Dedicated marijuana activists in Ohio crank up protests to twice per week

Marijuana reform is everywhere in the news from every state and every political party, if you look. During the Wisconsin campaign we had several street side awareness events that helped us gather support, raise awareness and put pressure on the elected officials from the citizens of the places we visited. Now that our medical marijuana and industrial hemp bills have died, fall elections have passed and 2011 is upon us, will Wisconsin supporters hit the streets with the dedication of these folks from Ohio? I found a report on them in the Toledo Blade.

Their cause? Support for Ohio House Bill 478, which includes legalization of medicinal marijuana.

The group has been demonstrating downtown every Saturday at “high noon” for several months.

Demonstrators gather at Adams and Erie streets, near the courthouse’s Ten Commandments monument, for an hour to an hour and a half, depending on the weather, and recently added weekly demonstrations at noon Wednesdays.

Everyone seems to have their own reason for supporting marijuana reform, as I found out by my past work.    I try to be efficient as possible when helping with a street side campaign like this.  Usually we had signs that contained the medical message, but also a request to call the elected officials whose district we happen to be in.  Usually their name and phone number with a request to call them worked well.  It was obvious by all the honks and waves that the public supported reform, so we wanted to capture their action while we had their attention.  At one point we even had a cell phone that people passing by used to call right one the spot.  It worked out well.  I would suggest these guys add some key Ohio legislators names and numbers to their signs.

“My own personal view is that, No. 1, prohibition has never worked. And the medical marijuana movement is based upon the fact that it can be used for a whole lot of things,” said Dave Green, 54, of Waterville who is self-employed.

“Marijuana has been used to treat glaucoma and nausea successfully, and it’s very good treatment for people with multiple sclerosis. My personal feeling is that marijuana should be [as legal as] tomatoes.”

Brian Holt, 45, of Toledo said he was there Saturday with a “Honk 4 Weed” sign, and wearing a green “Honk 4 Weed” T-shirt, because he considers the legalization of marijuana to be a human rights issue.

“I’m here every week and I don’t smoke [marijuana],” he said.

Noah Bennett, 19, of West Toledo, said his “Honk 4 Weed” signs represents, in part, people who are imprisoned for smoking pot. He said pharmaceuticals, alcohol, and processed tobacco with additives are all much worse for society than marijuana.

He said he thinks marijuana should be completely legal, and sees the pending Ohio legislation as a move in the right direction.

Of course Wisconsin and the rest of the nation has high hopes for Ohio.  It seems they are finding the same support for public workers also.  Let’s hope they can get legislation passed.  It looks like the supporters in that region have the support and momentum.  Everyone knows he need some states in the heartland and central United States to tackle these issues head on!

He said Saturday’s turnout of four demonstrators was low because it was New Year’s Day.

“We usually have 15 to 30 — and we had 50 once,” he said, “but I think alcohol got the best of them last night.“

Sierra Blake, 16, waved a pro-weed sign at the trickle of holiday traffic and got an abundance of honks.

“They love us!” she said. “Even some policemen and ambulance drivers honk.”