Up In Smoke: Giving a Northeastern Pennsylvania Politician the ‘Seattle Treatment’ on his Marijuana Dishonesty

“I’m not there yet”

That was the response given by Pennsylvania State Representative Aaron Kaufer (R-Kingston) in the Citizens Voice newspaper piece from Oct 11, 2015 entitled “Where do local legislators stand on marijuana?” when reporter Bill Wellock asked him his position on legal recreational marijuana. I’d like to tell you why that caused me to practically spit my locally roasted quad-shot triple-tall organic fair trade soy mocha all over my Chromebook that morning in surprise.

Before I get into the details of that night, first, a little background about me. My name is Casey Evans, and I was born and raised in the Back Mountain area of Luzerne County. I interned with US Congressman Paul Kanjorski, and worked as a staffer out of the Wilkes-Barre branch of Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign (though I #FeelTheBern this year). I served on the Luzerne County Democratic Committee as an elected committeeperson, as Chair of the 2nd District from 2010-2013, and as the party’s media contact from 2011-2012. I was also one of the 33 candidates that ran in the Democratic primary for the first Luzerne County Council, and “made history” locally by being - to my knowledge - the first openly gay person to run for office in Luzerne County. I’ve written many a letter to the editor, was a contributor to, and occasionally the subject of, pieces on WYLN-TV, WILK Newsradio, the Times Leader, the Citizens Voice, the Hazleton Standrd-Speaker, PoliticsPA, LuLac Political Letter, and the blog you’re reading right now, Gort42.

I moved out of Northeastern Pennsylvania in 2013, headed for the Pacific Northwest, and settled in rainy Seattle, Washington, where I now call home (Go Seahawks!). I’ve kept up my political activism: I served on the Washington State 37th Legislative District Committee for various progressive candidates and causes, helped out on the political campaign that elected State Senator Pramila Jayapal, marched in the streets with thousands of demonstrators in the movement that won Seattle a $15 minimum wage, and most recently, formally left the Democratic Party and joined Socialist Alternative Seattle - Western Washington’s fastest growing political party - and became an activist for our incumbent City Councilmember, Socialist Kshama Sawant, during her successful re-election campaign in 2015 (57% of the vote!). In addition to my professional job with a local tech centered company, I relish my activist work, and in my free time, I very much like to exercise my rights under Washington State’s I-502: You see, it’s totally legal and socially acceptable for me to walk into a store and buy marijuana, possess marijuana, and enjoy marijuana. You know how in Pennsylvania everyone has “that one friend”? Well, here in Washington, everyone IS that one friend! It’s as commonplace as a glass of wine at dinner.

I mention all of this to demonstrate a few important things: First, I’m no stranger to Luzerne County or to Northeastern Pennsylvania. My roots there run deep. Second: I am also not a stranger to NEPA politics. I know it inside and out. Third: I’m unapologetically left wing and will speak my mind and say precisely what I believe on any given issue with sincerity and without reservation. Fourth: I enjoy the occasional toke of cannabis every now and then and I may in fact be in the process of making a bong with a friend out of a model Starship Enterprise that will light up and make phaser noises when you take a big rip from it. ….And by “may”, I mean I definitely am. But, I digress.

I occasionally like to read NEPA’s news online from Seattle. I find it absolutely fascinating to compare political news and discourse between the two areas:  Northeastern Pennsylvania, the relatively conservative land of kielbasa, church bazaars, and REALLY great pizza where the people like a good, cold beer and where things are slow to change and Seattle, the city of ever-present rain, coffee snobbery, and vegan punk rock bars, where the people are as eco-conscious as can be and where our gay mayor pardoned a tofurkey for Thanksgiving.

It’s fun to compare and contrast the two areas: Both have wonderfully rich heritages and are great places to call home, although politically, they could not be further apart.

Which brings me to the night that this all began, October 11, 2012: strangely, it was precisely three years before Kaufer’s commentary on marijuana hit the Citizens Voice.

It was the night of the debate between Congressional candidates Matt Cartwright (D) and Laureen Cummings (R) at Wilkes University. I attended, along with many others from Luzerne County’s political community. There was not one party or ideology or group that was not represented in that auditorium. After the debate was finished, the author of this blog, Ben Hoon, Alex Milanes (currently of the Luzerne County arena board and Treasurer of the Luzerne County Young Republicans), and I decided to go to the River Grille on River Street in Wilkes-Barre for some pub grub, and some multipartisan political discussions. There was another person who came with us that night, too: a first time candidate, Republican Aaron Kaufer, who was running for State Representative that year against long time incumbent, Democrat Phyllis Mundy.

Just to make sure you know I’m not pulling anyone’s proverbial leg on either coast of North America, I happen to have a photo that was taken by Ben Hoon that night at the River Grille of Milanes, Kaufer, and myself at our table.

