The Fat Lady Has Sung, but Our Work is Not Done

Friends, family, colleagues, and community,

It's the day after the election.

Four years ago today, I remember awaking with both feelings of dread and jubilation. It was a decisive evening for both the acceptance of cannabis and the uncertainty of a Trump presidency. Those polarizing feelings persisted for the four years that would follow, even deepened, and this morning was no different. Despite votes still being tallied to determine the major races - the Senate and Presidency - I feel an odd sense of closure.

One category the country continues to express bipartisan support for at the state level is cannabis legalization and drug reform. Five out of five states with ballot measure passed with flying colors. Arizona, after being struck down in 2016; New Jersey, the domino that could push other Mid-Atlantic states towards legalization; and Montana, a red state, albeit more libertarian, all welcomed adult-use/recreational legislation. South Dakota passed their simultaneous medical and adult-use initiatives, the first state to do so and a red state no less. And Mississippi, a deep red state, voted yes on its medical cannabis initiative. Further, drug reform got a huge boost in Oregon with the passing of Measures 109 and 110, legalizing psilocybin treatment centers and decriminalizing drugs across the state, respectively. Even Washington DC decriminalized psychedelics through Initiative 81. These are great strides for public health and ending the War on Drugs.

While our community continues to be threatened by hate veiled as "conservative values" and faces potential roll-backs of equity and equality measures made over the many decades of hard advocacy work, the US did elect our first transgender state senator, Sarah McBride (DE) and the first black gay congressmen, Ritchie Torres (NY) and Mondaire Jones (NY). We also had three Native American women elected to the House of Representatives. While it's not all the change we hoped to see this November, having these voices at the highest levels of government is certainly worth celebrating and gives hope that our community's voices will be heard and empathized by fellow law makers at the country's capitol. And perhaps just a symbol that will hopefully precede action, Mississippi finally voted out the confederate flag by a large margin (155 years after the fact) and replaced it with a flower - the magnolia.

A sign of hope. 

Record-breaking voter turn-out has been both a blessing and a curse this week. It is fantastic that the general public has been reinvigorated by their civic duty to express their voice. I hope this is the beginning of a trend for involvement around how our built environment is constructed. Unfortunately, I'm not so confident that education and understanding is what is driving people to vote.

Even with the race being undecided, I find myself mourning for the soul of this country. Even if Biden wins, I will continue to feel devastated. For the spectacle we have become to the rest of the world. For the fact that so many of our fellow Americans are ready to set aside or support the divisiveness, lies, racism, corruption, bigotry, and self-serving and selfish efforts of the current administration that has purposely divided our nation.  

This is not conservative versus liberal. This is not Republican versus Democrat. This is humanitarian. This is patriotism. This is about Trump, Mitch McConnell, and the win-at-all-costs mentality of their blindly loyal thugs that have thrown all political and social convention out the door and has made talks of civil war common place in our society. It's unacceptable and abhorrent.  

Regardless of who wins, half of America supports Trump. Half of America wants to see Mitch McConnell as the Senate Majority Leader. Half of America wants to stack the Supreme Court with partisan conservatives that will roll back decades of social justice and public health efforts. 

We have much healing to do as a nation. We need to come closer to center and fix our system. We need to fight for what we truly believe in and understand what our votes say about our priorities. We need to remember that black lives still matter, that white supremacy is unacceptable, that women deserve to have control over their bodies, that love is love, and that science is real. We need to talk about politics and have uncomfortable conversations. We need to understand that "conservative values" do not justify racism, bigotry, and selfishness.

Perhaps we have something to learn from the progress the cannabis movement has made. We have shown that if we advocate and educate around singular topics, are thoughtful and responsible in efforts to educate, that we can progress and bridge the party lines to create true bipartisan conversations.  

I have confidence that what we truly value as a country will shine through and we will emerge from this period stronger. It will not be quick and it will not be easy, but we cannot give up.

Please. Take care of yourselves. Take care of each other. -B