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Transcript!

CHAMBERS: “Every 37 seconds, someone is arrested for possession of marijuana. Since 2010, state and local police have arrested an estimated 7.3 million Americans for violating marijuana laws—over half of all drug arrests. Black people are four times more likely to be arrested for marijuana laws than white people. States waste $3.7 billion enforcing marijuana laws every year. Most of the people police are arresting aren’t dealers, but rather people with small amounts of pot, just like me.

“I’m Gary Chambers, and I’m running for the U.S. Senate, and I approve this message.”

This is the part where I cop to being a cannabis user. And where I note that cannabis has slowly displaced alcohol as the drug I use for unwinding at the end of the day. I don’t get hangovers, I feel better in general after smoking flower than after drinking, and it’s helped me with some lingering problems—like anxiety—that I’ve had for a long time. It’s not for everyone—and there are certainly some potential downsides to using marijuana (like there are when doing just about anything pleasurable)—but I sure appreciate the freedom I have to take a gummy when I want, without having to worry about the gendarmes storming the ramparts ‘round my IKEA-befouled den of debauchery. Thanks, Oregon!

But aside from personal freedom (you know, the kind that doesn’t involve contributing to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of fellow citizens), Chambers’ legalization push is important from a racial justice perspective. As he notes, Black people are far more likely to face grim outcomes because of our benighted anti-cannabis laws.

Here are more relevant stats on the racial disparities in our drug laws, from our friends at the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML):

• A 2021 analysis of marijuana-related arrests in 2020 in New York City’s five boroughs reported that people of color comprised 94 percent of those arrested.
•  A 2020 analysis by the American Civil Liberties Union concluded, “Black people are 3.64 times more likely than white people to be arrested for marijuana possession, notwithstanding comparable usage rates.” Authors reported, “In every single state, Black people were more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession, and in some states, Black people were up to six, eight, or almost ten times more likely to be arrested. In 31 states, racial disparities were actually larger in 2018 than they were in 2010.”
• A 2021 analysis from the Milwaukee County, Wisconsin District Attorney’s Office reported that Black Wisconsinites were 4.3 times more likely than their white counterparts to be convicted for having marijuana. The worst disparities in Wisconsin are in Ozaukee County, where Black people are 34.9 times more likely to be arrested and Manitowoc County, where Black people are 29.9 times more likely to be arrested.

Manitowoc County? Hey, I was born and raised in Manitowoc County! For context, besides being my birthplace, the U.S. Census indicates the county is just 1.2% Black, and 93.6% white. Yet they hardly ever arrest any white guys. I know I was never arrested. Though I sure as shit could have been.

Again, beating Sen. John Kennedy will be a Sisyphean task—he won by 21 points in 2016—and Chambers still has to work his way to the top of the primary field. I know I’d vote for him, but I live in Oregon, where we already have close to as many rights as we can get, absent much-needed federal cannabis reform. 

As Chambers noted in the Tuesday morning tweet of his powerful ad, our “outdated” views on cannabis are in need of an update.

I hope this ad works to not only destigmatize the use of marijuana, but also forces a new conversation that creates the pathway to legalize this beneficial drug, and forgive those who were arrested due to outdated ideology.

Of course, one day I hope to be able to vote for federal candidates who smoke weed, unequivocally support and/or identify as LGBTQ people, and spend a whole helluva lot more time on thoughts than useless prayers. (A prayerless president? Now there’s a dream I can get behind.)

But, hey, this is a big step in the right direction—and it’s long overdue.

It made author Stephen King shout “Pulitzer Prize!!!” and prompted comedian Sarah Silverman to say, “THIS IS FUCKING BRILLIANT.” What is it? The viral letter that launched four hilarious Trump-trolling books. Get them all, including the finale, Goodbye, Asshat: 101 Farewell Letters to Donald Trump, at this link. Or, if you prefer a test drive, you can download the epilogue to Goodbye, Asshat for the low, low price of FREE.