By John Payne
Last week, I gave blood. That is not an activity that I enjoy…at all. Despite playing numerous contact sports, I hate the sight of blood, especially my own. The thought of my life force flowing out of me and into a tube makes me physically ill.
That’s not an exaggeration; the nurse had to stick me four times with three different needles because every time she got one in, I tensed up, constricting my blood flow. By the end, I was having a full blown panic attack, but I completed the donation.
Why would I put myself through something that I find so unpleasant? The answer is simple: I want to live in a world where people are more likely to live through traumatic accidents. Furthermore, someday I may need a transfusion, so I should practice the Golden Rule, and do unto others now as I hope someone will do for me in my hour of need.
There is a saying, often incorrectly attributed to Gandhi, that we must be the change that we want to see in the world. Although it is important to identify and discuss the problems with the world as it is, those steps are wholly inadequate to making the world a better place. In order to do that, we must change ourselves and our behavior in ways that address those problems.
Next Thursday is our Independence Day. The day when the rebels who separated this country from Great Britain publicly pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor to the fight for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The day that those individuals became and created the change they wanted in the world.
How are you going to be the change you want to see in the world? Specifically to our purposes here, how are you going to legalize cannabis this year?
- Will you write a letter to the editor of your paper?
- Will you organize a town hall meeting?
- Will you join our mobile campaign by texting “smc” to 420420 and call your legislators and urge them to support important cannabis law reform measures?
- Will you make a financial contribution to the cause?
Think about how you will advance the cause over the next year and set that as a goal for yourself. You can email it to me, if you like, and I will be glad to help hold you to it.
And I certainly hope that one of the ways that you will make change in the world is by making a contribution to Show-Me Cannabis. We operate on an extremely lean budget (on track to be substantially less than $100,000 this year), and we get tremendous bang for that buck. In fact, I’d venture to say that we do more with the limited resources we have than any other advocacy organization in the state. However, there is a tremendous amount of work to be done, and we must do more, but that is not possible without your financial support.
Last year, in honor of Independence Day, we held the Life, Liberty, and Pursuit of Happiness Money Bomb, and it was a tremendous success, raising almost 150 percent of our original goal. I hope that you will make this year’s money bomb even more successful by contributing between Wednesday, July 3 to Friday, July 5.
I am setting a slightly different goal this year, though. Instead of a specific dollar amount, I am working to get 50 people to sign up as new recurring contributors, or, if you are already a recurring contributor, by increasing the amount of your monthly contribution. If you are not financially able to contribute right now, you can ask five friends who support the cause if they are willing to make a pledge.
You can join the event page for the money bomb here, and next week I will be sending out the newsletter on the Fourth itself to mark the occasion and update you on our progress.
Our forebears had to protect their liberties with musket and shot. We are fortunate that they gave us a society where we can fight to advance freedom with peaceful speech, assembly, and petition. I hope that you choose to be the sort of person who changes the world and will join the fight for legalization in whatever capacity you can.
Source: National Cannabis Coalition – make a donation
