You may have read about how the “quarterback of the anti-legalization movement”, Kevin Sabet, is bringing his road show to Oregon on the taxpayer’s dime to campaign against Measure 91, our initiative to legalize marijuana. Except that he says, oh, no, heavens to Murgatroyd, “these are educational events, not political events,” that just happened to be timed for the week prior to Oregon’s ballot mail-out (we’re all-vote-by-mail, so this is like standing out front of the polls on Election Day).
This, by the way, is illegal. You can’t use federal tax dollars to campaign against state ballot initiatives. But golly gee, it just “never occurred” to Rick Treleaven, the organizer of the $15,000 two-day event in Madras half paid for by federal anti-drug tax dollars, that it would be considered somehow political to bring in anti-marijuana crusaders to tour the state, also half paid for by federal anti-drug tax dollars, just a week before Oregonians start to vote on marijuana legalization. It’s just a strange coincidence.
Tigard’s Connie Ramaekers, a local anti-drug crusader, said the “event fits in well with our mission” to prevent drug and alcohol use among youths. Since meth scares the hell out of every Oregon parent, they’ll spend 80 minutes discussing that in Madras. Heroin and prescription drugs like Oxycontin and Vicodin are killing kids, so they’ll spend 90 minutes in Madras on those. Drunk driving and binge drinking take the lives of Oregon teens every year, therefore they’ll spend a whole two hours on the subject of alcohol in Madras.
But marijuana, the killer of zero Oregon teens, will be covered for 8 hours in Madras, 2 hours in Bend, Salem, Tigard, Corvallis, Eugene, Roseburg, Grants Pass, Ontario, La Grande, Hood River, and Astoria, and another 90 minutes in Clackamas. That’s ten minutes short of five hours on drugs and alcohol in one city versus 31.5 hours on marijuana in thirteen cities. ”We aren’t there to sway voters,” said the Tigard anti-drug lady.
The Madras organizer explains that marijuana is just the “hot topic of the moment,” both because of the legalization debate and the increasing availability of the drug through the medical marijuana program. That the legalization debate happens to include a vote on that subject is mere serendipity.
Well, we Oregonians aren’t going to sit back and allow federally-funded interference in Oregon’s state marijuana legalization initiative. YOU can help us present the truth about legalization!
The 420RADIO Kevin Sabet Oregon Marijuana Education Tour That in No Way Should Be Construed as Using Federal Taxpayer Money to Campaign Against State Ballot Measure 91 to Legalize Marijuana runs from October 1-7 (see https://rad-r.us/sabetor).
420RADIO.org will present The Russ Belville Show LIVE Streaming at every Kevin Sabet tour date in Oregon to bring the people the actual truth about marijuana and not the sales pitch by Big Rehab, Law Enforcement, and the Prison Industry to maintain the status quo of prohibition. You can listen live at https://rad-r.us/420tunein.
- OCT 1-2: Madras – Living Hope Church 8a-5p
- WED OCT 1: Bend – TBD 7pm-9pm
- THU OCT 2: Salem – Keizer Civic Center 8a-10a
- THU OCT 2: Clackamas – Clackamas Community College 3:30p-5p
- THU OCT 2: Tigard – Tigard High School 6:30p-8:30p
- FRI OCT 3: Corvallis – Oregon State University 8a-10a
- FRI OCT 3: Eugene – University of Oregon Noon-2p
- FRI OCT 3: Roseburg – Umpqua Community College 4p-6p
- FRI OCT 3: Grants Pass – Hull Center 7:30p-9:30p
- MON OCT 6: Ontario – Four Rivers Cultural Center 9a-11a
- MON OCT 6: La Grande – Blue Mountain Conference Center 1p-3p
- MON OCT 6: Hood River – Hood River Middle School 7p-9p
- TUE OCT 7: Astoria – Camp Rilea in Warrenton 11a-1p
WE CAN USE YOUR HELP! Kevin Sabet is my sworn enemy. Since having debated and crushing him at the Baker Institute in 2012 (https://rad-r.us/Sabet) he will never take any questions from me and may even have me banned from entering the event.
BUT KEVIN SABET DOESN’T KNOW OREGONIANS LIKE YOU.
Stop by our show at the tour events and pick up our handy question sheet. We’ll give you the questions you need and the science to back them up, updated fresh for each city so Kevin won’t know what’s coming. Don’t worry, you needn’t know a ton about marijuana reform (though we’ll love it if you do!) you just need to be a well-dressed, polite, respectable Oregonian who can ask a simple question like:
You often say you wouldn’t mind if this were just about some fifty-year-old guy smoking a joint in his basement. So, if you’re OK with that, why do you force him to buy it in a criminal market that eventually profits some violent cartel?
or
Since youth cigarette smoking is now at levels below marijuana smoking, and it’s legal at the age of eighteen, why would marijuana legalization at age 21 not also reduce youth smoking of it?
If you can make it to one or more of the cities listed above, please email me at [email protected] to RSVP, so we’ll know how much material to print up. But PLEASE, consider your appearance and understand one 2-second television shot of Super Tie-Dye Hippie Guy can undo much of the message we’re trying to project. (Don’t blame me for prejudice – I love you just the way you are – but voters can be prejudiced.)
