1. The first thing to do is to check and see if there is already a medical marijuana organization in your city or state. They might be halfway there already.

2. If not then, you need to form an organization. You, personally, become powerful when you name your organization and place power to all those who wish to be a part of it. Advocates for Progressive Therapy is just the name, what we are is a bunch of people pissed off about this injustice and we are doing what we can to stop it. If anyone would like to take APT into his or her own state, and form APT(yourstate) feel free, but a name is just a name and anything works. When forming the organization you need to consider making it a 501c3 (irs tax exempt). This limits what you can say and do (can't advocate petition initiatives, but you can get more grants) so with APT we are just a grassroots group of activist friends, so anyone is welcome to join, or take APT to whatever level you want to in your state.

3. Find support in your area. Make flyers and hang them up in all the coffee shops and head shops ect. Contact local bands and see if they will let you set up a signature flyer and handouts on their CD and T-shirt sales table at club concerts. Hang out in alternative areas of town and hand out flyers and talk to anyone interested. Use myspace, check out www.myspace.com.aptutah Geocities gives you a free website to www.geocities.com check out www.geocities.com/aptutah
(I'll make you a website if you want me to)

4. Hold meetings. Get everyone together from your signature flyer list and all your friends and family and anyone else you can manage to bring to a meeting. Have a raffle for a glass pipe or a short movie about MJ or some thing to catch everyoneâ??s eye. At the meeting there will be those that just show up and those that are into it. Focus on those who are into it, but don't forget to tell those that aren't about the next meeting, the more people the better.

5. Either check laws yourself or find a lawyer. I looked at the city and state codes to see exactly how marijuana is illegal in Utah, and then looked at other cities that have passed medical marijuana initiatives, then at SLC city code webpage at ordinances that have been passed but not yet coded. I don't have any legal experience at all and I just kind of filled in the blanks to write an initiative. I then contacted Marijuana Policy Project and other major organizations to see if their lawyers could check it for me. MPP called me back and said they would basically re-write it for me so that it is fully legal. I've been told the legality of each cities initiative is the biggest challenge a campaign can have.

This is where APT Utah is at right now. Our next step is to form a Political Issues Committee (like a Political Action Committee), which is just a tax-free way to raise funds. This can be used as the website to sell t-shirts and stickers on. This may be different for every state, but let me know if you need help finding out legality on funding. My plan is to start going door to door to raise funds. This is a crazy idea, but if only 10% of people donated just $5 then I'd be able to raise about $100 a day (with 10 canvassers that's $1000 a day). I'm lucky, I don't work normal jobs and can use my time to start this door to door campaign, then after a week or two by myself, I'll be able to hire a small team to work with me. They will basically have to raise a certain amount every week or they will be asked to move on. This is how PIRG's collect funding. If this works, the amount of funding APT will have will be only limited by the number of canvassers we can manage, hopefully limitless.

We do not, however, need to raise any funding; this is just the logical step to take. After we get the initiative wording back from MPP, it will be submitted to the city clerk for fiscal budget review, then 28 days after that be back in my hand ready for signatures. Here is my logic: I can knock on 200 doors a day, if 50% of people sign the petition (with 78% in support I know it will be more than that, but I want to estimate low) than it will only take about 2 1/2 months for just me to collect the signatures. I've already had offers to help collect signatures, so I'm sure 2 1/2 months is all it will take.

From when we submit the signatures to the date of the election we will do what we can to educate the public about medical marijuana, maybe even form a sister organization that IS 501c3 to get grants to run TV and newspaper ads. Some may disagree, but I think anytime medical marijuana hits the ballots it will win.

Lets get this going big, even if it is just symbolic and doesn't get anywhere it is still movement in the right direction. If we can form APT Iowa and APT NH, then I don't doubt that we will be able to get national media coverage, then even if it is just symbolic, it's a big symbol and it will start the next step toward the legalization that WILL happen.

Chris
if you have any more questions or need more direction let me know, I'm so into this I'll come to your state to help if needed, I'm even willing to collect the signatures needed to get this on the ballot in any state that it can happen.