{"id":53340,"date":"2022-03-04T06:13:14","date_gmt":"2022-03-04T14:13:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2022\/03\/04\/u-s-senate-candidate-gary-chambers-visits-drive-thru-marijuana-dispensary-in-follow-up-to-blunt-smoking-ad\/"},"modified":"2022-03-04T13:45:57","modified_gmt":"2022-03-04T21:45:57","slug":"u-s-senate-candidate-gary-chambers-visits-drive-thru-marijuana-dispensary-in-follow-up-to-blunt-smoking-ad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2022\/03\/04\/u-s-senate-candidate-gary-chambers-visits-drive-thru-marijuana-dispensary-in-follow-up-to-blunt-smoking-ad\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. Senate Candidate Gary Chambers Visits Drive-Thru Marijuana Dispensary In Follow-Up To Blunt-Smoking Ad"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

A Democratic candidate running for a U.S. Senate seat in Louisiana continues to make cannabis a centerpiece of his campaign, emphasizing the drug war\u2019s disproportionate harm on Black people and working to remove the stigma from marijuana use generally.<\/p>\n

In January, Gary Chambers went viral with a campaign ad featuring himself sitting in a leatherbound armchair and smoking a cigar-sized blunt<\/a>. On Thursday, he followed that up by posting a video of himself visiting a drive-thru cannabis retailer near Chicago.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am in Illinois, and this is a drive-thru dispensary,\u201d the Senate candidate says in the video. \u201cYou can pull up and get your grass without ever getting out of your car.\u201d<\/p>\n

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A post shared by Gary Chambers (@garychambersjr)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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Chambers has been unapologetic about his enjoyment of cannabis, a trait still rare in elected officials despite many lawmakers\u2019 open acknowledgment of alcohol use. Presumably the difference is due to the fear that marijuana is a political liability, although a supermajority of American voters consistently support legalization in national polls and 58 percent of respondents said in a recent YouGov survey that they would be willing to vote for a candidate \u201cwho occasionally smokes marijuana<\/a> in their free time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chambers\u2019s viral videos pivot on a similar paradox around cannabis. On one hand, admitting to current use is still widely treated as taboo, which no doubt helps drive views. On the other hand, as Chambers alludes to at the end of his latest video at the drive-thru, the industry is now more or less mainstream in much of the country: \u201cIt\u2019s business, baby!\u201d<\/p>\n

A longstanding social justice advocate in Baton Rouge who previously ran unsuccessfully for a U.S. House seat, Chambers, a Democrat, is now vying to unseat incumbent Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA). Kennedy hasn\u2019t sponsored cannabis-related legislation since entering office in 2017 despite increasing GOP support for legalization<\/a> in Congress.<\/p>\n

Chambers\u2019s January campaign ad, titled \u201c37 Seconds,\u201d is a reference to a research finding that police in the U.S. on average make one cannabis-related arrest every 37 seconds.<\/p>\n

\u201cBlack people are four times more likely to be arrested for marijuana laws than white people,\u201d he says in the video. \u201cStates waste $3.7 billion enforcing marijuana laws every year. Most of the people police are arresting aren\u2019t dealers, but rather people with small amounts of pot, just like me.\u201d<\/p>\n

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My first campaign ad, \u201837 Seconds.\u2019 #JustLikeMe<\/a><\/p>\n

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. pic.twitter.com\/G0qKvmUGKD<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Gary Chambers (@GaryChambersJr) January 18, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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Louisiana\u2019s governor, Democrat John Bel Edwards, wagged his finger at the move. \u201cThe imagery of actually smoking marijuana on an internet ad,\u201d the governor said<\/a>, \u201cis not something that people should reward him for.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a press release accompanying the earlier video, Chambers said he\u2019s supportive of the Harnessing Opportunities by Pursuing Expungement (HOPE) Act<\/a>, a congressional bill introduced by bipartisan lawmakers in December that would incentivize states and local governments to expunge cannabis records in their jurisdictions.<\/p>\n

He also backs the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act, a separate bipartisan bill to protect financial institutions that service state-legal cannabis businesses. That legislation has cleared the House in some form six times but has consistently stalled in the Senate.<\/p>\n

The other Democratic challenger in the race is Luke Mixon, a white moderate. He told the Baton Rouge based newspaper\u00a0The Advocate<\/a>\u00a0in January that he has never smoked marijuana. The paper reported that in the aftermath of Chambers\u2019s video, Mixon had been \u201cforgotten for the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chambers isn\u2019t the first person running for Congress who\u2019s been open about flouting federal marijuana prohibition.<\/p>\n

Anthony Clark, an Illinois candidate who ran an unsuccessful primary challenge against a Democratic congressional incumbent in 2020, made waves after he smoked marijuana in a campaign ad<\/a> while discussing his personal experience with cannabis and the need for federal reform. He also hosted what he called the \u201cfirst-ever congressional weed party\u201d<\/a>\u00a0in a campaign video.<\/p>\n

Also that year, a Democratic candidate for a House seat to represent Oregon frequently discussed consuming and cultivating cannabis herself<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A sitting member of Congress has never publicly smoked marijuana, but several lawmakers have\u00a0visited marijuana farms<\/a>,\u00a0companies and state-legal dispensaries<\/a>. Rep. James Comer (R-KY)\u00a0brought CBD oil products he uses to a committee hearing<\/a> in 2019.<\/p>\n

Washington State Gov. Jay Inslee (D) said in 2019 that while he doesn\u2019t smoke marijuana, \u201cI do grow it legally.\u201d A spokesperson later clarified that he was referring broadly to legal cultivation<\/a>\u00a0in the state.<\/p>\n

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Missouri Lawmakers Demand Biden Act On Marijuana And Address \u2018Racist Double Standard\u2019 That Kept Sha\u2019Carri Richardson From Olympics<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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Photo courtesy of YouTube\/Gary Chambers<\/a><\/p>\n

The post U.S. Senate Candidate Gary Chambers Visits Drive-Thru Marijuana Dispensary In Follow-Up To Blunt-Smoking Ad<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n


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\nRead More: U.S. Senate Candidate Gary Chambers Visits Drive-Thru Marijuana Dispensary In Follow-Up To Blunt-Smoking Ad<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Democratic candidate running for a U.S. Senate seat in Louisiana continues to make cannabis a centerpiece of his campaign, emphasizing the drug war\u2019s disproportionate harm on Black people and working to remove the stigma from marijuana use generally. In January, Gary Chambers went viral with a campaign ad featuringContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81,126],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53340"}],"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\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53340"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53340\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53341,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53340\/revisions\/53341"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53340"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53340"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53340"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}