MANCHESTER, VT – In the spring of 2005, just a couple of months after I arrived in DC, I attended the 10th Anniversary dinner for the Marijuana Policy Project. There, I happened to sit at a table with Mark Tucci, an author (having published The Patient’s Simple Guide to Growing Medical Marijuana the year prior), patient and activist for medical marijuana.

Full disclosure: If I had to point to a single issue that got me into the ideas of liberty it was drug policy. The fact that some people believe that they not only have the authority to tell you what you can and can’t put into your body but that they can separate you from your family and lock you in a cage for such actions – paid for by money stolen from others – is not only immoral but inefficient.

Up until then, I was familiar with the harms caused by the drug war mainly through my own reading and my formal education in law enforcement (which included an internship with a police department, tons of ride-alongs and tours of prisons) through which I admittedly reached a different conclusion than some others in my program (who viewed its continuation as job security). But after getting to know Mark, who suffers from multiple sclerosis and spasms – it really helped personalize the issue and underscore why I advocated for re-legalization. Here was a friendly, upbeat guy that found that marijuana helped relieve his symptoms and allow him to function. Why would anyone want to prevent that?

Mark and I have stayed in contact since that dinner and have managed to see each other a couple of times since then, including a couple of weeks ago at his home in Vermont. While there Mark took some time to give an overview of the medical marijuana movement in the state, in which he played in instrumental role.

As is clear, Mark is a wonderful guy and an inspiration for myself and other activists. Keep up the great work buddy!