Among the topics we discussed that night, from gay rights to property taxes to the presidential horse race between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, the issue of marijuana legalization came up. I said my piece, believing then as I do today that marijuana should be legal - not just for medicinal purposes, but for responsible adults to simply enjoy as they please.

Much to my surprise, Aaron Kaufer agreed with me. He said that he didn’t use marijuana (and to this day, I take him at his word that he doesn’t), but that his friends throughout college enjoyed it, and that it was through those friendships that he realized marijuana was not the big bad drug that we were all told to “just say no” to. He and I went back and forth through all of the reasons why marijuana was illegal - from lobbying from the private prison industry to Harry Anslinger to William Randolph Hearst and everything in between. He knew every name, every fact I brought up, expanded on it, and I expanded on his, and on and on we went.

Not only was he for marijuana legalization, he was arguably more for it than I was! Aaron called himself a different kind of Republican, and he said that he was happy to buck his party on this issue. He said that if the state could legalize it, tax it, that Pennsylvania wouldn’t be in as much of an economic downswing as it was and that the people would be better off for it.

I completely agreed, and I left the River Grille later that night having made another friend on the Republican side of the aisle. I was still backing Mundy that year (because Phyllis was a pretty awesome progressive legislator for the area), but I told Aaron that if he ever ran again that - party politics be damned - I’d be happy to see him win. He earned my respect that night because of his position on marijuana and his willingness to be an “independent minded Republican” (his words, not mine) that could think for himself, that wouldn’t blindly take orders from his party bosses (I found him to be a kindred spirit in that regard), and a man who - although we did not agree on everything - I still believed would do what he believed to be the right thing for the people.

Mind you, Aaron and I had this conversation at the same dinner table as a blogger (Gort42) and a Republican party official (Alex Milanes).

In 2014, I had already moved to Seattle, but still have literally thousands of people on my Facebook friends list, many from Northeastern Pennsylvania, and many in Aaron Kaufer’s district. Aaron was running, along with Eileen Cipriani, chief of staff for Phyllis Mundy, and John Bolin, a Democratic committeeman, good man, and all around awesome human being, who sadly and tragically passed away after a long and brave battle with cancer before the primary election was held (rest easy, my friend =(... ).

I took to my keyboard and declared to my friends in 120th District that I had fond feelings and high hopes for EVERY candidate in that race: I said that I considered Cipriani, Bolin, and Kaufer to all be friends. I said that each of them cared very deeply for the district and for their communities, and although they may disagree on some ideological issues here and there that I had no doubt in my mind whatsoever that every one of them would make excellent legislators and would serve the people of their district, and the people of Pennsylvania, well and with honor.

After John passed and the race became a two-person contest between Kaufer and Cipriani, I talked both of them up on Facebook and in the comment section of local newspapers. I posted glowing recommendations online for both of them. I believed in both of them. How can you choose one candidate over the other when you genuinely and sincerely believe both of them to be honorable and good people who are stepping up to serve their communities? I remember thinking to myself that if I were a voter in the 120th District that I would have a very, very hard decision on election day that year.

Aaron won his race. I posted a long congratulatory note on his Facebook page. I was very happy for him. Sure, he was a Republican, but I took him at his word that he was a “different kind” of Republican. He was young - younger than me, even - with a fresh mind and a Millennial’s perspective.  I had high hopes for Aaron; after all, I put my name and my reputation out there online and told people I knew in his district that he was alright by me. I told my friends to vote for him. I told my family to vote for him. I even told a person I randomly met here in Seattle who was from West Pittston and just coming back from a cruise to Alaska that she should vote for him, too!

So imagine my surprise when on October 11th, 2015, I happened to log on to the Citizens Voice website and read that the now-elected Representative Kaufer’s stated position on recreational marijuana was this:

“I’m not there yet. I personally think medical cannabis is the right way to go. I think we should watch what Colorado is doing and really find out what’s going on. We have the opportunity to see what’s going on in other states like Colorado and Washington. I don’t think it’s something that we should jump into. I think it’s something where we have time to make a decision.”

“Uh….What?” I asked myself as I read it. To his credit, Kaufer did say that he supported some version of medical marijuana, adding that there were too many people in jail for marijuana possession.

But that doesn’t change the fact that Aaron completely changed his position on legal marijuana. Not only was he FOR legal marijuana when Alex Milanes, Gort, and I sat at that table with him three years prior, he was more for it than I, Casey Evans, self-admitted Socialist, gay rights radical, and one of the loudest left-wing standard bearers that Luzerne County will likely ever see! And I, to spill a not-so-well-kept secret, HAVE USED MARIJUANA SINCE I WAS 18!

