Thomas Christopher Wright (born October 14, 1957) is an American businessman,

cannabis rights Cannabis rights or marijuana rights (sometimes more specifically cannabis consumer rights or stoner rights) are individual civil rights that vary by jurisdiction. The rights of people who consume cannabis include the right to be free from emplo ...

and

free speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recognise ...

activist, and frequent candidate for public office. Wright, who co-founded the Grassroots Party in 1986, owns a computer repair shop in

Bloomington, Minnesota Bloomington is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States. It is located on the north bank of the Minnesota River above its confluence with the Mississippi River, south of downtown Minneapolis and just south of the Interstate 494/Inter ...

Activism

Chris Wright organized the Minnesota Tea Party, a cannabis rights rally held on the steps of the

Minnesota State Capitol The Minnesota State Capitol is the seat of government for the U.S. state of Minnesota, in its capital (political), capital city of Saint Paul, Minnesota, Saint Paul. It houses the Minnesota Senate, Minnesota House of Representatives, the offic ...

every September from 1987 to 2013. A political rally and music festival called Grassroots Gathering, organized by Wright in 1992, which was to be held on a private campground near Ogilvie, Minnesota, was cancelled by authorities citing incidents reported at the Weedstock festival in

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

the previous year. Wright was arrested in 1996 for growing 41

cannabis ''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae that is widely accepted as being indigenous to and originating from the continent of Asia. However, the number of species is disputed, with as many as three species be ...

plants at his home in

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

. He appealed the conviction and lost. Wright argued that under Art. XIII, Sec. 7 of the

Minnesota Constitution The Constitution of the State of Minnesota was initially approved by the residents of Minnesota Territory in a special election held on October 13, 1857, and was ratified by the United States Senate on May 11, 1858, marking the admittance of Min ...

any person may sell the products of the farm or garden occupied by him without obtaining a license. The

Minnesota Court of Appeals The Minnesota Court of Appeals is the intermediate appellate court in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It began operating on November 1, 1983. Jurisdiction The Court of Appeals has jurisdiction over most appeals from the State court (United State ...

reasoned that product labeling, and other restrictions established previously, granted police authority to ban cannabis. Wright ran for

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

for

Minnesota's 5th congressional district Minnesota's 5th congressional district is a geographically small urban and suburban congressional district in Minnesota. It covers eastern Hennepin County, Minnesota, Hennepin County, including the entire city of Minneapolis, along with parts ...

in 1988 as a Grassroots candidate. In

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

, Wright was endorsed by the Grassroots Party for

Governor of Minnesota The governor of Minnesota is the head of government of the U.S. state of Minnesota, leading the state's executive branch. Forty people have been governor of Minnesota, though historically there were also three governors of Minnesota Territory ...

. He got 1,727 votes. In the 2010 Minnesota gubernatorial election, Wright got 7,516 votes as a Grassroots candidate. In

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

, Wright got 31,259 votes for governor as a Grassroots–Legalize Cannabis candidate. Wright was nominated by petition to run for Governor of Minnesota in

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

as a Grassroots–Legalize Cannabis Party candidate. In 2022, Wright resigned as chair of G–LC, a post he held for years, to seek Minnesota Legal Marijuana Now Party nomination for governor. Wright was eliminated in the primary, receiving 48% of the party's vote. In addition to legalizing drugs, Wright promotes using hydrogen as fuel.

Political candidacy

A founding member of the Grassroots Party in 1986, Chris Wright ran as their candidate, between 1988 and 2010, three times. In 2014, Wright and Oliver Steinberg formed the Minnesota Grassroots–Legalize Cannabis Party, and Wright has also run as their candidate several times, including: *United States Representative from Minnesota's 5th congressional district in 1988 *Governor of Minnesota in

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

, and

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

*State Senator from Minnesota's 63rd legislative district in

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

Notes

References

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

(May 17, 1992). "Judge nixes music festival near Ogilvie". '' St. Paul Pioneer Press''. *

(December 23, 1998). "Right to peddle produce doesn't include pot, court rules". ''

Star Tribune ''The Minnesota Star Tribune'', formerly the ''Minneapolis Star Tribune'', is an American daily newspaper based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. As of 2023, it is Minnesota's largest newspaper and the List of newspapers in the United States, seventh- ...

''. * Condon, Patrick (June 21, 2014).
Pot activists light up Minnesota ballot
. ''

''. * Davis, Don (October 4, 2010).
Dayton, Emmer, Horner not only Minnesota governor candidates on ballot
. ''

Grand Forks Herald The ''Grand Forks Herald'' is a daily broadsheet newspaper, established in 1879, published in Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States. It is the primary daily paper for northeast North Dakota and northwest Minnesota. Its average daily circula ...

''. * Donovan, Lisa (August 31, 2000).
Grassroots Party Having Quarrel with City Officials: Security Requests Holding Up Permits For Sept. 16 Rally
. '' St. Paul Pioneer Press''. * Doyle, Pat (May 16, 1992). "Judge blocks large Grassroots fest near Ogilvie". ''

'', p. 1B. * Gilyard, Burl (July 5, 1995). "Doobie Brothers: Grassroots Party members grapple with their budding political clout". ''Twin Cities Reader'', p. 1. * Mosedale, Mike (October 3, 2014).
A crowded field of pot advocates
. ''Politics in Minnesota Capitol Report''. * Pecka, Benjamin (May 10, 2017).
Politicians and citizens implore Minnesotans to legalize marijuana at 420 rally
. ''City College News''. * Pugmire, Tim (September 11, 2014).
Minnesota's candidates for governor divided on marijuana laws
. ''

Minnesota Public Radio Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) is a public radio network for the state of Minnesota. With its three services, KNOW-FM, News & Information, KSJN, YourClassical MPR and KCMP, The Current, MPR operates a 46-station regional radio network in the upper ...

''. * Scheck, Tom (October 21, 2014).
Sharp focus, few votes for Cannabis, Libertarian governor hopefuls
. ''

''.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Chris 1957 births Living people American cannabis activists American free speech activists Grassroots Party politicians People convicted of cannabis offenses Activists from Minnesota American political party founders Candidates in the 2018 United States elections

Activism

Political candidacy

Notes

References

Further reading

External links