Retired 16-year NBA veteran Al Harrington is featured in a powerful new video that just launched on TheRoot.com. In it Harrington describes the benefits he and his grandmother receive from using marijuana. Harrington also explains that he is a California voter, and he proudly announces, “I’m voting YES for Prop. 64” to legalize marijuana in California on Election Day this November.

“When I was young, I definitely did not smoke,” explains Harrington. “We always had that connotation that it was just bad for you, and then especially it was illegal. You felt that you would go to jail, so I stayed as far away from it as I could.”

However after suffering from a staph infection, Harrington was recommended medical marijuana and he benefitted greatly from it. Harrington’s grandmother, who suffers from glaucoma and diabetes, was resistant at first when her grandson suggested she try medical marijuana. After several conversations and dealing with such severe pain, she was willing to try it. Harrington recalls checking on his grandmother and hearing her say, “I haven’t been able to read the words of my bible in over three years. I’m healed.”

Harrington says that marijuana has “enhanced” his life. He explains, “I still wake up at 6:00 in the morning. I walk my dog and then I go straight to the gym. I work out hard for two hours and then I go to my office and work for the rest of the day.” Harrington is choosing to be part of the marijuana industry, which under Prop 64 includes licensing equity allowing small business owners to participate in it. And unlike previous legalization initiatives, a conviction does not automatically exclude a person from becoming licensed.

Proposition 64, or the Adult Use of Marijuana Act, is designed to allow the responsible use of marijuana by adults and establish a strict regulatory system to facilitate the transition to a legal market. Prop. 64 comprehensively addresses both medical and nonmedical use of marijuana, the regulation and licensing of businesses, taxation, revenue allocation and criminal penalties.

Harrington joins a strong coalition of Prop. 64 supporters including California Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom, the California Academy of Preventative Medicine, California Nurses Association and the California Medical Association — as well as a bipartisan group of federal, state and local elected officials, and an unprecedented coalition including environmental leaders, business owners, small farmers, civil rights groups, public safety experts and social justice advocates.

Source: Californians for Responsible Marijuana Reform press release

image via The Root