Not to mention the fact that if medical marijuana were to be legalized that it would only affect patients afflicted with certain and specific illnesses, and likely, as was outlined in the latest Med-Mar bill in Harrisburg, be a watered down form that one could not get high from; that medical marijuana bill would have had no legal effect on those jailed persons that Aaron decided to throw a bone to in the Citizens Voice piece and would have in no way altered the sentences of people already serving sentences, and would only help the sickest of the sick who - while certainly in need of medicinal cannabis - are currently in hospital beds, not jail cells.

I commented about my understanding of Aaron’s previously held position on marijuana on the Citizens Voice article - interestingly, other posters commented that they had similar discussions with him when he was a candidate. I then posted the article on Aaron’s Facebook page, and confronted him about it directly. Within a half hour, not only was my post deleted from his wall, but Aaron also removed me as his Facebook friend.

After I went out of my way and told people that trusted me and my opinion on local politics even after I’d moved away that he was a different kind of Republican - a Republican that they could put their faith in - that really, really bothered me. It was a hurtful thing to do. All I was seeking was an honest answer from someone who I thought was an honest person, up until that morning.

Aaron did reach out to me via Facebook messenger afterward. Here is the transcript of that conversation:

12 October 2015

Aaron Kaufer: Casey, I wanted to give you a bit of perspective of where I'm coming from. Since we talked a few years ago, states have fully legalized (beyond just medical). States like Colorado and Washington serve as case studies to see the results of tax revenue and case study for others to watch. We should look to see what others are doing first such as how they distribute and the measures they take to prevent underage consumption before we jump on in. Now that there are others to study, we should take the opportunity to do it right

Casey Evans: Aaron, that isn't the issue. The issue is you had one position before, and you have a different position now. You say in the paper you "aren't there yet", yet you were very much " there" when I and others spoke with you. You can't spin with me, man. You know that. This isn't my first time at the rodeo.

Casey Evans: (Posts photograph taken at River Grille)

Casey Evans: A blogger, a republican county board member, and a former democratic district chair were all there and would all seem to agree…

(More than thirty minutes pass, Aaron had ‘read’ my last message and remained online and was listed as active on Facebook messenger throughout this time)

Aaron Kaufer: The legislature is in a debate on whether to even do medical, and I'm not even sure if the votes are there for medical. That's the battle we are having now, and I don't think it's productive right now to be talking about straight legal in Pennsylvania when we are trying to build support for medical. People who are supporters are watching to see the results from other states. I still believe there are more problems from prohibition than regulation, but I don't know if there is enough support for medical which I believe is the first step in combination with decriminalization as the necessary first step in Pennsylvania.

At that point, I felt like bashing my head against a wall. It was as though I was talking to his press secretary. And for all I know, I may have been. I didn’t reply.

I’ll be generous and hypothetically assume for a moment that his last Facebook message to me was what he “actually’ believed and that he was just trying to get the marijuana ball rolling whilst simultaneously navigating the murky, partisan waters of Harrisburg, trying to balance district demographics and political calculations all at the same time… Even in that scenario, there was no reason for him to be dishonest with his constituents about where he stood. He could have easily logged onto the website of the Washington Liquor and Cannabis Board or read the text of I-502, and discover for himself the very reasonable restrictions that it places on growers, retailers, and customers. A quick online inquiry at WA.gov would have told him how much tax revenue was generated this year, where that tax revenue goes, and a two minute Google search would have turned up the age and sale requirements for Washingtonians looking to purchase marijuana. It has been three years since I-502 was approved by Washington voters, so Aaron’s had ample time to “wait and see” how “things worked out”. Spoiler alert: Things worked out really, really well.  

If that scenario were true, after having misled the public in the Citizens Voice article, Aaron’s faulty reasoning that legalization was just too difficult to attempt (or be honest about) only says that he hadn’t the political spine to fight for it. You know, it wasn’t that many years ago that the establishment Democrats told us here in Seattle that electing a Socialist and passing a $15 minimum wage were too difficult to accomplish… and it turns out that when you have principled leaders with some moxie step up and take risks that have an organized grassroots movement behind them, there is nothing that can’t accomplished. Since polls say that a growing majority of Pennsylvanians support legalization for personal and recreational use, Aaron literally has no excuse for not even being brave enough to try.

On the other hand, even if his responses were to be taken as gospel, he said in our Facebook conversation that he “didn’t think it was productive” to be talking about straight up legalization in Pennsylvania. But even that ran counter to what he told the people of his district through the Citizens Voice article. So which was it? Was he for legalization as he said when he was a candidate, to a multipartisan table of witnesses? Was he “not there yet” like he told the papers, and by extension, the people of his district? Or was he really, truly secretly “there” and only said he wasn’t because he didn’t want to upset the GOP’s apple cart full of talking points and he just didn’t think it would ever have a chance at passing? And in the case of the last, isn’t that the very definition of lying for political expediency?

