Drug Policy Reform

Welcome to Rick Steves' 2022 campaign for the legalization of marijuana. This tool kit is designed to be a resource for supporters, opposers, and undecideds to better understand how and why Rick works to end the prohibition of our age and legalize marijuana in the US.

For decades, Rick has been inspired by Europe's pragmatic approach to recreational drugs with success measured by harm reduction rather than incarceration. In 2012, he worked to help legalize marijuana in his home state of Washington — and every two years since then, he's dedicated a week of his time and a substantial financial contribution to help legalize, tax, and regulate marijuana wherever it's on the ballot. This year, in partnership with the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) and the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP), Rick is participating in virtual campaigns in five states: Maryland, Arkansas, Missouri, North Dakota, and South Dakota. Check out the resources below — and to help legalize the recreational use of marijuana in these states in 2022, please use this material in any way you like.

To schedule an interview with Rick about his legalization work, contact [email protected], and for general media inquiries, contact [email protected].

2022 Campaign Videos

2022 Campaign Video Previews: All States


2022 Campaign Video Previews: Individual States


"Vote in 2022" Video Previews

Speeches & Interviews

Media Highlights

  • U.S. News: These 5 States Could Legalize Recreational Pot Use in the Midterms (2022)
  • NEWSY: Travel Writer, TV Host Rick Steves Joins Newsy's "Morning Rush!" (2022)
  • Forbes: Rick Steves Talks Campaigning for Cannabis, Getting High in the Dark and the Future of Travel (2020)
  • The New York Times: Marijuana Legalization Has Gone Mainstream. Rick Steves Has Helped. (2018)
  • Rolling Stone: Mr. Steves Goes to Washington — to Talk Drug Policy (2018)
  • Crosscut: Rick Steves Knows How to Push Pot to Voters (2016)
  • USA Today: Millions of Americans to Vote on Marijuana Legalization (2014)
  • The New York Times: Fresh Ideas for a Tired Crusade (2008)
  • The Los Angeles Times: Europe's Drug War (2007)

Maryland Question 4

  • FOX5: Maryland Marijuana Vote: Arguments for and against legalizing recreational use

Arkansas Issue 4

  • Arkansas Times: Travel guru Rick Steves tells Arkansas legal cannabis is good and we should vote for it
  • KUAF: Rick Steves Isn't Pro-Pot, He's Pro-Civil Liberties

South Dakota Measure 27

Illinois Marijuana Legalization Advisory Question

  • CBS Chicago: Should Recreational Marijuana Be Legal? Travel Expert Rick Steves Pushes for Legalization
  • Chicago Sun-Times: Rick Steves: Marijuana legalization can help West, South Sides
  • WTTW: Rick Steves Advocates for Marijuana Legalization in Illinois

Michigan Proposal 1

  • CBS Detroit: Legalizing Recreational Marijuana: A Good Idea?
  • MLive: Rick Steves to Campaign for Marijuana Legalization in Michigan

Massachusetts Question 4

  • GBH News: Rick Steves on Legalizing Recreational Marijuana
  • Leafly: Massachusetts Miracle? A Wicked-Close Race Breaks Wide Open

Maine Question 1

  • Portland Press Herald: Travel Guru Rick Steves Visits Maine to Stump for Legal Marijuana
  • WGME News (CBS): Travel Writer Asks Mainers to Vote Yes on Question 1
  • Maine Public: Travel Writer Rick Steves Urges Passage of Recreational Marijuana Measure

Oregon's Measure 91

Washington's Initiative 502

 

Publicity Photos

To download an image, click on one of the thumbnails below to open a full-sized JPG, then right-click that image to save it. For additional publicity images, please see our Press Room.

 

 

Rick speaking at Seattle's Hempfest in 2011. (Photo: Trish Feaster)
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Rick speaking at Seattle's Hempfest in 2011. (Photo: Trish Feaster)
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Rick speaking at the Edmonds Center for the Arts.
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Rick relaxing (chillaxing) in the Swiss Alps.
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Rick's Biography

Short Version (71 words)

Rick Steves is a popular public television host, a best-selling guidebook author, and an outspoken activist who encourages Americans to broaden their perspectives through travel. He is the founder and owner of Rick Steves' Europe, a travel business with a small-group tour program that brings more than 30,000 people to Europe annually. Rick lives and works in his hometown of Edmonds, Washington, where his office window overlooks his old junior high school.

Medium Version (203 words)

Rick Steves is a popular public television host, a best-selling guidebook author, and an outspoken activist who encourages Americans to broaden their perspectives through travel. But above all else, Rick considers himself a teacher. He taught his first travel class at his college campus in the mid-1970s — and now, more than 40 years later, he still measures his success not by dollars earned, but by trips impacted.

Rick is the founder and owner of Rick Steves' Europe, a travel business with a small-group tour program that brings more than 30,000 people to Europe annually. Each year, the company contributes to a portfolio of climate-smart nonprofits, essentially paying a self-imposed carbon tax. He also supports and works closely with many advocacy groups and has been instrumental in the legalization of marijuana in states across the country.

Rick spends about four months a year in Europe, researching guidebooks, fine-tuning his tour program, filming his TV show, and making new discoveries for travelers. To recharge, he plays piano, relaxes at his family cabin in the Cascade mountains, and spends time with his son Andy and daughter Jackie. He lives and works in his hometown of Edmonds, Washington, where his office window overlooks his old junior high school.

Long version (355 words)

Rick Steves is a popular public television host, a best-selling guidebook author, and an outspoken activist who encourages Americans to broaden their perspectives through travel. But above all else, Rick considers himself a teacher. He taught his first travel class at his college campus in the mid-1970s — and now, more than 40 years later, he still measures his success not by dollars earned, but by trips impacted.

Widely considered America's leading authority on European travel, Rick produces a best-selling series of guidebooks and is the author of Travel as a Political Act. He is dedicated to providing all Americans with access to travel information and has made extensive resources available for free on the Rick Steves' Europe website; via the Rick Steves Audio Europe™ app; and in Rick Steves Classroom Europe™, a searchable database of short, teachable video clips.

A longtime supporter of public broadcasting, Rick produces and hosts public television and radio shows that air across the nation.

Rick is the founder and owner of Rick Steves' Europe (RSE), a travel business with more than 100 full-time employees. RSE operates a successful small-group tour program which brings more than 30,000 people to Europe annually. The company contributes annually to a portfolio of climate-smart nonprofits, essentially paying a self-imposed carbon tax.

Rick supports and works closely with many advocacy groups and organizations whose missions fit his own, including Bread for the World. He is Chair of the Board of NORML and has been instrumental in the legalization of marijuana in states across the country. He has also provided $9 million in funding to build two neighborhood centers in his community and donated a 24-unit apartment building for homeless women and their children to his local YWCA.

Rick spends about four months a year in Europe, researching guidebooks, fine-tuning his tour program, filming his TV show, and making new discoveries for travelers. To recharge, he plays piano, relaxes at his family cabin in the Cascade mountains, and spends time with his son Andy and daughter Jackie. He lives and works in his hometown of Edmonds, Washington, where his office window overlooks his old junior high school.