{"id":40184,"date":"2019-12-20T12:00:13","date_gmt":"2019-12-20T20:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2019\/12\/20\/mckayla-wilkes-is-running-for-congress-and-yes-shes-been-arrested-for-weed\/"},"modified":"2019-12-21T00:42:35","modified_gmt":"2019-12-21T08:42:35","slug":"mckayla-wilkes-is-running-for-congress-and-yes-shes-been-arrested-for-weed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2019\/12\/20\/mckayla-wilkes-is-running-for-congress-and-yes-shes-been-arrested-for-weed\/","title":{"rendered":"Mckayla Wilkes Is Running for Congress, and Yes, She\u2019s Been Arrested for Weed"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

When running for office, political candidates across America
\ncan expect to navigate a familiar gauntlet of questions from voters and
\njournalists looking to determine their \u201ccharacter.\u201d The questions range from
\nthe class-conscious (\u201cHow wealthy was your family while you were growing up?\u201d)
\nto the mundane (\u201cWhat\u2019s your favorite TV show right now?\u201d), and they almost
\ncertainly include the clickbait-friendly crowd favorite: \u201cHave you ever smoked marijuana?\u201d<\/p>\n

At the core of these questions is an assumption about representation: that voters want to figure out if a candidate is both \u201crelatable\u201d and \u201celectable\u201d enough to win at the polls and serve well in office. But these determinations of relatability and electability are amorphous and socially constructed; research has shown that these character-vetting questions often feed into a self-fulfilling prophecy, where people look through a lens of anxiety<\/a> and prejudice<\/a> to make assumptions about what they think other people want. This creates an odd feedback loop with the candidates themselves, who, in turn, are incentivized to follow a familiar playbook to demonstrate that they can be what other people think other people think<\/em> makes a good leader.<\/p>\n

Take, for example, the cannabis question. Throughout the later 20th<\/sup> century, public support for cannabis was low<\/a>, and so many national politicians who had<\/em> tried cannabis responded with denials<\/a> and deflections<\/a> when asked if they\u2019d smoked pot. It didn\u2019t matter that millions of voters<\/a> were puffing tough and anecdotal evidence<\/a> pointed to the benefits of cannabis, what mattered was that it wasn\u2019t \u201cpresidential\u201d to inhale.<\/p>\n

But today, with polls consistently showing that a large majority of Americans support legal cannabis<\/a> and the plant creeping into \u201cnormal\u201d corners of society<\/a>, candidates are cautiously starting to own up to their youths spent dabbling with the drug. However, many of these candidates still hold cannabis at an arm\u2019s length: They admit to smoking the plant a few times<\/a>, years ago<\/a>, and they never got in trouble with law enforcement<\/a> for their fun.<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s one candidate who doesn\u2019t think she needs to position herself at a playful distance from cannabis. Mckayla Wilkes has been arrested for smoking pot and she still smokes it to this day. She\u2019s a 29-year-old working as a project analyst for the government, she\u2019s running for Congress in Maryland\u2019s 5th<\/sup> district, and she\u2019s setting a new precedent for what makes a politician relatable and electable.<\/p>\n

What the Criminal Justice System Looks Like to Wilkes<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Wilkes announced her candidacy for Congress with an unusual admission: she has a criminal record. She\u2019d been sent to juvenile detention for skipping school, she\u2019d been arrested for driving on a suspended license to get to her job and she\u2019d gone to jail for possession of cannabis. <\/p>\n

\u201cI was terrified to let the public know about my \u2018criminal
\npast\u2019 because of how stigmatized it is,\u201d Wilkes told Cannabis Now in a phone
\ninterview. \u201cBut my campaign manager told me that it wasn\u2019t a bad thing. He
\nsaid, \u2018You\u2019re actually a better candidate because you\u2019ve lived what so many
\npeople go through.\u2019 I saw I had no reason to be ashamed or afraid.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

