Louisiana Senate nominee Gary Chambers bluntly smokes in campaign video

A Louisiana politician running for a seat in Congress appeals to voters by presenting his own personal cannabis use while addressing the failed War on Drugs. Louisiana Senate nominee Gary Chambers posted the video to YouTube, titled “37 Seconds,” to sum up the issues with the war on drugs and the need for social justice now — all while sitting in a chair and smoked a blunt.

“Every 37 seconds someone gets arrested for marijuana. Since 2010, state and local police have arrested an estimated 7.3 million Americans for violating marijuana laws, more than half of all drug arrests,” he says in the video. “Black people are four times more likely to be arrested for marijuana laws than whites. States waste $3.7 billion each year enforcing marijuana laws. Most of the people the police arrest aren’t dealers, they’re people with small amounts of weed, just like me.”

Courtesy of Gary Chambers for Louisiana

Chambers expresses confidence that if he becomes a Senate representative, he will be able to speak up for Louisiana’s cannabis users. “I hope that this ad will not only help destigmatize the use of marijuana, but will also force a new conversation that will pave the way for the legalization of this beneficial drug and forgive those arrested for outdated ideologies,” Chambers wrote social media channels.

Chambers announced his candidacy for the US Senate on January 12, citing the need for change. “I’m running for the US Senate because Louisiana remains last in the nation. This is more a reflection of our leaders than of our people,” he wrote of the current regime. He also pointed out that it had been 149 years since a black man had served in the Louisiana “statewide office.” The last black man, PBS Pinchback, served as state governor between December 9, 1872 and January 13, 1873. “Let’s not wait another 100 years for another black man to be elected nationally in Louisiana.”

In the past, Chambers has made a name for himself as a social justice advocate. In March 2021, he ran for a seat in the US House of Representatives, but lost to Troy Carter in the special election. He also shared his support for both the Harnessing Opportunities by Pursuing Expungement (HOPE) Act and the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act.

Gary Chambers Jr YouTube

Chambers’ video is a brief but bold portrayal of the reality of cannabis in a modern age and the downside the stigma still lingers on. However, he’s not the only politician to have embraced cannabis to appeal to voters.

In 2019, Illinois House candidate Anthony Clark smoked a joint while speaking about the need for honesty. “I think I need to be just as open about my cannabis use, you know? Because I think the lying of individuals plays a direct role in enabling the status quo by allowing the oppressors, the top 1 percent, to stay,” Clark said in an interview. “We have to strengthen ourselves. We have to educate ourselves. I’m not hiding that at all. I tell people every day cannabis saved my life, it continues to save my life.”

Likewise, the presence of cannabis elsewhere is being used to educate and normalize cannabis for other lawmakers. A Mississippi lawmaker brought the state governor an ounce of hemp to demonstrate how little it is and how much more medical patients could need to adequately treat their ailments.

Selling cannabis flower in Louisiana only just began on January 1, 2022, finally bringing the reality of medical cannabis to Louisiana patients after it was originally legalized by the legislature in 2015. Currently, patients with one or more qualifying conditions can obtain authorization from their doctor to use medicinal cannabis.