Happy 420 Day-- A Guest Post From Kyle Frenette

As we explained about a week and a half ago, Kyle Frenette is the progressive Democrat running for the old Dave Obey seat in northern Wisconsin, currently occupied by Ryan ally Sean Duffy. Frenette is well known in the music industry as the manager of Eau Claire's Grammy-winning Justin Vernon and his band, Bon Iver. His platform includes raising the minimum wage, establishing universal healthcare and making broadband internet a public utility instead of a private luxury. And legalization of marijuana. He thought today would be an auspicious day to lay out his marijuana legalization plank. Here it is-- and if you click on the Green Wave thermometer below, you can contribute to Kyle's campaign and to other candidates with legalization planks as part of their platforms.


For Too Long, Marijuana Has Been Wrongfully Labeled And Misunderstood In This Country
by Kyle Frenette,
Candidate For Congress, WI-07

30 states have legalized the use of marijuana in some capacity. Nine states plus Washington, DC have legalized the drug for recreational use. It’s time for America to fully legalize marijuana.

The issue is not the drug itself, but the stigma surrounding it; a stigma caused by misconception, racism and criminalization. Marijuana has been proven beneficial for so many, and the drug’s illegal status has caused more harm to American society than its side effects.

Here in Wisconsin, I know folks who have had to go to extreme lengths to obtain marijuana legally for medicinal use or travel across state lines for a duration of time to use the drug for treatment. This shouldn’t be the case. I envision a future in which my children and their children view the federal prohibition of marijuana the same way we view the prohibition of alcohol today-- strange and unnecessary.

The progress we’ve seen by individual states in recent years on this issue has been nothing short of encouraging, but it’s time to act on the federal level. The benefits outweigh the pitfalls.

CURB THE OPIOID EPIDEMIC

The federal legalization of marijuana would go a long way to ending the opioid epidemic in America.

There is no reason marijuana should still be classified as a Schedule I drug along with heroin and ecstasy—not when cocaine, methamphetamine and most prescription opioids, like oxycodone and fentanyl are classified as Schedule II by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

Our country’s opioid crisis has reached epidemic proportions. The National Institute of Drug Abuse reports that more than 115 people die from an opioid overdose in the U.S. every day. And this plight has reared its head right here in the 7th district: from July 2016 through September 2017, the Midwest saw a 70% increase in opioid overdoses.

Opioids and methamphetamine, with their high-risk of addiction and overdosing, have continued to ravage communities in Wisconsin and across our nation. Meanwhile, marijuana has been proven an effective substitute for prescription opioids in treating pain.

In a recent study conducted by the Minnesota Department of Health, it was found that out of a sample of 2,245 patients taking various pain medications to treat intractable pain, over half (58%) were able to reduce their use of other pain medications while taking medical cannabis. Specifically, opioid medications were reduced for 38% of those patients sampled.

As your Representative, I will champion the federal legalization of marijuana to help curb the opioid epidemic and prevent more lives from being lost and families from being ripped apart in northwestern Wisconsin.

INCREASE MEDICINAL BENEFITS

On a national level, marijuana needs to be re-classified, decriminalized and recognized for its medicinal benefits so that more research can be done and the drug can continue to help more people.

Marijuana is not just an effective pain management tool; it has been proven to treat various other ailments. For example, many neurological disorders and their side effects like seizures caused by Epilepsy or muscle spasms caused by Multiple Sclerosis. Cancer patients use it to manage pain and reduce nausea caused by chemotherapy. It has also been used to increase appetite and limit weight loss in some patients suffering from HIV or other chronic illnesses.

Due to marijuana’s Schedule I classification by the DEA and the strict federal regulations surrounding it, research into other medical uses have proven difficult. For example, when it comes to certain psychiatric disorders like depression and anxiety disorders, a correlation has been found in self-medicating in states where marijuana is legalized. But due to marijuana’s Schedule I classification by the DEA and the strict federal regulations surrounding it, research into these and other potential medical uses have proven difficult and slow-moving.

In Congress, I will support legislation to legalize marijuana in America to make studying the drug easier and to improve the overall health and well-being of those who benefit from its use.

DECREASE MASS INCARCERATION

Most Americans view marijuana as a relatively safe drug while too many futures are being tarnished due to its criminalization.

From the inception of the War On Drugs in the 1970s, our country’s prison population has increased at an alarming rate. The U.S. has the highest incarceration rate in the world with an estimated 2.3 million people behind bars. In 2016 alone, more than 80% of the 1.5 million drug arrests were for possession only. And enforcing such laws mostly pertaining to the prohibition of marijuana costs our country about $3.8 billion per year.

