user has been the Cheech-and-Chong stoner. Recently that has been extended to include the very ill. What has been missing is the image of ordinary people who use marijuana as part of their normal life. Politicians, voters, and newspeople need to see ordinary people in business suits lighting a joint. Smokers who are not stoners need to become visable.

Unfortunately, those are the same people who are uncomfortable making scenes. However, it would be worth their while if a hundred - or even 25 -- of them gathered outside the city hall or the state capital to smoke a joint. There's safety in numbers: if a hundred participate, probably no one gets arrested; there's power in numbers: if a hundred participate, the news cameras appear and interviews are made.

The retired people, who are not risking job or professional license, may be the most available -- and the most credible. If they have clean records, no jury or judge will send them to jail; and even if they are tried, the event in itself will be noteworthy.

Politicans in critical committee positions or who have publically taken pro-Drug War positions should have to run a gauntlet -- well-dressed, polite, but firm -- every time they enter or leave their offices or legislative spaces. They need to be shown that acts have consequences. Every one of their public appearances should have well-dressed questioners to ask the embarassing questions that we all can help write.

There are lots of public spaces that can be reserved so that respectable panels can conduct public discussions on "Why I use marijuana."

In short, it's time to quit being supplicants and start demanding recognition of our status. The only way to overcome the myths is to live and show the truth.

[By the way, I'm not knocking stoners. It's just that in this political fight, it's time for the moderate middle-American to stop hiding behind the stoners' image. ]

Come out of the closet, and show America who really smokes!