Our country’s national election is less than two days away, and scores of races are really heating up across the country. Perhaps none of the ballot measures, however, are more contentious than the fight to regulate and legalize cannabis in California.

Proposition 19—The New Leaf is a short video message which advocates legalizing marijuana in California. The clever commercial utilizes cute cartoon creatures and old time music to illustrate the many arguments in favor of Proposition 19. The state’s budget is a disaster, and marijuana already is the state’s largest cash crop, presently generating over 15 billion dollars in unregulated sales every year. The animation explains that now is the time to finally tax that massive revenue stream, and direct the money to help rebuild our state’s schools and failing infrastructure.

Please remember to vote on November 2nd.

Gary Trudeau’s long-running Doonesbury comic strip is often entertaining, frequently topical, and sometimes controversial; with less than a week before our national election, Doonesbury has now begun to focus on a very hot political issue, the fight to legalize marijuana.

One of the cartoon strip’s main characters, Zonker Harris (who is, among other things, a retired member of the professional tanning circuit) postulates about his future when pot becomes legal in the state. He explains to his nephew that the ballot measure to regulate and legalize cannabis, Proposition 19, may finally help fulfill his long held dream of becoming a small family marijuana farmer in the California back country.

Although it was only started just last month, Dan Savage’s “It Gets Better Project” has already become something of a cultural phenomenon. Its popularity and influence reaching out to suicidal queer youth has spread across the globe. Thousands of different people are uploading their own unique inspiring messages to help prevent more tragic teenage suicides, and spread understanding about the dangers of bullying.

Last week Hilary Clinton and President Obama both contributed a video message for the outreach project; this week the workers at facebook are sharing their personal experiences of growing up gay, and how much better their lives have now become. The poignant facebook video also  addresses online bullying, and explains how to help stop the abuse on their site and across the internet.

Image by Joe Newton via the Savage Love website

As election day nears, many local campaigns are heating up across the nation; political advertisements and mailers have been choking up my mailbox for weeks. In California, the race for governor is proving that billionaires can’t always buy an election; and support for the ballot measure to regulate and legalize marijuana, Proposition 19, is growing, especially among younger voters.

The Yes on 19 campaign has just released this commercial featuring former San Jose Chief of Police Joseph D. McNamara. He shares his experiences, and explains why it is so vital that we legalize marijuana. McNamara states that the war on marijuana has completely failed, and by taxing and controlling cannabis, California will generate billions of dollars for local communities, cut down on violent crime, and put violent cartels out of business.

Hundreds of thousands of people are getting ready to attend the “Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear” in Washington D.C. this weekend. The official event is being organized by political satirists John Stewart and Stephen Colbert, and hopes to inject some civility and reason back into our nation’s political discourse. The rally near the National Mall is expected to be massive, but there are also over 900 “unofficial” rallies popping up all over the globe. They are being planned everywhere from Kenya to Stockholm, Nashville to Halifax and San Francisco.

It is no accident that this nonpartisan organizing is happening just a few days before a national election in the United States. In addition to being festive events, the rallies are shrewd political tools that will likely help inspire the populace, and increase voter turnout next Tuesday. After a rousing weekend of activism, political theater, comedy and socializing, the masses return home full of patriotic vigor, (and maybe a little hungover) just in time to cast their ballots in following day’s election.

Recent polling has shown that several marijuana initiatives in various states may also motivate younger voters, and may very well help tilt many tight races. I must admit that I am indeed very excited about voting in California to legalize cannabis next week, as well as the possibility of having a little bit more reason, kindness and sanity in the world.

Image is via sfsanityrally.com