POLITICAL PARTY
LEGAL MARIJUANA NOW
Minnesota Legal Marijuana Now Party News
NUMBER 6 : JANUARY-MARCH 2017
Mixed election results mean uncertain future for cannabis reform.
Election '16 was great progress for marijuana legalization at the voter booth. Cannabis law reform passed in eight out of the nine states where the measures appeared on the ballot.
However Donald Trump is most certain to uphold the pledges he made during his campaign that he would appoint drug-war zealots to key positions.
And in Minnesota news, attorneys for St. Anthony Park police officer Jeronimo Yanez, who shot beloved Philando Castile seven times while Castile was restrained, wearing a seat belt, are arguing that Yanez is not responsible for the manslaughter because Philando Castile was a marijuana consumer.
In Minnesota, and more than half the states, only the Legislature, not the people, can put the law up for a vote.
Legal Marijuana Now Party and other state legalization organizations are promoting a letter-writing campaign to ask the Legislature to give the people of Minnesota a chance to vote for cannabis legalization in '18.
On Nov. 8, 2016, voters in four states legalized personal use of cannabis.
2016, looking back, and looking forward, 2017
By Dan Vacek
The election campaign in 2016 was a good year for the Legal Marijuana Now Party. In Minnesota we put a candidate onto the February 9 Special Election ballot, and in Iowa and Minnesota we put candidates onto the ballot in the November 8 presidential election, with the words "Legal Marijuana Now" next to their names.
Legal Marijuana Now Party volunteers staffed booths at May Day, Pride Festival, the State Fair, and a number of other events. And during the summer the Legal Marijuana Now Party marched in several parades across the Twin Cities.
A setback in Nebraska denied us major party access there. Nevertheless, Legal Marijuana Now candidate Krystal Gabel received 88,566 votes, more than 24%, nearly winning a spot on Nebraska's Metropolitan Utilities District board, a nonpartisan office.
Volunteers have begun petitioning to get ballot access for 2018, in Iowa, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, and Wyoming. In Minnesota, there will be a two-week petitioning window for candidates in May 2018.
Legal Marijuana Now Party's Minnesota congressional candidates, Dennis Schuller got 30,759 votes, 8.5%, and Susan Sindt got 27,152 votes, 7.7%, on November 8. Marty Super, the Legal Marijuana Now candidate for Minnesota State Senator in District 60, received 8,861 votes, 21.8%. Even though that's not enough to win, it's a lot.
Personally, a highlight of 2016, for me, was having an opportunity to talk about the principle of the Legal Marijuana Now Party in front of a national audience by an interview in the Independent Political Report.
Right now, I'm asking everyone who's reading this to write two copies of a letter, and send one to your Minnesota State Representative and one letter to your Minnesota State Senator. Follow the instructions below. Please do this right away, for the new year -- 2017.
_________________________
Make 2 copies. Use your own name & address. Look up your State Senator and your MN House Representative's name & address here. Use your own words or copy from this sample letter:
Dear Representative/Senator _______,
As a resident of your district, I hope the first thing you do in 2017 is vote to legalize marijuana. I think that the people of Minnesota deserve a chance to vote for a Constitutional Amendment to Legalize Marijuana in 2018, like voters in CO, OR, ME, MA, NV, AK, WA, and CA did.
Your constituent, _______
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Counterclockwise from top: Legal Marijuana Now candidate Zach Phelps in MN Senate Dist. 35 Special Election forum hosted by League of Women Voters on Jan. 6, 2016; Legal Marijuana Now Party marching in Saint Paul's Rice Street Festival parade on July 31, 2016; Legal Marijuana Now presidential candidate Dan Vacek on HBO's John Oliver on Oct. 16, 2016.
Get Involved - Join Legal Marijuana Now - Help Make History in Minnesota
Next LMN volunteers meeting is Sunday, January 8 (at 3pm)
- Meet in the "Friends of Franklin" community room, downstairs at Franklin Library, 1314 E Franklin Avenue, Minneapolis 55404
Upcoming Events:
- Letter writing campaign; please rush, time-sensitive; the Minnesota Legislature convenes on January 3rd
- *Minnesota Legal Marijuana Now Party State Convention* Sunday, January 22, at 2:30pm; meet upstairs at North Regional Library, 1315 Lowry Avenue N, Minneapolis 55411
Legal Marijuana Now is on Facebook and you can follow us on Twitter and Instagram.
Please share our links and forward this email to anyone who might be interested.
(Also, please help support our community partners at MN NORML, Minnesota Women's Cannabis Coalition, Cannabis Resolution, Sensible Minnesota and Minnesota Marijuana.)
Legalize Homegrown Cannabis - Erase Past Marijuana Convictions - Ban Employment Drug Testing
Abolish the Drug Enforcement Administration
SUPPORT CANNABIS RIGHTS!
Effective political campaigns require a lot of advertising. And that costs money. Legal Marijuana Now needs your donations, large and small. Donate now using Paypal or credit card, or mail cash, check or money order to: Legal Marijuana Now Party, 1835 Englewood Avenue, Saint Paul, MN 55104.
FREEDOM GAZETTE
NUMBER 6, JANUARY-MARCH 2017
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