The inauguration of Donald Trump as president of the United States on January 20 marks the beginning of a new era in American politics and one that will have tremendous bearing on both the scope and nature of marijuanas legalization. Who will have access to legal cannabis and under what conditions are just two of the important issues that will be influenced by the new political dynamics created by Trumps ascension to power. Other issues some related to cannabis and many others which are not are also of great importance to cannabis consumersbut the potential impact of Trumps political coalition on marijuana legalization should be enough to call attention to the need to re-examine and re-vitalize the marijuana reform movement. Advocacy groups and their agendas are not the issue herethey know what theyre doing and they are made up of smart talented and experienced professionals. But what about you dear reader and what about the people you know who care about marijuanas legalization? What can and should you do to protect the gains of recent years and accelerate the pace of reform? More importantly how does Trumps election to the presidency change the political environment in which legalization takes place? This is an important strategic consideration. Crafting strategy involves assessing the external environment as well as ones own capabilities. No one really knows how Trump as president will respond to state-level marijuana legalization policies. But the opposition of many if not most if not mostly all of Trumps political allies to legalization is well-known. If they can slow down the pace of legalization they will. Beyond that Trumps allies are now in a position of seemingly unchallenged political authority to determine not just how quickly legalization can continue but also just what kind of legalization will take place. This is after all a coalition of pro-law enforcement and pro-business politicians. This is not a marijuana-consumer friendly community. In the emerging political environment marijuana consumers are part of the opposition. And what does the opposition do? They oppose the administration in power as well as oppose the activities of the administrations allies. The opposition dissents it dissents with a purpose and it dissents with effectiveness. Dissent in the time of Trump is needed to advance the issue of marijuanas legalization in the United States. Dissent requires action action with a purpose. It is more than having an opinion and sharing it with friends and colleagues. Thats easy to do but it has minimal impact in terms of meaningful action. Its not enough to be right ideologically pure or rhetorically interesting. All those things feel good and can be immensely satisfying. None of them have any power when it comes to mounting effective opposition. Dissent has requirements. Dissent means at a minimum that you have to register to voteand vote in future elections. The next stages are to speak truth to power organize others to take these steps and mobilize resources to mount effective opposition in both social and political arenas. Part two of this column will address learning more about these next important steps. The purpose of marijuana prohibition is to make marijuana consumers outlaws and outcasts. Many marijuana uses have rejected those labels.Have you? There are powerful forces aligning to fight marijuanas legalization and if that fails to hamper and restrict i; and if that fails profit from it. Whatever these forces achieve it will be at the expense of the marijuana consumer. In other words they win and you lose. The purpose of marijuana prohibition is to keep marijuana consumers from using their rights as American citizens. The only legitimate response to that effort is opposition and dissent. That has always been the case. Its the reason HIGHTIMES exists and the reason you are reading it. Listen to Trumps people their supporters and congressional leadership. Theyre not talking about cannabis now but they have made it clear in the past that they are not friends of legalization. They have plans. They think its going to be easy because they think they have all the power. Theyre wrong. Join the opposition. Register to votefind out how to here. Part twoof this column will explain in more detail what else you can do to speak truth to power and make your dissent an effective tool to advance marijuanas legalization. Previously in Pot Matters: The New Scrutiny For all of HIGH TIMES culture coverage click here. by Jon Gettman at High Times