Quote Originally Posted by TurnyBright
What's the point of discussion if you're only doing it with people who agree with you?
Did I say I only discussed it with people who agree with me?

In politics the key is to win undecided voters. The coined term swing-vote is fairly accurate because these are the people that you can sway either way. They are literally on the fence and should be our primary target when trying to advocate for cannabis. You don't want to go in directly into the enemies camp (in this case people who strongly oppose cannabis) to try to win them over. There is a 99% chance you won't succeed among that group/demographic.

The swing deciders are unsure and probably only believe it's bad because of decades of propaganda.

You are more likely to win these people over than you would be able to sway over a conservative. If you don't believe me then you just need to look at polling data. There is nothing wrong with choosing your fights.. and I choose to fights where I know I will be successful in battle. If I can convert 10 people who were on the fence.. as opposed to debating with 1 person who, historically that demographic has proven to be against us, then I've just made myself and the message I'm trying to represent 10 times stronger. Not only that but I've saved time and aggravation.

And again if you re-read that statement it says "I rarely discuss cannabis with people who are staunchly conservative.". The keyword here being rarely.

Until cannabis is more widely accepted you will look like a crazy person to most conservatives. Or they will think you just want to get high. There is the exception and you have to kind of feel them out. I've talked to some very conservative people about it, but for the most part during my "feeling out" process I determine it's a waste of time to discuss anything in detail with these people.