The Georgia Declaration of Cannabis Decriminalization

WE THE CITIZENS of Georgia adhering and agreeing to this Declaration come from many walks of life and political persuasions,but we are united in our insistence that the legal adult use and production of cannabis be restored to us and our posterity.

We assert without fear of contradiction the following:

·the time for the re-decriminalization of cannabis in Georgia is long past-due;

·all Georgia elected officials know that the decriminalization of cannabis in Georgia is inevitable and therefore all punishments and takings ofcannabis-users’ money and property is morally indefensible;

·that Georgia’s all-white General Assembly in the 1930s made cannabis illegal without either knowing or caring about what they were doing;

·that many of Georgia’s elected officials and law enforcement officers have enjoyed using cannabis; such people have hypocritically waited upon events, never objecting to the eight decades of abuse of their fellow citizens,never supportingcandidates for public office who opposed anti-cannabis policies,and never openly objecting to it all, and apparently never being ashamedof theirown cowardice, hypocrisy, and inaction;

·that the development of a robust, unfettered industrial hemp agriculture industry would be of great, almost immediate benefit to Georgia both monetarily and ecologically;

·that abuse of the people of Georgia has gone on far too long, has caused much unnecessary suffering, and has taken too much money and time away from the decent, working people of Georgia;

·that heretofore for many years we have lobbied churlish, cruel, cowardly, self-serving politicians in vain. We have repeatedly observed the blatant cynicism with which elected officials lied and dissembled with phrases and explanations such as “I deeply regret having used it” or “We need more studies” ,“youthful indiscretion” , “silly experimentation” and,most notoriously, “I didn’t inhale” ;

·that the people of Georgia are not children over which a nanny state system of government should be tolerated or continued; and

·that a majority of Georgians are now in favor of re-legalization of cannabis.

We Now Therefore Insist that our elected representatives –-including those in the judiciary and in prosecutorial positions as well as Local, State and Federal legislators—move at once to secure to the people of Georgia those aspects of Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness with respect to cannabis that the people enjoyed in the 1800s.

We Pledge that we shall not forebear to call out those who in the names of fascist and/or socialist ideals to control of the “common man”or to “protect the children” oppose the decriminalization of cannabis.

We shall call out, to0, those who hideously propose continuing systems of police control that will secure exclusive production and distribution “rights” to large corporations and the well-heeled, or to erect schemes of high taxation and rigid controls that will have the effect of discriminating against the ordinary citizens inviting bribery and continuing the existence of black markets in both production and distribution.

We Invite all Georgians and all Georgia politicians and elected officials to join with us in this Declaration and to insist on Decriminalization in 2026.

What if I told you there hasn’t been a marijuana legalization movement in Georgia since 2010?

I’m sure many of you would start thinking about the cannabis organizations scattered about in Georgia. Of course you would be right; there are many cannabis organizations in our state, but splinter groups and newly formed organizations do not create a movement. Why? Because they have no mission statement to rally around in unity.

Back in the day, from the 60’s up to the late 90’s the cannabis community rallied around a single mission statement; end the arrest and incarceration of cannabis users. Then the low THC Oil medical marijuana outcry began and the idea that cannabis was good for some purposes, but not all caused a great divide in movement, polarizing our community. From that day forward, at least in Georgia, there has been no one mission statement to bring advocates and activists together again.

We sent out a Call for Action to Georgia Cannabis groups, businesses, and pro cannabis individuals to support the drafting of a new Cannabis Decriminalization mission statement for Georgia advocates and activists.  Many answered the call and now we have a Georgia Declaration of Cannabis Decriminalization for the cannabis community to rally around. 

More info to follow very soon. We will advise you of the campaign to Mobilize Georgia to get this Declaration in the hands of every elected official in the state of Georgia. 

Stay tuned!