Senate candidate Gary Chambers applied some pressure in his first campaign ad. Sitting back in a leather chair in the middle of a field, he puts a blunt to his lips and lights it. In the voiceover, he says say “Every 37 seconds someone is arrested for possession of marijuana.”
“I hope this ad works to not only destigmatize the use of marijuana, but also forces a new conversation that creates the pathway to legalize this beneficial drug, and forgive those who were arrested due to outdated ideology.” said Chambers via Twitter. He also said in his campaign ad that states waste over $3 billion a year enforcing marijuana laws. NBC reported Louisiana legalized medical but not recreational marijuana use as of Jan. 1.
From NBC:
Republican and Democratic Senate campaign operatives say they believe this is the first Senate race ad featuring a candidate openly smoking marijuana.
The ad electrified Democratic campaign operatives involved in marijuana decriminalization campaigns.
“Wow. It’s one of the greatest things I’ve seen,” said Ben Pollara, a Democratic Senate campaign veteran who ran Florida’s successful medical marijuana initiative in 2018. Two years later, Pollara advised Nikki Fried’s campaign for state agriculture commissioner, who won on a campaign of marijuana legalization.
Not only was this a gangsta move, but he made a critically important point. In the video he says state and local police have arrested up to seven million Americans for marijuana possession since 2010. The Last Prisoner Project reported nearly 40,000 prisoners today are facing cannabis charges. Though a quarter of the country began signing cannabis laws, people are still incarcerated in those very states for what it now legalized.
The American Civil Liberties Union reported Black people are four times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than white people. Additionally, their sentencing may be harsher. For example, criminal justice advocate Michael Thompson just came home last year after serving 25 years in prison over a marijuana possession charge, as reported by CNN. Meanwhile, white people are soaking up the profits of marijuana as Black people struggle to legally obtain or grow it.
Chambers lost the seat in the Democratic primary in the 2021 congressional election but plans to make a comeback unseat Republican Sen. John Kennedy, NBC reported. He aims to be a voice for the working-class community in Louisiana and bring resources back to the communities who bore the brunt of inequity, per his campaign website.