Our favorite travel guide, philanthropist and all round great guy is going to use some of his time, money and influence to spread the word and help get the vote out for legal weed in Michigan.
Steves, from the state of Washington, has been a marijuana policy reform advocate for a long time.
He’s expected to be attend rallies in Grand Rapids Tuesday, Oct. 2, and Ann Arbor on Wednesday, Oct. 3.
The events are being promoted by the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, which is backing Michigan’s ballot initiative to legalize recreational marijuana.
His support for cannabis legalization, says Steves, is mostly from a civil liberties perspective. He says he’s not pro-marijuana, but pro-civil liberties.
“People who want to smoke pot do, so if we legalize, we’re not going to have more people smoking pot,” Steves said.
Steves, who hosts a popular travel show on PBS, has said that his experiences traveling in Europe where fewer people are jailed for marijuana offenses, changed his attitude towards cannabis.
“We address problems as a legal issue where it can be a health and education challenge,” Steves said of the U.S., noting that the Netherlands and Portugal initiated their marijuana legalization programs to reduce hard drug use. “People don’t need lawyers and cops, they need nurses and counselors.”
Steves was vocal supporter of the 2012 referendum that legalized recreational cannabis in Washington state. Since then, he’s actively campaigned across the country for marijuana reforms.
Steves is one of the first celebrities to get involved on the ballot issue of recreational marijuana legalization in Michigan, where voters will decide on Nov. 6. The proposed law would prohibit public use of marijuana, and would require the state to set up a licensing system to launch marijuana businesses.
