Our friends over at Sensi Media broke a pretty great story that is mostly a Q&A with Tommy Chong about his opinion on Donald Trump and how it will effect marijuana legislation and the movement behind it.
When he was first asked about our new President Elect, Chong replies:
“I’m feeling really, really good. Especially because the marijuana initiatives passed in all the states. That’s really the first step toward education. Because once you smoke pot, you can’t put that genie back in the bottle.
Last night, I had quite an epiphany about the good part of the election. The fact that we elected a guy who’s totally his own boss. There’s no doubt about it: he doesn’t follow anybody. He’s a maverick, and I love that.”
His shirt says “I Vote for Marijuana”
Photo Source: Tommy Chong’s FB
I found this article and some of Chong’s opinions to be fascinating, especially after hearing Ethan Nadelman’s comments about the new administration (as you may recall from last week’s post. When I was at MJ Biz Con about a month ago and just after the election, Nadelman said that he felt that the newly elected Trump administration would be the biggest test for the American Democracy since the Civil War, and urged cannabis industry professionals to work together to try and ensure we don’t lose any ground.
Obviously, Chong seems to feel a little differently. In another part of the interview, Chong states:
“It’s what the people want. People want marijuana. Why? Because they googled it and they saw it cures epilepsy, it cures Alzheimer’s, it cures obesity. Once you clear the mind, then the mind dictates everything else.
They won’t mess with the industry anymore. The people want it. The people voted. And that’s the way it is. That’s what I love about our country. Once America goes [legal], the whole world’s gonna go [legal, too].”
At the end of October, I attended a panel discussion in Oregon that was put on by OregonLive about what the cannabis industry looked like in our state currently, just a year after legal recreational/adult use cannabis sales had begun. While this was prior to the election, of course it was mentioned. One of the cannabis movements strongest and most intelligent voices, U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer, said during the panel, “The federal government could not reverse these trends. These have been driven by votes of the people.”
Blumenauer is absolutely correct here about the votes of the people…every state with piece of cannabis legalization (whether medical or recreational) passed it’s new legislation except for one. Clearly this movement, and it’s emerging, regulated industry, is only going forward. I hope that both Bluemanauer and Chong are correct in their assessment and optimism for this sector. Rest assured The Weed Blog will be keeping a close eye on it!