With The New York Times now on board and polling showing that legalization is likely in my home state of Oregon (but it isn’t a done deal, so please donate to the cause), 2014 is turning out to be a monumental, landmark year for the cannabis law reform movement. The electoral victories in Washington State and Colorado in 2012 certainly set the stage for 2014, but the New Approach Oregon measure, along with legalization on the ballot in Alaska and Washington, D.C. (most likely), 2014 is proving to be a worthy successor. After landmark events, I often think of those that have helped us get to where we are at today, both locally and nationally, and on the national stage, I have to give a major thanks to Congressman Earl Blumenauer.

Representative Blumenauer was a state representative in the Oregon Legislature, voting to make the Beaver State the first state in the nation to decriminalize personal amounts of cannabis in 1973. Since that important bill, he has been a leader on the issue, pragmatically using his political influence to bring more and more legislators and policy makers to the cause. Not every politician works with Congressman Jared Polis on the left side of the aisle and Congressman Dana Rohrabacher and conservative tax activist Grover Norquist on the right, but Rep. Blumenauer has, in order to advance our important cause.

Congressman Blumenauer has also been a tireless advocate in Oregon, urging voters and state officials to educate themselves about the harms of prohibition and the need for a better approach to our marijuana laws. I hope that he is proud of the work that he has done because I’m proud that he’s from Oregon and I have many friends that can’t stand politics or Congress in general, but they love supporting and voting for Earl Blumenauer.

I am very excited to see Congressman Blumenauer in Portland at the International Cannabis Business Conference in Portland on September 13th. He will be focusing on the need to reform our tax laws at the federal level and giving insight into the work being done in Congress to improve the nation’s marijuana laws. I urge everyone that can make it to the event to come and see Rep. Blumenauer. He is a tireless fighter for our cause and he deserves our support. For an added bonus, he is also humorous and entertaining. I hope to see you join me in thanking Congressman Blumenauer at the Oregon ConventionCenter in September.