By Michael Whitney | Just Say Now at Firedoglake.com
Prop 19 was defeated, 54% to 46%. Medical marijuana initiatives in Oregon and South Dakota lost badly, and votes are still being counted in Arizona for a too-close-to-call race there.
It’s fine to say “we’ll do better next time,” but if “next time” is just more of the same, we’re destined to repeat the same mistakes and suffer the same outcome. And when people are putting their hearts and their money and their time toward ending prohibition, that’s just not good enough.
If we learned one thing during this election, it’s that the marijuana reform movement needs to embrace the grassroots, to stop preaching, and to start listening. The top-down strategy of the marijuana reform movement up until now has failed, and must not be repeated.
So we want to hear from you. We want to know how we did in this election, and where you think the marijuana reform movement should go.
FROM: Just Say Now – Tell us what you think: how did we do, and what can we do better next time? Click here to let us know.
We promise to read every word you write, and to report back on what we hear. Because one thing we know for sure: we can’t do this without you.
Your efforts to help Prop 19 and other initiatives were incredible, and unmatched. The Just Say Now campaign was launched less than 90 days before the election, and accomplished some amazing things during that time:
- You made more than 50,000 calls to California voters, and thousands more to the other states.
- With your support, we built new sites for two campaigns, and rescued Prop 19’s site after it crashed on Election Day.
- We transformed the marijuana debate, and have shown that it’s possible to run real, bottom-up campaign to legalize marijuana.
The successes of the Just Say Now campaign were your successes.
But we can do better. We want to do better. We want to be worthy of working with you to build a movement that finally brings about an end to marijuana prohibition in this country once and for all. And we never want to write another one of those “well, we fought the good fight” letters again.
We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all the time and energy you put into this election. But next time around, we determined to be celebrating the day after.
FROM: Just Say Now – Take our survey and share your thoughts on this election and the future of the marijuana reform movement.
Thank you for everything you did for Prop 19 and other marijuana initiatives, and for taking the time to let us know how we can do better next time.
source: https://justsaynow.firedoglake.com/2010/11/04/post-prop-19-how-did-we-do-and-what-can-we-do-better/
