Pro-Decriminalization Candidate Ahead in Vermont Gubernatorial Primary
Unofficial vote totals show that marijuana decriminalization supporter Peter Shumlin won the Vermont Democratic primary for governor yesterday by an agonizingly tight margin of fewer than 200 votes. Although votes are in from all 260 precincts, towns and cities have a couple of days to certify official results. Currently president pro tempore of the Vermont state Senate, Shumlin has been a staunch supporter of efforts to remove criminal penalties for possession of small amounts of marijuana in Vermont—something MPP has spent years lobbying for.
“Small marijuana offenses, when you’re already on probation, can send you to prison,” Shumlin told the Rutland Herland in June. “That doesn’t seem to me to be the best use of scarce taxpayer dollars.”
While a recount is likely because the final tally was so close, Shumlin’s victory in a five-person primary is yet another example of how candidates can benefit — not suffer — from supporting efforts to reform marijuana laws. Assuming Shumlin is the Democratic candidate, Vermont’s general election will also be of greatest interest to marijuana policy reformers. The Republican candidate for governor, Brian Dubie, is an opponent of decriminalization, and the race is expected to be close.
Tagged with: Brian Dubie and decriminalization and Peter Shumlin and Vermont by the author
18 comments
it’s funny that the guy against decriminalization’s name is Dubie. haha. i haven’t heard of shumlin unti today but i’ll do some homework on him now for sure.
i really don’t understand why people do not accept science, it’s like the poeple HAVE to slow down thier lives so washington can catch up, it’s so god damn frustrating! i mean even the anit-drug crusaders know that alcohol is worse than cannabis , but they continue to vote against it because they are bored, or it employs them financially, or they just like to look stupid. i really don’t understand it, then why do we teach our kids science in school and tell them that science is fact then lied to our faces when it come to politics. haha
Best of luck to Peter Shumlin.
I predict Shumlin for President in 2016 or 2020.
One more reason why I love the Green Mountain state.
Support your local PRO weed politician and get out and vote!
Good luck Shumlin. Smoke the Dubie.
Vermont citizens can register to vote at
http://www.vermont-elections.org/elections1/registertovote.html
The prohibitionists will roll out all kinds propoganda. None of that will count if enough just-say-yes people turn out to vote. Get this link to your friends in Vermont. In other states, just do a google search for “voter registration” and your state name.
If your a college student, get this kind of info into your student newspaper; voter registration drives are a well-accepted public service on campuses.
The propaganda for both sides has pretty well had its effect. People’s minds are more or less made up. Now is the time to get like minded people registered and to the polls, including the early-vote option in a lot of states.
Share the links. Register. Vote. Change things.
I voted for Shumlin. It’s great to see that he won the nomination. It’s going to be a struggle against Dubie, who is a war mongering bastard! Let reason prevail this November.
These Blogs are my I come to the MPP site. When I feel down hop on the site and chances are you’ll feel better
why*
Though I no longer live in VT, I’m still a Vermonter and have great faith in the progressive and independent forces rallying there. Since the mid-nineties there has been a concerted effort to bring the Green Mountain State into a new era of sustainability and wholeness. Time to throw off the shackles of cold molasses leadership and be a shining light of progess in New England.
Not a native Vermonter, but lived, worked for the state, went to johnson state college and taught in Vermont for 7 years. What a place!!! Go Green!! I knew this time would come. I guess another reason to move back to the great white north.
Hey, MPP, what’s the word on setting up a “click here for voter registration info for your state” button?
Turning out the vote in November means that we need to get people registered today!
I’m a Christian who takes seriously Jesus’s command to do unto others what I would have them do unto me. I know that if my child were using marijuana, I’d want to work with him or her as a parent rather than seeing him or her with a criminal record, in jail with the sexual predators, lose their college financial aid, and all of the very real harm that would be caused, not by the marijuana, but by the law. I’d hate for that to happen to anyone’s child, but it does, every day. Every single day. It’s the law.
Likewise, if my aging parents were to try a little marijuana to ease the aches and pains of growing older, I would not want to see the police confiscate their home and sell it under the property forfeiture laws. I’d hate for that to happen to anyone’s parent, but it does. Every day. Every single day.
I encourage people to: Regiser. Vote. Change things. Share the links.
All the anti-prop-19 arguments boil down to “it’s better to put people in jail than to let ordinary Americans grow a little marijuana in their own back yards.”
The key to success: Register to vote. You’ve got to register well in advance of election day; it only takes five minutes (even if you have to download a form and take it downtown, it’s well worth the effort). All of these links use the usual h t t p : / / w w w prefix:
California:
sos.ca.gov/elections/elections_vr.htm or to vote by mail
sos.ca.gov/elections/elections_m.htm
Vermont
vermont-elections.org/elections1/registertovote.html
South Dakota:
sdsos.gov/electionsvoteregistration/registrationvoting.shtm
Arizona:
Voter info:
azsos.gov/election/VoterInformation.htm
Register: azsos.gov/election/voterregistration.htm
Michigan: michigan.gov/documents/MIVoterRegistration_97046_7.pdf
Oregon: oregonvotes.org/votreg/vreg.htm
Others: Google your state name and “voter registration.”
College students: You can usually register as a citizen of either your hometown or your college residence town. Share the voter registration info through your student newspaper, twitter, etc.
Everybody: Most states allow early voting and/or vote-by-mail, so once you’re registered, go ahead and request a ballot (at the voter info site for your state). Save a trip to the polls and get it done while you’re thinking about it.
5 minutes. Change the world. Share the links.
@Conservative Christian – just wanted to thank you dude for your continuing efforts. You are truly dedicated to the issue of legalization and I hope people in their respective states follow the links and register. Thank you.
Free The Weed. Free The People.
Thanks, FreeTheWeed 14! (gotta love that name
).
I think we’re moving out of the “persuasion” phase of this movement and into the “pathway” phase, i.e., most of the people visiting this site and the other pro- pages are probably already on about the same page as far as the need to end prohibition; I thinks what we need next is a clear course of action (hence my more-or-less frequent posting of voter registration links). We can take a lesson from our own American history about the importance of getting people registered and getting them to the polls (and even getting a vote-by-mail ballot or an early-vote ballot, some things not generally available during earlier struggles).
Thanks for the encouraging feedback! Register. Vote. Share the links. Change the world!
I am a cancer survivor an have a seizure disorder also suffer from cronic pain and have a very hard time sleeping and woul like to see marijuana decriminalized for people like myself because when I usemarijuana I don’t have any problem sleeping and it also helps to not think about the pain I deal with on a daily basis also I been charged with posession of over 20 grms. four times and I can’t imagine what I would if I were to loose my disability for posessing something that helps me in my everyday struggle to live a nornand happy pain free life.
More and more, politicians are coming around and seeing that pro-cannabis is NOT going to harm their careers. But in line with Conservative Christian, the only way that pro-cannabis will HELP their careers is if people get out and VOTE for them! Numbers speak, and if you don’t vote, then you aren’t adding to the numbers. Also, email your politicians and let them know you favor marijuana legalization. It will give them confidence to side with it as well as conclusive knowledge that the population DOES support it.
Yes, This guy wants to make jobs with cannabis instead of throwing money down the drain trying enforce prohibition. Go Vermont & Legalize it!!!!
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