We in the cannabis crowd often have a hard time with elections: local- or state-level politicians who support weed are rarely on the ballot, and when they are, they often lose. It’s hard for us to get representation in local offices, let alone national ones. This discouraging record has caused plenty of us to give up and forgo voting altogether. That is a big mistake. Resist the temptation to sit out this election, dig deep within yourselves and vote.

Cannabis legalization is on the ballot in five states on November 3. If you live in Arizona, Montana, New Jersey or South Dakota, you have the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to legalize weed for adults 21 and over in your state. And if you live in Mississippi or South Dakota, you have the chance to pull the proverbial lever for medical cannabis. Citizens of these five states who love weed but despise politics and politicians have the opportunity to make a statement and directly vote for their favorite plant.

Those of us who live in the other 45 states also have important choices to make when it comes to voting and cannabis. The big question is: Who’s better for cannabis, Joe Biden or Donald Trump?

Trump’s position is to leave everything to the states, and so far he has largely backed off from serious enforcement—not a bad outcome, considering the attacks of previous administrations, including Obama-Biden. Biden’s plan now, should he get elected, is to let the states do their thing and to ensure the feds decriminalize weed and expunge records. That means if you’re caught with a small amount you might get a ticket, and if you have a criminal record for weed, it will be wiped clean. Not only is that not a bad outcome, it’s one that’s slightly better than with Trump—at least on paper.

But the thing about Trump is his unpredictability. I’ve heard from many in the cannabis community who feel Trump may just be unconventional enough to legalize weed and deschedule it—remove it entirely from the Controlled Substances Act. I’m not so sure. If he wins a second term, Trump will be hypersensitive to his legacy; there’s no reason for him to “tarnish” it with weed. He can just pass the issue on to the next president. That’s my read on it, but the unpredictability factor cannot be underestimated. Federal law gives the president tremendous power to come after the cannabis community. Until that changes, we cannot let our guard down. The same holds true if Biden wins. Decriminalization is not good enough to restore justice, and we’ll need to pull him over the legalization line.

Voting gives us the opportunity to hold elected officials accountable. We can vote politicians out and put new ones in. And when elected officials fail to follow the will of the people, we can go around them and get measures on the ballot ourselves—that’s what’s happened in five states this year with respect to cannabis. Engaging in legalization via direct democracy is already a long tradition in Colorado, Washington and California.

We the people have more power than we think. The progress we’ve made so far on cannabis is a testament to that fact. And those advances aren’t due to politicians but to the vote of the people. So put your fist in the air, grab that lever (or ballpoint pen) and vote. When we wake up on November 4, we should have five new states that have legalized weed in some form.

Now that’s change we can all believe in.