7 Simple Ways YOU Can Help Legalize Marijuana
By Erik Altieri, NORML Communications Director
We are entering the final week before Election Day and our efforts to educate Americans about marijuana law reform have never been more important. Polls show that victory is within grasp with Colorado’s Amendment 64, Washington’s I-502, and Massachusetts’ Question 3 all recently tracking towards a win, but it will still be a close race to the finish in all states.
Help us raise awareness for these important initiatives and Smoke the Vote next Tuesday by helping us take the message viral in the final stretch. Below you will find one simple action you can take each day before the election to help promote marijuana legalization. Let your friends and family know that you stand for rational reforms to marijuana policy and remind them to get out and vote!
1 – Wednesday, October 31st
Help Make Prohibition a Memory! To start off, set this as your Facebook cover image and encourage those following you to do the same.
2 – Thursday, November 1st
Share these images on your Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and more! (Use hashtags such as: #SmokeTheVote #LegalizeIt)
3 – Friday, November 2nd
Spend a Friday night in, preferably with friends and family, calling voters for Amendment 64 and Measure 80. You can either call voters in support of these initiatives by yourself, from anywhere in the country -or- you can pool your efforts and set up a phone banking party. At your disposal are SSDP and NORML’s phone bank to dial voters under 30 for Amendment 64 and JustSayNow‘s phone bank to call voters over 30 (also allows for dialing for Oregon’s Measure 80!)
CALL VOTERS OVER 30 FOR AMENDMENT 64
CALL VOTERS UNDER 30 FOR AMENDMENT 64
CALL VOTERS FOR MEASURE 80
4 – Saturday, November 3rd
Share the latest campaign ads! Post them to Facebook, tweet them at celebrities, email them to your grandparents, post one to your blog…just spread them as far and wide as you can. If you live in one of the states voting on an initiative or can directly target people you know who are, all the better.
5 – Sunday, November 4th
Share NORML’s Smoke the Vote Guide with your social networks. Remind everyone to confirm their voter registration and to check their current polling location, as it may have changed since they last cast a ballot. They can also get caught up on all the marijuana related voter initiatives and view the presidential candidates stances on cannabis.
Post something like:
Did you know the election is on Tuesday?! Check out this page to confirm your registration, find your polling place, and learn if you can vote on marijuana law reform on November 6th. Smoke the Vote!
www.norml.org/about/smoke-the-vote
6 – Monday, November 5th
Pledge to make some final “Get Out The Vote” calls! You can RSVP for a specific time slot here and get an email reminder when it is almost your scheduled time. These final calls are crucial to reminding our supporters to get to the polling booth and they are our final chance to persuade them to support our efforts! If you can’t make phone calls, can you at least pledge to personally email or facebook message 10 of your friends about the election? Anything you can do to help in the final hours of the campaigns take us another step towards legalization.
7 – Tuesday, November 6th ELECTION DAY!
Get out the vote! Share all the above images and videos. Tweet reminders to your friends to #SmokeTheVote (#YesOn64 #YesOn502 #YesOn80). If you live in a state with in-person election day voting, offer to drive your friends, family, and coworkers to the polls. Turn out is extremely important, we have to make sure everyone knows to get out and cast their ballot and to vote YES on the marijuana law reform initiatives.
After you’ve nagged everyone who will listen, dragged your last friend to the polling station, and cast a ballot yourself, come home and tune into www.blog.norml.org - we will be having live election night coverage giving you the latest from our contacts on the ground, exit polling, first results, and more!
Together, we can do this. Together, we WILL legalize marijuana. Let’s start on November 6th.
Source: NORML