Our current drug laws are not only counterproductive, they are also racially skewed. While marijuana use is relatively equal across all races, minorities are disproportionately singled out when it comes to drug related arrests.

It’s said that restrictive marijuana laws have not limited the use and accessibility of the drug. In fact, marijuana use has more than doubled in recent decades. As a result, popular opinion has shifted in favor of legalization, particularly among younger generations.

The case for legalization is growing every day. Once elected, I will push to legalize marijuana so that money is no longer wasted and less futures are ruined by the enforcement of unnecessary laws.

SPUR AGRICULTURAL OPPORTUNITY & ECONOMIC GROWTH

It’s no question that the benefits outweigh the pitfalls when it comes to the growing and selling of marijuana.

Our country’s drug laws are outdated when it comes to marijuana and limit the drug’s economic potential. Economic growth due to the cultivation, sale and taxation of cannabis in states that have adopted legalization prove that it can be a high commodity.

In Colorado alone, which legalized the recreational use of marijuana in 2012, the cannabis industry created 18,000 full-time jobs and brought in $2.4 billion in 2015. And when it comes to taxation, it’s reported that that marijuana has more than tripled tax revenue brought in by alcohol in that state. Nationally, at its current rate of state legalization, an estimated $40 billion in economic output is predicated by the year 2021 when it comes to the legal cannabis industry. Why not increase those odds with federal legalization? Think of all that those funds could be used for: investing in education, infrastructure, and more drug treatment programs to assist further in ending the opioid epidemic.

In Wisconsin, (where medical marijuana is legal but very limited in comparison other states) when signing a bill that legalized hemp farming for the first time in 80 years, Governor Walker proclaimed our state as “America’s Hempland.” This is a good step forward, but the restrictive nature and limited access to seeds due to federal regulations on hemp’s close cousin will stifle industrialized hemp’s economic benefits for our state.

As the Representative of northwestern Wisconsin, I will work to federally legalize marijuana to create jobs and spur economic growth not just for our great state but for the entire country.

New Candidate-- Meet Kyle Frenette (WI-07)

Let me put a new candidate on your radar. I've been hearing about him from friends in the music business. That's because this Wisconsin kid from Chippewa Fall, a small town north of Eau Claire in WI-07, Dave Obey's old seat-- a massive district covering all of northwest Wisconsin. It stretches from Bayfield and Ironwood in the north down into River Falls and the Minneapolis suburbs in the southwest across to Chippewa Falls on Lake Wissota and east through Marshfield and Wausau to Rhinelander and Eagle River. Obama won the district in 2008, lost narrowly to Romney when the state legislature gerrymandered it in 2010 and Trump beat Hillary with a hefty 57.8% to 37.3%. The competitive 2015 PVI (R+2) is a far more challenging R+8 now. But Frenette thinks that's a mountain he can scale.

He's best known as the manager of Eau Claire's Grammy-winning Justin Vernon and his band Bon Iver. The music business is fascinated by his run for Congress and Pitchfork did a piece at the end of February, right after he announced, about why he's running. "He's running, wrote Amanda Wicks, "on a progressive platform with a focus toward raising the minimum wage, establishing universal healthcare, and making broadband internet a 'public utility instead of a private luxury.'"

Frenette has his work cut out for him. He’s seeking to unseat Republican Rep. Sean Duffy (formerly a Real World and Road Rules cast member), who has held the position since 2011, in a district that supported Donald Trump during the 2016 national election. And that’s if he gets through what’s supposed to be a crowded Democratic primary in August.

Pitchfork spoke to Frenette over the phone from northwest Wisconsin late last week about why he decided to run, the parallels between the music industry and politics, and what Justin Vernon thinks of his campaign. Frenette says he’ll bring Wisconsin to Washington, and he helped punctuate that point by scraping the newly fallen snow off his windshield as he discussed his motivation.

Pitchfork: Since Donald Trump’s election, more people have been getting involved in politics, but not everyone is running for Congress. What made you want to go that extra mile?

Kyle Frenette: Backwards policies that suppress the resources and opportunities available not just to people here in the 7th District of Wisconsin and across the state, but everywhere in the country. I grew up in a time when those resources and opportunities were available to me, like the internet providing a window to the outside world beyond my small town of 14,000 people in Chippewa Falls. We’re finding that the majority in control right now are in favor of suppressing all of that [in reference to Net Neutrality being rolled back], making it harder and harder for your everyday American to achieve what we grew up learning. Personally, so many of my friends still call northwestern Wisconsin home, so I saw an opportunity-- given the work Justin and I have done over the past ten years-- to amplify the voice of normal people, not the lobbyists, not the special interest groups.

