Travis Maurer, a college dropout who was convicted as a pot dealer, emerged in 2014 as the driving force behind an improbable measure that legalized weed in Oregon, reports Newsweek.
As a result, Oregon is now one of four states, along with the District of Columbia, that no longer ban cannabis. From California to Maine, activists are eyeing new targets for 2016, mostly liberal or libertarian strongholds where polls suggest voters are ready to rewrite pot laws.
Maurer, however, wants to replicate his quixotic effort in an unlikely battleground: Missouri, a deeply red state where many hold a dim view of “soft” drugs like marijuana. If he pulls it off, he can prove Oregon wasn’t a fluke and make Missouri the model for legalizing cannabis anywhere in America, not just on the weed-friendly West Coast.
