Mountain Ranch, CA…Calaveras County Republicans have united to form a local chapter of Republicans Against Marijuana Prohibition, a national organization formed in 2012 with the mission to reform marijuana laws by working within the GOP to educate and connect with lawmakers, party leadership, and grassroots activists.

We are the voice for all Republicans who oppose the inhumane and unjust practice of imprisoning people for using the cannabis plant. We support efforts to bring cannabis out of the black-market and into safe, legal, and regulated use by doctors for compassionate medical care and storefronts for adult recreational use.

RAMP rejects the myth that in supporting prohibition, Conservatives are promoting law and order. We wish to change the laws of prohibition that have caused so much harm to those things Conservatives value most, namely individual responsibility, limited government, fiscal responsibility, compassion, and privacy.

Dottie Bates, a lifelong resident of Calaveras County and President of the local RAMP chapter formed the group to protect the land she loves, grew up on and chose to raise her children. “I moved back to Calaveras County because of its rural charm and values. Our economy is in a steep downward spiral and I look to cannabis regulation, and the taxes it provides, to bring Calaveras back to the prominence it deserves”.

As a lifelong member of the GOP, Mark Unterbach joined on as Communications Director after seeing the blight in the county while trying to purchase a storage business in San Andreas. “Calaveras is filled with natural beauty. Its close proximity to the Bay Area makes it an ideal place to have a vacation home. There is no economic development there and services are suffering. I see the regulation of the cannabis market, in accordance with the recently statewide passage of Proposition 64, as a way to make Calaveras great. Cannabis can do for Calaveras what wine did for Napa. The residents need to be educated and we will be bringing out fact based data to help them learn about the industry from people who know”.

Calaveras County has an election coming up on May 2. It’s important for all citizens to learn the facts in order to make an informed decision that helps the county for generations to come. For more information about the upcoming election, to support or join our group, please contact us via email to; mrsdottiebates@gmail.com or mjunterbach@gmail.com