We elected a celebrity president. My opponent Sean Duffy, he’s a former “Real World” cast member. So if celebrity is what it’s going to take to get people’s attention these days in the age of reality television then I’m going to use the success that Justin and I have had to amplify a better voice.

Throughout the 22, A Million tour, you guys have partnered with numerous progressively-minded organizations with an eye toward gender equity. In your opinion, why is progressive the best way forward?

In taking a look at everything that’s going on, and looking at both sides of the argument, the progressive direction is the one that appeals most to me, and the one that makes sense for most people. Greed is a really powerful drug, a really powerful emotion. I’ve had successes beyond my wildest dreams, but I work in an industry that’s somewhat elitist and I’ve seen the power of what money can do. That’s not to say both sides haven’t been conflicted, but progressive values speak to the heart of the masses, and who we are as human beings and taking care of one another. That’s where I lean philosophically and personally, and the direction I would feel most comfortable having children and giving to future generations.

How do you think you can influence the conservative mindset?

I’ve had a hard time with that, even in talking with family. We’re seeing more and more how divisive politics are and how divided as a country we are. For me, it goes back to the values that I was taught growing up here. We need to come together and we need to listen to each other. That’s it. If we don’t agree, that’s fine, but this divisiveness that’s fueling so much of our politics these days, it might very well be the end of us. Good leadership is about taking in all sides: evaluating a situation based on political factors, socioeconomic factors, human factors, and then making the right decision and going forward. For me, that decision should benefit as many people as possible.

Duffy last won the district by 61 percent and Trump carried it in 2016. Have you seen a general attitude shift in the past year away from GOP values?

Completely. We’re seeing this all across the country-- the pendulum has swung all the way to the right and now it’s centering. Here in the 7th, we had a special state Senate election in January; the candidate in District 10, Patty Schachtner, received national attention because she won, and she was outspent 5-to-1 by those backing the Republican candidate. It was a complete underdog race, and it was a surprise to me and a lot of folks. If that and Virginia [where Democrat Danica Roem unseated Republican Robert G. Marshall in Virginia’s House of Delegates race] and Alabama [where Democrat Doug Jones defeated Republican Roy Moore for what was previously a Republican Senate seat] are any indication of where we’re heading, then I have hope. I’m just trying to be a part of that change and amplify people’s voices.

You’ve mentioned the music industry in light of what you’d face in Washington. What parallels do you see between the two?

The same types of things happen in the music industry [as they do in politics], but I’m going from a lake full of piranhas to an ocean full of sharks. Justin and I have been so fortunate in building something and having the support of so many to do things that we wanted: Maintaining our integrity, staying true to who we are, staying in this place and reinvesting back into our communities, and pushing the envelope a bit. All of those elements factor into the leadership that I’ve brought to Bon Iver and to my management company. If I can do an ounce of that in Washington and bring some of my Wisconsin values, then I’ll feel good.

Bon Iver’s song “Wisconsin” soundtracks your new campaign ad. Will he always have a place in your campaign, or will you distinguish yourself from that past eventually?

I haven’t thought about that all that much. It’s so much of who I am. Both him and I are just small-town Wisconsin, and we jumped into this for the last decade and never really lost sight of who we are. I’m using the opportunity I have to do good, and we definitely disagree on things, but we’ll see.

What was his response when you said you were running?

Oh, I haven’t been able to walk into a room without him telling everyone, which was to a point, like, “Dude, calm down.” He’s really happy.

Justin recently played two previously unreleased tracks—both titled around cities in Wisconsin-- at the For Emma, Forever Ago anniversary show, and then of course there’s “Wisconsin.” That state spirit he’s attempted to capture in his music, how do you see it influencing your move forward?

Well, Justin writes from the heart, he always has. Everything we’ve done has come through not leaving the center of who we are and where we come from, and you can hear that in the music. That’s what I think attracts so many people to the music. It’s true. So much of what he’s singing about, even when you can’t understand him, feels like a shared human experience. It’s absolutely beautiful, the song “Hayward, WI.”

And it’s in your district.

It is. Hawyard is in the heart of the 7th District.

Any plans to share that song officially?

Like he said at the show, he wrote that during the For Emma sessions at the cabin. I remember when he showed it to me 10 years ago, he had showed me “Blood Bank” and that song. We were like, “These are different. They’re more story based, they’re less ethereal, they’re more literal. ‘Blood Bank’ seems like the one to go with.” We just sat on “Hayward” for a long time. He’s played it live once or twice, but I don’t know. It’s hard to say.



It can affect us on that human and emotional level. I think that video we made for this campaign strikes that balance really well, and that in and of itself creates human connection. Hopefully it will yield more opportunities to come together and to just listen to each other.