Cannabis political parties of Minnesota
Marijuana political party organizations have operated in Minnesota's counties and United States congressional districts.
Party chairperson Dennis Schuller, who was 2020 LMN Party State Representative nominee, in 2023 told a reporter that ending federal prohibition laws against cannabis, overseeing implementation of Minnesota's regulated market and expungement of past criminal records, were goals that remain for Legal Marijuana Now!
[10][11] Yippies tailored colorful, theatrical acts exploiting mass media, which included political pie throwing, in 1969 and 1970.
[12][13] Youth International Party, known for their sense of humor, direct actions and satirical, elaborate pranks, ran Nobody for President in 1976, with the slogan "Nobody's perfect!
The group was established by Oliver Steinberg who together with others, Tim Davis, Derrick Grimmer, and Chris Wright, had previously founded the Grassroots Party of Minnesota.
Senator, wrote in Star Tribune, "cannabis prohibition never was necessary; always was unjust and unjustifiable; and always lacked moral authority because it was actually designed to serve as a legal mechanism for racial repression.
"[19] In January, 2023, Steinberg told the Minnesota Senate Public Safety Committee that marijuana prohibition has not kept people from using the drug, but has "succeeded perhaps in terrorizing or intimidating citizens, in canceling civil liberties, blighting both urban and rural communities, all without eradicating the outlawed substance.
[35] In 2014, the Legal Marijuana Now candidate for Attorney General got 3 percent, qualifying the party to be officially recognized and to receive state funding.
[44][45] During the 1998 gubernatorial election in Minnesota, Reform Party nominee Jesse Ventura was interviewed about cannabis legalization for the November, 1998 issue of High Times.
Ventura discussed the economic advantages of industrial hemp products and benefits of medical marijuana in the interview, on newsstands as voters headed into the polls.
Federal judges ruled that the election should go ahead,[49][50] so the name of the candidate who was nominated by Legal Marijuana Now Party to replace Weeks, was not on the ballot.
[53] In 2014, the Legal Marijuana Now candidate for Minnesota Attorney General got 57,604 votes, qualifying the party to receive public funding from the state.
[57] The Grassroots Party was established in Minnesota in 1986, by Tim Davis, Derrick Grimmer, Oliver Steinberg, and Chris Wright, in response to Ronald Reagan's War on Drugs.
[60] Grassroots Party nominated David Daniels, an African American playwright from Minneapolis, in 2000, as candidate for U.S. Senate.
[63][64] Grassroots–Legalize Cannabis candidate Kevin Shores told a FOX 9 television reporter that he was recruited to run for Congress from Minnesota's 7th district, where Democratic incumbent Collin Peterson lost the race to Republican challenger Michelle Fischbach, in 2020, by a Republican strategist who Shores mistakenly thought was a G—LC representative.
[65] Shores, who is blind and suffers from Gulf War syndrome, lost to perennial Republican candidate Rae Hart Anderson in the August 11 Grassroots–Legalize Cannabis Party 7th congressional district primary.
[70] Anoka County Legal Marijuana Now Party placed a candidate, Zach Phelps, on the ballot in the Minnesota Senate District 35 Special Election, in February 2016, by petitioning the state.
[63][64] In 1992, the Dakota County Grassroots Party nominated Dwight Fellman to run for United States Representative from the 3rd congressional district.
[42] Overby, an information technology director and author of the 2017 book The Transgender Myth, and previous 2020 Legal Marijuana Now Party District 2 nominee, died On October 5, 2022, during recovery in a hospital following surgery for a heart valve condition.
[74][75] Without remedy for replacing their deceased nominee, under state law, LMN encouraged supporters to cast their votes for Overby, who remained on the ballot.
[30] In 2019, Hemp John Birrenbach was a candidate for Minnesota Senate in the District 11 special election as a Legal Marijuana Now Party nominee.
