Independent Grassroots Party

The Independent Grassroots Party was a moderate, democratic socialist political third party in the U.S. state of Minnesota created in 1996 to oppose drug prohibition.^[1] The party shared many of the progressive values of the Farmer-Labor Party but with an emphasis on cannabis/hemp legalization issues.^[2]

Independent Grassroots Party
Founded	1996 (1996)
Dissolved	1998
Preceded by	Grassroots Party
Succeeded by	Legal Marijuana Now Party
Ideology	Marijuana legalization
Colors	Green
Politics of Minnesota Political parties Elections

Some political scholars have speculated that Minnesota's marijuana political parties are responsible for the state DFL Party embracing cannabis legalization two decades later.^[3]

History

The Youth International Party, formed in 1967 to advance the counterculture of the 1960s, often ran candidates for public office. The Yippie flag is a five-pointed star superimposed with a cannabis leaf.^[4] Following the Yippie Party's lead, the Grassroots Party was established in Minnesota, in 1986, as an independent political party that focused on marijuana legalization.^[5][6]

In 1996, the Minnesota Grassroots Party split, forming the Independent Grassroots party. John Birrenbach was the Independent Grassroots presidential candidate and George McMahon was the vice-presidential candidate.^[7] Dan Vacek was the Independent Grassroots candidate for United States Representative (Minnesota District 4).^[1][8] In 1998, members of the Independent Grassroots Party established the Legal Marijuana Now political party.^[2][9]

1996 U.S. presidential candidates

Independent Grassroots Party results in presidential elections

Year	Candidate	VP candidate	Ballot access	Popular votes
1996	John Birrenbach of Minnesota	George McMahon of Iowa	MN[7]	787[7]

1996 results in Minnesota state elections

Results in federal elections

Year	Office	Candidate	Popular votes	Percentage
1996	United States Representative, District 4	Dan Vacek	2,696[8]	1.05%

See also

• Cannabis political parties of the United States

References

1. Shaffer, David (July 22, 1996). "On political fringe, with public funds: Grassroots Party stands on prostitution, adult-child sex push some members away". St. Paul Pioneer Press. Dan Vacek, another longtime Grassroots Party activist who also opposes the party's new direction, registered this year to run for Congress under the banner of a splinter group that also has "Grassroots" in its name. "I don't really support any fringe issue at all," said Vacek, whose campaign is focused mainly on legalizing pot. "I am the mainstream alternative. I think we have to end the prohibition on marijuana."
2. Harvieux, Vincent (May 3, 2018). "Joint Ops: Why Minnesota has two pro-marijuana parties". Perfect Duluth Day.
3. Labovitch, William (November 27, 2022). "How Minnesota got to marijuana legalization politically". Star Tribune.
4. Reston, James Jr. (1991). "Collision at Home Plate: The Lives of Pete Rose and Bart Giamatti, p. 78". University of Nebraska Press. U of Nebraska Press. ISBN 0803289642.
5. Kahn, Aron (October 1987). "Marijuana backers keep issue burning / Controversy still alive". Star Tribune. "When we're handing out leaflets, some people will mutter, 'Get a job,' like we're subclass citizens," Grimmer said. "They typecast us. They judge people by the coloration of their thoughts." Grimmer, who holds a doctorate in physics, has a job, thank you. He is a research scientist at 3M. "The reason why we are in our present mess with respect to drug prohibition is that people do not analyze the situation rationally," said Grimmer, who ran for Minnesota attorney general last year under the aegis of the Grass Roots Party.
6. Gilyard, Burl (July 5, 1995). "Doobie Brothers: Grassroots Party members grapple with their budding political clout". Twin Cities Reader.
7. Bickford, Bob (October 7, 1998). "1996 Presidential Election Results by State". Ballot Access News.
8. Minnesota Secretary of State (November 1996). "Minnesota Election Results 1996, p. 40" (PDF). Minnesota Legislative Reference Library.
9. Brash, Jim (April 20, 2016). "Q & A with the Legal Marijuana Now Party of Minnesota". The North Star. Archived from the original on May 10, 2017.