#LegalizeItNow
Nia Roberts
Agnes Scott College
WDC 618 – Technologies of Social Change
Dr. Mina Ivanova
Overview
The push to legalize cannabis has been trending in the U.S. since the 1960s when recreational marijuana use started becoming popular. The shift caused the political and cultural climate surrounding cannabis to become more lenient, giving way to increased images and references of marijuana in popular culture and subsequently causing the formation of pro-cannabis advocacy groups and organizations. Currently, however, the only types of activism taking place to support the decriminalization of cannabis in the U.S. consists of lobbying by nonprofit organizations, such as NORML and the Drug Policy
Alliance, and festivals like the Boston Freedom Rally, the Global Marijuana March and the
Seattle Hempfest. While each method of activism serves as a valid form of celebrating human rights, educating individuals on the harmful impacts of criminalizing cannabis and advocating for fair federal- and state-level cannabis laws, examples of formal online activism is noticeably absent.
Currently, organizations are pushing to gain support for The Marijuana Opportunity,
Reinvestment, and Expungement (MORE) Act, a bipartisan legislation that removes marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act, thus decriminalizing the substance at the federal level and enabling states to set their own policies. In December 2020, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the MORE Act. If approved by the Senate, the bill will:
• Expunge prior convictions related to marijuana
• Tax cannabis products at 5% to fund criminal and social reform projects
• Prohibit the denial of any federal public benefits, such as housing, as a result
of marijuana use and/or possession.
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In addition, the approval of the bill will change the lives of veterans and individuals who live with sickness, mental illness and/or disabilities; people of color who are disproportionately impacted by the criminalization of cannabis; and youth who are vulnerable or at-risk of succumbing to drug addiction or incarceration as a result of a lack of substance education and biased justice system.
Now, is a great time to take advantage of the excitement surrounding this historic moment and join the fight for legalizing cannabis.
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#LegalizeItNow Intervention
What?
#LegalizeItNow is a digital campaign created to advocate for the legalization and decriminalization of cannabis, also known as marijuana. Though this intervention will take place exclusively online, I have used information collected from researching examples offline pro-cannabis activism to inform me on how to successfully create a campaign that advocates for the fair use, consumption, possession and distribution of cannabis. In addition, I have taken tips from the Massachusetts Cannabis Reform Coalitions’s
(MASSCANN) Boston Freedom Rally and Seattle Hempfest festivals to build the structure and strategy of my campaign. In the case of Hempfest, maintaining lightheartedness, consistent branding and utilizing external resources seem to be key factors for success. For the Freedom Rally, its strength appears to lie in its sophisticated internal structure, which includes a small network of individuals dedicated to identifying and exploring all avenues of advocacy.
Who?
Due to the timeliness of the MORE Act (H.R. 3884) historically passing legislature in the U.S. House of Representatives, the target audience for this campaign will be Senate leaders and other politicians of influence. By providing content that supports H.R. 3884, I will attempt to sway the Senate to vote in favor of H.R. 3884. I also attempt to corral support from pro-cannabis activist, allies and supporters by engaging with individuals who
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are currently active on social media to assist in circulating targeted messaging that advocates for H.R. 3884.
When?
#LegalizeItNow will launch in December and run until H.R. 3884 or any other bill that support decriminalizing cannabis successfully passes legislature and legalizes marijuana in the U.S.
Where?
To safely advocate for the decriminalization of cannabis and avoid legal risks, the
#LegalizeItNow campaign will be conducted online. To maximize reach, I will create a webpage for pro-cannabis content to live and utilize social media, including Twitter,
Facebook and Instagram, to circulate and spread messaging.
How?
My goal is to ignite dialogue surrounding the movement to legalize cannabis in the
U.S. By creating official @LegalizeItNow social media handles and an accompanying webpage, I will create and use #LegalizeItNow to begin spreading messaging and original content that advocates for decriminalizing cannabis. After I have gained traction and successfully created dialogue, I will encourage pro-cannabis supporters to also use the hashtag to share their individual stories, thoughts and opinions on how criminalizing cannabis negatively impacts certain demographics and vulnerable populations. Then, I will monitor and repost or retweet content produced by every social media user who uses the
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#LegalizeItNow and enable the campaign’s website to feature all of the campaign’s social media feeds to capture conversations promoting advocacy occurring in real time. To further reinforce messaging and expand reach, I also will create and publish ads on social media using the native ad creation tools found on Facebook and Twitter to target social media users who are not yet a part of the conversation. Each ad will contain original content that advocates for the decriminalization of cannabis and a link to the
#LegalizeItNOW webpage. Finally, a petition will live on the webpage to prompt visitors to sign petitions to support the cause. A link to share the petition will be readily available, along with an average number of the petition’s most recent signees.
Why?
Research shows that social media users (Millennials and Gen Z, specifically) primarily inform themselves about social and political issues through social media channels (MacColl, 2018). Studies also have concluded that users are more likely to support and pay more attention to user-generated content from either influencers or mutual friends and followers (Williams, 2020). By utilizing social media as my primary source of outreach, I am aiming to take a grassroots approach to activism while shifting it to the digital sphere, where activism and advocacy can occur naturally as dialogue and conversation surrounding decriminalizing cannabis grows. If enough users engage with the
#LegalizeItNow, the hashtag will trend and hopefully catch the attention of the Senate and sway the vote to legalize marijuana in the United States.
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Sample Facebook Ad
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Sample Instagram Ad
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Bibliography
Drug Policy Alliance. (n.d.). Th Drug Policy Alliance. https://drugpolicy.org/
MacColl, M. (2019 May 2). These Statistics On Gen Z & Activism Will Make You Wish You Did
More As A Teen. Bustle. https://www.bustle.com/p/statistics-on-gen-z-activism-
show-they-want-to-get-involved-they-just-need-to-know-how-17179280
Massachusetts Cannabis Reform Coalition. (n.d.). MASSCANN.
http://www.hempfest.org/about/
NORML. (n.d.). NORML https://norml.org/
Public Broadcasting System. (n.d.). Marijuana Timeline. Frontline.
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/dope/etc/cron.html
Seattle Hempfest. (n.d.). Seattle Hempfest. http://www.hempfest.org/about/
ThoughtCo. (n.d.). Pros and Cons of Legalizing Marijuana in the U.S. ThoughtCo.
https://www.thoughtco.com/pros-and-cons-legalizing-marijuana-3325521
Way of Leaf. (2020 October 12). When Did Cannabis Become Illegal? [Facts]. Way of Leaf.
https://wayofleaf.com/blog/when-did-marijuana-become-illegal-in-the-u-s
Williams, R. (2020 March 2). Gen Z relies on influencers for purchase decisions, Kantar says.
Mobile Marketer. https://www.mobilemarketer.com/news/gen-z-relies-on-
influencers-for-purchase-decisions-kantar-says/573264/
Wu, Nicholas. (2020 December 4). House of Representatives passes marijuana legalization
bill. USAToday.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/12/04/legal-weed-house-
vote-marijuana-legalization-bill/3791933001/
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