A Word About Cannabis Heroes

I have a confession: I have not been living up to the incredible introduction I get from the fellas on the State of Cannabis News Hour. The Superman stuff. Back when I really had a cape, I delivered stories that were based on the day's news but really were an excuse to talk about our people. But for the last few weeks, I’ve just been reading the news. Just phoning it in.

Luckily, I was shaken out of my torpor last week when I was included in the team-interview of Tim Blake. Founder of the Emerald Cup and a longtime warrior for God’s Favorite Plant™. (That was really cool, and thank you again for including me.)

I was eager to ask Tim “Do you consider yourself part of the “cannabis industry” or the “cannabis community”?

At the heart of the question: now that he's a mover and shaker in political circles, does he care more about regulations and tax revenues… or about what the tax money is doing for people? What a “cannabis job” really means to a family? Does he read corporate reports or the book I just bought: Cannabis Saved My Life?

THE DEEPER DIVE

By the time it was my turn, Tim had answered many times over (COMMUNITY!!!), so I asked: “If I were to do an article about you and your decades of work for our community, who would you want mentioned with you?"

Tim’s a hero to many of us, but who are HIS heroes?

For the record, Tim answered: Dennis Hunter and the good people at Cannacraft; Pebbles Trippet; Dennis Peron; Woody Harrelson; and Susan Soares (which made me feel very proud). Tim’s daughter Taylor Blake added her dad's name (of course!) and Valerie Corral and Frenchy Cannoli.

The mention of heroes makes me think of wars and battles, which makes me think of The War on Drugs. At last, people are acknowledging that the War on Drugs was really a War Against People. A war declared by the American Government against its own people, by the way.

And we, inspired by warriors like the ones Tim and Taylor mentioned, have outlasted the greatest country, military, law enforcement, and legal machine the world has ever seen. Cannabis is more powerful, more affordable, more available than ever in history. With cannabis legalization spreading like wildfire it's clear that the War on Drugs - at least our part of it - is Over. We won.

In a real war, the winners dictate the Terms of the Peace. Think back to the Appomattox Courthouse, when the confederate army surrendered ... who wrote the agreement? Robert E. Lee? No way. When the Japanese surrendered on the USS Missouri at the end of WWII, did they dictate the terms of the peace agreement? No way.

So why is Chuck Schumer trying to dictate terms of the peace agreement, when he’s representing the government that LOST THE WAR ON DRUGS?

The reason is: The War on Drugs was FOUGHT AGAINST OUR COMMUNITY, but the peace is going to be NEGOTIATED WITH THE INDUSTRY.

I don’t know how to get a peace agreement that we can works for the mad diversity in our industry and also makes amends for the damages the war left behind. The pathetic, sleight-of-hand efforts toward "Social Equity are not even beginning to scratch the surface of the pain several generations have felt at the sharp end of law enforcement who continue to justify home invasions, stop-and-frisk, thefts, and killings in the name of illegitimate laws based on the mythology of Reefer Madness.

Especially because the foundation of the abusive War on Cannabis was based on a mythology that’s no different from the bedtime stories that terrified us as kids: the Big Bad Wolf (the myth that there’s evil in the deep dark forest). Dracula (there’s evil in the night); Werewolf (there’s evil in the full moon); or the myth of “Jaws” – evil under the sea.

The “Myth of Reefer Madness” says there is evil in a plant – like the comic book “Swamp Thing”. The evil in the plant would make you insane, violent, sexual – the evil in the plant is the gateway to hell.

Complete balderdash, but remarkably successful propaganda.

THE LAST WORD

How do you beat evil? Normal people don’t. Superheroes do.

Now, am I a superhero like the fellas say? Not even close. Have I put my life on the line for The Plant like Tim Blake or Guy Rocourt or Jason Beck or Susan Soares? Or get arrested dozens of times like Sunra Amour and others in the room today? No.

I love that our community has superheroes like these. The book I’m reading is Cannabis Saved My Life, not "Cannabis Saved My Bottom Line".

Being part of the “cannabis industry” is cool, being part of this incredible community is something worth fighting for.

Have a good weekend everyone.

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IMAGE SOURCE: Photo by Pixabay: https://www.pexels.com/photo/blue-and-red-superman-print-tank-top-shirt-38630/