I’m not a typical candidate. I was really nervous to talk about my criminal record, especially so early in the campaign. But I want to be honest about who I am and use my experiences to fight for an end to the criminalization of poverty nationwide. #Mckayla2020<\/a> #AVoteForUs<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/onP9W9eqjF<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Mckayla Wilkes for Congress (@MeetMckayla) May 3, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Wilkes says she was politically inspired by Sanders\u2019s presidential campaign in 2016 because he \u201ctalked about issues actually pertaining to my community,\u201d and then inspired to run for office after Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (known as AOC) defeated 20-year-incumbent Rep. Joe Crowley in the 2018 midterms. Wilkes is backed by the same group, Brand New Congress<\/a>, who backed Ocasio-Cortez\u2019s upset victory. Much like AOC, Wilkes is running against a powerful incumbent, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer who has served in Congress since 1981.<\/p>\n

\u201cAOC set the precedent for regular people representing
\nregular people,\u201d Wilkes says. \u201cMy lived experiences are my qualifications. I
\nmay not be a lawyer, but I know how our laws affect our communities. To run for
\noffice, I don\u2019t need rich friends and political connections, my experiences are
\nenough.\u201d<\/p>\n

And many of the experiences that are informing Wilkes\u2019s run
\nfor Congress are those that for a long time were considered disqualifying for
\nsomeone looking to get a seat in Washington, D.C.\u2019s halls of power.<\/p>\n

When Wilkes was a teenager, she says she had trouble processing the grief of her aunt\u2019s death, which led her to skip school and run away from home. \u201cWhen I was in high school, I needed help. I was locked up instead,\u201d she says<\/a>. At 15, she was sent to juvenile detention. <\/p>\n

Then, when Wilkes was in her early 20s, she was heading home
\nfrom her cousin\u2019s house where they\u2019d been smoking cannabis. She\u2019d just left the
\nhouse and had forgotten to put on her headlights when a cop pulled her over. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe could smell the cannabis odor, and asked if I had any marijuana on me,\u201d she said. \u201cHe told me, \u2018You can be honest, you won\u2019t get in trouble.\u2019 I told him the truth, believing him. He asked me to hand it over and I did. He asked me to step out of the car. I told him that I\u2019m not a bad kid, and I showed him my class books, but he didn\u2019t care. So I stepped out, he searched me, handcuffed me and took me to jail.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wilkes says the police kept her overnight in a small holding cell with over a dozen other women. At the time, her eldest child was less than a year old \u2014 she is now the mother of two \u2014 and her family and friends didn\u2019t know why she didn\u2019t come home that evening.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt demeaned, like I was less than a person,\u201d she said.
\n\u201cThat was all over what we call in Maryland a \u2018dub bag,\u2019 just $20 worth of
\nweed. My arrest is on my record even though I wasn\u2019t convicted. I had to go to
\ngroup therapy and I had to get drug tested.\u201d<\/p>\n

Today, Maryland has a medical marijuana program and it treats the possession of fewer than 10 grams of cannabis as a civil offense, with a maximum fine of $100. However, a recent report from Baltimore Fishbowl and the Baltimore Institute for Nonprofit Journalism<\/a> found that, since the passage of Maryland\u2019s decriminalization law in 2014, arrests for cannabis are down \u2014 but the racial disparities in cannabis arrests are going up. In Baltimore, for example, 96% of people who have been arrested for cannabis possession since 2014 were black, despite the fact that white people and black people use cannabis at comparable rates<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\u201cCannabis laws are still hurting our black and brown
\ncommunities,\u201d Wilkes says. \u201cBecause there are still disparities in arrests for
\nsubstances, these laws are clearly still another tool of oppression.\u201d <\/p>\n

She advocates for federal legalization of cannabis, the immediate record expungement of cannabis crimes and investment in the communities hurt by the War on Drugs. Her opponent, Rep. Hoyer, has called for descheduling and decriminalizing cannabis<\/a>, but has also stated that he believes cannabis is a \u201cthreshold drug<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

And again, Wilkes\u2019s policy belief is one that is informed by her first-hand experience: her criminal record comes up when applying for jobs or promotions and new contracts through her work as an administrative assistant for the U.S. Army.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven though I have security clearance, my criminal record
\nstill comes up at my job,\u201d Wilkes says. \u201cI always get asked about it. It\u2019s hard
\nto keep telling my story and repeating what happened over and over again.\u201d <\/p>\n

