Republican candidates have a habit of recording bizarre campaign videos. Think of the one for Rudy Giuliani’s son, which looked like it cost five bucks. Or think of the one for Mark McCloskey, one half of the wealthy Missouri couple who pointed guns at BLM protesters. But one Democratic senatorial candidate released one that’s bizarre in a good way: It shows him smoking pot while calling attention to harsh marijuana laws.
That person is Gary Chambers, a social justice advocate and organizer who’s running in Louisiana, hoping to unseat Senator John Neely Kennedy (no relation). Kennedy is an NRA-approved Republican who, among other things, opposes the House select committee investigating Jan. 6. Chambers, meanwhile, is angry at marijuana laws that punish Black people four times more than they do white.
The ad finds Chambers relaxing in a chair in a field in New Orleans. In one hand is a blunt, which he repeatedly smokes. In voiceover, he points out every 37 seconds in Louisiana, someone is arrested for possession of marijuana. It accounts for half of all arrests in the state. “Black people are four times more likely to be arrested,” he says. “Most of the people police are arresting aren’t dealers, but rather people with small amounts of pot. Just like me.”
Among Chambers positions is that marijuana be legalized in Louisiana, joining the 18 states, two territories, and the District of Columbia, where it’s already legal. He also believes state and local governments should expunge the records of those who’ve been arrested for the crime.
“For too long, candidates have used the legalization of marijuana as an empty talking point in order to appeal to progressive voters,” Chambers said in a statement, as per The Washington Post. “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new conversation that creates the pathway to legalize this beneficial drug, and forgive those who were arrested due to outdated ideology.”
You can watch Chambers’ ad in the video above.
(Via WaPo)