Louisiana Senate Candidate Consumes Blunt in Campaign Ad

Gary Chambers, a Lousiana Democrat, released a new video titled “37 Seconds,” where he is consuming a rolled blunt paper with cannabis in an effort to destigmatize the plant.

“Black people are four times more likely to be arrested for marijuana laws than white,” Chambers says in the campaign ad. 

Chambers and another Democrat are running against Senator John Kennedy (R-LA) at the November elections for his Senate seat, according to the Huffington Post. 

The campaign video is titled after the fact that “every 37 seconds someone is arrested for possession of marijuana.”

At the beginning of the video, the camera is closed in on Chamber’s face as he lights up the blunt. Throughout the video, Chambers shares statistics regarding marijuana. 

“Since 2010, state and local police have arrested an estimated 7.3 million Americans for violating marijuana laws,” Chamber says in the ad. 

The video is the first ad Chambers releases in his campaign to be the next Senator for Louisana.

“I hope this ad works to not only destigmatize the use of marijuana but also forces a new conversation that creates the pathway to legalize this beneficial drug and forgive those who were arrested due to outdated idealogy,” Chambers said in a tweet.

Chambers is a native of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and is a social justice advocate running for the Senate for the first time.  

Recreational marijuana for adult consumption is still illegal in Louisana, but the state does have a medical marijuana program.

Last July, Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards signed a bill allowing medical marijuana patients in the state to smoke whole-plant cannabis flowers.

Edwards also approved a measure to decriminalize the possession of up to 14 grams of marijuana the month before. 

In nearby Mississippi, another politician used cannabis to shed light on a similar issue. As state officials debate on legislation for medical marijuana, a state senator brought an ounce of hemp to the governor as a visual aid to inform him of what reasonable amounts of marijuana look like. 

Elections for statewide elections and congress in Louisiana are scheduled for Tuesday, November 8.