When I got my first computer my friends said to me, Welcome to 2005. One of the first things I did was to sign in to a Marine forum. As a former Marine, I was really curious to see what other former Marines were thinking about various topics such as the war in Iraq, Afghanistan, etc. Since I was new to the internet, I watched the Marines on the forum debating back and forth for several months before all of a sudden it occurred to me that I didnt have to just watch. Since I had already created a screen name, Hempstone, I could actually participate in the discussions. I dont know why it didnt occur to me right away. Then I found the reply button, clicked on it and up came the comment box and next thing you know, Im a part of the forum. I got to know the Marines there and they all called me Hemp as a nickname. Similarly, at one point in time I was one of the millions of people in this country that had an opinion about cannabis legalization but was just an anonymous person floating around amongst the masses. I wanted to get involved and there came a time where I took steps to do so. I remember back in 1995 my brother Jim Stark and I, along with my friend Bryan Burkholder went to a NORML conference in St. Louis. We got to meet people that we had heard about from High Times magazine such as Dick Cowan, Ben Masel, Chris Conrad and others. Then we went to a few national NORML meetings in Washington D.C. around like 1999, 2000 and 2001 or somewhere around there. We were starstruck as we met the people we practically idolized for their work and importance to this movement, such as Jack Herer, Kieth Stroup, Gary Johnson, Barney Frank and so many others. I actually got to hang out with Jack Herer and it was so cool telling him about my research and showing him pictures of the hempstones. Jack really got excited when I told him all about the Pennsylvania hemp industry. But there came a point where I suddenly realized that I am somebody too and I can also make a difference. Often times we put others on a pedestal but keep ourselves on the ground so we can look up to them not realizing that they are only higher than we are because we put them there. We think that we are really nothing and that our efforts are best done in the simple things like buying a high times magazine, going to a Cypress Hill show and maybe hitting the like button on a Facebook post. I realize that many of you just hit the like button for Pennsylvania Hempland Security because it was just a mood you were in when you found the page but I know also that many of you are passionate about the issue of cannabis and hemp legalization. A lot of you want to really get involved but just dont know how or have not yet come to that realization that you are somebody too and it may be you that the whole universe is waiting for. This is an invitation to all of you to get involved in one way or the other. We need all the help that we can get because in case you can not tell, the battle is ON, right NOW! Now is the time to get involved. Now is the time to unite. If you can not tell that there is a real movement in Pennsylvania then you have not been paying attention. Yes, many of us have been pushing for reform for years but now for the first time we actually have momentum. We must build on this. My blunt assessment of the situation in Pennsylvania is that we simply are not a powerful enough movement to win. We simply can not achieve victory with the amount of people involved. We do not have the strength in sufficient numbers and we have not demonstrated that we are a potent political force. Yet. However, there a more than one million people in Pennsylvania who have smoked cannabis in the last year and at least six million people here who have tried cannabis in their lifetimes. If just one hundred thousand of them would get active and involved then there is no doubt that we would win. What if when a Smoke Down Prohibition rally was called for in Philadelphia 20,000 people showed up? What if the rallies in Lancaster, York and Reading got thousands of people instead of hundreds? What if the rallies happened in every county on a regular basis and a rally called into the state capitol building in Harrisburg drew 5,000 people? What if 100,000 people consistently wrote letters to the editors of their local papers, sent emails to their representatives, went to their offices to talk with them, etc. Imagine if one million people donated 20 dollars to the cause. We could saturate the culture with our message and mobilize an astonishing victory. Just think of how much we could achieve if we all united and if everyone got involved. Now is the time to cast off all doubt and fear. Now is the time to rise to the historic occasion. We are in an important moment. The future depends on what we all do NOW. This is true no matter where you live. No matter what country. It has been satisfactorily proven to me that the IQ of most on this page is above average. We need to harness that intellect, that creative energy, the passion and soul power that many of you possess. Concentrate now with me over these next couple of years and let us build the largest and most formidable political force Pennsylvania and this nation has ever seen. It is fun and interesting to watch as the movement unfolds locally and around America and the world. It is even more fun and interesting to be a part of it and being on the edge of right where it is unfolding and pushing it along. I invite all of you to join in this great tidal movement of history. Peace, Les Stark
Posted on: Wed, 04 Dec 2013 06:41:08 +0000
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