Right now, in Pennsylvania, there are people sitting in jail cells for simple marijuana possession. Some young, some older. None are medical patients that would have been eligible for medical marijuana, and even if they were, they’d still be in jail cells, because unless I read it wrong, the bill from the last legislative session contained no retroactive provisions that would have allowed them to modify or have their sentences changed via judicial review. Their families miss them every single day. When they eventually get out, they’ll go on a strict probation program and pay thousands of dollars in fines. They’ll be considered criminals, and legally listed that way for life, now finding themselves having to check the box on their employment applications that, yes, they were convicted of a crime. In addition to being stigmatized socially, they’ll also find themselves ineligible for federal grants and loans to pursue higher education or start a small business. They could have their children taken away from them, if they haven’t already.

All of that for a plant. All because they enjoy something that I enjoy today, that I can buy in a store, that I can possess, that I can laugh and joke about. Many are in prison right now and many more are suffering a lifetime of legal and financial consequences for something that, if they had done the same here in Seattle, would have resulted in a pleasant afternoon of fun, not entry into the criminal justice system.

I was lucky when I lived in Pennsylvania. I enjoyed marijuana there illegally. But there are thousands of people that weren’t so lucky as I was. I was never caught. They were, and it isn’t right. Pennsylvania law be damned: using and enjoying cannabis does NOT make anyone a criminal. Those people that are in prison or suffering legal or financial consequences for simple possession are innocent by every definition of the word.

Who is the one person in this situation who isn’t exactly innocent, however? Representative Kaufer. He felt that political expediency was more important than telling the truth. He felt that adherence to the Republican party line was more important than staying true to what he allegedly believed. If he didn’t support marijuana legalization and then said that he did, then he’s a liar and a flip flopper. If he did support marijuana legalization and then later said he didn’t, then he’s a liar, a flip flopper, and worst of all, a coward; more interested in holding on to his precious seat in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives than he is in standing up for what he believes, telling the truth, and taking a stand for those innocent Pennsylvanians who are paying their dues for something that - I’m sorry, I don’t care what Pennsylvania law says - is absolutely NOT a crime.

Before I wrote this piece, some people shrugged at me. They said that I shouldn’t be surprised that a politician would say one thing and then do another. True, that’s how politics often works in Pennsylvania. In fact, many if not most places in the United States. Well, Washington State must have spoiled me, because our politics are relatively cleaner, definitely more civil, and far more transparent than Luzerne County’s.. Especially compared to Pennsylvania, Western Washington, and Seattle in particular, have a reputation for a pretty honest and straightforward approach to politics..

If Mr. Kaufer were a Washington State Representative, the local news media would have raked him across the coals for an infraction like this before lunch. The Stranger, Seattle Weekly, even the Seattle Times would have had a field day with it. He’d be joked about on the latest episode of Up Late Northwest. Kshama Sawant would have an army of red-shirted protesters chanting outside his office by evening. I could even see several of our local marijuana shops use him in their advertising (I can see it now. “Two for one mystery strains, this week only! It’s the Kaufer Special: You Never Know What You’re Gonna Get!”). By the next day, Kaufer would be turning in his resignation and apologizing to his constituents for his error in judgement.

Yes, I am judging a NEPA politician by Seattle’s standards, and if your media outlets aren’t interested in doing so, then perhaps it’s time that the Wyoming Valley took after the Evergreen State for a change.

Last week, I stopped by Uncle Ike’s Pot Shop on 23rd and Union, in the Central District here in Seattle. It is the busiest marijuana store in Washington State. I picked up a postcard from the counter, and filled it out. I addressed it to Aaron’s office. Here’s what I wrote:

“Dear Rep. Kaufer! =) Do you remember when you said you were for marijuana legalization before the election? I do!! So here’s a card from the best pot shop in Seattle to remind you of your previously held position on marijuana. I *was* going to buy some pot cookies or weed gummy bears from CannaBee Candy Co. and send them to your office, but I realized that would be a waste of good weed… So I ate them myself! :-) Take care, and if you ever come out to Seattle, I’d love to give you a tour! I’ll have a pot of the best coffee and a bong loaded with the best weed in Washington State waiting for you! Sincerely, Casey Evans”

I hope that the Citizens Voice, the Times Leader, WILK, and all of the other media outlets in NEPA catch on to this piece and dig into this issue further because the people of the 120th District deserve to know where Aaron ACTUALLY stands on this very important issue; especially the families, friends, and loved ones of those who are sitting in jail cells, on probation, and suffering long term legal consequences for literally doing nothing wrong.

I’ll be interested in hearing if, when, or how Aaron decides to respond to this. My mother lives in his district now, and later this year, I’m sure she’ll be asking me who I would recommend she consider for her vote for State Representative.

What should I tell her, Aaron?

Casey Evans

Seattle, Washington