Guest Post :: Randy Miller from Drug Free Marion County Urges Citizens to Sign the Petition

Written by Randy Miller, Executive Direction, Drug Free Marion County

Well, let me say that at first I was skeptical. Not indifferent, mind you, but uncertain about the value and potential reward. That uncertainty soon became determination. Let me explain what I’m talking about.

At first I thought, ‘sure, I care about drug prevention and would hope that those in the White House do too.’ (Although probably at quite a few levels lower than me.) I’m a good trooper, so signing a petition and encouraging others to do the same on the ‘We the People’ website to bump up drug prevention on the White House radar screen was something I would do. But what would signing a petition mean in the grand scheme of things? Would it reduce substance abuse in my community, in our state, across the good ‘ole US of A? Yeah, my signature would be one of many, probably thousands, and then ‘someone’ at Obama’s Place would count them to determine how important drug prevention is for our nation. It’s not like we’re taking time to vote whether it’s a good thing or a bad thing, just sharing our opinion about a very important matter. It’s primarily about how many people believe it should be given some priority status by the White House when they’re considering decisions or actions, right? I thought that certainly at least warranted the time it would take to follow through. So, a few clicks of my mouse, typing in some registration information, a confirmation email that I was actually me, submit my vote and the deed was done.

I was surprised (the disappointed kind) to find that R Miller from Indianapolis was only number 1,076 or something like that on the petition. That surprise was shortly followed by another even bigger surprise. Another email indicated that those in favor of marijuana legalization were swamping the website and had over 55,000 signatures! This is a ratio of 55 to 1 for those who want easier, unregulated access to this drug that is already used by nearly 25 % of the 8^th graders in our city. Surely, I thought, there are more people who care about preventing our youth from smoking pot. This is where my uncertainty turned to determination!

I’m hoping that if you are in the same place as I was that reading this blog will move you to action.

Sign the petition! Rally the troops!! Encourage your coalition members to sign it. Send emails, post on your website and Facebook page. Ask everyone to beg their family members, coworkers and colleagues to do the same. We can’t let the White House think that legalization is more important than prevention. You’ve only got until November 4 to send that message to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

ACTION STEPS TO BE TAKEN: Viewing and signing on to the petition is easy, and takes less than 1 minute – all you have to do is:

1. CLICK HERE to visit the website
2. Login or Create a username (Your password will be sent to you in an email)
3. Click ‘Sign Petition’
4. Pass this on to your friends and family