Australians are not averse to marijuana consumption. It is estimated that about a third of the Australian population has tried marijuana at least once in their lives, and that just under 10% of the Australian population have used marijuana in the last year.

In spite of these numbers, very few active pro-cannabis organizations exist in Australia. Those that do exist are often inextricably linked to the public perception of marijuana as a subset of a specific, drug-centered lifestyle that fetishizes marijuana and its associated historical tropes. Whilst we recognize and fully support the right of people to be a part of this culture, we feel that this perception greatly reduces the chance of cannabis legalization ever being taken seriously. This is certainly unfair, but it is also a statement of fact. The debate about cannabis legalization cannot be won with facts and good intentions alone. The medium is the message.

Cannabis advocacy in the USA is a case in point. There are many prominent cannabis legalization associations that have been instrumental in the promotion and passing of medical marijuana laws in thirteen states. Recent polls have suggested that over half the population of California favours the legalization, taxation and regulation of marijuana. Spokespeople from these advocacy groups regularly appear on television, calmly and rationally making their case, further severing the link between cannabis and its outdated stereotypes.

On These Ramparts is an attempt to replicate this style of cannabis advocacy in Australia. It is an attempt to bring people out of what the prominent conservative commentator Andrew Sullivan has called the “cannabis closet”, in the belief that if enough people are willing to storm the ramparts of received opinion, it may actually be possible for cannabis legalization to be implemented.

Such talk might have seemed fanciful only a few years ago, but 2009 has been a stellar year for cannabis advocacy in the US. The Republican governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, has openly called for a debate about marijuana legalization. The last three US presidents have all admitted to using marijuana. Cannabis legalization receives bipartisan support from both conservative and liberal intellectuals and economists. There is no reason why such success can’t be replicated in Australia.

At On These Ramparts, we believe that enough is enough. We’re sick and tired of marijuana consumers being stereotyped as idiots, hippies, degenerates and worse. Sick and tired of the creeping nanny state insisting upon what is and isn’t good for you. Sick and tired of neo-prohibitionists continuously shifting the goalposts with regards to the criminalization of marijuana. Sick and tired of the misreadings and outright junk science promoted by a hysterical media. It’s time to storm the ramparts.

Stilletto Stoners - Yael Cohen
Marie Claire, September 2009

"I hate the term pothead—it connotes that I'm high 24/7, which I'm not," Pelham says, wincing. "I don't need it to get through my day. I just enjoy it when my day is over." Her nightly ritual costs only $50 a month, a pittance compared with the cost of her monthly gym membership or a Saturday night out with her fiancé, an investment banker, who occasionally smokes with her.

Marijuana's New High Life - Adam Tschorn
Los Angeles Times, August 30th 2009

Public sentiment is more than anecdotal; earlier this year, a California Field Poll found that 56% of California voters supported legalizing and taxing marijuana. Last month, voters in Oakland overwhelmingly approved a tax increase on medical marijuana sales, the first of its kind in the country, and Los Angeles Councilwoman Janice Hahn has proposed something similar for the City of Angels. "In this current economic crisis, we need to get creative about how we raise funds," Hahn said in a statement.

The Patriot's Guide to Legalization - Kevin Drum
Mother Jones, July/August 2009

So, to recap: Decriminalization of simple possession appears to have little effect on cannabis consumption. Full legalization would likely increase use only moderately as long as heavy commercialization is prohibited, although the effect on chronic users might be more substantial. It would increase heroin and cocaine use only slightly if at all, and it might decrease alcohol consumption by a small amount.