It's true. Whenever you're trying to make a difference on some issue, you need to recruit public interest and support. The problem is, the public is stupid, and there just aren't enough non-stupid people to recruit that anyone would actually pay attention. Take climate change. You get all the scientists in the world together, and that's still not enough for politicians to care. You can get the regular people involved, but almost none of them are able to understand what's actually going on so they just end up spouting nonsense. When the issue is something like violence or drugs, it gets way worse. You get a hundred experts together to say, "Look, research shows that marijuana is pretty safe, has potential medical applications, and decriminalization can reduce prison overpopulation and generate tax revenue." Then, half a million stoners group up behind them yelling "420 BLAZE IT ALL DAY ERRYDAY WEED FOR PRESIDENT WEED SAVE THE WORLD JESUS WAS THE ULTIMATE STONER," and there goes the movement's credibility.