Gatewood

"Gatewood Galbraith never won a public office in Kentucky despite running nine times, including five campaigns for governor. But history shows that he understood his fellow Americans better than most of the people who beat him. His lifelong advocacy for marijuana legalization is now being realized across much of the country. And his disgust with partisan politics and politicians doling out favors to their campaign donors is echoed by the growing number of young people who are registering as independent voters. With this new biography of Galbraith, a decade after his death, Matthew Strandmark shares the illuminating Kentucky story of a maverick who was both inflammatory and beloved."—John Cheves, government accountability reporter at the Lexington Herald-Leader

"Strandmark shows that Galbraith was not just a colorful figure, nor was cannabis reform his only cause – he was a populist libertarian, fighting big business and big government on behalf of the little guy. Strandmark also demonstrates how the private life of perennial Kentucky political candidate Gatewood Galbraith informed his public career – he was driven by a sense of justice in his personal, professional, and political life, but at the same time his flaws prevented him from reaching his full potential."—Scott Taylor, University of Kentucky professor and author of a forthcoming book on drugs and alcohol in early modern Europe

"This book is a well-researched and insightful account of one of Kentucky's most colorful, adored, controversial, and progressive politicians of the modern era. Matthew Strandmark has done a remarkable job placing Gatewood Galbraith's place in history in the context of twentieth and twenty-first century public policy and state and national politics. A man ahead of his time, Galbraith was a true visionary whose policy positions still resonate today."—Jeffrey Suchanek, Oral historian and Public Policy Archivist at the University of Kentucky

"Gatewood Galbraith is a Kentucky legend. Known as much for his colorful nature as his deep conviction and dedication to legalizing cannabis in our Commonwealth, he embodied statesmanship, authenticity, and the power of persistence. Decriminalization of cannabis was an extension of personal liberty to Gatewood, and emblematic of the rights to privacy and fairness enshrined in our Constitution. It is a legacy I am personally proud to continue, through legislation focused on the decriminalization of cannabis, even as we create a new industry here to be taxed and regulated. We are at a crossroads in how we ensure the fair and equitable legalization of cannabis use in Kentucky. We owe it to Gatewood and to the people of Kentucky to use best practices and evidence-based policies to make sure we don't leave anyone behind—especially those who have fought for decades to get us here. The failed war on drugs has shown us the devastation that over fifty years of prohibition has wrought in black and brown communities all across our country, including Kentucky. We have a chance to get it right here, and I hope that we all remember Gatewood's passion for fairness and freedom as we move forward with legalizing cannabis in our Commonwealth."—Nima Kulkarni, Kentucy State Representative