The Advocate Series: Chris Chesley
Chris Chesley is the Deputy Director at Greater St. Louis NORML, but before the title, there was a passion to move the needle in the right direction.
Like many, if not most, in the cannabis industry, Chesley’s initial exposure was from other teenagers and wasn’t intended for medicinal use. “I originally got into cannabis for recreational use as a teenager because I saw it as a safer and less destructive form of recreation than alcohol.”
Chesley says his use of cannabis exposed him to more than just teenagers and college students partying, “The more people I met as I got into my twenties I found a lot of people weren’t just using (cannabis) for fun at parties; but also for pain, anxiety, stress, nausea, cancer, and to deal with the side effects of treating cancer along with many other conditions.”
Just as he began to familiarize himself more with the medicinal properties of marijuana and explore the history of the plant, tragedy would hit close to home. “In 2005 my aunt Kathy was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Watching what she went through was one of the most heartbreaking things I’ve ever seen. When she told me that the only thing that helped her feel better was cannabis, I saw cannabis for what it really is, one of the safest most versatile medicines being denied to millions of people all over the country. My aunt Kathy passed away in 2006.”
After the passing of his aunt, Chesley set out to find a purpose for his passion and gain a better grip on his understanding of marijuana. He told Greenway that the more he learned, the more he felt betrayed. “Personally, I’ve never seen something with so many benefits and so much potential so heavily demonized and have such legal consequences as cannabis,” Chesley says, “I felt like I was being lied to, and so was everyone else. When I started learning more about the drug war, the families that were being torn apart, that people of color were being arrested and incarcerated at a much higher rate than white people despite there being no difference in use between the two groups, I was mad!”
Chesley says he wanted to come back home and help Missourians, but he wasn’t sure where to begin. “My cousin was very involved in the beginning stages of legalization here in Missouri and when I was talking with him he pointed me in the direction of Show Me Cannabis around 2009.”
“When I started working on legalizing medical marijuana I thought advocacy was something people did just to fill time. But now, I look at it as a group of strong passionate people that believe they can make a difference. So to me, advocacy is standing up for something in hopes of making other people’s lives better.”
Not every experience turns out the way you hoped and not every encounter is a win, Chesley says that during the campaign there were struggles.
“With the campaign it was educating people that the propaganda they grew up with was wrong, and trying not to get mad when they come back with things that have been proven wrong for years. Having to always be able to not only cite my sources but also tell them how they can easily find it themselves.”
But the role of an advocate can be taxing on more than your mental well being, “For me personally, balancing my work and personal life while volunteering with New Approach Missouri and NORML. I never thought I would get so involved with this, but next thing I knew, this was something I was doing every day. I almost missed a surprise party my friends were throwing me because I had heard about an event that I thought might be good for signatures. Finally they had to tell me what was going on so I would show up. A lot of things like that started happening in the 2017 and 2018 campaign after we missed the 2016 ballot by only a few hundred signatures.” Chesley says that after that 2016 loss the volunteers were heartbroken, but rebounded and almost immediately threw themselves into the push for 2018. “Over the last 10 years there have been many people that have inspired me and kept me from giving up. It was patients like Ayden M, Lonnie K and people with the campaign like John Payne, Ann Rohan and Karin Chester. I worked closely with them during the campaign, they all put in so much work in hopes that we could change the law and they didn’t give up after we missed making the ballot in 2016.”
With the passage of Amendment 2 in 2018, the fight wasn’t over, but it was different. “I think everyone just needed to breathe.” He explained that with the primary goal achieved many volunteers returned to their normal lives for the first time in almost three years. The daunting process had left many weary, and anxious to see what the state’s new medicinal marijuana program would become.
“There is no one thing I’m most excited about. We already have patients legally growing their own medicine at home and Missouri passed medical marijuana just over 8 months ago, our patient count is already in the thousands and DHSS even started issuing patient cards ahead of schedule! It’s all really exciting to see happen in Missouri. It has all been very exciting to watch.”
For Chesley, the mission continues, “I’m now working with a team going for dispensary and cultivation licenses in the St. Louis area. I think our team is very well rounded and I am happy to be working with a group that is focused on bringing high quality cannabis to Missouri patients. My mission is still the same one I started with and that’s to get cannabis legally in the hands of patients then once the program is fully up and running I’ll start eyeing adult use. I would like to think we will see adult use passed in 2022 and with that, having all marijuana convictions expunged. It’s just the right thing to do and other states are already starting to do it, let’s not fall behind again when we are just starting to catch up with the rest of the country.”
featured photo: Chesley with Rose Beef – Chris Smith