United
States Marijuana Party stoked for May 4th primary election
By Shane
Wagner, THG News
There is a new political
party that has high hopes of breaking into Indiana politics during the May 4th
primary elections—the United States Marijuana Party (USMJP). The party is
fielding candidates for state representative in two rural districts in the
southern part of the state.
The U.S. Attorneys for the
Northern and Southern Districts of Indiana reported that marijuana was the most
widely abused drug throughout the state, and marijuana use is especially
prevalent in poor rural areas. The USMJP hopes to ride this wave of popularity
to victory in House Districts 63 (Daviess, Dubois, Martin, and Pike counties)
and 73 (parts of eight counties; mainly Crawford, Perry, and Washington). The
party originally planned on also running candidates in Districts 64, 70, and 74,
but candidates in those districts failed to file the appropriate paperwork
before the deadline.
The USMJP website (http://www.usmjparty.com/)
states that “the civil rights of Americans have been compromised by the war on
drugs. Because the vast majority of citizens who use any illegal substance use
only marijuana, the war on drugs is basically a war on marijuana”. The party
believes that legalizing ‘wacky terbacky’ will end the war on drugs, shut down
the prison industrial complex, and restore the liberties of people everywhere.
The rest of the party’s platform is flexible
from state to state so that state Marijuana Parties can appeal to the needs of
their citizens. The party does recommend state parties follow Libertarian
principles such as getting rid of regulations on gun control and prostitution,
and school vouchers because “anything the state touches ultimately turns into a
disaster,” according to the platform section of the USMJP’s website.
Dennis Roach, a Petersburg gas station
attendant who is the USMJP’s candidate for the 63rd District, is
optimistic about his chances for victory. “Most people realize that there is
nothing wrong with taking a toke now and then. The Indians did it, and it is a
part of nature, a plant. I think I have a pretty decent shot at winning.”
The party’s candidate from the 73rd
District is Wesley “Buzz” Dorsch of Branchville. Indiana’s state Marijuana
Party website is currently under construction.
