INFO ON THE BROWNIE MARY DEMOCRATS OF CALIFORNIA

The Brownie Mary Democrats of California are one of only nine state-wide Democratic organizations to be officially chartered by the California Democratic Party. We are the first marijuana organization ever to be officially connected and a part of a major political party.

Our mission is to:

• Promote the Democratic Party and the election of Democrats to office on the federal, state and local level
• Protect the rights of medical marijuana patients
• Repeal marijuana prohibition and replace it with a legal system that allows marijuana to be safely, reliably, locally and affordably accessible
• End the futile, racist, inhumane and extortionate War on Drugs

Working within the California Democratic Party, we have made ending marijuana prohibition a major priority. It wasn’t always that way. Planks calling on the California Democratic Party to support the legalization of marijuana had failed many times. In 2014, BMD-CA introduced a plank calling on the Party to support “the legalization, regulation and taxation of marijuana in a manner similar to tobacco and alcohol.”

It passed by a unanimous vote of the delegates at the 2014 state convention. The largest political party in the nation as well as the party that is in charge of the government of the sixth largest economy in the world, officially put its imprimatur in support of ending marijuana prohibition.

The passage of the resolution set the stage for the Party’s endorsement and active support of Prop. 64 which was one of the major reasons for the success of California’s marijuana legalization initiative.

In 2016, there were almost 8 million registered Democrats in California. Polls showed that 60% of Democrats favored legalization, but that left over three millions Democrats opposed or sitting on the fence. With much of the Party’s 2016 campaign literature supporting a yes vote on Prop 64, many believe that it was this fervent support of the California Democratic Party that convinced many of these undecided Democrats to vote yes on Prop. 64. This large number of Democratic votes resulted in an overwhelming victory with 57% of the vote.

Although local governments cannot ban personal possession or the cultivation of 6 plants per residence, many cities and counties are opting to use their zoning ordinances to ban the implementation of the commercial cultivation, manufacture and distribution of marijuana permitted under Prop. 64. This makes legal local access difficult if not impossible for many California residents.

BMD-CA is working to undo these bans by connecting local marijuana activists with local Democratic Party members to contact and convince local Democratic office holders to support and introduce the necessary local ordinances to allow for the implementation of Prop. 64’s provisions allowing for the commercial production and distribution of marijuana.

 BMD-CA will work to:

• Work with CaDEM and elected Democratic officials on the state and local level to actively support the implementation of Prop. 64 and to make those changes deemed necessary to improve it
• Coordinate actions to develop support amongst California state legislators to protect the rights of medical marijuana patients and make access for both medical marijuana patients and adult use consumers safe, reliable, legal and AFFORDABLE
• Work with the California Democratic congressional delegation to support enacting federal legislation to support the ability of states to legalize and regulate marijuana
• Network with Democrats across the country to form their own organizations within their local and state Democratic Parties to achieve the same success that we have achieved in California.
• Form coalitions across a broad spectrum of progressive organizations to bring an end to the War on Drugs and develop a policy based on science and compassion to deal with the problems caused by the abuse of both legal and illegal drugs.

The Brownie Mary Democrats of California is open to all California Democrats. We invite you to join us. As a member you will receive periodic updates on our meetings, events and actions.

Membership in the statewide organization allows you to attend our general membership meetings held annually at the Democratic Statewide Convention and at a each of the two Executive Board meetings.  You will also be able to participate in our statewide teleconferences where you can join us on the phone in the comfort of your own home or wherever you happen to be at the time.

Standard memberships in the Brownie Mary Democrats of California are only $10, seniors, veterans, students and low-income are only $5 with free memberships available for those who are financially insolvent. To join CLICK HERE.

Thank you for your interest and participation with the Brownie Mary Democrats of California. If you have any questions or need additional information, please contact me anytime at 760-799-2055 or send an email to [email protected].

BTW - If you are currently not registered to vote or want to change your party affiliation to Democrat, you can do so by CLICKING HERE.

Sincerely,

Lanny Swerdlow, RN LNC

Chair and Founder