Race, Cannabis & Political Narratives<\/h4>\n

Of course, Wilkes isn\u2019t the first candidate to have a criminal record. Most notably, George W. Bush was arrested in 1976 for drunk driving<\/a>, but this revelation only became public five days before the 2000 presidential election \u2014\u00a0which Bush eventually won<\/a> with some help from hanging chads in Florida and a Supreme Court ruling.<\/p>\n

But of course, in America, race matters in discussions about the criminal records of a candidate: who gets a second chance<\/a>, who has the resources<\/a> to overcome the barriers within the criminal justice system and who even gets a criminal record in the first place<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Wilkes\u2019s story about being arrested for cannabis possession
\nas a college student draws an uncomfortable parallel with a story that Pete
\nButtigieg \u2014 South Bend, Indiana mayor and Democratic presidential candidate \u2014 tells
\nabout his time in college.<\/p>\n

Buttigieg, a white man, told an audience at the South by
\nSouthwest festival last March that a campus police officer caught him smoking
\nweed while he was a student at Harvard University. After a verbal exchange with
\nthe officer, Buttigieg ended up with his hands on the hood of the car while the
\nofficer searched his pockets. But the exchange went no further. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe yells a few more obscenities, and just as I\u2019m getting ready to take a ride with him, he drives off,\u201d Buttigieg said, according to Boston.com<\/a>. \u201cAnd that was it. It\u2019s a funny story I can tell about my college days.\u201d<\/p>\n

The story that Wilkes, a black woman, tells about her
\ncollege run-in with the cops over cannabis has no such funny ending.<\/p>\n

Smoking a Blunt on Capitol Hill<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Not only does Wilkes own up to having tried cannabis in the past, but she also readily admits that she currently smokes weed. Wilkes says that she consumes cannabis to help her with anxiety, though she does not have a medical marijuana card. A representative on her team said this is because her insurance won\u2019t cover the expense of getting the card or the marijuana.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want to take Zoloft. My doctor prescribed it to me and it completely zoned me out,\u201d Wilkes says. \u201cI took myself off and smoked weed instead. My panic attacks decreased. I could eat again, I could sleep again.\u201d <\/p>\n

When asked if she would smoke cannabis if she\u2019s elected to
\nrepresent Maryland\u2019s 5th<\/sup> district, especially given that cannabis
\nconsumption is legal in Washington, D.C., Wilkes didn\u2019t skip a beat. <\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n

Clark 2020 \u2013 Legalisation with a focus on racial justice<\/a><\/p>\n

I’m part of the communities devastated by prohibition, now fighting for reparations & racial justice. Weed saved my life, now I want it to help save yours! >>Please Share<<. Watch the full round table discussion by @thirtyrev on YouTube \u2013 https:\/\/youtube.com\/watch?v=156uuRUQ-xE<\/p>\n

Posted by Anthony V. Clark<\/a> on Monday, November 25, 2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

She says that she recently met Anthony Clark, a man running to represent Illinois\u2019s 7<\/a>th<\/a><\/sup> district<\/a> in Congress. Clark is a disabled veteran with a recommendation for medical cannabis to treat his PTSD, and he recently released a campaign video<\/a> where he smokes cannabis. Wilkes says the two of them talked about cannabis when they met at the Brand New Summit, an event hosted by Brand New Congress.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we get elected to Congress,\u201d Wilkes says she told
\nClark, \u201cwe\u2019re going to smoke a blunt together to celebrate.\u201d<\/p>\n

TELL US,<\/strong> do you care if your congressmember smokes cannabis?<\/p>\n

The post Mckayla Wilkes Is Running for Congress, and Yes, She\u2019s Been Arrested for Weed<\/a> appeared first on Cannabis Now<\/a>.<\/p>\n


\n
\nRead More: Mckayla Wilkes Is Running for Congress, and Yes, She\u2019s Been Arrested for Weed<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When running for office, political candidates across America can expect to navigate a familiar gauntlet of questions from voters and journalists looking to determine their \u201ccharacter.\u201d The questions range from the class-conscious (\u201cHow wealthy was your family while you were growing up?\u201d) to the mundane (\u201cWhat\u2019s your favorite TV showContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6814,50,2829,99,12968],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40184"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/32"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40184"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40184\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40185,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40184\/revisions\/40185"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40184"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40184"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40184"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}