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It's Your Move Now by Carol Miller

The State medical marijuana initiative, Californians for Compassionate Use, is at hand. The State Assembly has passed a more restrictive bill, AB1529, and the Senate is likely to pass it as well. But the chances are slim that Wilson will sign it, unless he is directed by whoever pulls his strings to pass this legislation in order to preempt our Californians for Compassionate Use initiative which is much broader in scope, covering any health problem for which marijuana may be prescribed and not restricted to the four situations covered by the Vasconcellos bill, AIDs wasting syndrome, cancer chemotherapy, MS, and glaucoma.

The statewide network which is presenting this initiative has gathered more support than any legalization movement since 1972, when the first California Marijuana Initiative did make it to the ballot and failed. NORML was organized out of that effort, and has rarely backed an initiative effort since then, feeling that the political environment was not right to pass a ballot measure. But NORML has been very supportive in this statewide effort and took a leadership role in fundraising. Californians for Compassionate Use has faced some criticism for NORML's role, since NORML has a reputation for supporting marijuana legalization for any personal use by adults, and California NORML director, Dale Geirringer, has been frustrated by the lack of interest in serious fundraising by CCU director, Dennis Peron, so the finances for CCU has been turned over to Scott Imler, who successfully qualified the Medical Marijuana Initiative for the ballot in Santa Cruz. In the process of this transition, at least $100,000 in pledges for matching funds were forfeited, half of what had been raised for the effort.

In Southern California Jack Herer has gone forward with his CMI Initiative as he has every year since '72, which means that there will be not one but two initiatives for voters to support, a confusing situation which we had hoped could be avoided. Jack's network of signature gatherers will also carry the medical initiative and his help with this effort is greatly encouraged.

One cannot participate in this effort with open eyes and not see that the movement is repeatedly shooting itself in the foot. The lack of consensus and glaring ego dysfunction among the white boys who lead the marijuana movement is shocking. I suppose I should not be talking about internal dysfunction, because I truly do think we should be supporting this initiative. It is the best shot we've had at any progress in marijuana legalization in 28 years, and the legalization of medical use for people who are suffering and can be helped by this truly wonderful medicine is the correct and compassionate and most important work before us. But we must be free to discuss the dysfunction within our movements, and recognize that our leaders are as human as the rest of us, are capable of shortsightedness and limited in their power. That is why we need more people involved, especially women, minorities and youth, who are powerfully affected by the War on Drugs, but whose voices are rarely heard.

The beauty, the true value of CONSENSUS as a decisionmaking process, is that together we make right decisions and then have the UNITY needed to carry out our work, and I am sorry that those of us who know and use consensus successfully in our political work and personal lives have not been able to teach this important tool to the leadership the Hemp/Marijuana movement. That is our failure, and I take personal responsibility for my part in that failure.

It is time for each of us to look honestly at our intentions in relationship to the desperate need for change in the situation which allows the gestapo to break into a woman's home and violate her civil rights and human dignity, as is happening again this summer, as it happens all over the state every summer. Cultivation of a single plant is still a felony in this state and if it is a second bust the victim of such a raid is no longer eligible for diversion and will be charged with a "strike" in this three strikes arena.

I honestly do not understand why more of YOU are not working to change this situation, or contributing fund to those who are working. SCRAP, and the sonoma County CCU effort have received only three checks this year to help with the work ahead of us. We could produce a fundraiser and maybe or maybe not actually raise any money for the initiative. But we don't have the energy to do that and also respond to the media as we need to, meet speaking engagements, help organize the campuses, train signature gatherers and get to meetings in the Bay Area, and coordinate the signature campaign.

What is needed is for YOU to take a turn. We need YOU to call or write with your support, and we need it this month!! We need signature gatherers who can pledge to 100 or more signatures, 10 pages. Our share of the states signatures is 18,000 and our goal for Sonoma County is 20,000. So we need 100 people committed to 200 signatures each, and we need the funds to pay phone bills, help pay for gas for getting out to events to get signatures, postage and printing expenses. IT'S YOUR TURN NOW. We can complain about dysfunction within and without, but what are YOU doing to change this situation.

Please look honestly at your work and time and personal finances for the next 5 months and ask yourself if you can pledge to either a financial contribution or to serious signature gathering. We need people in the outer Sonoma County areas, Annapolis, Cloverdale, Sonoma, etc., as well as Santa Rosa, to call us an agree to coordinate a few friends in your area to get the signatures. You can make arrangements with a supportive business and go by every few weeks and supply them with clean petitions while collecting signed ones. You can put out collection cans or sponsor an intimate dinner at your house or a neighborhood bar-B-Q to raise funds in a non-threatening environment, and spread the word and pass out initiatives.

Please call or write this week with a pledge of time and/or money or send a check made out to CCU to: Alan Silverman, Sonoma County CCU coordinator, P.O. Box 14627, Santa Rosa, CA 95472 , (579-8443). Or send a check or pledge to SCRAP, Bos 410, Cazadero, CA 95421.

IT'S YOUR TURN NOW!!

August 1995

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