Voters smoke

It's a funny thing. I've only actually met them once in person, briefly, but I love Jules Siegel and his lovely wife Anita like family. Jules and I spend a lot of time together in cyberspace and he's got one of the most amazing minds I know. He claims not to have a brain but this article appearing in Alternet's Drug Reporter this week would belie that notion.

Jules has the last word on The Doper Vote. He gets around in the blogosphere and when he floated the concept at Kos, they scoffed. But he rightly notes, "Do these people think that drug users don't vote?"

Jules with his impeccable logic and years of political experience has some sage words that Kerry should be listening to. Like this:

The right wing is way ahead on this. ...The culturally tolerant fiscal conservative could be Kerry's key swing voter.

I love this line on cannabis consumers.

Anti-drug war activists see it as self-medication, not just for physical pain, but for the otherwise usually intractable irritations of life in groups.

Here's the money quote for Kerry.

Many anti-drug war activists in forums such as DrugWar.com plan either to vote for Nader or abstain because Kerry is just another cop....

But for reform activists, here's the money quote on why we need to vote for Kerry anyway.

The Supreme Court can legalize marijuana by fiat. Think of it – no negotiations and tortured lobbying, but genuine experts expounding on the facts, constrained by rules of evidence.

Pick one: Bush or Kerry. Which candidate is most likely to name judges who will interpret the Constitution of the United States according to facts in evidence rather than DEA propaganda?

It's not just about the drug war folks. It's about removing Bush before he removes our ability to peaceably assemble on the internet. You only need to look as far as the Indymedia crackdown to see why we should be concerned about that.