Former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura, no stranger to shocking the political establishment, has set his sights on cannabis legalization, recently penning the book, Jesse Ventura’s Marijuana Manifesto. The former Navy Seal lays out a call to arms for legalizing cannabis and ending the greater Drug War in his latest book, asking Americans to fight for freedom and to help our economy. After disparaging comments about cannabis coming from White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer and embattled Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Ventura is calling on Donald Trump to respect states’ marijuana laws.

From Ventura’s opinion column for CNBC.com:

Donald Trump ran his campaign as “a man of the people.” Someone who vowed to end the corporate takeover of our government; someone who vowed to bring jobs back. Reversing state law and making legalized recreational marijuana illegal is going against the people’s will. This is going against job creation and a reliable part of a state’s economy. The citizens of these states voted to make recreational marijuana legal. It wasn’t the politicians, it was We The People. The latest Gallup Poll shows 60 percent of Americans want legal marijuana! Obviously President Trump is following in the footsteps of every president that came before him: He thinks the government knows what is best for us. He’s been president for a little over a month, and he’s already forgotten that “We the People” are the government!

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Let’s also use common sense here: If marijuana use did lead to opioid addiction, and that’s why we have a national heroin/opioid epidemic—because of legalized marijuana—then why is it that we have more people who use marijuana than we do people who are addicted to opioids? Wouldn’t every person who uses marijuana wind up a heroin/opioid addict? Wouldn’t every person who uses recreational marijuana in states like Colorado and Washington wind up in rehab for opioids and heroin? Mr. President, can you explain to me, why is it that heroin and opioid addiction is decreasing in states where marijuana is legal? But, hey, don’t take my word for it, Mr. President. The federal government has research studies with this information readily available online for free, so feel free to look them up on https://www.nlm.nih.gov/.

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Congressman Tom Garrett just introduced the “Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act 2017” on Feb. 27, so when Attorney General Jeff Sessions told legislatures to change the laws if they don’t want the feds coming after legal recreational marijuana users, our legislatures were listening. If passed, this bill would take marijuana off the federal controlled substances list and put it in the same category as the alcohol and tobacco industries. If you want Congressman Garrett and Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard to be successful in passing this new legalization, it’s now up to you as a citizen to call your representatives and tell them to get on board. This bill was originally introduced by Senator Bernie Sanders in 2015, and there was not enough bi-partisan support to see it go anywhere. That could change if We The People put our elected officials’ feet to the fire by calling and writing them and telling them to vote in favor of this bill.

It is great to see Jesse Ventura forcefully take up the issue of cannabis legalization with Donald Trump and make the call for the American people to make their voices heard. Ventura’s bluntness and non-PC attitude should appeal to a lot of Trump’s base of supporters. Ventura has pledged to send a copy of his Marijuana Manifesto to the president. Here’s hoping that Donald Trump listens to Ventura and the 71% of Americans that want him to respect the will of the voters.