Dear reader,

For the seventieth birthday of the proclamation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations (back in 1948), our institute has had the pleasure to accept the invitation by Mr. de Oliveira Guterres - the UN secretary-general - to join in the 2017-2018 year-long UN campaign in defense of Human Rights: #Standup4humanrights

Like many people around the world, we occasionally use marihuana to leave for a moment the ever more invasive discourse of government and commerce behind. By making us forget our mind a bit, the cannabis herb snaps us out of our daily routine, making us see the world anew, different from the way we ordinarily look at it. In that moment of rejuvenation, the world around us takes on brilliance, and happily we go out of our way to engage the persons we encounter. Inspired by this plant and in defence of what we consider our inalienable right to use it - by which we understand its cultivation, distribution and consumption - we are happy to: #Standup4therighttomarihuana

Aware of the spiritual dimension of our marihuana use we were puzzled by the authorities' denunciation of the herb as harmful and evil. We felt like the users who "viewed with scorn and amusement officially sponsored drug education programs, since their own and friends' experiences with marijuana convince them that the instructors are ignorant or lying".¹
As the word of our authorities was not to be trusted, we turned to traditional users of mind-altering products to learn from them about a spirituality we have lost in our own society.
That's how we found the peyote consuming Huichols of northwestern Mexico, a people that doesn't know luxury but lives in harmonious co-existence with nature. Once a year all those who feel the need, ascend the mountain to meet their gods. Apparently, Moses was not the last one to talk to his god on the mountain. The Huichols never stopped talking to their gods, in person. They say that their gods give them life and the force to defend their environment-friendly culture. Since that culture is seriously threatened by the all-consuming surrounding society, we decided to espouse the Huichol cause, and support them to: #Standup4therighttopeyote

To stand up and be heard we will campaign on behalf of activist defenders of marihuana and peyote, proposing them as candidates for the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize. In the way the Oslo Nobel Committee used the prize for political purposses by awarding Barack Obama the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize, we will use the campaign for the nomination as "a means to give momentum to a set of causes", as Obama said upon hearing he had been awarded the prize.
To prepare for the nomination we will form a Committee of Recommendation consisting of public figures supporting our candidates. The second leg of the campaign will be dedicated to invite persons qualified to nominate by the rules of the Nobel Peace Prize Committee. We invite you to participate of this effort in the hope that together we can draw attention to our legitimate demands in civil society, the forum where an end to the war on drugs must play out.
#Nobelcampaign4drugspacifists

Frans Bronkhorst
Director of the Drugs Peace Institute

¹ Charles Tart, “On Being Stoned, a Psychological Study of Marihuana Intoxication”, (page 9); Palo Alto: Science and Behavior Books, 1971.