A Lesson in Etiquette for Drug Policy Activists
This story is the most perfect example possible of how not to behave if you want people to sympathize with our cause:
I find the whole thing simultaneously hilarious and infuriating. But mostly infuriating. This kind of behavior makes a mockery of everything the medical marijuana movement has fought so hard to achieve.
Pete Guither responds brilliantly by making a point I've raised repeatedly in other contexts. To paraphrase: it's not about doing or saying what feels good to you, it's about impressing and persuading other people. Admittedly, it's often very difficult to fully understand what our opponents are thinking, but you have to at least try. You might not get it right every time, but you sure as hell won't show up in a Grinch costume with a dildo strapped between your legs.
Our goal is neither to shock nor intimidate our opposition. The goal is to change the minds of those who've previously opposed us. We'll win when we convince enough people that drug policy reform is in everyone's best interests not just our own.
The battle to keep medical marijuana collectives from expanding in Mission Square on Bechelli Lane in Redding took a bizarre turn this week.
Moments before Wednesday's Mission Square property owners meeting, someone dressed in a green Grinch costume with a giant imitation penis attached stepped out of a limousine and walked into Giff's Steakburger - the site of the meeting.
The Grinch announced to Mission Square owners that a new cannabis shop - Hampton Collective - would open in the former Humor Shop space on the north side of the shopping center.
…
"I don't know, I was just trying to be funny. I guess it didn't work out," Bobby Martin, who dressed up as the Grinch, said by phone Thursday. [Redding.com]
I find the whole thing simultaneously hilarious and infuriating. But mostly infuriating. This kind of behavior makes a mockery of everything the medical marijuana movement has fought so hard to achieve.
Pete Guither responds brilliantly by making a point I've raised repeatedly in other contexts. To paraphrase: it's not about doing or saying what feels good to you, it's about impressing and persuading other people. Admittedly, it's often very difficult to fully understand what our opponents are thinking, but you have to at least try. You might not get it right every time, but you sure as hell won't show up in a Grinch costume with a dildo strapped between your legs.
Our goal is neither to shock nor intimidate our opposition. The goal is to change the minds of those who've previously opposed us. We'll win when we convince enough people that drug policy reform is in everyone's best interests not just our own.
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