The United States Marijuana Party (officially the U.S. Marijuana Party) is a cannabis political party in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

founded in 2002 by

Loretta Nall Loretta Nall is the founder of the United States Marijuana Party, which calls for the legalization of cannabis. She was a write-in candidate for governor of Alabama in 2006. History Nall founded the USMjParty in 2002. In 2005, she co-founded A ...

specifically to end the

war on drugs The war on drugs is a global campaign, led by the United States federal government, of drug prohibition, military aid, and military intervention, with the aim of reducing the illegal drug trade in the United States.Cockburn and St. Clair, 1 ...

and to legalize

cannabis ''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae. The number of species within the genus is disputed. Three species may be recognized: '' Cannabis sativa'', '' C. indica'', and '' C. ruderalis''. Alternative ...

. Their policies also include other socially libertarian positions. U.S. Marijuana Party candidates in

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

have run campaigns as recently as 2016. The party has had local chapters in several other states, and has been affiliated with international cannabis political parties.

2012 presidential election

On September 18, 2012, the U.S. Marijuana Party endorsed

Libertarian Party Active parties by country Defunct parties by country Organizations associated with Libertarian parties See also * Liberal parties by country * List of libertarian organizations * Lists of political parties Lists of political part ...

candidate

Gary Johnson Gary Earl Johnson (born January 1, 1953) is an American businessman, author, and politician. He served as the 29th governor of New Mexico from 1995 to 2003 as a member of the Republican Party. He was the Libertarian Party nominee for Presid ...

in the

2012 presidential election This national electoral calendar for 2012 lists the national/ federal elections held in 2012 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *3–4 January ...

History

The United States Marijuana Party was started in 2002 by Loretta Nall from

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

following her misdemeanor arrest for marijuana possession.United States Marijuana Party (USMJParty) Explains O
Marijuana Benefits
/ref> Nall was the chairwomen of the party until she resigned in 2004 to pursue the Libertarian Party of Alabama's nomination for

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Colorado

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

, Wayward Bill Chengelis was U.S. Marijuana Party chairman for many years, until Chengelis’ death in 2021.

Illinois

In 2004, Illinois Marijuana Party leader Richard Rawlings ran for U.S. Congress in Illinois' 18th Congressional District as a

write-in candidate A write-in candidate is a candidate whose name does not appear on the ballot but seeks election by asking voters to cast a vote for the candidate by physically writing in the person's name on the ballot. Depending on electoral law it may be poss ...

. Brian Meyer ran as a write-in candidate in the 12th Congressional District in 2004. Rawlings ran again as a Marijuana Party write-in candidate for Congress in 2010.

Nebraska

In 2015–2016, Zach Boiko, Mark Elworth Jr., and

Krystal Gabel Krystal Gabel (born October 14, 1984) is an American cannabis rights activist, politician, and writer. Gabel, a candidate for governor of Nebraska in the 2018 Nebraska gubernatorial election, 2018 election, at age 33 was the youngest of a record ...

collected signatures for Marijuana Party of Nebraska to be officially recognized. In order to make the ballot, petitioners needed 5,397 signatures statewide. The party also must have a certain number of signatures from each of the state's three congressional districts. In July, 2016, volunteers turned in 9,000 signatures to the

Nebraska Secretary of State The secretary of state of Nebraska is one of the constitutional officers of the U.S. state of Nebraska. In Nebraska, the secretary of state is elected for a four-year term. Vacancies are filled by appointment by the governor of Nebraska. The c ...

. However, the Secretary of State said that half of the signatures were invalid, falling short of the 5,397 needed. In 2016, the group changed its name to

Nebraska Legal Marijuana NOW Party Nebraska Legal Marijuana NOW is a political Third party (United States), third party in the U.S. state of Nebraska established in 2016 as the state affiliate of the Legal Marijuana Now Party. In 2022, Legal Marijuana NOW Party ran more candidate ...

, and organizers began petitioning for 2018 ballot access.

New Jersey

Rastafari cannabis rights activist and businessman Edward Forchion, who founded the Legalize Marijuana Party in 1998 in New Jersey, ran for

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

for

New Jersey's 3rd congressional district New Jersey's 3rd congressional district is represented by Democratic Party (United States), Democrat Andy Kim (politician), Andy Kim of Moorestown, New Jersey, Moorestown who has served in Congress since 2019. It is one of seven districts that ...

in 2004 as a U.S. Marijuana Party candidate. Forchion got 4,914 votes.

Results in federal elections

Vermont

Independent candidate

Cris Ericson Cris Ericson (born May 16, 1952) is an American marijuana legalization activist and perennial candidate for public office in Vermont. She has unsuccessfully run for the governorship of Vermont nine times and for a seat in the United States Cong ...

ran for

Governor of Vermont The governor of Vermont is the head of government of Vermont. The officeholder is elected in even-numbered years by direct voting for a term of 2 years. Vermont and bordering New Hampshire are the only states to hold gubernatorial elections every ...

in 2002 as a Make Marijuana Legal candidate. In 2004, Ericson ran for Vermont governor and U.S. senator as a Marijuana Party candidate. She went on to compete in 2006, 2008, 2014 and 2016 in Republican Party and

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

primaries, and for multiple state and federal offices as an

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

candidate. Ericson was a U.S. Marijuana Party candidate for U.S. Senator and Governor of Vermont in 2010, 2012, and 2016. Cris Ericson left the marijuana party in January 2018.

Results in gubernatorial elections

Results in Vermont state elections

Results in federal elections

Washington

In the Washington State House of Representatives District 2b election, in 2014, retired union official Rick Payne was on the August primary ballot as a Marijuana Party candidate. In Washington the top two vote-getters in the primary advance to the general election. Payne received 1,644 votes (9.3%). Defeated by the incumbent, a Republican, and a Libertarian candidate, Payne did not make it into the November general election.

References

External links

Official website

State chapters

COLORADO William A. Chengelis

PENNSYLVANIA Tom Johnson

KENTUCKY Sheree Krider

ILLINOIS Richard J. Rawlings

MARYLAND Chris Hirsh
{{United States political parties, state=collapsed Cannabis political parties of the United States Political parties established in 2002 Libertarian parties in the United States Political parties in the United States 2002 establishments in the United States 2002 in cannabis